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Description: The document focuses on the evolution of Statistics Canada's labour productivity program, tracing its historical background, outlining its structure, as well as detailing the methodology and data sources used. It then discusses the diverse applications of provincial productivity data, identifies key users of productivity statistics, and highlights essential considerations for their interpretation. Finally, the document addresses the review process for quarterly and annual productivity measures and recent program improvements.

Description: This handbook complements the tables of the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program (PCEIP). It is a guide that provides general descriptions for each indicator and indicator component. PCEIP has five broad indicator sets: a portrait of the school-age population; financing education systems; elementary and secondary education; postsecondary education; and transitions and outcomes.

The Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program (PCEIP) is a joint venture of Statistics Canada and the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada.

Description: Demographic documentsis a series of texts intended for scholars and researchers, published occasionally by the Demography Division of Statistics Canada for their methodological, analytical or descriptive interest in the population field.

Description: Many things have been written about Jean-Claude Deville in tributes from the statistical community (see Tillé, 2022a; Tillé, 2022b; Christine, 2022; Ardilly, 2022; and Matei, 2022) and from the École nationale de la statistique et de l’administration économique (ENSAE) and the Société française de statistique. Pascal Ardilly, David Haziza, Pierre Lavallée and Yves Tillé provide an in-depth look at Jean-Claude Deville’s contributions to survey theory. To pay tribute to him, I would like to discuss Jean-Claude Deville’s contribution to the more day-to-day application of methodology for all the statisticians at the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (INSEE) and at the public statistics service. To do this, I will use my work experience, and particularly the four years (1992 to 1996) I spent working with him in the Statistical Methods Unit and the discussions we had thereafter, especially in the 2000s on the rolling census.

Description: The validity of survival estimates from cancer registry data depends, in part, on the identification of the deaths of deceased cancer patients. People whose deaths are missed seemingly live on forever and are informally referred to as “immortals”, and their presence in registry data can result in inflated survival estimates. This study assesses the issue of immortals in the Canadian Cancer Registry (CCR) using a recently proposed method that compares the survival of long-term survivors of cancers for which “statistical” cure has been reported with that of similar people from the general population.

Description: The Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD) is a national survey of Canadians aged 15 and over whose everyday activities are limited because of a long-term condition or health-related problem. The 2022 CSD Concepts and Methods Guide is designed to assist CSD data users by providing relevant information on survey content and concepts, sampling design, collection methods, data processing, data quality and product availability.

Description: This series provides detailed documentation on the issues, concepts, methodology, data quality and other relevant research related to household expenditures from the Survey of Household Spending, the Homeowner Repair and Renovation Survey and the Food Expenditure Survey.

Description: This article presents data sources and methodology for the For-hire Motor Carrier Freight Services Price Index (FHMCFSPI). The FHMCFSPI measures the monthly and quarterly change in the price of shipping services provided by trucking companies in Canada. The index is an important indicator of economic activity within the truck transportation industry, as well as a tool that can be utilized by the industry for cost monitoring, contract assessment and benchmark comparisons.

Description: This electronic publication presents the methodology underlying the production of the life tables for Canada, provinces and territories.

Description: The Census Subdivision Boundary File contains the boundaries of all census subdivisions which combined cover all of Canada. A census subdivision is a municipality or an area treated as an equivalent to a municipality for statistical purposes (for example, Indian reserves and unorganized territories). The file provides a framework for mapping and spatial analysis using commercially available geographic information systems (GIS) or other mapping software.

The Census Subdivision Boundary File is portrayed in Lambert conformal conic projection and is based on the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). A reference guide is available (92-162-G).

Description:

This package was designed to help users access and manipulate the public use microdata file (PUMF – provincial) for the 2014 General Social Survey (GSS) on Canadians’ Safety (Victimization). It contains the PUMF data and describes the objectives, methodology and estimation procedures for this survey as well as guidelines for releasing estimates.

Statistics Canada collected data on the topic of Canadians’ safety (Victimization) for the sixth time in 2014. Data were previously collected in 1988 (Cycle 3), 1993 (Cycle 8), 1999 (Cycle 13), 2004 (Cycle 18) and 2009 (Cycle 23). The 2014 provincial GSS collected data from persons aged 15 years and over living in private households in Canada, excluding residents of the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut and full time residents of institutions.

Between 2009 and 2014, the core content of the survey was revised in a number of ways, based on experience gained from earlier iterations. Some questions were revised to improve their clarity for respondents, and others were added or dropped following consultations with stakeholders from the justice sector, government and academic communities.

Description:

This package was designed to enable users to access and manipulate the microdata file for Cycle 23 (2009) of the General Social Survey (GSS). It contains information on the objectives, methodology and estimation procedures, as well as guidelines for releasing estimates based on the survey.

Cycle 23 collected data from persons 15 years and over living in private households in Canada, excluding residents of the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut; and full-time residents of institutions.

The purpose of this survey is to better understand how Canadians perceive crime and the justice system and their experiences of victimization. The survey is designed to produce estimates of the extent to which persons are the victims of eight types of offences (assault, sexual assault, robbery, theft of personal property, breaking and entering, motor vehicle theft, theft of household property and vandalism); to examine the risk factors associated with victimization; to examine the rates of reporting to the police; and to evaluate the fear of crime and public perceptions of crime and the criminal justice system.

Cycle 23 is the fifth cycle of the GSS dedicated to collecting data on victimization. Previous cycles had been conducted in 1988, 1993, 1999 and 2004. Cycle 23 includes most of the content from previous cycles as well as new content, added to reflect the society's emerging issues of crime prevention and Internet victimization.

Description:

This package was designed to enable users to access and manipulate the microdata file for the 21st cycle (2007) of the General Social Survey (GSS). It contains information on the objectives, methodology and estimation procedures, as well as guidelines for releasing estimates based on the survey. Cycle 21 of the GSS collected data from persons aged 45 years and over living in private households in the 10 provinces of Canada. The survey covered a wide range of topics such as well-being, family composition, retirement decisions and plans, care giving and care receiving experiences, social networks and housing.

Description:

Cycle 15 of the General Social Survey (GSS) is the third cycle to collect detailed information on family life in Canada. The previous GSS cycles that collected family data were Cycles 5 and 10. Topics include demographic characteristics such as age, sex, and marital status; family origin of parents; brothers and sisters; marriages of respondent; common-law unions of respondent; fertility and family intentions; values and attitudes; education history; work history; main activity and other characteristics.

The target population for Cycle 15 of the GSS is all persons 15 years of age and older in Canada, excluding residents of the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, and full-time residents of institutions.

Description:

This publication presents data on young offender admissions to custody and community services, with breakdowns by custody (remand, secure, open) and probation, and key case characteristics, such as age, sex, Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal status and most serious offence. In addition, it includes data pertaining to releases from remand, secure custody and open custody, by sex and time served. These breakdowns are presented at the national and provincial/territorial levels.

Data presented in this publication are drawn from two primary sources: 1) The Youth Custody and Community Services (YCCS) Survey. The objective of this survey is to collect and analyse information on the application of dispositions under the Young Offenders Act from provincial and territorial agencies responsible for youth corrections and programs. 2) The Youth Key Indicator Report (YKIR). This survey measures the average counts of youth in custody (remand, secure and open) and on probation. The YKIR describes average daily counts (caseload), which measure the volume of offenders held in custody or on probation on an average day at month-end. This information also provides an examination of youth incarceration and probation rates in Canada.

Description:

This Statistics Canada publication is a collection of five annotated maps and graphs that describe the geographic distribution of manure in Canada by river basin. The amount of manure produced is estimated along with some of the major substances found in manure: (i) nitrogen, (ii) phosphorus, (iii) total coliform bacteria and (iv) fecal coliform bacteria.

The maps and figures presented in this report indicate that there are geographic areas in Canada characterized by higher levels of total livestock manure and related production of nitrogen, phosphorus and bacteria. Areas that repeatedly showed the highest levels were found in central and southern Alberta, southern Manitoba, southern Ontario, southeastern Quebec, parts of Prince Edward Island, the west Fraser River area in southern British Columbia and an area near Wolfville and Kentville, Nova Scotia.

Description:

This publication presents data on revenue and expense items from wholesalers and retailers by trade group and by province. There are 16 retail trade groups and 11 wholesale trade groups. Profiles of the retail trade groups are provided for each individual province/territory and are comprised of: number of locations, total operating revenues, cost of goods sold, gross margin and employee earnings and benefits. At the national level for each retail trade group are the following performance indicators: sales to inventory, cost of goods sold to inventory, gross margin and profit margin. Also provided at the national level are total operating revenues, number of locations for independent and for chain stores, the number of retail businesses by trade and total operating revenue by SIC (4 digit when possible).

The 11 wholesale trade groups, plus grain and petroleum products, are profiled for each individual province/territory giving: number of locations, total operating revenues, cost of goods sold, gross margin and employee earnings and benefits. Performance indicators by trade group at the national level including sales to inventory, cost of goods sold to inventory, gross margin and profit margin are provided. Total operating revenue at the national level by Standard Industrial Classification and by class of customer and trade group are also provided.

Description:

This publication presents information on the income, expenditure and assets of all trusteed pension funds in Canada in both the public and private sectors. Data are presented at the Canada level. The publication contains an analysis of the funds based on the size of the fund, the number of members and the type of benefit. It is a continuation of a series of reports produced since 1957. As a single pool of investment capital in Canada, these funds are surpassed in size only by the aggregate reserves held by the chartered banks.

Description:

With this working paper, Statistics Canada is releasing 1991 Census data tabulated by a new geographic classification called "census metropolitan area and census agglomeration influenced zones", or MIZ. This classification applies to census subdivisions (municipalities) that lie outside census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations. This part of Canada covers 96% of the country's total land mass and contains 22% of its population, yet up to now we have been limited in our means of differentiating this vast area. The MIZ classification shows the influence of census metropolitan areas (CMA) and census agglomerations (CA) on surrounding census subdivisions as measured by commuting flows based on 1991 Census place of work data. This version of the MIZ classification also incorporates a preliminary version of a north concept that flags census subdivisions according to their location in the north or south of Canada.

The series of tables presented here show detailed demographic, social and economic characteristics for Canada as a whole, for the six major regions of Canada, and for individual provinces and territories. Within each table, the data are subdivided into five categories: census metropolitan area or census agglomeration, strong MIZ, moderate MIZ, weak MIZ and no MIZ. Within each of these categories, the data are further subdivided into north and south.

Readers are invited to review and use the data tables to assess whether this combined MIZ and north/south classification of non-CMA/CA areas provides sufficient detail to support data analysis and research. The intent of this MIZ classification is to reveal previously hidden data detail and thereby help users address issues related to this vast geographic area.

This is the first of three related Geography working papers (catalogue no. 92F0138MPE). The second working paper (no. 2000-2, 92F0138MPE00002) provides background information about the methodology used to delineate the MIZ classification. The third working paper (no. 2000-3, 92F0138MPE00003) describes the methodology used to define a continuous line across Canada that separates the north from the south to further differentiate the MIZ classification.

Description:

Consulting Engineering Services Price Index (CEPI) is an annual index that measures changes in the prices for services provided by consulting engineers. These services encompass advisory and design work as well as construction or project management. They are provided for many types of projects (fields of specialization), and to both Canadian and foreign clients. Price indexes are published for 10 fields of specialization as well as for national, regional, and foreign markets.

Description:

The context of the discussion is the increasing incidence of international surveys, of which one is the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Policy Evaluation Project, which began in 2002. The ITC country surveys are longitudinal, and their aim is to evaluate the effects of policy measures being introduced in various countries under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The challenges of organization, data collection and analysis in international surveys are reviewed and illustrated. Analysis is an increasingly important part of the motivation for large scale cross-cultural surveys. The fundamental challenge for analysis is to discern the real response (or lack of response) to policy change, separating it from the effects of data collection mode, differential non-response, external events, time-in-sample, culture, and language. Two problems relevant to statistical analysis are discussed. The first problem is the question of when and how to analyze pooled data from several countries, in order to strengthen conclusions which might be generally valid. While in some cases this seems to be straightforward, there are differing opinions on the extent to which pooling is possible and reasonable. It is suggested that for formal comparisons, random effects models are of conceptual use. The second problem is to find models of measurement across cultures and data collection modes which will enable calibration of continuous, binary and ordinal responses, and produce comparisons from which extraneous effects have been removed. It is noted that hierarchical models provide a natural way of relaxing requirements of model invariance across groups.

Description:

Prior to 2004, the design and development of collection functions at Statistics New Zealand (Statistics NZ) was done by a centralised team of data collection methodologists. In 2004, an organisational review considered whether the design and development of these functions was being done in the most effective way. A key issue was the rising costs of surveying as the organisation moved from paper-based data collection to electronic data collection. The review saw some collection functions decentralised. However, a smaller centralised team of data collection methodologists was retained to work with subject matter areas across Statistics NZ.

This paper will discuss the strategy used by the smaller centralised team of data collection methodologists to support subject matter areas. There are three key themes to the strategy. First, is the development of best practice standards and a central standards repository. Second, is training and introducing knowledge sharing forums. Third, is providing advice and independent review to subject matter areas which design and develop collection instruments.

Description:

Over the past year, Statistics Canada has been developing and testing a new way to monitor the performance of interviewers conducting computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI). A formal process already exists for monitoring centralized telephone interviews. Monitors listen to telephone interviews as they take place to assess the interviewer's performance using pre-defined criteria and provide feedback to the interviewer on what was well done and what needs improvement. For the CAPI program, we have developed and are testing a pilot approach whereby interviews are digitally recorded and later a monitor listens to these recordings to assess the field interviewer's performance and provide feedback in order to help improve the quality of the data. In this paper, we will present an overview of the CAPI monitoring project at Statistics Canada by describing the CAPI monitoring methodology and the plans for implementation.

Description:

Survey managers are still discovering the usefulness of digital audio recording for monitoring and managing field staff. Its value so far has been for confirming the authenticity of interviews, detecting curbstoning, offering a concrete basis for feedback on interviewing performance and giving data collection managers an intimate view of in-person interviews. In addition, computer audio-recorded interviewing (CARI) can improve other aspects of survey data quality, offering corroboration or correction of response coding by field staff. Audio recordings may replace or supplement in-field verbatim transcription of free responses, and speech-to-text technology might make this technique more efficient in the future.

Description:

Business surveys differ from surveys of populations of individual persons or households in many respects. Two of the most important differences are (a) that respondents in business surveys do not answer questions about characteristics of themselves (such as their experiences, behaviours, attitudes and feelings) but about characteristics of organizations (such as their size, revenues, policies, and strategies) and (b) that they answer these questions as an informant for that organization. Academic business surveys differ from other business surveys, such as of national statistical agencies, in many respects as well. The one most important difference is that academic business surveys usually do not aim at generating descriptive statistics but at testing hypotheses, i.e. relations between variables. Response rates in academic business surveys are very low, which implies a huge risk of non-response bias. Usually no attempt is made to assess the extent of non-response bias and published survey results might, therefore, not be a correct reflection of actual relations within the population, which in return increases the likelihood that the reported test result is not correct.

This paper provides an analysis of how (the risk of) non-response bias is discussed in research papers published in top management journals. It demonstrates that non-response bias is not assessed to a sufficient degree and that, if attempted at all, correction of non-response bias is difficult or very costly in practice. Three approaches to dealing with this problem are presented and discussed:(a) obtaining data by other means than questionnaires;(b) conducting surveys of very small populations; and(c) conducting surveys of very small samples.

It will be discussed why these approaches are appropriate means of testing hypotheses in populations. Trade-offs regarding the selection of an approach will be discussed as well.

Description:

Telephone Data Entry (TDE) is a system by which survey respondents can return their data to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) using the keypad on their telephone and currently accounts for approximately 12% of total responses to ONS business surveys. ONS is currently increasing the number of surveys which use TDE as the primary mode of response and this paper gives an overview of the redevelopment project covering; the redevelopment of the paper questionnaire, enhancements made to the TDE system and the results from piloting these changes. Improvements to the quality of the data received and increased response via TDE as a result of these developments suggest that data quality improvements and cost savings are possible as a result of promoting TDE as the primary mode of response to short term surveys.

Description:

The ÉLDEQ initiated a special data gathering project in March 2008 with the collection of biological materials from 1,973 families. During a typical visit, a nurse collects a blood or saliva sample from the selected child, makes a series of measurements (anthropometry, pulse rate and blood pressure) and administers questionnaires. Planned and supervised by the Institut de la Statistique du Québec (ISQ) and the Université de Montréal, the study is being conducted in cooperation with two private firms and a number of hospitals. This article examines the choice of collection methods, the division of effort among the various players, the sequence of communications and contacts with respondents, the tracing of families who are not contacted, and follow-up on the biological samples. Preliminary field results are also presented.

Description:

Over the last few years, there have been large progress in the web data collection area. Today, many statistical offices offer a web alternative in many different types of surveys. It is widely believed that web data collection may raise data quality while lowering data collection costs. Experience has shown that, offered web as a second alternative to paper questionnaires; enterprises have been slow to embrace the web alternative. On the other hand, experiments have also shown that by promoting web over paper, it is possible to raise the web take up rates. However, there are still few studies on what happens when the contact strategy is changed radically and the web option is the only option given in a complex enterprise survey. In 2008, Statistics Sweden took the step of using more or less a web-only strategy in the survey of industrial production (PRODCOM). The web questionnaire was developed in the generalised tool for web surveys used by Statistics Sweden. The paper presents the web solution and some experiences from the 2008 PRODCOM survey, including process data on response rates and error ratios as well as the results of a cognitive follow-up of the survey. Some important lessons learned are also presented.

Description:

Online data collection emerged in 1995 as an alternative approach for conducting certain types of consumer research studies and has grown in 2008. This growth has been primarily in studies where non-probability sampling methods are used. While online sampling has gained acceptance for some research applications, serious questions remain concerning online samples' suitability for research requiring precise volumetric measurement of the behavior of the U.S. population, particularly their travel behavior. This paper reviews literature and compares results from studies using probability samples and online samples to understand whether results differ from the two sampling approaches. The paper also demonstrates that online samples underestimate critical types of travel even after demographic and geographic weighting.

Description:

At first sight, web surveys seem to be an interesting and attractive means of data collection. They provide simple, cheap and fast access to a large group of people. However, web surveys also suffer from methodological problems. Outcomes of web surveys may be severally biased, particularly if self-selection of respondents is applied instead of proper probability sampling. Under-coverage is also a serious problem. This raises the question whether web surveys can be used for data collection in official statistics. This paper addresses the problems under-coverage and self-selection in web surveys, and attempts to describe how Internet data collection can be incorporated in normal data collection practices of official statistics.

Description:

Statistics Canada publishes several measures of farm income, each produced for a different purpose. This bulletin describes the concepts behind these different measures, the methods by which the measures are constructed, and the uses for which they were designed.

Description:

This report explains the concept of income and provides definitions of the various sources of income and derived income variables. It also documents the various aspects of the census that can have an impact on census income estimates.

Description:

This paper states how SN is preparing for a new era in the making of statistics, as it is triggered by technological and methodological developments. An essential feature of the turn to the new era is the farewell to the stovepipe way of data processing. The paper discusses how new technological and methodological tools will affect processes and their organization. Special emphasis is put on one of the major chances and challenges the new tools offer: establishing coherence in the content of statistics and in the presentation to users.

Description:

The Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB) links immigration and taxation administrative records into a comprehensive source of data on the labour market behaviour of the landed immigrant population in Canada. It covers the period 1980 to 1995 and will be updated annually starting with the 1996 tax year in 1999. Statistics Canada manages the database on behalf of a federal-provincial consortium led by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The IMDB was created specifically to respond to the need for detailed and reliable data on the performance and impact of immigration policies and programs. It is the only source of data at Statistics Canada that provides a direct link between immigration policy levers and the economic performance of immigrants. The paper will examine the issues related to the development of a longitudinal database combining administrative records to support policy-relevant research and analysis. Discussion will focus specifically on the methodological, conceptual, analytical and privacy issues involved in the creation and ongoing development of this database. The paper will also touch briefly on research findings, which illustrate the policy outcome links the IMDB allows policy-makers to investigate.

Description:

As the availability of both health utilization and outcome information becomes increasingly important to health care researchers and policy makers, the ability to link person-specific health data becomes a critical objective. This type of linkage of population-based administrative health databases has been realized in British Columbia. The database was created by constructing an historical file of all persons registered with the health care system, and then by probabilistically linking various program files to this 'coordinating' file. The first phase of development included the linkage of hospital discharge data, physician billing data, continuing care data, data about drug costs for the elderly, births data and deaths data. The second phase of development has seen the addition data sources external to the Ministry of Health including cancer incidence data, workers' compensation data, and income assistance data.

Description:

Following the problems with estimating underenumeration in the 1991 Census of England and Wales the aim for the 2001 Census is to create a database that is fully adjusted to net underenumeration. To achieve this, the paper investigates weighted donor imputation methodology that utilises information from both the census and census coverage survey (CCS). The US Census Bureau has considered a similar approach for their 2000 Census (see Isaki et al 1998). The proposed procedure distinguishes between individuals who are not counted by the census because their household is missed and those who are missed in counted households. Census data is linked to data from the CCS. Multinomial logistic regression is used to estimate the probabilities that households are missed by the census and the probabilities that individuals are missed in counted households. Household and individual coverage weights are constructed from the estimated probabilities and these feed into the donor imputation procedure.

Description:

The geographical and temporal relationship between outdoor air pollution and asthma was examined by linking together data from multiple sources. These included the administrative records of 59 general practices widely dispersed across England and Wales for half a million patients and all their consultations for asthma, supplemented by a socio-economic interview survey. Postcode enabled linkage with: (i) computed local road density; (ii) emission estimates of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxides, (iii) measured/interpolated concentration of black smoke, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants at practice level. Parallel Poisson time series analysis took into account between-practice variations to examine daily correlations in practices close to air quality monitoring stations. Preliminary analyses show small and generally non-significant geographical associations between consultation rates and pollution markers. The methodological issues relevant to combining such data, and the interpretation of these results will be discussed.

Description:

Electricity rates that vary by time-of-day have the potential to significantly increase economic efficiency in the energy market. A number of utilities have undertaken economic studies of time-of-use rates schemes for their residential customers. This paper uses meta-analysis to examine the impact of time-of-use rates on electricity demand pooling the results of thirty-eight separate programs. There are four key findings. First, very large peak to off-peak price ratios are needed to significantly affect peak demand. Second, summer peak rates are relatively effective compared to winter peak rates. Third, permanent time-or-use rates are relatively effective compared to experimental ones. Fourth, demand charges rival ordinary time-of-use rates in terms of impact.

Description:

We use data on 14 populations of coho salmon to estimate critical parameters that are vital for management of fish populations. Parameter estimates from individual data sets are inefficient and can be highly biased, and we investigate methods to overcome these problems. Combination of data sets using nonlinear mixed effects models provides more useful results, however questions of influence and robustness are raised. For comparison, robust estimates are obtained. Model-robustness is also explored using a family of alternative functional forms. Our results allow ready calculation of the limits of exploitation and may help to prevent extinction of fish stocks. Similar methods can be applied in other contexts where parameter estimation is part of a larger decision-making process.

Description:

This report deals with sampling and weighting, a process whereby certain characteristics are collected and processed for a random sample of dwellings and persons identified in the complete census enumeration. Data for the whole population are then obtained by scaling up the results for the sample to the full population level. The use of sampling may lead to substantial reductions in costs and respondent burden, or alternatively, can allow the scope of a census to be broadened at the same cost.