Selected indicators of social determinants of health
Introduction
Canada is one of the healthiest countries in the world. Yet some people are healthier and have more opportunities to lead a healthy life.
That's because health is more than the absence of disease. Health also includes the conditions where people live, work, and play. This group of factors, called the Social Determinants of Health, include:
- Income and social status
- Employment and working conditions
- Education and literacy
- Childhood experiences
- Physical environments
- Social supports, and coping skills
- Healthy behaviours
- Access to health services
- Biology and genetic endowment
- Gender
- Culture
- Race / Racism
Below are local data related to some of the Social Determinants of Health in the Porcupine Health Unit (PHU) region.
Selected indicators of social determinants of health, PHU and Ontario, 2016 & 2021
| 2016 | 2021 | |||
| Indicator | PHU | ON | PHU | ON |
| Unemployment rate (%) | 9.6 | 7.4 | 9.3 | 12.2 |
| Education (%) | ||||
| Less than high school | 28.9 | 17.5 | 24.6 | 15.3 |
| High school | 25.5 | 27.4 | 28.8 | 27.2 |
| Apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma | 9.8 | 6.0 | 8.2 | 5.0 |
| College, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma | 24.4 | 20.8 | 26.1 | 20.3 |
| University certificate or diploma below bachelor level | 1.5 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 2.3 |
| University certificate; diploma or degree at bachelor level or above | 9.9 | 26.0 | 11.0 | 29.9 |
| Lone parent families (%) | 17.2 | 17.1 | 18.3 | 17.1 |
| Home ownership rate (%) | 67.2 | 69.7 | 67.3 | 68.4 |
| Average monthly shelter costs for owned dwellings ($) | 1,077 | 1,463 | 1,112 | 1,700 |
| Households spending 30% or more of income on shelter costs (%) | 19.4 | 27.7 | 14.3 | 24.2 |
| Prevalence of low income based on the Low-income cut-offs, after tax (LICO-AT) (%)* | ||||
| Both sexes | 8.0 | 11.1 | 8.4 | 13.8 |
| Males | 6.9 | 10.5 | 8.4 | 13.9 |
| Females | 9.2 | 11.6 | 8.2 | 13.4 |
| Children in low income (0 to 17 years) (%) | ||||
| Both sexes | 10.8 | 13.7 | 3.0 | 4.7 |
| Males | 9.9 | 13.7 | 3.1 | 4.7 |
| Females | 11.7 | 13.8 | 2.9 | 4.6 |
* 2021 Data is preliminary and may change due to corrections or adjustments
Source:
Statistics Canada. 2023. (table). Census Profile. 2021 Census of Population. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2021001. Ottawa. Released March 29, 2023.
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E (accessed April 6, 2023).
Food security, PHU and Ontario, 2021–2022
| Indicator | PHU | ON |
| Food insecure, household level (%) | 18.8^ | 17.4 |
| Food insecure, individual level (%) | 16.3^ | 17.7 |
| Food secure, household level (%) | 81.2 | 82.6 |
| Food secure, individual level (%) | 83.7 | 82.3 |
^ Interpret with caution due to small sample size
Source: Public Health Ontario, Household Food Insecurity Snapshot, extracted March, 2024