New Brunswick tops the Happiness Poll

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Happiness poll finds bliss in New Brunswick

Nova Scotia ranks dead last on nationwide survey on satisfaction

Last Updated: Thursday, November 30, 2006 | 1:44 PM AT

CBC News

Feeling blue? Try moving to New Brunswick, where people rate themselves among the most blissful in the country, according to a new survey.

Quebec polling company L'Observateur partnered with communications consultants Chalifour to develop the survey, which scored indicators of contentment out of a possible 10, including health, family and friends, work, spirituality and sex. The results were released Wednesday.

The company surveyed 2,300 Canadians during the month of October, and ranked the provinces individually. The results are considered accurate within a margin of 2.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

New Brunswick and the rest of the Atlantic provinces — excluding Nova Scotia — scored highest in terms of personal contentment. New Brunswick scored with 78.6 out of 100 as the happiest in the country, but just next door, Nova Scotia scored lowest at 72.8. Across Canada, the average came out at 75.6 out of 100.

The survey suggests money doesn't have much to do with happiness at all, as the western provinces scored lowest while their poor cousins in the east scored highest.

Quebec communications consultant Pierre Coté designed the survey after being frustrated by the emphasis on money in Canadian politics. He says money doesn't make people happy, but only contributes to contentment.

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Nova Scotia troubled by nostalgia

Coté suggests Nova Scotia's lower score may be attributed to the pervasive belief among respondents that their lives were better 50 years ago than they are today.

But in New Brunswick, he says respondents rated spirituality higher than anyone else across the country, and seemed most content with their lives in the present. "New Brunswickers are much more open, enjoying their life the way it is. They like what they have," Cote said.

New Brunswick's general contentment is a paradox, he says, because the province has one of the worst-performing economies in the country and one of the lowest proportions of people earning very high incomes.

The province also has a high proportion of people who find it difficult to accept life and who worry about the future.

Despite all that, New Brunswickers are relentlessly optimistic, and the survey concludes the results have everything to do with the upbeat personalities of people who live here.

Coté says it also may have something to do with low expectations. "Money doesn't always equal happiness."

The lives they dreamed of

The survey suggested that New Brunswickers appear to be more in touch with their feelings and turned in the highest scores for most of the 12 happiness influence factors.

New Brunswick also had the greatest number of respondents who believe that people in the past were just as happy as they are today and will be in the future.

More respondents in New Brunswick compared with the rest of Canada also said they are living the lives they dreamed of.

Coté says the first survey is only a snapshot in time and should not be interpreted as a trend. However his company will survey Canadians on their happiness every month and he hopes government and industry will use the happiness index to guide their decisions.

"It's a bit too early to take this result very seriously," Coté said. "The index will become more important over time.

"But if I was a business owner, I would prefer to build my company in a place where people are happier."