Regional Analysis of Human Development in Canada

• Main Author: Mohant, Srimanta
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Scholarship@Western 1999
• Subjects: Taxonomic method; human development; Canada; Provinces; Sociology; Population Studies; British Columbia; Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/pscpapers/vol13/iss9/1; https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/context/pscpapers/article/1113/viewcontent/dp99_9.pdf

Regional imbalances in development occur in most societies. This study is an example of comparing human development across the provinces of Canada. The study has four directions of emphasis: education, economy, health, and society. In this study seventeen variables are investigated, which reflect the various dimensions of human development. These variables are aggregate in nature. Using the taxonomic method, the variations among the provinces are examined. The analysis reveals that British Columbia has the highest scores and Newfoundland has the lowest scores on the human development index. The results also show the aspects of human development that are not satisfactory in Canada relate especially to problems in the health care system. The research methodology involves a novel statistical application. The method facilitates the ranking, classification and comparison of the provinces by levels of human development. This study is useful in identifying indicators of spatial imbalances in development with a view to setting up targets in allocating scarce resources. It is hoped that this study will provide new direction for human development in Canada.