Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Community Asset Mapping Study

Community asset mapping

The places where children live, grow and learn directly influence their development. Every community and neighbourhood is different, with different opportunities and resources. These unique characteristics affect parents’ ability to provide the best possible family environment. They also affect the potential of local schools to offer the best possible education.

 

By surveying the economic, social and cultural conditions in our local community and neighbourhoods, we can learn more about the factors that shape our children’s early years.   

 

What is community asset mapping?

Community asset mapping provides important information about the programs, services and other resources available in each of the four neighbourhoods in Malton.

 

The asset mapping process identifies the location of key resources in each neighbourhood, such as parks, libraries, recreational facilities and social service agencies.  It also helps us gather valuable data about the socio-economic characteristics of each neighbourhood (e.g. family income, occupation, education etc) and the school readiness of the young children living in those neighbourhoods.  

 

What does community asset mapping tell us?

Community asset mapping provides an overview of the relationships between a community’s resources, its social and economic characteristics, and the readiness of children to learn at school.

 

The data gathered during the mapping study helps us identify areas of strength and need in our neighbourhoods. We can use this information to encourage discussion about improving the way that we distribute our community resources. Community asset mapping helps our policy-makers and community leaders make informed decisions about the most appropriate policies, programs and services needed to address local children’s issues.