The Belonging Advantage - How Quality of Life is Translating into Big Economic Gains for Atlantic Canada

CA THE BELONGING ADVANTAGE The Public Policy Forum works with all levels of government and the public service, the private sector, labour, post-secondary institutions, NGOs and Indigenous groups to improve policy outcomes for Canadians. [...] Talent resourcing is just a tremendous priority for being able to have a successful business.” The Public Policy Forum’s Atlantic Momentum Index released in March showed Atlantic Canadians report a greater satis- faction with their quality of life than Canadians as a whole, and a greater sense of belonging to the community.1 Both indicators are based on Statistics Canada surveys, and the latter is. [...] StatCan reports that the percent- age of Atlantic Canadians with a strong or very strong sense of belonging to the local community stood at 54.5 percent last year, almost nine percentage points higher than Canada as a whole.2 Both factors showed increased momentum in the 2015-2021/22 period, compared to the previous seven years, with their average annual rate of growth improving. [...] “A lot of people began to re-evaluate ‘where do I want to live’ and the answer came down to ‘I want home to feel like home.’ A place they feel connected to others and to the fabric of the community.” The fact that the four provinces banded together in the Atlantic Bubble to co-ordinate rules and responses contributed to the sense of the region’s social cohesion. [...] The larger the proportion of NEET, the less well the labour market is meeting youth needs and, from 2015-2021, the proportion increased at a rate of 0.3 percent per year (not a good thing).