To build an understanding of the assets, opportunities, and challenges in Fort St. John, a first step is to complete a profile of the community. By highlighting demographic and socio-economic trends, the community profile can provide insights into the dynamics of the population and local economy. The community profile can also be used as a baseline and reference point for future planning initiatives.
Data for the community profile are primarily collected from Statistics Canada. Data are also collected from provincial agencies such as BC Stats, BC Ministry of Education, and BC’s Provincial Health Services Authority. Unless otherwise noted, data refer to the Fort St. John Census Subdivision (CSD). Since the community profile draws primarily from census data produced by Statistics Canada, it should be noted that, in 2011, the mandatory long-form census was temporarily replaced by the voluntary National Household Survey (NHS). The change to a voluntary survey had the effect of decreasing the response rate as compared to previous censuses. In anticipation of this decrease, Statistics Canada took several precautions to mitigate the risks to the NHS data quality.3 Further, the NHS non-response rate for the City of Fort St. John was 16.8%. This is low when compared with the NHS non-response rates for BC (26.1%) and Canada (31.4%). As Statistics Canada maintains that NHS data is reliable and the non-response rate in Fort St. John was relatively low, NHS data is used in this profile.