Vital Signs Report

New report highlights emerging priorities and future challenges

The County Foundation (TCF) has just released its Vital Signs Report for 2024. This report looks back at the past decade and considers the trends since that time, and it highlights emerging priorities and anticipates future challenges. The County Foundation was established in 2008 with a vision of creating a place where everyone belongs and can thrive. It is one of 207 such foundations across Canada. Its mission is to leverage local philanthropy for local based decision-making that can move projects ahead and create impact where it is needed. The County Foundation has a very small staff, but they have been continually active in the community and have developed lasting relationships with the public, with businesses and with the municipal government. In 2013, TCF released its first Vital Signs Report, which was a snapshot of the well-being of the community. “It’s like taking the pulse of the community, and that pulse changes continually,” said Anne VanVlack, Vital Signs Coordinator. The report looked at various aspects of the community including economic factors, availability of public transportation, education levels and outcomes, and food security. There were subsequent full reports in 2018 and 2022, with interim reports in 2015, 2021 and 2023. One key point during the evolution has been the integration of Sustainable Development Goals into the Vital Signs indicators. These provide focal points for efforts to create a more sustainable and equitable future. While these goals address global issues such as poverty, inequality, climate change and the promotion of peace and justice, the underlying principle is to act locally to achieve a better future for all.

The initial report highlighted many positives about the County, but also found areas of concern such as poverty and food insecurity, a lack of public transportation, and low high school graduation rates compared with the provincial average. In terms of health, teen pregnancies, obesity, and smoking rates were higher than the provincial average, and the life expectancy at birth was nearly three years lower for County residents as compared with the provincial average. The new report highlights some of the trends that have evolved over the past decade as well as looking at some of the initiatives to address the issues brought to light in 2013.

There were four major areas of collaborative progress. A Food Collective was established to work towards a vision that “every person in Prince Edward County has the means to consistently access and afford nutritious food.” One of the offshoots of this has been the Good Food Market spearheaded by the Prince Edward Learning Centre in Picton, with additional locations in Sophiasburgh and Consecon. The Transportation Collective addressed the establishment of an integrated transportation system in the County, and in 2020, County Transit services were launched.

The Greater Than Youth Collective is dedicated to raising the County’s high school graduation rate to match the provincial average. Finally, Thrive PEC was established to build a vision for community and economic development in Prince Edward County.

A number of trends are noted in the report. After a decade of decline between 2006 and 2016, the population of the County s increasing, growing by approximately 2,100 from 2016 to 2023, where it stood at 26,878. However, there has been an increased turnover in the population. Six thousand two hundred people moved to the County in 2021, while 3,562 moved out. Both these numbers were significantly higher than those in 2016. There has been a rise in the number of seasonal residents. The age demographic is also changing, with the number of people age 65 or more increasing, and the number in the age bracket 14 to 65 decreasing. The percentage of children below age 14 has remained almost constant at 11.4 per cent since 2016. While the high school graduation rate is trending upward and is (2022) at 81.5 per cent, it is still below the provincial average of 89.5 per cent. There has been a decline is skilled trades certification, and there are still performance gaps in student math and literacy.

Housing and affordability continue to be major problems. There is a widening income gap, a shrinking workforce and limited access to childcare. The average income in the County is $75,500 as compared with the Ontario average of $84,000. Almost one in four households (23 per cent) has inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints. This compares with 9.8 per cent in 2018. The average house price has tripled since 2010; over the same time period the median household income has increased by 50 per cent. The cost of a two-bedroom apartment has doubled since 2020, and there is a seven-year waitlist for subsidized housing. The County may be poised for a building boom over the next two decades, but affordable housing is expected to make up only a very small part of that.

While there has been some progress, healthcare continues to be a concern. The County’s complement of physicians is only at two-thirds capacity. As of April 2023, there were about 4,000 County residents without a primary care provider. Since this past April, about 750 residents have been connected to a family doctor, and that number is expected to grow by year’s end.

The Vital signs report notes that there are opportunities available to address all of these areas of concern. There are pathways to build the local economy, provide educational services for children and youth, safeguard the environment and protect farmland, improve access to nutritious food, explore Community Benefits Agreements with developers and builders to expand the stock of affordable housing, and advocate for enhanced healthcare services. A copy of the Vital Signs Report can be found at thecountyfoundation.ca/vitalsigns- reports