Wolfville's Vital Signs Report
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Taking the pulse of our town 2013 PARTNERS Wolfville’s Vital Signs® was made possible through the generous support of: Nova Scotia’s Vital Signs® series generously supported by: The JSF Fund@CFNS Vital Signs® is a community check-up conducted by community foundations across Canada that measures the vitality of our communities, identifies significant trends, and supports action on issues that are critical to our quality of life. Vital Signs® is coordinated nationally by Community Foundations of Canada. Wolfville’s Vital Signs® is produced by the Wolfville Community Fund which operates under the auspices of the Community Foundation of Nova Scotia. The Vital Signs® trademark is used with permission from Community Foundations of Canada. INTRODUCTION TABLE OF CONTENTS Welcome to the Wolfville’s 2013 Vital Signs® Report, a check- up on the vitality of our Town based on multiple indicators across a comprehensive set of issue areas. When we Partners 2 completed Wolfville’s 2009 Vital Signs® Report, we were the first community in Nova Scotia and the smallest municipality in At A Glance 4 Canada to do so. This new report provides insight as to where and how things have changed since 2009. Getting Started & Belonging 6 We would like to thank all of those who were involved in Housing 9 making this report possible. The project was possible as a result of support provided by the Town of Wolfville, the Safety 11 Wolfville Business Development Corporation (WBDC), the Province of Nova Scotia’s Student Career Skills Development Getting Around 13 Program and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada’s Summer Jobs Program. Thanks to our Project Environment 16 Manager, Lisa Visentin, the person most directly responsible for pulling this report together. Lisa did a wonderful job collecting Arts & Culture 18 data from numerous and varied sources, and then summarizing and organizing the data such that the key indicators reported Recreation 22 here could be identified. Fellow members of the WCF board Dick Groot and Macha MacKay provided helpful feedback and guidance throughout the process of producing the report. Learning 25 Lastly, thanks to Allison Kouzovnikov, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Nova Scotia, who played a vital role Economy 29 in all aspects of planning and producing this report. Shared Prosperity 33 Wolfville’s 2013 Vital Signs® provides information concerning thirteen different, yet interdependent issue areas considered Health 35 vital to the overall quality of life in our community. Of course, facts and figures alone are insufficient to fully describe the Contributors 39 realities of a community in complex issue areas such as health, education, recreation and housing. Yet reporting these indicators is important to trigger civic engagement, ground public discussion, and guide philanthropic resources. In that spirit, we offer this report to the residents of Wolfville with the hope it can help engage the community to actively consider the issues, challenges and successes of our community. Paul Callaghan Vincent den Hartog, Chair Chair, Vital Signs® Committee Wolfville Community Fund AT A GLANCE Population Change 2001-2011 POPULATION SIZE & GROWTH In 2011, the population of Wolfville was 4,269, up 611 from 2001 and a 16.7% Wolfville 16.7% increase with 13.2% of the growth happening in the last 5 years. These CAN 11.6% increases make the Town of Wolfville the fastest growing municipality in Nova HRM 8.7% Scotia. Kings County 2.9% NS 1.5% Annapolis Valley 0.2% MEDIAN AGE Median Age 2011 In 2011, Wolfville’s median age (the age at which half of the population is younger and half of the population is older) was 42.7 years which was below Wolfville 42.7 years the provincial median (43.7 years) and above the national median (40.6 years). NS 43.7 years From 2001-2011, Wolfville’s median age increased by 3.4 years, compared to 4.9 years provincially and 3.0 years nationally. CAN 40.6 years PUTTING THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE OUR TOWN OUR COUNTY OUR ECONOMIC REGION OUR PROVINCE OUR COUNTRY Population 2011 4,269 60,589 124,634 921,727 33,476,688 Wolfville as a % 7.0% 3.4% 0.5% 0.013% RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION In 2011, 67.4% of Wolfville’s population reported having a religious affiliation, a significantly lower percentage than both the provincial level of 78.2% and the national level of 76.1 %. In all cases these percentages are down from the levels of religious affiliation reported in 2001. LANGUAGES SPOKEN MOST OFTEN AT HOME In 2011, residents of Wolfville reported the following as their mother tongue: English (93.9%), French (1.3%) and all others combined (4.8%). The comparable provincial numbers were English (94.2%), French (3.5%) and others combined (2.3%), and in Canada the numbers are English (64.3%), French (24.2%) and others combined (11.2%). In Wolfville the top three languages other than English and French were Arabic (2.5%), German (1.0%) & Chinese (0.7%). Like the rest of the province, Wolfville has far less linguistic diversity than the country as a whole. 4 FAMILY STRUCTURE From 2001 to 2011, the number of families in Wolfville increased 11.4% (or by 118) from 1,039 to 1,157. Of this total, 65.9% (763) were married families, 16.9% (196) were common-law families and 16.8% (194) were lone-parent families. ONE TOWN, TWO FACES As a small university town, both the size and demographic profile of Wolfville changes dramatically during the academic year when approximately 3,400 students attending Acadia University join the town’s 4,269 permanent residents. CHILDREN/TEENS, ADULTS & SENIORS As of 2011, Wolfville had a higher proportion of seniors in the permanent population and a lower proportion of youth (less than 20 years of age) than both the provincial and national averages. CHANGING DEMOGRAPHIC: AGE BREAKDOWN WOLFVILLE NOVA SCOTIA CANADA COOL FACT: In 2011, there were five people over 100 years of age 61.1% 61.1% 62.1% 62.0% 58.3% 60.1% living in Wolfville, all of whom were female. 25.0% 25.9% 22.0% 21.6% 21.2% 23.3% 20.4% 18.0% 16.6%14.8% 13.9%13.0% 2001 2011 2001 2011 2001 2011 <20 yrs 20-64 yrs 65+ yrs MARITAL STATUS In 2011, Wolfville had a higher proportion of single people (never married) and a lower proportion of married people than both the provincial and national averages. The combined percentage of divorced or separated people in Wolfville of 11.9% is the same as the provincial percentage and marginally higher than the national figure of 11.5%. SINGLE MARRIED WIDOWED DIVORCED SEPARATED Wolfville 40.9% 38.1% 9.1% 9.0% 2.9% NS 33.2% 48.0% 6.9% 8.2% 3.7% CAN 36.1% 46.4% 6.0% 8.5% 3.0% THESE THINGS HAPPENED FIRST IN WOLFVILLE DID YOU KNOW? - - 1st town in Nova Scotia to pave its main street in 1911 - Canada’s 1st Fair Trade town - Canada’s 1st town to prohibit smoking in vehicles carrying children - Nova Scotia’s first community to produce a Vital Signs report (2009), and at the time the smallest municipality in the country to do so 5 GETTING STARTED & BELONGING WHY IT MATTERS: To encourage others to make Wolfville their home, we must offer good employment opportunities and strong social supports. IMMIGRATION IN 2012 CITIZENSHIP In 2012, Wolfville welcomed 41 new immigrants. Of this total: 80.5% (33) were In 2011, at 8.5%, Wolfville had a economic immigrants (skilled workers, investors and similar categories), 12.2% higher proportion of non-Canadian (5) were family class immigrants, 2.4% (1) were refugees, and 4.9% (2) were citizens than both Nova Scotia (2.4%) from other categories. and Canada (6.0%). 80.5% (33) were economic immigrants (skilled workers, investors and similar categories 12.2% (5) were family class immigrants FACT Since 2008, 137 immigrants have 2.4% (1)were refugees indicated Wolfville as their destination upon arrival in Canada. 4.9% (2) were from all other immigrant categories IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN WOLFVILLE Proportion of In 2011, 11.0% of the population of Wolfville (440 people) was foreign born, Immigrants 2011 more than double the provincial proportion (5.3%), but less than the national 11.0% proportion (20.6%). 6 Where do our local immigrants come from? TOP 5 COUNTRIES 33.0% came from the United Kingdom 29.5% came from the United States 6.8% came from the Netherlands 5.7% came from Germany 4.5% came from Iraq SENSE OF COMMUNITY BELONGING Sense of Community Belonging 2012 In 2012, 71.5% of residents of the Annapolis Valley District Health Authority AVDHA 71.5% (AVDHA), reported a strong or somewhat strong sense of community belonging, down slightly from 74.5% in 2011. The AVDHA’s 2012 level is NS 70.9% comparable to the provincial average of 70.9% and higher than the national CAN 66.1% average of 66.1%. VOLUNTEERING AND GIVING In 2010, 53.0% of residents in the Annapolis Valley were volunteers, compared 53.0% to 55.3% provincially and 46.1% nationally. In the same year, 20.4% of tax filers of us in Kings County reported making a charitable donation, compared to 22.6% provincially and 23.4% nationally. volunteer Since 2006 the percentage of tax filers reporting charitable donations has MEDIAN CHARITABLE DONATION declined, but the level of giving has increased. In 2010, the median charitable 2010 IN KINGS COUNTY donation made by Kings County residents was $360, which is $50 above the provincial level of $310 and $100 above the national level of $260.