Rural Capacity Survey – Data Analysis: Report of Descriptive Variables

Alicja Gados, Lars K. Hallstrom, and Shay Barker

ACSRC Report Series #10-12

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Rural Capacity Survey – Data Analysis: Report of Descriptive Variables

Alicja Gados, Lars K. Hallstrom, and Shay Barker

ACSRC Report Series #10-12

Authors Alicja Gados - Staff member for the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities. Lars K. Hallstrom – Associate Professor Political Science, University of Alberta and Director of the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities. Shay Barker – Staff member for the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities. Acknowledgements These notes were created by the staff of the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities, University of Alberta – Augustana Campus.

The creation of these notes would not have been possible without the input of the survey participants. No particular observation or comment should be attributed to any specific individual, unless otherwise specified. Any errors in description or interpretation are those of the author.

Research funding for this project was provided by Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (AARD).

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Abstract This report takes responses from both the online survey (those responses submitted online) and the survey that were completed by hand, and entered by survey researchers into a data file. This report describes data from 150 responses, 77 of which were submitted online and 73, which were completed by the respondents in written form and mailed in. Given that 307 municipalities were solicited, this gives an impressive response rate of almost 50%, which is uncharacteristic for surveys of this type.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 1 Abstract 2 Demographic Indicators 4 Maintain Economic Vitality 8 Maintain Civic Vitality 15 Subsist and Persist 26 Accessing State Resources 31 Link to Global Economy 34 Maintain Ecological Integrity 35 Maintain Health 38 Conclusions 41

Publications in the Series should be cited as: AUTHOR, TITLE, ACSRC REPORT SERIES NO./YEAR [URL]

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Section 1: Demographic Indicators This first section contains a demographic assessment about the communities.

Question 1: Where is your region located? Please check one.

__ Northern rural __ Northern small urban __ Central rural __ Central small urban __ Southern rural __ Southern small urban

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Type of Area % Type of Area % City 5.4% Summer Village 2.7% Specialized municipality 0.7% Improvement district 0.7% Municipal district 27.5% Metis Settlement 0.0% Town 37.6% Other/Special Area 0.7% Village 24.8%

Question 2: Is your area a(n):

__ City __ Specialized Municipality __ Municipal District __ Town __ Village __ Summer Village __ Improvement District __ Metis Settlement __ Other/Special Area

Question 3: What is the approximate local population in your area? Please check one.

__ Less than 500 __ 500-1000 __ 1000-5000 __ 5000-10,000 __ 10,000-50,000 __ 50,000-100,000

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Industry Number of respondents

Percentage of total

Agriculture and related services 136 24.6%

Logging/Forestry 18 3.3%

Mining, milling and/or quarrying 17 3.1%

Oil wells, energy resources 96 17.4%

Metal fabrication and machinery manufacturing 30 5.4%

Communications/Utilities, Information and communication technologies 10 1.8%

Construction and/or Building products 26 4.7%

Transportation, logistics and Storage 21 3.8%

Real Estate and Insurance, Business Services or Financial services 22 4.0%

Government Services 37 6.7%

Educational Services 41 7.4%

Accommodation, Food and Beverage Services 37 6.7%

Tourism 43 7.8%

Aerospace and Defense 7 1.3%

Architecture or engineering 3 0.5%

Environmental products and services 9 1.6%

Question 4: What is/are the main industry sectors in the area? Please check all that apply.

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Question 5: What is the average level of education in your area? Please complete to the best of your knowledge, or your best estimate. Please choose only one, and leave comments if you need to elaborate. Most residents:

Question 6: How many community residents are employed in seasonal, cyclical or fluctuating employment? Please state as a percentage of total employment. If unsure of the value, please give an estimate or check “Unsure” if you are not certain of the approximate value.

Average of percentages: 24%. Range extremely spread out, at 5-75%. Number of unsure responses: 80.6% (or 121 out of 150 responses).

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Section 2: Maintain Economic Vitality The next section assesses the survey participants ability to retain economic vitality.

Question 7: How satisfied are you with the availability of education and training opportunities in your community? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is very satisfied and 1 is very unsatisfied.

Question 8: If you are NOT satisfied with the availability of education and training opportunities, what kind of education and training is needed?

___ Vocational/apprenticeship training ___ College or University training ___ Specialized extended learning/education courses

___ Other, please specify: _______________________________________________

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This question was largely misunderstood. 52 entries were unsure. Some respondents interpreted is as an unemployment rate and others interpreted is as an employment rate, hence some values given were clearly too small to be an employment rate.

Many reflect concerns of ageing population, lack of youth, and use of municipality as a second home recreation area for non-residents and de-population.

A slow increase mostly from large urban centre spin off

Ageing population- seniors

Approximately 38% of property tax notices are sent to external addresses due to non-residents owning vacation and secondary properties.

As in all rural areas, our population is decreasing and fewer young people are remaining on the family farm. Farms are growing in size and few small operators exist.

Being on the corridor between Edmonton and Calgary, we are one of the fastest growing areas in Canada.

Constant since [the] [19] 30’s but slightly increasing annually, but due to low population percentages are skewed.

County growth relatively constant. Urban centers growing significantly

Fastest growing town in Alberta, 300% increase in last 10 years

Is the local population:

Increasing 45%

Decreasing 16%

Unchanging 39%

Question 9: What is the employment rate? Please express the amount as a percentage.

Question 10: Is the local population:

Question 10a: Any other comments about population growth or change that you would like to add? (Included are selected comments)

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[Lots of] Foreign workers

General depopulation of the area. We are rural and are losing people to urban [areas].

High Real Estate Turnover. Many homes have Seniors living in them and are moving to other communities that offer Assisted Living and Age in Place Complexes.

Lack of industry prevents youth from staying near

Large senior population and farmers living in town

Lots of subdivision- so expect to see an increase in population

May increase as acreage land close to cities dries up

Mix seniors and young families

Our area consists of many non-residential property owners

Our area seems to be one that attracts the "second [recreational] home" buyer.

Our population has grown steadily each year and we have not had any decreases.

Our population includes seasonal farm workers, many who return to Mexico in the winter months, keeping our employment rate quite high (even though they maintain their principle residence here).

Population change is tied directly to the oil industry. Numbers on census are generally considered lower than actual.

Population growth mainly because of retired people from near City

Population growth remains a difficult are with many youth leaving to attend post-secondary and not choosing to return

Population has been decreasing for the past 10 years

Shadow population continues to grow because they can work here and have no allegiance to the communities and then return home and have all of opportunities and education and health care, recreation facilities because that is where their taxes are paid but they don't work there.

Significant growth in the last 10 years

Slight and steady decrease as farms consolidate and grow fewer. Economy is not diverse enough to keep population stable

The community is largely a retirement community

The growth is very slow but maintains a small increase.

There are a lot of employment opportunities in this area for those who wish to work. A combination of trade, vocational and University training would help students do some of their chosen profession at

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home and at less expense.

There are about 200% increase during winter freeze up for oil and gas well jobs the number reduces during summer.

This is an Improvement District with a very strict “Need to Reside” policy, which seriously affects the [possibility of] a healthy community.

We are becoming more of a commuter town as we are close to Edmonton and on major transportation corridors that make access to Fort McMurray where many of our residents now work.

We foresee the population within our municipality continuing to grow over the next twenty years given regional trends and residential developments happening and/or planned within the town.

We have a substantial non-permanent population. About 32% of the total population of 18,300 does not reside in the community on a full time basis.

This question was also slightly problematic and likely misinterpreted by respondents. There were 72 unsure or don’t know responses. In several cases, the reciprocal was given. For instance, the respondent entered the value 20, likely meaning instead of 1/20 (or 0.05). These responses can be converted to reflect the actual per capita value, however in most instances the number of businesses making it difficult to estimate a general per capita value. Of the usable responses the average was found to be 11%. However this is likely inaccurate due to the number of unusable responses.

This question received 143 responses, and needs to be put against population size and type of community to have meaning. The range was between 0 & 40.

Answers %

Yes 66.9%

No 33.1%

Question 11: What is the number of businesses per capita?

Question 12: Is there a Chamber of Commerce or that sort of business organization working with businesses in the community?

Question 13: How many banks are there in your community?

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There were 65 responses for this question; the range from 1-60% was given. The average was 10.63%. However, there were 83 unsure responses, hence it is not clear whether we have enough answers for this question to have meaningful results.

Yes 30.4%

No/unsure 69.6%

Question 14: Have there been any trends in the number of businesses opening or closing?

__ Increasing number of businesses __ Decreasing number of businesses __ Constant; not particularly increasing or decreasing __ Unsure

Question 15: Business-related organizations tie business services and activities with an industry. Has there been creation of these business-related organizations in the community?

Question 16: What is the poverty rate? Please express the amount as a percentage.

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We predict an increase in businesses growth, development and relocation within the town over the next 5-10 years as we've recently annexed in 4 quarter sections of land designated for commercial/industrial development.

We have seen some increase in industrial/manufacturing businesses in the past 10 years, but have seen a decrease in commercial businesses in the same period.

We have in the past 9 months noticed close to 10 business closures, exit interviews were conducted and the top reason for closing was personal/family issues, along with competition, unsustainable business, high rent increases due to supply issues- landlords increasing rents because there are people willing to pay it. Also of note however, the spaces where those 10 businesses were located were leased very rapidly and therefore we only have a handful of properties sitting vacant for longer periods of time and even those tend to lease in 3-5 months generally. Poor hours of operation among independently owned businesses in the 21st Century where people [are more interested in] mall[s] is also contributing to unreliable downtown cores in particular. For example closing on Sunday and Monday and not hiring staff to work those days results in consumers shopping elsewhere- including big box store that are open late into the evening 7 days a week. We are finding that our businesses are not going into bankruptcy necessarily, but are closing because they are not making enough profit and for whatever reason consumers are not supporting them to the extent that they can be successful.

Very residential community, commercial is being pushed to develop.

[A] trend towards "big box" stores - a shift away from local [and] main street.

Steady resource related businesses, but loss of commercial such as convenience stores/service stations in outlying hamlets.

Small businesses come and go but we have seen quite a few big box and branded retailers come into the community since 2003, and as property has come available for development.

Restaurants and accommodation services cycle with [increase in the provinces’ economic activity]. Decrease tied to oil and gas [cyclicality].

Our community has great potential in terms available serviced land and property.

Our main street businesses are closing down. We are losing businesses slowly and new ones don’t seem to be able to survive for very long (less than one year).

Only one reported bankruptcy in known in 2011.

No bankruptcies to our knowledge, and 3 of our 40 local businesses have substantial growth over past 5 years

Question 16a: Any comments on bankruptcies or business growth/decline?

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Most of the economy is agriculture and the oil and gas sector. Both are very stable in our area.

Lower than average bankruptcies

Low bankruptcies slow but steady business growth

[We] lost two businesses so far this year three are scheduled to open before year end.

[Ours] is a stable area.

Increased personal bankruptcies and real estate foreclosures in the past 3 years.

Increase in home business.

Business is status quo. Farms are getting larger and are maintaining viability.

General business growth due to oil and gas related services, forestry and agriculture in some areas as well as silica sand mining.

Farms are becoming larger- buying out the smaller ones.

Cochrane set to go through one of the largest periods of economic expansion with large new tracks of commercial and mixed use land in the downtown core coming online after the remediation of a brownfield.

Businesses that have opened in recent years have been successful. Even though we are growing significantly still having problems getting new [businesses to open]. We [can] easily [accommodate] three banks but they continue to locate in the city nearby and our residents must drive to them.

Business is being kept alive by growing population of Mennonites.

Business growth has remained the same. No new businesses and entrepreneurs starting and no businesses closing.

Business decline because of owners retire and cannot sell their business.

Because of volatility of oil and gas, it is very up and down. Agriculture is growing in larger farms and ranches, but [business is not growing] for small communities [because] they go to the big centers to buy products. [Also] big machinery dealerships close down little centers because of economics and then that begin[s] the snowball effect on towns and counties.

Are seeing businesses growing due to increased oil/ gas industry.

Agricultural based economy

Farms are becoming larger- buying out the smaller ones

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Section 3: Maintain Civic Vitality In section 3, we asked for an assessment of the social aspects and sense of social organization or cohesion of the community’s residents.

Question 17: Many communities organize voluntary social groups to improve community bonding and improve local culture. These groups take many forms: from sports groups, such as a bowling club, hockey club, ice skating, or running events, there are also events celebrating holidays such as New Year’s eve, St. Patrick’s day, and so on, organizing events such as bake sales, car washes, and other important city/town milestones which are tools to engage the community. Are these groups or events available in your community?

___ There is a diverse set of activities and programs available in the community, satisfying a variety of interests

___ There are some activities and programs available, but they don’t meet a broad range of interests

__ These activities or celebrations are not available in the community

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Question 18: In your opinion, how important do you feel are these events/groups, on average to local citizens? Please check one.

__ Very important. These events are an important social cohesive element for the community, and community involvement is high.

__ Somewhat important. Though important, most social bonding is on an individual basis and not as community-oriented or structured.

__ Not very important. Though these events are organized, citizen turnout is generally low. ___ Unimportant. There are few events organized, and citizen interest is very low.

However, most citizens are involved in their own social circles, and participation is less structured.

__ Unimportant. I am unsure about the level of social cohesion in the community otherwise.

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Yes, always 26.2%

Yes, sometimes 64.4%

No, rarely 9.4%

Question 19: How often do most people participate, on average, in the meetings or activities in the past 12 months?

___ At least once a week ____ At least once a month ____ At least 3 or 4 times a year ____ At least once per year

Not at all.

Question 20: Do residents of the community gather on an informal basis, such as neighbourhood block parties, sporting activities, bingo nights, etc?

___ Yes, often ___ Yes, sometimes ___ No, residents rarely gather together informally

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Work groups important because big industries work round the clock shifts.

We have weekly bingo, monthly concert series, monthly luncheons.

We have a very strong community involvement by the Canadian Legion, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Order of the Royal Purple.

We are very fortunate to have many volunteer people in our community and they do a wonderful job.

We are looking at pursing more arts and culture groups in the community. Alberta Arts Days is a great way to "test the waters" and get a feel for interest out there. We would like to start quilting, scrapbooking and pottery classes. Mannville offers weekly bingo, figure skating, public skating, hockey practice nights and yoga. We have worked hard on expanding and engaging the citizens. Communities in Bloom also does family event with pumpkin carving and scarecrow contests.

Very good groups. However find many people like to participate but we have difficulty in recruiting for the organizing.

Varies in the county, being a large geographical area. Some areas have good participation others very little

They should work in conjunction with each other for the benefit of strengthening our community.

There is an existing community league which is having difficulty attracting new volunteers to whose organized activities where community participation is very low.

There is a very active community network in the area. The biggest problem is bringing in new people to help out with the activities that are available.

The municipality also serves the surrounding counties with these social groups. Lots of facilities/ recreational programs available here.

Sports groups very active. Ag society is the umbrella structure for organizing groups/ coordination and running of sports facilities.

Social groups are very effective in Consort and area.

Senior groups have a building where they frequent regularly.

The senior citizen group is very active.

Same people are involved in all of the organizations and the community is run by volunteers holding up most of the major facilities with little local government support.

Our community for several years had a block party grant where up to $200 was reimbursed to each block party that applied...so we do promote and encourage that. Sporting activities are huge in our community. We also have FCSS and Family and Community Resource Centre.

Question 20a: Please add any comments on social groups in your community. (A selection of answers provided below).

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Our "community" being the municipality is large and rural. We have a wide range of communities within the municipality therefore these questions are difficult to answer. Some communities have many functions and others have none. We do not have banks and gathering places in our municipality, however people go into the neighboring "urban" centers to do these activities.

Organizers of community events are not available.

Mostly church related.

Most people know their neighbours.

Many members of the community gather for coffee every morning and organise card games.

Many distinct religious groups that meet frequently. These religious groups typically don't mingle.

Keeps the community alive.

It seems that the same people tend to volunteer year after year. It’s difficult to get new people involved.

In the hockey arenas. Ball diamonds, shops, museums, libraries, curling rinks, senior centres, legions, cultural centres, firehalls,

In the five years I have lived here, I notice the trend is that the core group of volunteers (there are about 12-15 of us) meet on a very regular basis, do all the work for the events that are held and the average age of this core group is in the low 60s....in other words, the younger generation do not get involved.

Huge volunteer force here if they want something done it gets done, very involved community.

Hamlets tend to have organized associations.

Decline of volunteer's as volunteer base is 50-60+ range, youth not attracted to this style of volunteer organizations.

Community groups in outlying hamlets are seeing a decrease in interest. In hamlets closer to the major cities, communities tend to rely more on the city services rather than local community (hamlet and surrounding area).

Coffee shop gathering is important to some age groups/ sectors.

As the community grows it is harder to link people into these groups, but the city hosts every September, Neighbour Day to allow our social and community groups and opportunity to promote themselves.

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Yes, and they are used regularly 63.3%

Yes, but they are rarely used 17.3%

No 19.3%

Is having a place tied with having social gatherings? (Q20 and 21 together)

If you don't meet, is it because there are few places to do so? 7.4%

If you always meet, is it because there are many places to do so? 31.5%

Question 21: In your community are there several informal meeting places where people gather, such as coffee shops, local markets, parks, library, bookstore, hardware store, and such?

___ Yes, there are a variety of meeting places where people often meet ___ Yes, these places exist however aren’t used often for gatherings, or are not

appropriate for gatherings ___ No, there are few of these types of meeting places

Question 22: Relative to the provincial average is voter turnout in your community: low, average, high, or unsure.

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Increased 25.7%

Decreased 20.0%

Remained (approx.) the same 54.3%

There is a great deal of trust 40.0%

Some 52.4%

Very little 7.6%

Yes, a variety 75.3%

Yes, several but could use more 24.0%

No, do not frequently communicate with the public 0.7%

Attractive 89.3%

Neither attractive nor unattractive 9.3%

Unattractive 1.3%

Question 23: Has voter turnout increased or decreased in the last decade?

Question 24: Is there a good deal of trust among residents in the community, residents with local businesses and governments, between co-workers?

Question 25: Does your community use a variety of means to communicate with the public, such as newspapers, periodicals, internet, public station, posters?

Question 26: Attractiveness of a community can be many things, it can be aesthetically appealing, but can also appealing for other reasons, such as good neighbours, plenty of services, good community spirit, that makes it an attractive or appealing place to live for residents. Considering this, as a place to live, would you rate your community as:

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Attractive 80.7%

Neither attractive nor unattractive 15.3%

Unattractive 4.0%

Questions: Yes No Unsure

Is your community a healthy place to grow up in and raise children? 94.6% 2.0% 3.4%

Does your community have programs to develop business leaders? 30.0% 9.3% 60.7%

Does your community have programs to develop civic leaders? 20.7% 6.7% 72.7%

Does your community have programs to develop community leaders? 32.7% 11.3% 56.0%

Does your local government collaborate with other nearby municipalities, regions to promote economic development in the region at large? 91.3% 1.3% 7.3%

Question 27: As a place to work, would you rate your community as:

Questions 28-32:

28. Would you say that your community is a healthy place to grow up in and raise children? 29. Does your community have programs to develop business leaders? 30. Does your community have programs to develop civic leaders? 31. Does your community have programs to develop community leaders? 32.Does the local government collaborate with other nearby municipalities, regions, or areas to promote economic development in the region at large? Answer with: Yes/No/Unsure.

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Answers %

Yes, actively 30.0%

Yes, but using limited means 62.0%

No, rarely or never 8.0%

Very effective 30.0%

Somewhat effective 62.0%

Not very effective 6.7%

Very ineffective 1.3%

Question 33: How does local government engage citizens in decision-making processes in issues that affect the community? Please choose one options that describes the situation best.

___ The local government actively engages citizens in decision making ___ The local government engages citizens in decision making, though only through

limited means ___ The local government rarely or never engages citizens in decision making.

Question 34: How would you describe local government’s ability to effectively address issues important to the community?

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Question 36

Question 35: What are some of the barriers to local government in addressing issues important to local citizens in the community, if any? Please check all that apply.

____ Financial: though there is interest in addressing issues, there are serious financial constraints that prevent some of the implementation.

____ Local government is not actively engaged with interests of the community ____ Local government and community member’s interests are not well aligned ____ Local government is likely not well aware of which issues are important to

citizens ____ There is some apathy or resistance among citizens in identifying/addressing the

issues that are important to them ____ The local government does not have a lot of decision making authority for

problems in the region _____ Implementation of decisions and policies is difficult _____ No major barriers exist. _____ I’m unsure.

Barriers to Local Government in Addressing Issues Important to Local Citizens in the Community

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Very actively interested 42.7%

Interest, not actively 40.0%

Satisfaction, little motivation to change 8.7%

Would like improvement but there are capacity constraints 8.7%

Not very welcome 7.5%

Informally welcome 59.6%

Formally welcome 32.9%

Question 36: How would you rate local citizens’ interest in improving the community?

____ Very actively interested in promoting the needs of the community, and improving it for community members, and active steps are taken to improve the community, such as fundraisers to raise money when it is needed, or applying for grants.

____ Though there is interest to improve citizen’s life in the community, citizens are not active in actively pursuing these goals

____ Citizens remain satisfied with community life and there is little interest to change ____ Citizens would like to improve life in the community however there are capacity

constraints (financial, social) that make this difficult.

Question 37: How open is the community to new businesses or newcomers?

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Section 4: Subsist and Persist In this section the communities were asked to assess their services and access to these services.

Yes, through local stores and farmers markets 19.6%

Yes, through local stores 9.5%

Most goods available, but must drive to purchase more specialized items 39.2%

Often have to drive to obtain many items 16.2%

Often have to drive to obtain most items 15.5%

Locally 46.2%

Commute 53.8%

Question 38: Are most necessary items/goods available to be obtained in your community, or must one drive to another locale to buy them? Please choose one.

__ Most goods are available both through local stores and through farmers markets.

___ Most goods that we need are available to us from the local stores. ___ Much of what we need is available at local stores and farmers markets, however

we must drive to purchase some of the more specialized items. ___ Often have to drive to a different community to obtain many items. ___ Often have to drive to a different community to obtain almost all items.

Question 39: Do most citizens, on average, use these services, or do they prefer or choose to drive to another community to obtain them?

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Number of responses %

Availability of goods is generally inadequate 71 40.8%

Quality of goods is generally inadequate 33 19.0%

Only for specialized goods, or for more variety 70 40.2%

Yes, highly 40.9%

Yes, to some extent 46.3%

No 10.7%

Unsure/Maybe 2.0%

Yes, covers basic infrastructure requirements 79.2%

Yes, but does not cover everything 13.4%

No 7.4%

Question 40: If they do drive to another community, is it because: (Please check all that apply)

Question 41: Would you say your locality is a fairly self-provisioning society? For example, in cases of a natural emergency such as a large snowstorm, when roads are closed, transportation is blocked and freight delivery is disrupted, is your community able to cope with these disruptions and adapt, at least in the short term?

___ Yes, to a very high extent, we can thrive on community connections and supplies of goods

___ Yes, to some extent. ___ No, likely would be very challenging to cope. ___ Unsure/Maybe.

Question 42: Does your community have an improvement plan that covers basic infrastructure needs, for example the maintenance and construction of roads, recreational facilities and water lines?

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Most stay or return 1.4%

Some stay or return 58.1%

Most don't stay nor return 40.5%

Yes, there are a range of programs 43.2%

Yes, but more are needed 33.1%

Our community offers very few, if any at all 23.6%

Yes 89.9%

No 10.1%

Question 43: Do young people stay in or return to the community after completing formal education?

Question 44: Are there programs and services available to support families in the community such as counseling, support groups, education classes, parenting education, and such?

Question 45: Is there a public library available in your community?

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Yes No Unsure

Does your community have a universally shared understanding and vision? 55.1% 9.5% 35.4%

Does the vision describe a future state of affairs? 55.9% 11.2% 32.9%

Did key leaders and organizations participate in the visioning process? 68.5% 5.5% 26.0%

Does vision address economic considerations? 69.7% 6.9% 23.4%

Does the vision address social welfare considerations? 52.1% 12.5% 35.4%

Does the vision address environmental considerations? 59.7% 9.7% 30.6%

Does your community have an economic development plan? 55.0% 5.4% 39.6%

Does plan include the community’s shared vision? 48.8% 10.4% 40.8%

Does the economic development plan include an evaluation of the economic activity in the community? 46.3% 9.4% 44.3%

Is the plan embraced by most of the community’s members? 31.8% 20.9% 47.3%

Does your community have a sustainability plan? 78.0% 3.5% 18.4%

Question 46 & 47:

46. The next set of questions are about your community’s goals. Please answer Yes, No or Unsure to each

a) Does your community have a universally shared understanding and vision? b) Does the vision describe a future state of affairs? c) Have the key leaders and organizations participated in the visioning process? d) Does the vision address economic considerations? e) Does the vision address social welfare considerations? f) Does the vision address environmental considerations?

47. The next series of questions are about your community’s plans for economic development. Please answer Yes, No or Unsure to each

a) Does your community have an economic development plan? b) Does the plan include the community’s shared vision? c) Does the economic development plan include an evaluation of the economic activity in

the community? d) Is the plan embraced by most of the community’s members? e) Does your community have a sustainability plan?

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Types Responses %

High school vocational education program 83 37.6%

Post high school vocational or technical school 11 5.0%

Community college 27 12.2%

Private professional training program (such as photography studio, school for culinary arts, mechanic training, etc.) 14 6.3%

Apprenticeship or internship program 17 7.7%

Technical college 7 3.2%

University 13 5.9%

Other 16 7.2%

None/Unsure 33 14.9%

There is a wide range 23.6%

There are limited opportunities for learning 42.6%

There are few or no opportunities 33.8%

Question 48: Which of the following education or professional training programs are available to community residents?

Question 49: Are there educational opportunities available for adult education in the community?

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Section 5: Accessing state resources Section five gauges the ability of the communities’ to qualify and utilize government resources.

Type of Building Responses %

Schools 47 16.5%

Roads 127 44.6%

Community Hall 93 32.6%

Community recreational centres, such as a pool, gym, outdoor skating rink, and so on. 12 4.2%

Other, Please specify (See below for some specific examples) 6 2.1%

Examples of ‘Other’: Most expenditures had to do with water and waste-water treatment, facilities, plants and upgrades. A few selected responses are below.

Yes 96.7%

No 1.3%

Unsure 2.0%

Water/sewer systems/ solid waste infrastructure/ water treatment plant upgrade/ wastewater facilities/ water reservoir

Sidewalks

Water Treatment Plant, Eco Centre

Land development

Water & Sewer Supply, Collection & Distribution

Utilities infrastructure

Transit, urgent care facility

Question 50: In the past, has your community been successful in receiving public funding for infrastructure development (such as schools, roads, community recreation centre, and the like? Answer with: Yes / No / Unsure

Question 51: If the answer to the above was yes, what was built using these funds? Please check all that apply.

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This question only had 8 responses. N/A

Is your region close to or does it have

public lands? If yes, are the land rights mostly local interests? (Versus non-local interests)

Yes 65.0% 50.5%

No 35.0% 49.5%

Trails

Sewage & Water Treatment, Museum, Cultural Centre

School playground, seniors assisted living facility

Regional Water Systems

Regional Water Line, Lift Station Upgrade, Water and Sewer Main Lines and Services, Sidewalks

Regional water line

RCMP station, water/ sewer infrastructure

purchased a PW building, built road and paved village- connected to Camrose water

Parks and municipal vehicles

Maintenance/ improvements to existing facilities and infrastructure

Fire Halls, Public Works Buildings

Cultural facilities

Question 52: If your community has not received funds for infrastructure development, can you specify some of the reasons why?

Question 53 & 54:

53. Is your region close to or does it have public lands? Yes or No. 54.If the answer to the above was yes, are the land rights mostly local interests or non-local interests? For example in the case of an oil well or forest, are the development rights owned by the community or by a company outside of the community?

___ Local: owned by the people of the community ___ Not local: owned by an outside organization, outside of the community.

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Very involved 14.4%

Somewhat involved 55.8%

Fairly involved 4.8%

Not very involved 25.0%

Yes 80.6%

No 19.4%

Question 55: If a private organization is developing lands in your region, are they interconnected to your community in terms of labour force, or funding certain community events, or any other involvement?

Question 56: Are they involved in the local economy? Involvement can mean employing local workers, funding community events, donating to local charities.

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Section 6: Link to global economy The next few questions link the connectedness of the community’s economy to the global economy.

Mostly serve our local community 39.6%

Serve ours and outside communities 51.8%

Unsure 8.6%

Very sensitive 20.5%

Somewhat 55.5%

Not very sensitive 24.0%

Question 57: If there are business services available in your community, establishments such as banks, insurance companies, parcel and shipping, freight services, transportation services, do they predominantly serve your local community?

Question 58: How sensitive would you say your community is to the fluctuation of the global market?

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Section 7: Maintain ecological integrity The next section asks questions about the communities’ environmental practices and/or plans.

Yes 29.7%

Yes, but it is not active 7.4%

There is no committee 62.8%

Yes and they have been effective 39.2%

Yes but they have not been effective 18.2%

No measures have been taken 42.7%

Yes 83.0%

No 4.8%

Unsure 12.2%

Question 59: Does your community have a committee or organization that effectively addresses land protection or natural resource issues?

Question 60: Has your community implemented measures to protect surface and groundwater resources for residents, such as specified zones for drinking water protection, wetland protection measures, or conservation elements?

Question 61: Does your community use zoning or other measures to limit commercial development impact on the environment, local infrastructure, traffic, businesses, and pedestrian routes? Answer: Yes/No/Unsure.

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Incentives Responses %

Conservation easements 13 9.2%

Property tax or tax incentives 2 1.4%

Purchase of these vital lands in order to protect them 8 5.6%

Other 8 5.6%

Total responses 142

Yes 98.7%

No 1.3%

Type Responses %

Public park 147 28.2%

Playground 139 26.7%

Walking paths 98 18.8%

Interpretive nature walks 44 8.4%

Pond, river, lake or streams 93 17.9%

Question 62: Does your community provide incentives to protect vital farmland, productive woodland? If so, identify which:

Question 63: Does your community have any parks or public green areas?

Question 64. If the answer to the above question was yes, can you specify what kind of areas? Please check all that apply.

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Yes

Does your community have a recycling facility? 98.7%

Does your community have a land use plan, which includes outlines for zoning? 95.6%

Does the plan have conditions for expanding commercial and industrial sites? 85.5%

Does the plan identify areas where development would be harmful and inappropriate? 75.0%

Yes No

Is there strong public support for economic growth? 65.7% 20.4%

Is the labour force sufficient to support economic growth? 29.6% 27.8%

Yes, variety of opportunities are available 53.0%

Some opportunities available, though they do not meet all of residents needs

41.6%

There are none or few recreational options in the community 5.4%

Question 65-66 a) and b):

65. Does your community have a recycling facility? Yes/No 66. Does your community have a land use plan, which includes outlines for zoning?

a) Does the plan have conditions for expanding commercial and industrial sites? b) Does the land use plan identify areas where development would be harmful and

inappropriate?

Question 67 & 68:

67. Is there a strong public support for economic growth? 68. Is the labour force sufficient to support economic growth?

Question 69: Are there a variety of recreational options to community residents of all ages? For example, hiking/walking paths, gymnasiums, courts, ball fields, swimming lake, ice skating.

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Section 8: Maintain health The next, and final set of questions rates the health of the residents in the community.

Excellent 21.8%

Good 41.0%

Fair 18.6%

Poor 18.6%

Extremely stressful 2.1%

Quite a bit stressful 6.8%

A bit stressful 39.0%

Not very stressful 44.5%

Not at all stressful 7.5%

Type Responses %

Economic stress: low job availability 20 23.5%

High crime 5 5.9%

Community does not feel “cohesive” 24 28.2%

Climate 9 10.6%

Access to community services is insufficient 12 14.1%

Insufficient infrastructure. For example, roads. 15 17.6%

Question 70: How would you rate the availability of health care services in your community?

Question 71: Is daily life in the community:

Question 72: If you answered that life in the community is stressful, can you identify some of the reason for this? Please check all that apply.

Continued on next page

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What are some of the other reasons for the stress?

Workforce shortages

There are few jobs for students in the summer and overall most people have to travel to Grande Prairie for employment. We do need to continually upgrade and increase our roads.

Subject to global economy- high and low

Shift work conflicts with family life

New growth in technology

Lots of commuters

High Business performance expectations

Distances required for travel, work and day to day business

Concern for future health care aging population

Apathetic participation

Air and Rail Service

Very strong 32.0%

Somewhat strong 52.7%

Somewhat weak 12.0%

Very weak 3.3%

Yes 41.2%

No 46.6%

Unsure 12.2%

Question 73: How would you describe the general sense of belonging that people feel to the community?

Question 74: Are citizens concerned about improving health, and if so, in the past 12 months are there indicators citizens are taking steps to improving health, such as losing weight, quitting smoking, or increased exercise?

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Excellent 9.5%

Good 43.9%

Fair 36.5%

Poor 10.1%

Service Responses %

Hospital/Emergency care 137 19.7%

Health clinic 143 20.5%

Rehabilitation clinic 59 8.5%

Dentist office 78 11.2%

Optometrist (eye care) 107 15.4%

Mental health facility 32 4.6%

Alternative medicine, such as chiropractic or acupuncture 98 14.1%

Substance abuse centre 42 6.0%

Yes 64.7%

No 19.6%

Unsure 16.2%

Question 75: How would you rate the accessibility of your community to those in wheelchairs, or otherwise mobility impaired?

Question 76: Which of the following health care services are available in your community (or in close proximity to your community, within 50 kilometers).

Question 77: Do local institutions and organizations, or both, support events and initiatives that aim to improve the health of local residents? For example, charity walks, educations outreach activities, wellness initiatives. Answer Yes/No.

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Conclusions

The graph below visually displays the information from the table above. From it, we can see that the leadership indicator has the highest reported levels of capacity for communities. Somewhat surprisingly, environmental capacity is next highest, followed by economic, health, and social as the lowest capacity levels. The standard deviations for the variables also follow the same order, with leadership, though the highest capacity has the highest standard deviation, followed by environmental and so on. What is interesting is that each community will have some minimum level of ‘economic’ capacity, since the lowest capacity ‘score’ for that category is not zero, unlike for the other categories. The minimum reported scores for all other variables is zero for some communities, meaning that there are communities that report a zero baseline score for environmental, leadership, social and health capacity areas.

Y_economic Y_social Y_leadership Y_environmental Y_health

Mean 3.51 1.91 5.99 3.73 1.80

Max 5 3 11 6 4

Min 1 0 0 0 0

Standard Deviation 1.09 0.83 3.51 1.56 1.10

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Due to the nature of the evaluation, each capacity category has a different scale (as can be seen above: for example, the ‘economic’ category has a scale of 0-5, whereas ‘leadership’ is on a scale of 0-11). In order to better express the differences between the capacity categories, we have used the mean and max scores to create percentages. It can be seen that the province-wide focus is on the economic category, and there is the least focus on the health category.

Economic Social Leadership Environmental Health Percentage 70.2% 63.67% 54.45% 62.16% 45%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

Percentage

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Proportional values

To get a better sense of comparison between different capacity categories, the graph below shows mean and standard deviation as a proportion of the total score for that category. Hence the graph reveals which category has the actual higher capacity, when compared across different capacity domains. The graph reveals that economic indicators are the strongest, with the highest mean and lowest proportional standard deviation. This was followed closely by social and environmental indicators. Leadership was next, followed by health, which was the lowest capacity indicator. This shows that capacity in the economic domain is highest in Alberta, followed by social and environmental, and leadership and health as having lower capacity. Given the presence of the oil industry and due to strong economic success due to the oil industry, leading to low diversity, it is not a surprise that economic capacity is greatest. It is encouraging that leadership and environmental indicators are also highly ranked.

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We can also compare the means as a proportion of total capacity mean, giving the following table and bar graph:

Economic Social Leadership Environmental Health Total Capacity

Mean 3.51 1.91 5.99 3.73 1.80 15.79

Max 5 3 11 6 4 26

Min 1 0 0 0 0 4

Standard Deviation 1.09 0.83 3.51 1.56 1.10 5.54

Proportional Mean 22.2% 12.1% 37.9% 23.6% 11.4%

Proportional Standard Deviation 19.7% 15.0% 63.3% 28.1% 19.9%

Note: Proportional values are a proportion of the total capacity score