Manitoba Index of Wellbeing report

The Manitoba Index of Wellbeing (MIW) is a comprehensive and holistic measure of the wellbeing of Manitobans.

This evidence-based report is the first of its kind to quantify the wellbeing of our province from 1994 to 2020 and provides a picture of how Manitobans are doing over this period in eight essential areas:

Living standards
Time use
Democratic engagement
Community vitality
Environment
Healthy populations
Education
Leisure and culture

These domains examine life satisfaction based on both objective and subjective measures, such as income, employment, social support and mental health.

By tracking changes in wellbeing over time, the MIW can help both policymakers and citizens identify areas of strength, but also opportunities for improvement. It can be used to develop policies and programs that support the wellbeing of all Manitobans.

The MIW was commissioned by Manitoba Blue Cross through the University of Waterloo to develop an evidence-based report on the holistic wellbeing of Manitobans. It is based on the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW), a national initiative aimed at measuring and reporting on the overall wellbeing of Canadians. The CIW was developed in the 2000s to supplement traditional economic measures, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), to fully capture the overall wellbeing of individuals and communities.

Read the report

The full report provides an overview of how Manitobans are really doing and explores the strengths and areas of improvement in the province.

The technical report contains additional data and is ideal for those who want to more thoroughly examine the results that were used to form the full report.

The abstract/summary report is a brief outline of the full report and summarizes the main findings. It is a helpful document to use for reference purposes or to gain a general understanding.

Expert insights

Scroll down to watch weekly videos of community experts talking about each domain and the wellbeing of Manitobans.

Message from Benjamin Graham, President and CEO of Manitoba Blue Cross and Dr. Bryan Smale, Director of Canadian Index of Wellbeing

Insights from community experts