The latest Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW) report, released today, reveals that while Canada has recovered from the 2008 economic recession, Canadians’ health and wellbeing has not rebounded alongside economic growth.

The CIW report shatters the myth that economic growth aotumatically translates into wellbeing. In fact, the gap between economic growth (GDP) and Canadians’ wellbeing (CIW) rose from 21% in 2008, to 24.5% in 2010, and to 28.1% in 2014.

In response to this growing gap, the Canadian Association of Community Health Centres (CACHC) is echoing the CIW’s call for “innovative, proactive solutions that consider more than one domain of our lives at the same time”. Scaling up Community Health Centres (CHCs) across Canada, for instance, would enable Canadians to access multi-service health and wellbeing hubs, located in neighbourhoods across the country. With special emphasis on support for individuals and families that experience disproportionate challenges to health and wellbeing, CHCs are essential to ensuring that vast segments of the Canadian population do not get left further behind.

“The latest CIW figures are concerning and they underscore the need for federal and provincial governments to re-invest economic growth into high-impact, multi-sector solutions that help Canadians address their everyday challenges,” says Nicole Chammartin, Co-Chair of the Canadian Association of Community Health Centres. “As one of the high-impact solutions named by the CIW, Community Health Centres have tremendous potential to help turn the tides in our country, ensuring we all benefit from the opportunities presented by economic growth.”

Community Health Centres take a holistic approach to wellbeing. They provide timely, team-based health care as well as a wide-range of social services and programs that help individuals, families, and communities overcome every day challenges to health and wellbeing.

“CHCs connect the dots between various aspects of day-to-day life that are essential to improving wellbeing: access to appropriate health services, adequate housing, employment, and other factors. Canadians from coast to coast have called on federal and provincial governments to invest further in Community Health Centres and today’s CIW figures underscore the urgency of this.”

CACHC is inviting Canadians to once again call on federal and provincial governments to take key measures that will enable all to benefit from our country’s economic growth.

###

Media and other inquires:
Scott Wolfe, Executive Director
swolfe@cachc.ca / 416.922.5694