Vital Signs help identify the greatest needs for funding in the community
Vital Signs© is a community check-up that delivers a snapshot of well-being in our community from walk scores and waste diverted from landfills to the 72 classrooms of children who live in low-income households.
The Guelph Community Foundation leads this initiative to provide critical, local evidence for philanthropic decision making. In collaboration with community partners, local data is presented to inspire locally-relevant solutions that improve life. Vital Signs is published for the purpose of instigating civic engagement, focusing public debate, and informing everyone to take action and direct resources for the greatest impact.
To ensure the information in Vital Signs is accurate and local, we partner with Toward Common Ground, a collaborative of multiple social and health service organizations that identifies needs and takes collective action to improve the lives of people in Guelph and Wellington County. As a partner organization of Toward Common Ground, we also work with a committee of community experts to ensure the report examines the right issues.
Additionally, we would like to thank United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin for being the supporting sponsor of our 2023 Vital Signs report. By working together we all do better and we are proud to be working with them.
Vital Signs is Canada’s most extensive community-driven data program, spearheaded by Community Foundations of Canada and led locally by community foundations across Canada. Combined, over 100 community foundations in Canada and around the world take part, producing Vital Signs reports and related activities that engage solution-finding in light of the data.
This year’s report, as well as the Vital Signs report from 2018, can be found below. These reports are intended to be invitations to engage in important conversations about our community and guide actions toward improving it. For example, the 2018 report was used by the City of Guelph as baseline research and a conversation prompt as it collaborated with partners and citizens to develop Guelph’s Community Plan.
The 2023 Vital Signs report references 2021 census information, in addition to many other quantitative data sources. A detailed list of references and data sources can be found on our References page.
In addition to our Vital Signs reports, Vital Focus reports were created on timely and important issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. These reports can be found on our Vital Focus Reports page. These reports were published between 2020 and 2021 and involved partnerships with Toward Common Ground, United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph-Public Health, the City of Guelph, Guelph Wellington Ontario Health Team and Wellington County.
2023 & 2018 Vital Signs Reports
