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While spending on prescription drugs still constitutes less than 1% of the overall household budget, the average expenditure rose 71% between 1992 and 2002. Lack of universal coverage for prescription drugs could adversely affect seniors on fixed incomes and people with specific medical conditions. Spending is most affected by province of residence.

The likelihood of returning to paid employment after retirement is influenced by various factors. Although most retirees rejoin the workforce for financial reasons, non-financial considerations are also important. Many in the study who worked full time prior to retirement chose to return on a part-time basis - over one-third of the men and more than half of the women.

The Guaranteed Income Supplement is one of the pillars of Canada's safety net for seniors. Available to those with little or no income other than Old Age Security, it plays an integral part in reducing low income among those 65 and over. However, a misunderstanding of the rules and requirements has meant that some eligible seniors are missing out.

After a period of decline from the late 1980s to mid-1990s, the youth employment rate (aged 15 to 24) rebounded between 1997 and 2004. Most of the jobs were in industries that traditionally hire large numbers of young people, including food services. The article documents the growth in youth employment by age, sex, industry and province.

As households age and labour market attachment diminishes, income, savings and wealth generally become less. Households also become smaller as adult children leave or a spouse dies. And spending patterns change. Using 'similar' households, this study looks at changes in spending patterns for households headed by persons aged 55 or older in 1982 and 2003.

This report presents indicators to measure the workload and performance of the criminal justice system, as well as indictors on a number of socio-demographic and economic factors that can be associated with crime and victimization. In this report, workload and volume measures centre on the work of the police, courts, corrections, diversion programs and victim services and changes over time. Examples of workload and volume indicators examined in this report include: the number of criminal incidents known to police; the number of people serviced by alternative measures, mediation, dispute resolution and diversion programs; the number of cases dealt with in court; average counts in corrections institutions, and; the number of persons assisted by victim service agencies. Performance indicators are organized according to the following five general goals of the criminal justice system: 1) Public order, safety and national security through prevention and intervention; 2) Offender accountability, reintegration and rehabilitation; 3) Public trust, confidence and respect for the justice system; 4) Social equity and access to the justice system for all citizens, and; 5) Victim needs served. Examples of performance indicators examined in this report are: the overall cost of administering the sectors of the criminal justice system; the type and length of sentences ordered in court; public satisfaction with the police, the courts, and the correctional and parole systems; the number of applications for legal aid, and; the number of services for victims of crime. The various socio-demographic and economic indicators included in this report are presented in order to present statistical information on the factors that can be associated with crime. These 'context of crime indicators are organized into three broad categories: Community and society, Family, and Individual. Examples of such indicators examined in this report are: the age and sex distributions of the population; income levels and labour force participation; levels of social engagement; levels of gang activity; family structures; levels of child support; levels of education; the rate of literacy, and; the rate of alcohol and drug abuse among the adult and youth population.

This article uses Labour Force Survey data for the 1990-1991 to 2004-2005 school years to examine trends in the high school drop-out rate for Canada and the provinces, for males compared to and females and for census metropolitan areas compared to rural areas. A high school drop-out is defined as the share of 20-to-24-year-olds who are not attending school and who have not graduated from high school.

The federal government and the provincial and territorial governments share the administration of correctional services in Canada, which include custody (sentenced custody, remand and other temporary detention) and community-based sentences (probation, conditional sentences) as well as statutory release and parole supervision. Correctional services agencies at both levels work toward the same goal, that is, the protection of society as well as the rehabilitation of offenders and their safe reintegration into communities as productive members.

This Juristat reports on data from the Adult Correctional Services Survey for the 2003/04 fiscal year, and shows trends in these data from 1994/95. It examines average counts of adults who have been incarcerated, who were under community supervision on probation, serving a conditional sentence or on conditional release (parole and statutory release). The number of admissions to these programs, the offences leading to the admission, the duration of the incarceration or probation, as well as some offender characteristics, such as age, sex and Aboriginal identity are also described. Furthermore, the cost of correctional services in 2003/04, broken down by type of activity and level of government is examined. The average daily inmate costs from 1994/95 to 2003/04, as well as the number of correctional institutions in Canada in 2003/04 are reported.

These on-line data tables provide information pertaining to services provided by governmental agencies responsible for adult corrections in each of the provincial, territorial and federal sectors. Statistical data are presented on caseload characteristics (e.g. number of admissions to correctional facilities and community supervision, age and sex of offenders, offences for which the offender is admitted to a correctional facility and probation, sentence length, time served, etc.), average counts of offenders in correctional facilities and community supervision, and resources and expenditures relating to both custodial and community supervision services. Data presented in this report cover the three most recent fiscal years.

This guide presents information of interest to users of data from the Survey of Household Spending, which gathers information on the spending habits, dwelling characteristics and household equipment of Canadian households. The survey covers private households in the 10 provinces. (The territories are surveyed every second year, starting in 1999.)

This guide includes definitions of survey terms and variables, as well as descriptions of survey methodology and data quality. One section describes the various statistics that can be created using expenditure data (e.g., budget share, market share, aggregates and medians).

This report presents indicators to measure the workload and performance of the criminal justice system, as well as indictors on a number of socio-demographic and economic factors that can be associated with crime and victimization. In this report, workload and volume measures centre on the work of the police, courts, corrections, diversion programs and victim services and changes over time. Examples of workload and volume indicators examined in this report include: the number of criminal incidents known to police; the number of people serviced by alternative measures, mediation, dispute resolution and diversion programs; the number of cases dealt with in court; average counts in corrections institutions, and; the number of persons assisted by victim service agencies. Performance indicators are organized according to the following five general goals of the criminal justice system: 1) Public order, safety and national security through prevention and intervention; 2) Offender accountability, reintegration and rehabilitation; 3) Public trust, confidence and respect for the justice system; 4) Social equity and access to the justice system for all citizens, and; 5) Victim needs served. Examples of performance indicators examined in this report are: the overall cost of administering the sectors of the criminal justice system; the type and length of sentences ordered in court; public satisfaction with the police, the courts, and the correctional and parole systems; the number of applications for legal aid, and; the number of services for victims of crime. The various socio-demographic and economic indicators included in this report are presented in order to present statistical information on the factors that can be associated with crime. These 'context of crime indicators are organized into three broad categories: Community and society, Family, and Individual. Examples of such indicators examined in this report are: the age and sex distributions of the population; income levels and labour force participation; levels of social engagement; levels of gang activity; family structures; levels of child support; levels of education; the rate of literacy, and; the rate of alcohol and drug abuse among the adult and youth population.

These on-line data tables provide information pertaining to services provided by governmental agencies responsible for adult corrections in each of the provincial, territorial and federal sectors. Statistical data are presented on caseload characteristics (e.g. number of admissions to correctional facilities and community supervision, age and sex of offenders, offences for which the offender is admitted to a correctional facility and probation, sentence length, time served, etc.), average counts of offenders in correctional facilities and community supervision, and resources and expenditures relating to both custodial and community supervision services. Data presented in this report cover the three most recent fiscal years.

This issue of the Bulletin presents financial and operating statistics for the cable, direct-to-home satellite and wireless cable television industries for the 2001 to 2004 period.

This publication contains statistics and analysis on the operations of approximately 65 Canadian and foreign air carriers providing charter services both within Canada and to and from Canada. Data presented in graphical and tabular formats include passengers and cargo volumes along with origins and destinations.

The main indicators of functional food and nutraceutical activities in Canada are presented in this article. The data are from the 2003 Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals Survey which was designed to provide a benchmark measurement of the industry and a better understanding of the scope and nature of the sector.

Provincial and territorial governments are responsible for the administration of community-based correctional services in Canada for adults and youth, which include, but are not limited to probation, conditional sentences, and temporary absence programs. Although the Criminal Code of Canada, the Young Offenders Act and the Youth Criminal Justice Act set out guidelines, jurisdictions are not obliged to follow them directly. Jurisdictions will differ, sometimes substantially, in their administration.

This publication provides a descriptive overview of sentences and the delivery of community correctional services across all jurisdictions in Canada for both adult and youth. In addition, this publication reports on community corrections data collected from the special study, as well as data from the Adult Correctional Services Survey, the Key Indicator Report, the Youth Custody and Community Services Survey, and the Alternative Measures Survey. It examines admissions and average counts of adults and youth who were under community supervision, showing trends as far back as 1993/94. Furthermore, data on offender characteristics, such as sex and Aboriginal status are also presented.

To provide users with a complete picture of the activities associated with the Couriers and Local Messengers industry in Canada.

This issue of the Bulletin presents financial and operating statistics for the private radio industry for the 2001 to 2004 period.

In 2004, as part of its General Social Survey program, Statistics Canada conducted a survey on victimization and public perceptions of crime and the justice system. It was the fourth time that the General Social Survey (GSS) had examined victimization - previous surveys were conducted in 1988, 1993, and 1999. The target population was Canadians aged 15 years and older living in the ten provinces.

This report provides an overview of the main findings from cycle 18 of the General Social Survey on Victimization and makes comparisons with previous survey cycles. The analysis focuses on Canadians' outlook on crime and the criminal justice system, as well as their fear of crime. Variations by province are also presented.

This report presents an overview of Canadians' outlook on crime and the criminal justice system at both the national and Census Metropolitan Area levels. The information was collected in 2004 through Cycle 18 of the General Social Survey (GSS) on victimization. This survey, which has been previously carried out in 1999, 1993, and 1988, collects information on Canadians' experience of victimization, and public attitudes towards crime, police, courts, prison and parole. The target population of the GSS is all individuals aged 15 and over living in a private household in one of the ten provinces.

In recent years, commuting patterns have become more complex as employment has grown more rapidly in the suburbs than in city core areas. Faced with few convenient public transit options, the increasing numbers of people who now commute cross-town to jobs in these suburbs overwhelmingly drive to work. This article examines commuting patterns between 1996 and 2001 as they relate to recent job growth in the suburbs. It briefly looks at the demographic characteristics of commuters and explores some of the implications that changing work locations and commute patterns have for infrastructure in Canadian cities.

This article uses Statistics Canada's most recent population projections for visible minority groups to draw a picture of the possible ethnocultural composition of the country when Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2017. It focuses on a number of issues: How many Canadians might belong to a visible minority group in the near future? How many landed immigrants might there be? What are the predominant visible minority groups likely to be? Is diversity likely to remain concentrated in Canada's major urban centres?

The housing transition patterns of seniors had been the focus of some attention in 2004 against a backdrop of concerns about the dwindling demand for rental properties. This article takes a closer look at seniors who downsize, those who upsize and others who move for lifestyle reasons. It identifies the characteristics of senior movers, the life events associated with their move, and the various types of housing transitions they made.

This paper examines two potential benefits of foreign-controlled plants in the Canadian manufacturing sector: the superior performance of foreign-controlled plants and their productivity spillovers to domestic plants. The paper finds that foreign-controlled plants are more productive, more innovative, more technology intensive, pay higher wages and use more skilled workers. This foreign-ownership advantage is found to be a multinational advantage. What matters for economic performance is whether plants belong to multinational enterprises (MNEs) rather than ownership per se. Canadian multinationals are as productive as foreign multinationals. We also find that MNEs have accounted for a disproportionately large share of productivity growth in the last two decades. Finally, we find robust evidence for productivity spillovers from foreign-controlled plants to domestic-controlled plants arising from increased competition and greater use of new technologies among domestic plants.

The age distributions of professors at Canadian universities without mandatory retirement and those at universities with mandatory retirement at age 65 have diverged over time with a higher fraction of professors over the age of 65 being at universities without mandatory retirement. An analysis of a discrete time hazard model indicates that faculty members at universities with mandatory retirement at age 65 have exit rates at age 65 that are 30 to 35 percentage points higher than those of their counterparts at universities without mandatory retirement. Similar results are found for both men and women; however, the magnitude of this effect is somewhat smaller for women. This does not support the view that mandatory retirement is a more severe constraint on the behaviour of female academics

This paper investigates relationships between adult literacy skills and use of information and communications technologies (ICTs). Using the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL), it becomes possible to compare respondents' ICT use, based on self-assessed ICT use patterns and attitudes toward computers, with literacy skills and a number of socio-demographic characteristics, including age, gender and educational attainment. The paper offers data for Canada, its provinces and territories, as well as five other countries (Bermuda, the United States, Italy, Norway and Switzerland), allowing international and inter-provincial comparisons. An important objective of the paper is to examine outcomes associated with literacy skills in combination with patterns of ICT use, and this is achieved by profiling these characteristics and studying their relationships with respondent income. In addition, it offers a portrait of adults' computer and Internet use, including purposes of use, attitudes toward computers, and use of other ICTs, and analyzes such use, with a detailed focus on Canada.

Patterns of Internet and computer access confirm the existence of "digital divides" both within and between nations. Apart from Italy, differences between the countries included in this study are not large. However, as found elsewhere, large divides exist within countries when examining respondents grouped by their level of income. In Canada, the Western provinces, the territories, and Ontario emerge as leaders in ICT use, although regional patterns are complex and vary depending on the specific technology examined.

Many other factors are also strongly associated with respondents' ICT use. Age, gender, educational attainment, and level of literacy proficiency help predict whether a respondent is a "high-intensity" computer user. A significant decline in ICT use is found to occur after age 45 in all countries. The findings for ICT use by gender, however, were mixed. In the European countries included in this study (Italy, Norway and Switzerland), clear gender differences emerge but no such gap exists in North America. Respondents with less than upper-secondary education are significantly less likely to use computers for a range of purposes, and this pattern is most pronounced in Italy and Bermuda. In addition, scales that measure individuals' use of computers and the Internet, and attitudes toward computers, tend to increase with the literacy proficiency of respondents.

Finally, literacy and computer use profiles are strongly related to the likelihood that respondents have high earnings. In most countries included in this study, adults who have average or higher literacy skills and who are intensive computer users have about three to six times the odds of being in the top quartile of personal income, compared to respondents with below average literacy skills and less intensive computer use.

Waste has always been a by-product of human activity. Indeed, all aspects of our lives - working, playing, eating - generate some form of waste. Managing it has been a challenge for millennia, more so since the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century gave rise to unprecedented industrialization and urbanization. Canadians are concerned today about many waste-related issues. These include: The generation of waste - how much garbage is produced in Canada, and is production going up or down? The impact of waste on the environment - has the way we deal with garbage changed over the years? What are governments and others doing to address these concerns? This article examines these issues by creating a statistical portrait of solid waste in Canada.

The International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey, undertaken in 2003, measured the proficiencies of a representative sample of Canadian adults aged 16 and over in four domains: prose literacy, document literacy, numeracy and problem solving, and benchmarked performance against an international standard. The proficiency scores are compared between provinces, territories and nations, and over time. Moreover, literacy performance is examined in relation to differences in variables such as educational attainment, employment and unemployment, earnings and self-assessed health. Analyses of the literacy performance of groups of special interest, including women and men, young adults and seniors, recent and established immigrants, and Aboriginal populations are included.

This note examines the substantial shifts in sector saving and the resulting swings in sector surplus/deficit positions in the national accounts over the last 10 years. It also serves to introduce a new conceptual measure in the Canadian System of National Accounts -- National saving and the national saving rate.

In 2004, as part of its General Social Survey program, Statistics Canada conducted a survey on victimization and public perceptions of crime and the justice system. It was the fourth time that the General Social Survey (GSS) had examined victimization - previous surveys were conducted in 1999, 1993 and 1988.

For the 2004 survey, interviews were conducted by telephone with approximately 24,000 people, aged 15 and older, living in the 10 provinces. Respondents were asked about their experiences with criminal victimization. Those respondents who had been victims of a crime in the previous 12 months were asked for detailed information on each incident, including when and where it occurred; whether the incident was reported to the police; and how they were affected by the experience.

This Juristat explores the overall trends and regional variations of criminal victimization, as well as the individual risk factors associated with victimization. The impacts and consequences of being victimized are discussed, along with the informal and formal sources of support for victims.

This guide presents information of interest to users of data from the Survey of Household Spending, which gathers information on the spending habits, dwelling characteristics and household equipment of Canadian households. The survey covers private households in the 10 provinces. (The territories are surveyed every second year, starting in 1999.)

This guide includes definitions of survey terms and variables, as well as descriptions of survey methodology and data quality. One section describes the various statistics that can be created using expenditure data (e.g., budget share, market share, aggregates and medians).

In recent years there has been considerable international interest in key indicators. This paper surveys recent Canadian attempts to develop key indicators of economic, social, environmental or physical well-being. It classifies and discusses over forty such projects and publications in detail; briefly lists a further twenty projects; and provides references to a number of up-to-date surveys and annotated bibliographies which contain additional examples of indicator development in Canada. The paper provides information on a number of research centres working on indicator development and discusses international indicators which are relevant to the Canadian scene, either because they represent 'rototypes' of some particular kind of measure, or else might be regarded as constituting 'best practice' in an area. The paper also examines the motivations behind indicator development and seeks to address the question of whether efforts to extend measurement outside the economic field constitute attempts to "measure the unmeasurable".

This report describes the design, methodology, and results of the first study undertaken by Statistics Canada to measure the impact on Canadian cause of death trends of a new revision of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

Using 1999 Canadian mortality data, Statistics Canada carried out a comparability, or "bridge-coding", study by dual-coding deaths to both the Ninth and Tenth Revisions of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9 and ICD-10). The preliminary results of this exercise were used to generate comparability ratios; these ratios measure the net effect of the new revision, with ratios above 1.00 indicating a net increase in deaths classified to a cause of death, and ratios below 1.00 indicating a net decrease.

The comparability ratios derived from dual-coding medical certificates of cause of death presented in this report estimate the size and direction of the disruption to cause of death trends due to the implementation of ICD-10. Researchers and analysts using Canadian mortality data should use these summary measures to calculate comparability-modified death counts and mortality rates to bridge the gap between ICD-9 and ICD-10.

This product contains presentations done at Statistics Canada's annual Economic Conference which provides a forum for the exchange of empirical research among the business, government, research and labour communities. The conference is also a means to promote economic and socio-economic analysis while subjecting existing data to critical assessment as part of an ongoing process of statistical development and review.

This report describes the quality indicators produced for the 2003 Survey of Household Spending. These quality indicators, such as coefficients of variation, nonresponse rates, slippage rates and imputation rates, help users interpret the survey data.

This document examines the functional limitations-physical, emotional and social-related to the most common types of diabetes and the conditions that result from the disease. These functional limitations are described and classified using the Classification and Measurement System of Functional Health (CLAMES).

These descriptions and classifications are the first step in a new approach to measuring the health of Canadians that examines what factors are adversely affecting population health and how to address them. This document also provides health professionals, advocacy groups, and individual Canadians with an overview of how living with diabetes affects day-to-day functioning.

This report describes changes planned for the 2006 Census education questions. Education questions are a part of the Form 2B (the long form) of the census. This form is completed by 20% of all households. These changes were tested in the May 2004 Census test of over 300,000 households. The changes aim to address data limitations in the 2001 Census questions and to enhance their relevance to education studies by allowing a better reflection of the range of educational pathways taken by Canadians. The report includes an explanation of the reasons for modifying the 2006 Census education content, a detailed look at each of the changes, and a discussion on historical consistency.

The aim of this paper is to describe the actual methodology used to estimate annual hours worked by industry and province in Canada in view to be consistent with the System of National Accounts.

This document examines the functional limitations - physical, emotional and social -experienced by patients at the time of diagnosis of cancer and as they undergo various treatments, remission, and palliative and terminal care. These functional limitations are described and classified using the Classification and Measurement System of Functional Health (CLAMES).

These descriptions and classifications are the first step in a new approach to measuring the health of Canadians that examines what factors are adversely affecting population health and how to address them. This document also provides health professionals, advocacy groups, and individual Canadians with an overview of how living with cancer affects day-to-day functioning.

The release of the 2003 data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) was accompanied by a historical revision which accomplished three things. First, the survey weights were updated to take into account new population projections based on the 2001 Census of Population, instead of the 1996 Census. Second, a new procedure in the weight adjustments was introduced to take into account an external source of information on the overall distribution of income in the population, namely the T4 file of employer remittances to Canada Revenue Agency. Third, the low income estimates were revised due to new low income cut-offs (LICOs). This paper describes the second of these improvements' the new weighting procedure to reflect the distribution of income in the population with greater accuracy. Part 1 explains in non-technical terms how this new procedure came about and how it works. Part 2 provides some examples of the impacts on the results for previous years.