Health Fact Sheets
Life satisfaction, 2017

In 2017, 51.2% of Canadians aged 12 and older reported that they were satisfied with life with an additional 41.7% reporting that they were very satisfied (Chart 1).^Note Males were more likely to report being dissatisfied than females (2.4%, 1.9%), while the distribution did not differ by sex among the other four categories.^Note The proportion of people who reported being satisfied or very satisfied in 2017 (92.9%) has remained stable since 2015 (93.1%).

Data table for Chart 1



Data table for chart 1
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart 1 Males, Lower 95% confidence interval, Upper 95% confidence interval and Females, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

	Males	Lower 95% confidence interval	Upper 95% confidence interval	Females	Lower 95% confidence interval	Upper 95% confidence interval
	percent			percent
Very Satisfied	41.3	40.3	42.2	42.0	41.1	42.9
Satisfied	51.5	50.6	52.5	50.9	50.0	51.9
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied	4.2	3.9	4.6	4.6	4.2	5.1
Dissatisfied	2.4	2.1	2.7	1.9	1.6	2.1
Very Dissatisfied	0.6	0.4	0.7	0.5	0.4	0.6
Source: Canadian Community Health Survey, 2017.

Males and females aged 12 to 17 were the most likely to report being satisfied or very satisfied with life (98.4% of males and 97.3% of females). Although more than 9 out of 10 females report a high level of satisfaction, this proportion decreases with age. Among females, life satisfaction decreased between each age group from age 12 to 64. There was a similar decrease for males, although there was no difference between the 18 to 34 and 35 to 49 age groups (Chart 2).

Data table for Chart 2



Data table for chart 2
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart 2 Males, Lower 95% confidence interval, Upper 95% confidence interval and Females, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

	Males	Lower 95% confidence interval	Upper 95% confidence interval	Females	Lower 95% confidence interval	Upper 95% confidence interval
	percent			percent
Total (12 years and older)	92.8	92.3	93.3	93.0	92.5	93.4
12 to 17 years	98.4	97.7	99.1	97.3	96.2	98.4
18 to 34 years	94.7	93.7	95.6	95.3	94.5	96.0
35 to 49 years	93.5	92.6	94.5	93.2	92.2	94.2
50 to 64 years	90.4	89.2	91.6	90.9	89.7	92.1
65 years and older	89.8	88.6	91.0	90.6	89.6	91.6
Note: Population aged 12 and older who reported being satisfied or very satisfied with their life in general. Source: Canadian Community Health Survey, 2017.

Research has shown that people who have good mental and physical health are more likely to be satisfied with life.^Note Canadians who reported that their overall health was excellent or very good were most likely to be satisfied or very satisfied with their lives (98.1%). In contrast, those who reported that their health was fair or poor were more likely to be dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their life (17.5%, Chart 3).

Data table for Chart 3



Data table for chart 3
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart 3 Excellent/very good health
, Good health and Fair/poor health
, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

	Excellent/very good health	Good health	Fair/poor health
	percent
Very satisfied or satisfied with life	98.1	92.0	63.6
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied	1.4	6.0	18.8
Very dissatisfied or dissatisfied with life	0.6	1.9	17.5
Note: Perceived health refers to a person’s health in general — not only the absence of disease or injury, but also physical, mental and social well-being. Source: Canadian Community Health Survey, 2017.

Life satisfaction and healthy behaviours

Life satisfaction was greater for those who reported various healthy behaviours such as being physically active and not smoking.

Among adults and youth, those who were physically active according to the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines^Note were more likely to report being satisfied or very satisfied with life (94.3% of adults, 99.2% of youth) compared to those who reported no activity or were physically active below the recommended guidelines (90.1% of adults, 97.4% of youth).

Canadians were more likely to report being satisfied or very satisfied with life when they reported less than 4 hours of screen time (94.5%) compared to those who reported 4 to 6 hours (91.4%) or 6 or more hours (83.2%).^Note

Among current smokers, reported life satisfaction was lower than nonsmokers. Those who reported smoking either daily or occasionally were less likely to report being satisfied or very satisfied with life (86.9%) compared to nonsmokers (94.1%).

Life satisfaction by geography

The proportion of residents who were satisfied or very satisfied with life was lower than the national average (92.9%) in:

• Nova Scotia (91.1%)
• British Columbia (91.8%)

The proportion of residents who were satisfied or very satisfied with life was higher than the national average in Quebec (94.0%).

Life satisfaction was in line with the national average in all other provinces. Canadians residing in rural areas were more likely to report being satisfied or very satisfied with their life (93.9%) compared to those living in urban settings (92.7%).