The unexpected results of the two major electoral events of 2016 in the U.K. and the U.S., highlight the social unrest underpinned by growing inequality. Income inequality, poverty, and gender equality are among the key issues garnering growing attention worldwide. Examining inequities is key to understanding what leads to the polarization of societies. How do Canada and its provinces compare to global peers on social outcomes?

In the previous Society report card, Canada ranked as a “B” grade performer relative to its peer countries. Although Canada fares well on many measures, it does not do as well on indicators such as income inequality and poverty. How does Canada rank against its peers now? How does performance vary across the country?

For the first time, How Canada Performs will compare the social performance of individual provinces with that of 16 advanced peer countries.

Join Sheila Rao as she presents the findings of this year’s Report Card and discusses where Canada has improved, where it could do better, and how the provinces rank relative to one another and in a global context. Attendees will learn how the provinces and peer countries fare on indicators of equity, including income inequality, intergenerational income mobility, and the gender wage gap; and how they do on indicators of social cohesion, such as life satisfaction, crime, and voter turnout.

During the webinar, Sheila will:

• Introduce and describe the How Canada Performs program, and the indicators and ranking methodology used for analysis;
• Examine the performance of Canada and the provinces relative to 16 international peers on 14 indicators of social performance;
• Explore how Canada’s social performance has changed over time, relative to international peers on key indicators; and
• Describe approaches to address performance on key social indicators.

About Sheila

Sheila Rao is a Principal Research Associate and the Manager of the Conference Board’s annual flagship report, How Canada Performs, a multi-year research program designed to help identify relative strengths and weaknesses in Canada’s socio-economic performance. Sheila joined the Conference Board in 2005 and holds an MBA from McGill University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from Queen’s University.