Tracking the SDGs in Canadian Cities: SDG 3

The document tracks health and well-being indicators for Canadian cities against UN SDG 3 targets. It finds significant progress in neonatal mortality, chronic disease mortality, smoking rates, and health worker density. However, it notes rising trends in heavy drinking and HIV mortality in specific cities like Regina and Saskatoon, and an overall national increase in suicide and self-inflicted injury mortality, despite declines in several major cities.

• Canada has achieved the SDG target for neonatal mortality, with a national average of 5.5 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2006, well below the target threshold of 12 per 1,000 live births. Within cities, Ottawa had the lowest proportion (3.6 deaths per 1,000 live births) and Winnipeg the highest (7.4 deaths per 1,000 live births).
• HIV mortality rates generally decreased nationally between 2001 and 2011, falling from 1.4 to 0.9 deaths per 100,000 people. However, Regina and Saskatoon experienced increases, recording 3.1 and 3.7 deaths per 100,000 people respectively in 2011.
• Chronic disease mortality rates decreased by 6.8 per cent nationally between 2000/12 and 2010/12. Moncton saw the most significant decline (17.1 per cent), while Quebec City was the only city to see an increase (0.5 per cent). Victoria had the highest rate in 2010/12 at 603.1 deaths per 100,000 people.
• While national suicide and self-inflicted injury mortality rates rose 66.7 per cent between 2000/02 and 2010/12, several cities saw declines, including Quebec City (31.4 per cent), Calgary (17.5 per cent), and Montreal (14.6 per cent). Conversely, rates increased in Moncton, Toronto, Regina, Saskatoon, and Victoria.
• Heavy drinking rates increased nationally by 7.8 per cent between 2003 and 2014. Significant increases were recorded in Victoria (49.6 per cent), Vancouver (26.1 per cent), Quebec City (24.1 per cent), and Toronto (22.8 per cent), while Halifax and Winnipeg saw decreases.
• Traffic violations causing death decreased nationally from 1.05 per 100,000 people in 2000 to 0.49 in 2016. Most cities followed this trend, but rates increased in Moncton, Winnipeg, and Saskatoon, with Saskatoon recording the highest increase to 1.87 violations per 100,000 people in 2016.
• Smoking rates decreased nationally by 4.9 per cent between 2003 and 2014. Saskatoon saw the largest drop (44.6 per cent), while Halifax was the only city to see an increase (11.9 per cent). In 2014, Regina had the highest smoking rate (22.5 per cent) and Victoria the lowest (13.2 per cent).
• Health worker density increased across all tracked Canadian cities between 2000 and 2015, with the national average rising from 188 to 228 physicians per 100,000 people. Vancouver had the highest density (455 physicians per 100,000) and Regina the lowest (210 physicians per 100,000) in 2015.

APA

Temmer, J. (2017). Tracking the SDGs in Canadian Cities: SDG 3. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tracking-sdgs-canadian-cities-sdg-3.pdf

Chicago

Temmer, Jennifer. Tracking the SDGs in Canadian Cities: SDG 3. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2017. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tracking-sdgs-canadian-cities-sdg-3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Temmer |first1=Jennifer |title=Tracking the SDGs in Canadian Cities: SDG 3 |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=November 2017 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tracking-sdgs-canadian-cities-sdg-3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{temmer2017tracking, author = {Temmer, Jennifer}, title = {{Tracking the SDGs in Canadian Cities: SDG 3}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2017}, month = nov, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tracking-sdgs-canadian-cities-sdg-3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }