years and cycles of, among other sources, the General Social Survey, the Canadian Community Health Survey, the Labour Force Survey, the Canadian Survey of Giving, Volunteering, and Participating, the Canadian Election Surveys, and Environment Canada's Environmental indicators. For indicators where data are unavailable from Statistics Canada, other credible data sources are used such as the World Wildlife Fund's Living Planet Index (as part of the Environment domain), and the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis's highly regarded Shelter Consumption Affordability Ratio (SCAR Index) (included in the Living Standards domain). Creating the composite index To create comparable index values from the raw data, the baseline values for the 64 indicators were set at 100 for 1994 as the first step in standardisation and then percentage change in each indicator was calculated for each subsequent year. Improvement or deterioration in the measure from the baseline year is indicated by the percentage changes over the years. The CIW is a composite of the mean scores for each domain. In other words, for a given year, the mean composite scores of the eight domains are summed and then divided by eight, which generates an overall measure of wellbeing for Canadians. The various measures can be described at three levels. First, the composite index provides a holistic measure that is easily comparable to GDP. Second, the eight domain scores present a "dashboard" approach, which allows a snapshot of the relative status of diverse aspects of wellbeing. At the third level, the individual indicators contribute a more nuanced understanding of how specific aspects of wellbeing in each domain vary according to changes in social trends and policy over time. Uses of the CIW framework The Canadian Index of Wellbeing conceptual framework provides a platform for policy considerations that can be used by various levels of government or within other organisations to facilitate and promote wellbeing. The holistic approach of using eight domains and an overall composite index provides an effective way to identify areas where further efforts might be required to enhance wellbeing. For example, the CIW can be disaggregated to show the changes in the wellbeing of populations at different geographical scales, from provincial to regional and the community level, or for different subgroups within the population. This allows researchers, policy makers, and citizens greater insight into the ways in which subpopulations differ with respect to wellbeing and to what extent. The composite index delivers information