The Edmonton Community Foundation has released its annual Vital Signs report.
The annual report is conducted to measure how Edmonton is doing. This year’s study focused on issues impacting women.
READ MORE: Pets outnumber kids and nine other facts from 2016 Edmonton Vital Signs report
Here are some the findings in the report:
Crime
The report shows Edmonton’s police-reported sexual assault rate per 100,000 people was 72, which was the second highest in Canada, with Winnipeg having the highest rate. The rate in Canada was 58 per 100,000.
“We definitely don’t want that to be our standard,” Edmonton Community Foundation communication advisor Elizabeth Bonkink said. “We’re doing this to benchmark it, set the bar and then see what we can do to get rid of that number.”
Bonkink believes education is a component in lowering the rate in Edmonton.
“It is the nature of having a younger population, things tend to happen. I think we need some more education to change that needle,” she said.
The number of police-reported sexual assaults in 2016 increased by 13 per cent, and there were 63 more reported incidents during the first seven months of 2017 compared with the same period the previous year.
READ MORE: Second-worst city in Canada to be a woman is Edmonton: report
Income
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When it comes to income, 35,000 of the 466,655 women in Edmonton are earning $100,000 or more annually, the report shows, compared with 95,890 men in the city who are earning at least $100,000 per year.
The Vital Signs report indicates there are 125,980 Edmonton women earning between $50,000 and $99,999, compared with 158,670 men in the same category.
There are 263,800 women and 185,350 men earning between $10,100 and $49,999, the report shows.
The report states women working full-time in Canada still earned $0.74 for every dollar that full-time male workers made. Vital Signs suggests “encouraging women to study trades will help them access these better wages.”
READ MORE: Challenging the Wage Gap — Who can help improve gender equality in Canada?
Education
The report indicates slightly more women than men have a post-secondary education; 215,500 compared to 212,860.
The statistics include 109,455 women and 95,280 men hold a university diploma, certificate or bachelor’s degree; while 77,590 women compared with 52,270 men hold college, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma.
READ MORE: Here’s what Canadian women would be making in these jobs if they were men
Transgender Youth
Vital Signs also provides details about the experiences of 114 younger (14-18 years) and older (19-25 years) trans youth living in Alberta.
The research found 75 per cent of the youth under 18 years old report discrimination because of their gender, 80 per cent of trans youth reported their family didn’t understand them and nearly 70 per cent of trans youth reported experiences of sexual harassment.
READ MORE: Where are the best and worst cities for women to live in Canada?
A 2017 Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study ranked Edmonton 18th among Canada’s 25 biggest metropolitan areas for women to live. Senior researcher Kate McInturff said the study “looked at an individual city and it asked: do men and women have equal access to jobs, to pay, to health, and social services, to education and so on.”
“We need to pay more attention to the 50 per cent of our population and making it feel safe for them and enabling them to thrive,” Bonkink said.
In 2015, Edmonton was ranked the second-worst city to live for women, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
2018 Vital Signs Report by Anonymous 7cIsCCn on Scribd
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