On Thin Ice
Civic Data Platform · Shipped 2024
An interactive data platform that makes Canada's biggest policy challenges accessible to everyday citizens. Seven visualization tools cover housing, healthcare, defence, immigration, cost of living, fiscal policy, and the economy — all built with public data and designed for clarity over spin.
Canadians care about the issues shaping their country — housing affordability, healthcare access, immigration policy — but the data behind these topics is scattered across government PDFs, StatsCan tables, and paywalled news analysis. Most people don't have the time or expertise to piece it together.
On Thin Ice was built to bridge that gap: a single destination where anyone can explore Canada's key challenges through clear, interactive visualizations backed by real data.
The platform is built as a static Next.js application — no backend, no database. All data is curated from public sources and committed directly into the repository as JSON. This keeps the site fast, free to host, and trivial to deploy on Vercel.
Each of the seven topic areas is its own module with dedicated chart components built on Recharts. The architecture prioritizes page-level code splitting so users only download the data and visualization code for the topic they're viewing.
Design decisions were driven by accessibility and clarity: high-contrast color palettes, responsive layouts that work on mobile, and plain-language labels instead of jargon. The goal was to make the data speak for itself.
Housing Crisis Dashboard
Interactive charts tracking home prices, rent affordability, and housing starts across Canadian cities. Users can compare metros and see trends over time.
Healthcare Wait Times
Visualizations of provincial wait times for common procedures, helping Canadians understand how their region compares nationally.
Cost of Living Calculator
Tool that lets users explore how purchasing power has shifted across provinces, factoring in wages, housing, and consumer prices.
Defence Spending Tracker
NATO commitment tracking showing Canada's defence spending as a percentage of GDP compared to allies and treaty obligations.
Immigration Data Explorer
Breakdown of immigration targets, processing times, and demographic trends presented through interactive, filterable visualizations.
Fiscal Policy Overview
Federal budget analysis showing revenue sources, spending categories, and debt trajectory with historical context.
Economy & Employment
Labour market data covering unemployment rates, job growth by sector, and GDP indicators across provinces.
Interactive Data Tools
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