Social Services Survey

The strength and vitality of a community is not just dependent on having good roads, sewers and water services, or just a healthy environment, or just a strong economy, or just recreational services. It is also dependent on the community’s diverse social and cultural needs being addressed. This includes social services to help residents, cultural services to enrich resident’s lives, social events, celebrations, and festivals to develop and maintain a positive community experience and satisfaction with the community.

The social and economic well being of a community are mutually interdependent. For example, to grow businesses, new workers must be recruited to live in Prince Rupert. New workers and their families will assess the City’s social services to determine if they meet their needs. An example of this would be childcare. If a new family needs childcare while the parents are working and if there is no childcare available, that prospective worker and his family may forego an employment opportunity.

Similar to childcare, the availability of other social and cultural services (including health care, education, and public safety) may impact a prospective new worker’s decision to move to and stay in Prince Rupert. These services are also important supports for existing residents and the diverse needs they have. In addition to social services being an attractor for new workers and residents, they also contribute to the local economy. It is estimated that the social service sector in Prince Rupert contributes over $50 million annually into the local economy.

While cities are not typically providers of social services, they can play an important role in ensuring they are provided. In recognition of the need for the demand for social services to be in balance with supply, the City could assess and monitor significant social and cultural service gaps and work to close those gaps working with industry and other government and non-government organizations. To achieve this, the following are potential policy options. Please indicate your agreement or disagreement with each option: