The Canadian indexes of social resilience and vulnerability were created to provide area-based information on resilience and vulnerability to natural hazards and disasters across Canada. Specifically, the Canadian Index of Social Resilience (CISR) aims to reflect a community’s ability to respond to and recover from natural hazards. In contrast, the Canadian Index of Social Vulnerability (CISV) aims to reflect the social vulnerability of an area based on factors that have the potential to amplify the impact of disasters on populations.
Before the CISR and CISV were built, indicator frameworks were developed for social resilience and social vulnerability, respectively. Indicators were selected because of their demonstrated association with social resilience or social vulnerability. The selection was informed by the theoretical and research literature, existing indexes, availability of relevant data and engagement with subject-matter experts.
The CISR and the CISV were created using data from Dissemination areas (DAs) across the country. The selected indicators were included in a principal component analysis, which is a statistical technique that allows a large number of indicators to be collapsed into a smaller number of interpretable components. Based on the results of the principal component analysis, DA-level scores were calculated for each index. Higher CISR scores correspond to DAs that are more resilient and higher CISV scores correspond to DAs that are more vulnerable.
These indexes can be used to better understand areas which may experience the largest disproportional social impacts from natural hazards.