A GIS Methodology for Mapping Regional and Community Vitality for Canada using the CanEcumene 3.0 Geodatabase with Census Data

Many ecosystem-based management (EBM) applications require integrating geospatial information about socio-economic conditions of human populated areas within a study area. However, integrating socio-economic data in such a way that it can be related to ecological data is not a trivial process due to issues associated with spatial representation between socio-economic data frameworks, and natural patterns in ecological data. In Canada, this problem is particularly challenging given its large geographic size, diversity of environments, and highly irregular population distribution. Although several indices have been developed for Canada related to well-being and vulnerability, their application for EBM applications is limited. This article presents a GIS-based methodology for mapping regional and community vitality index (RVI/CVI) for Canada using standard Census data integrated with the CanEcumene 3.0 Geospatial Database (GDB). The method uses percentile ranks of five sub-indicators of vitality derived from eight primary Census variables. Results reveal a number of notable patterns and trends in socio-economic conditions across the country and across different types of communities and regions.