For two decades, Victoria’s Vital Signs has helped our community understand itself by tracking what matters. It highlights emerging issues and connects people and resources to where they’re needed most.
This year, the Victoria Foundation is taking a thoughtful approach to partner with the Roy Group and ask: what does Vital Signs need to become for the next 20 years?
Reimagining a trusted community resource
Since 2006, Victoria’s Vital Signs has served as an annual “community checkup,” drawing on local data and an annual citizen survey to paint a picture of wellbeing across the region. From housing and food security to the economy and environment, the program has helped shape conversations and guiding action.
Its impact is tangible. Insights from past reports have informed collaborative efforts on issues like food security. Vital Signs helped catalyze initiatives such as the Capital Region Food Distribution Centre, among other impacts.
But communities evolve, data changes and the way people engage with information continues to shift.
After so many years, the Foundation is reimagining Vital Signs to ensure it remains relevant, accessible and impactful. The Foundation seeks to unlock new possibilities for how community knowledge can be shared and mobilized.
What we’ve heard so far
This reimagining is grounded in community voices.
In May 2026, the Foundation brought together residents, partners and community leaders for a collaborative engagement session. The energy in the room was inspiring. There were lively discussions, thoughtful questions and valuable insights. Participants took part in a “Future Backwards” exercise, working together to create storyboard-style visions of what Vital Signs could become to best serve the region.
This session is part of a broader process that includes engagement with a core group of leaders, as well as Foundation staff and community-wide input. Together, these conversations are helping surface key themes about accessibility, storytelling and how data can better inspire action.
At its heart, the process reflects Vital Signs’ original purpose: to bring people together around shared knowledge and priorities, and to support evidence-based solutions that improve quality of life.
Looking ahead
Over the coming months, the Victoria Foundation will synthesize what’s been heard and translate it into a refreshed approach. It will re-think not just the content of Vital Signs, but how it is experienced, shared and used.
A new kind of Vital Signs is expected to launch in 2027, with a renewed focus on meaningful storytelling, deeper community engagement and stronger alignment with the actions that shape our region’s future.
As always, this work belongs to the community. We invite you to reflect on where we’ve been, envision where we’re going and shape a tool that continues to inform, connect and inspire for years to come.
For questions about our reimagining Vital Signs process, email us [email protected], or call us at 250-381-5532.