Madam Chair, I want to thank the parliamentary secretary, especially for his engagement with this file and his hard work. He and I have spoken often about the quality-of-life framework and the need to move beyond GDP to fully measure economic growth.
As Canadians, we know that we are going through an incredibly tough time. This pandemic has made it abundantly clear that our country's GDP and the amount of money in our bank accounts at the end of each month are not the only indicators of our quality of life.
Our ability to thrive is related to our health, our safety, adequate housing, good jobs, the opportunity to be active outdoors, access to clean drinking water, education, recreation, social ties and many other factors.
We are also aware that the pandemic has put a strain on all those aspects of our lives.
With this in mind, through budget 2021, we have brought forward Canada's first-ever quality-of-life framework, and it is located in annex 4. The framework was developed after consultations with experts and stakeholders, as my hon. colleague mentioned, Engage Nova Scotia being one of them, with international engagement and with input from Canadians.
We know the framework is a living document, and we continue to consult our indigenous partners, the provinces and territories and other important stakeholders. The framework will evolve as we gather more data thanks to budget 2021's recent investments in Statistics Canada.
It is evergreen, as we continue to consult with indigenous partners, provinces and territories and other important stakeholders. We will be using a broad suite of indicators and our government will be able to better measure and evaluate the impacts of key initiatives on Canadians' quality of life. This is a made-in-Canada approach that highlights Canada as a global leader.