The Tamarack Institute is a registered Canadian charity dedicated to ending poverty in all its forms, for good. We support real people and invest in real communities for long-term change.
how to combat isolation and loneliness
This blog post is an excerpt from the resource Community as the Superhero by Lisa Helps, Heather Keam, and Jorge Garza.
In the last decade, Canada – like other Western countries – has experienced a troubling surge in loneliness and disconnection. Despite increased technological connectivity, people across the country report feeling more isolated than ever before. And the impacts are real – studies have revealed that loneliness has the same impacts on health as smoking fifteen cigarettes per day. If you want to take immediate action on combatting loneliness, check out our pledge for a National Belonging Strategy.
why are we seeing loneliness and disconnection?
Several key factors that we have seen could be contributors to a weakened sense of community, connection, and belonging:
Individualism: The shift from "We" to "Me" has prioritized individual interests over collective well-being, eroding trust and polarizing communities. We are increasingly allowing and enabling individualism to trump the collective interests that are so critical to building connectedness, belonging, and taking collective action.
Social Media Paradox: Technology is problematic when it is used as a substitute for authentic social connection. While technology promises connectivity, it often falls short of fostering deep authentic human connection, leading to a loss of essential human capacities (e.g., laughter, eye contact). This trend is especially worrying for youth who are more online oriented than any generation in history. This has profound impacts on their mental health, sense of worth, and ability to connect with others “IRL”. In Real Life has become an acronym.
Local Policy Making: The way that policy is made at a local level can also contribute to social disconnection and polarization, which can lead to loneliness. For example, housing policy to address densification in neighbourhoods – which is currently an open question in cities across the country – can pit long-time homeowners in established neighbourhoods against renters, with people retreating to their so-called “NIMBY” versus “YIMBY” camps, unable to make and share connections and have conversations across difference.
See more details in the full resource, Community as the Superhero .
what is belonging and How can we leverage it to combat loneliness?
The concept of belonging is getting more attention as a solution to the rise in loneliness and disconnection across Canada. Belonging goes beyond the dictionary definition of an affinity for a place or situation. Author Kim Samuel defines belonging as wholeness; the experience of being at home with ourselves and the social, environmental, organizational, and cultural context of our lives. Belonging to a community is to be an active co-owner of the community and foster a deep sense of emotional and communal ownership. A sense of community belonging describes the degree to which individuals are (or judge themselves to be) connected to their community and their place within it.
So, how can we create belonging?
Infrastructure:
Parklets in downtown parking spots, inviting inclusive parks and public spaces, libraries, community centres, swimming pools, My Great Neighbourhood Grants, block parties, neighbourhood-led place-making initiatives, neighbourhood asset mapping, shared emergency preparedness initiatives, community and boulevard gardens, community potlucks.
All of this infrastructure (both hard and soft/social) puts community at the centre. It creates spaces and opportunities for those critical connections that lead to lasting relationships, that decrease isolation that increase belonging.
Convening:
The way we gather people together matters. For local governments and other community institutions 
working on big, difficult issues like housing affordability, climate change, reconciliation, reducing inequality, creating inclusive prosperity, and other challenges – doing so in a way that brings people together rather than divides them is a way to begin to heal our communities and reduce social isolation and loneliness. Get the appropriate people in the room; this often means having people who may not be in the same room together unless you invite them and are likely to be people who have differences of opinion. Hold space for vastly different perspectives to co-exist. Celebrate small successes along the way. Engage the whole person and all their gifts and skills, not just their job title. Keep a sense of humour. Love people well.
Connecting through Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD):
A well-known African proverb says “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together”. Collaborative strategies are critical to drive long-term change. ABCD is a powerful strategy for change that equips people to create local opportunities and respond to needs and challenges in their neighbourhoods. ABCD starts from people’s strengths and gifts. Connect with your neighbours to assess the resources, skills, and experiences available. Organize the community around issues that move everyone into action. Be inspired by exploring the stories of communities like Stony Plain, AB and Cambridge, ON that are testing and adapting their engagement activities through an ABCD strategy to create stronger connections and foster welcoming environments.
Community:
Networks have the potential to build movements that can tackle the most difficult challenges of our time. Formerly known as Cities Deepening Community, Communities Building Belonging (CBB) is a Tamarack network of 5 8000+ learners committed to strengthening neighbourhoods and ending social isolation and polarization in Canada since 2016. CBB is a timely and powerful response to the growing levels of loneliness and disconnection across Canada. Through coaching, knowledge sharing, networking, and cross-sector collaboration, CBB has helped implement a framework to develop positive change in communities and supported the advancement of local efforts.
CBB supports over 40 communities in developing strategies to strengthen a sense of belonging for all. In 2024, CBB launched its first Circle of Actions, a learning and action cohort of 13 champions that are committed to addressing the crisis of loneliness by creating plans and carrying out interventions that foster a sense of belonging through an ABCD lens and a Collective Impact approach. The successes, lessons learned, and impact of participating communities will make the case for all levels of government to recognize the importance of belonging and support community-led efforts to foster it. Get involved and participate in one of our communities of practice, join a webinar, or contact us to co-author a publication that can mobilize conversations on belonging in your community.
Strategy:
Tamarack is building a Canada-wide movement to develop a Strategy for Belonging that centres local gifts and aspirations into conversations about the economy and the quality of life for everyone. Through our relationships with communities, we have learned the value of collaborating with local governments to cultivate relationships that pivot from a service-oriented mindset towards co-creation grounded in solidarity to address the crisis of isolation. To magnify the impact of this work, the strategy needs to reflect the diversity of our communities. You can join the conversations on what this strategy can look like by participating and/or co-organizing community consultations this spring and summer. You can also sign this pledge in support of a Strategy for Belonging.
To date, over 420 individuals have signed the pledge and the numbers keep growing!
As communities continue to navigate through the (unequal) impacts of loneliness and disconnection, we have an opportunity to reimagine how we choose to live together.
- As individuals: How well do you know your neighbours and their gifts and skills? How involved are you in local activities?
- As governments: How are you developing strategies and policies that make community essential?
- As community organizations: How are you celebrating and supporting community aspirations?
Despite observing significant factors that trigger this crisis of loneliness, the promise and potential of belonging is significant and can contribute to improve the well-being of all. We are inspired by the efforts of community superheroes across Canada who are testing solutions to build belonging and we are eager to continue the conversations on how we can collectively build more just and equitable futures.
