The validity of a scale, from the Ontario Health Survey, measuring the subjective sense of well-being, for a large multicultural population in Metropolitan Toronto, is examined through principal components analysis with oblique rotation. Four factors are extracted. Factor 1, is a stress and strain factor, and consists of health worries, feeling exhausted and worn out, and feeling tense. Factor 2, interpreted as a sense of control, consists of no health worries, and ability to handle feelings. Factor 3, interpreted as positive affect, consists of having an interesting life, feeling cheerful and light-hearted, feeling loved, feeling relaxed and full of vitality. Factor 4 is interpreted as a despondency factor consists of feeling lonely, having a boring life, inability to control feelings and feeling low. The statistic of multiple discriminant analysis between the variables, sex, age, and ethnic groupings, as independent discriminating variables and the four factor scores as dependent variables, is calculated. The results show that the observed mean variance in the well-being factor scores cannot be explained by the respondents being either female or male, or being a certain age or by belonging to specific cultural groupings. These results are discussed in relation to other studies on the dimensions of subjective well-being.