When checking in to see how a group of people are doing, you can look at broad economic indicators such as income levels, and the unemployment rate; at health statistics such as life expectancy and cancer rates; at social data such as crime rates and trust in institutions; and so on.

Another option is to ask people how they are doing. This is tricky because it’s inherently subjective, it can be hard to nail down a good question (is it a matter of happiness, life satisfaction, quality of life?), and someone inevitably asks “compared to what and why?” Are you unhappy because you are trying to keep up with the Joneses (or the Kardashians) or because you are in chronic pain)? Are you happy because your kids are successful or because you are just naturally good at rolling with life’s punches?

Despite these challenges, it is better to ask than not ask so we at least get some sense of where things stand.

To this end, Statistics Canada released new data earlier this month on a variety of quality of life indicators including life satisfaction levels by province.

On a scale of zero to 10 where zero means very dissatisfied and 10 means very satisfied,* the average score in Alberta as of the second quarter of 2024 was 6.4, just below the national average of 6.6. Quebec and P.E.I. had the highest average scores at 7.2 while Alberta shared the low reading with Ontario.

A wide range of factors may be responsible for the differences in the provincial averages. One likely suspect is the fact that life satisfaction tends to rise with age, so Alberta’s younger age profile may be one of the reasons for its somewhat lower rating.**

Breaking this down a bit further, about a third of Albertans said 5 or lower out of 10, another third said either 6 or 7, and the final third said 8, 9, or 10. Clearly, the average rating masks a wide range of life satisfaction levels. We don’t know from the survey why people rated their lives the way they did, but we can imagine things like poor health, recently becoming unemployed, or getting divorced as reasons for lower ratings. At the same time, a high rating could be linked to anything from a fulfilling emotional life to a great career to doing well in school.

The life satisfaction readings don’t tell us a lot on their own, but they are a good starting place for discussions of what matters when it comes to things like our happiness and life satisfaction and how the economy affects them.

*Statistics Canada measures life satisfaction on a scale from zero to 10. Respondents were asked, “Using a scale of zero to 10, where zero means very dissatisfied and 10 means very satisfied, how do you feel about your life as a whole right now?” Respondents who did not answer the question were excluded from the calculations.

**See, Rob Roach, “Happiness in Alberta: The Results of ATB Financial’s Alberta Happiness Survey,” June 2021.

Answer to the previous trivia question: According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, the first true railway built in Canada was the Champlain and Saint Lawrence Railroad, which opened officially on July 21, 1836.

Today’s trivia question: What year did “Don’t Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin come out?