Social Determinants of Health – Society
The following information is compiled and presented by Quality of Care NL, an applied health and social systems research and evaluation program aimed at improving social and health outcomes in Newfoundland and Labrador. This page is best viewed in full screen on a computer. Click here to download a PDF version of the information presented below.
An important part of measuring quality of life is gaining an understanding of how people experience their own well-being. How you feel can affect your ability to carry out everyday activities, your relationships, and your overall mental health.
Social well-being can be defined as the sharing, developing, and sustaining of meaningful relationships with others. This allows you to feel authentic and valued, and provides a sense of connectedness and belonging. Having family and friends you can count on, a sense of belonging and purpose, and satisfaction with self and community, can positively influence long-term health and contribute to overall well-being.
The Canadian Social Survey (CSS) is a quarterly survey conducted by Statistics Canada and collects information on a variety of social topics such as health, well-being, quality of life, activities, time-use, emergency preparedness and trust. The goal is to understand social issues more rapidly by conducting surveys on different topics every three months.
Life Satisfaction
Life satisfaction was measured using the following question, “Using a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 means ‘Very dissatisfied’ and 10 means ‘very satisfied’, how do you feel about your life as a whole right now?”
- Overall from Q2 2021 to Q2 2025, life satisfaction has generally been higher in NL compared to Canada (with a few exceptions).
- In Q2 2025, life satisfaction was 11% higher in NL compared to Canada.
- In Q2 2021 and Q2 2025, NL ranked third among the Canadian provinces for high life satisfaction (1=best and 10=worst).
Sense of Meaning and Purpose
Sense of meaning and purpose was measured using the following question, “Using a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 means ‘Not at All’ and 10 means ‘Completely’, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?”
- Overall from Q3 2021 to Q2 2025, having a high sense of meaning and purpose has decreased in NL and across Canada.
- Having a high sense of meaning and purpose was higher in NL compared to Canada from Q3 2021 to Q2 2025.
- In Q3 2021, NL ranked first for having a high sense of meaning and purpose and in Q2 2025, NL ranked seventh (1=best and 10=worst).
Social Cohesion and Connections: Sense of Belonging to Local Community
Sense of belonging to local community was measured using the following question, “How would you describe your sense of belonging to your local community?”. The possible response categories included: very strong, somewhat strong, somewhat weak, very weak, no opinion.
- Overall from Q3 2021 to Q4 2024, having a strong sense of belonging to local community increased in NL and across Canada. The increase was higher in Canada compared to NL (13% versus 3%, respectively).
- Having a strong sense of belonging to local community was consistently higher in NL compared to Canada from Q3 2021 to Q4 2024.
- In Q3 2021, NL ranked second among the Canadian provinces for having a strong sense of belonging to local community and in Q4 2024, NL ranked seventh (1=best and 10=worst).
Social Cohesion and Connections: Someone to Count On
Someone to count on was measured using the following question, “How often would you say you have people you can depend on to help you when you really need it?” The possible response categories included: always, often, sometimes, rarely, never.
- Overall from Q3 2021 to Q4 2024, having someone to count on when needed has remained fairly stable for NL and Canada.
- Having someone to count on when needed was slightly higher in NL compared to Canada from Q3 2021 to Q4 2024.
- In Q3 2021, NL ranked second (tied with NS) for having someone to count on when needed and in Q4 2024, NL ranked fourth (1=best and 10=worst).
Social Cohesion and Connections: Trust in Others
Trust in others was measured using the following question, “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you cannot be too careful in dealing with people?”
- Having trust in others has decreased across Canada for all provinces (except for PE and QC) from Q2 2022 to Q4 2022.
- In Q4 2022, having trust in others was slightly lower in NL compared to Canada.
- In Q2 2022, NL ranked ninth for having trust in others and in Q4 2022, NL ranked eighth (1=best and 10=worst).
Social Cohesion and Connections: Satisfaction with Personal Relationships (family and friends)
Satisfaction with personal relationships was measured using the following question, “On a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 means you feel ‘Not at All Satisfied’ and 10 means you are ‘Completely satisfied’: How satisfied are you with your personal relationships?”
- In Q3 2021, satisfaction with personal relationships was 13% higher in NL compared to Canada.
- Across Canada, NL ranked first for having the highest proportion of individuals reporting a high level of satisfaction with their personal relationships (1=best and 10=worst).
Social Cohesion and Connections: Loneliness
Loneliness was measured using the following question, “How often do you feel lonely?”. The possible response categories included: always, often, sometimes, rarely, never.
- The proportion of the population always or often experiencing loneliness has fluctuated in NL but remained fairly stable across Canada.
- Fewer people in NL reported they always or often felt lonely compared to Canada from Q3 2021 to Q4 2024 (with a couple exceptions).
- In Q4 2024, the proportion of the population reporting they always or often felt lonely was 20% lower in NL compared to Canada.
- In Q3 2021, NL ranked ninth for the proportion of the population reporting they always or often felt lonely and in Q4 2024 NL ranked tenth (1=worst and 10=best). [This ranking is opposite the others because always or often feeling lonely is a bad thing.]
Culture and Identity: Sense of Belonging to Canada
Sense of Belonging to Canada was measured using the following question, “How would you describe your sense of belonging to Canada?” The possible response categories included: very strong, somewhat strong, somewhat weak, very weak, no opinion.
- Sense of belonging to Canada has increased for all provinces from Q2 2022 to Q4 2024.
- In Q2 2022, NL ranked fourth for the proportion of individuals reporting a strong sense of belonging to Canada and in Q4 2024, NL ranked seventh (tied with BC) (1=best and 10=worst).
Satisfaction with Time Use
Satisfaction with time use was measured using the following question, “On a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 means you feel ‘Not at All Satisfied’ and 10 means you are ‘Completely satisfied’: How satisfied are you with the amount of time you have to do the things that you like doing?”
- Overall from Q3 2021 to Q4 2024, satisfaction with time use has decreased across Canada for all provinces.
- Satisfaction with time use was higher in NL compared to Canada from Q3 2021 to Q4 2024.
- In Q2 2021, NL ranked first among the Canadian provinces for satisfaction with time use and in Q4 2024, NL ranked fourth (1=best and 10=worst).
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