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This report provides an overview of the results of the Survey of Financial Security (SFS). This survey collected information on the assets and debts of families and unattached individuals. Data collection took place from May to July 1999, in all provinces. Although this is the seventh time that an asset and debt survey has been conducted by Statistics Canada, over 15 years have passed since the last survey was done, in 1984. Many changes have taken place since that time, in both the economy and the structure of families.

The 1999 SFS provides the most comprehensive picture of the net wealth of Canadians yet available. Information was collected on the value of all major financial and non-financial assets and on the money owing on mortgages, vehicles, credit cards, student loans and other debts. The value of these assets less the debts is referred to in this report as net worth.

This document briefly describes the Survey of Financial Security and presents the questionnaire used for the interview. The Survey of Financial Security (SFS) was conducted during May and June of 1999. The information was collected by personal interview, using a paper questionnaire. Introductory material was sent to the respondent prior to the first contact by the interviewer.

Approximately 23,000 dwellings were selected for the sample, most using the Labour Force Survey frame. The high-income sample was drawn from geographic areas with a larger concentration of high-income households.

The survey collected the following type of information: (1) general demographic information on all members of the family, (2) more detailed information on the education, employment, income, etc., on those family members 15 years of age and older, and, (3) asset and debt information on the family as a whole.

This is the second release of preliminary data in advance of the annual publication, scheduled for completion in October of this year. It covers facilities-based carriers (wireline, wireless and satellite) as well as resellers.

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.

This online publication presents detailed annual financial and operating statistics on the Canadian cable television industry. Operational data are published on subscribers, households passed by cable, kilometres of cable, channel capacity and program hours. Financial statistics include detailed revenue and expense accounts, balance sheet and statement of retained earnings. The preamble to the publication consists of statistical highlights, a written analysis and text tables which display a financial and operating summary of the cable television industry. Also included is a glossary of terms for the industry.

During the summer of 1999, Statistics Canada conducted the second Survey of Intellectual Property Commercialization in the Higher Education Sector, which was designed to illuminate the overall process of intellectual property (IP) management. Over 100 universities, degree-granting colleges and affiliated research hospitals took part in this voluntary survey. The results show that over 60% of institutions are actively managing (identifying, protecting, promoting and/or commercializing) their IP. Within the last five years, 47% of institutions have filed a patent application and 32% have licensed their technologies, to generate over $21 million per annum in royalties. Universities also hold $55 million in equity in their 454 spin-off companies formed to date.

The intent of this document is to provide an inventory of the surveys, databases, publications, articles and work in progress in Statistics Canada that relate to Canada's retirement income programs. The inventory provides information on publications, output and relevant data elements produced by the surveys and databases. It does not provide an exhaustive description of these data sources, but instead focuses on the information that can be used for purposes of researching/analysing retirement income programs. Some of the information contained does not specifically relate to these programs but might be used as a secondary source when doing research in this area.

Foreign ownership in the Canadian telecommunications industry has always been an important policy issue, and recent events have further emphasized the significance of this topic.

The purpose of this short report is to provide basic information on the relative importance of the different players in the industry.

Although income and expenditure data provide an indication of current consumption and ability to purchase goods and services, they provide little information on the long-term ability of families to sustain themselves. The results of this survey will provide information on the net worth (wealth) of Canadian families, that is, the value of their assets less their debts.

This paper examines the objectives of the survey, how the survey has changed since 1984, the types of questions being asked and information that will be provided, as well as other survey background. An accompanying table outlines the content of the questionnaire. The intent of this paper is to describe the work done to date and the next steps for this important subject.

This publication provides estimates of assets, revenues and expenditures, and the asset portfolio composition of trusteed pension funds for Canada. Most data are presented as a time series of five years. An analysis of quarterly changes, as well as the relationship between the estimates and financial market conditions, is included.

This is a preliminary release of data in advance of the annual publication. Data from facilities-based carriers (wireline, wireless and satellite) and resellers are presented.

This online publication presents annual, detailed financial statistics on the Canadian telephone industry by province. Also included are operational data such as wire mileage, number of telephone calls and number of access lines in service. There is a textual analysis of the data with comments on methodology, a data quality and a glossary of terms.

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.

This online publication presents detailed annual financial and operating statistics on the Canadian cable television industry. Operational data are published on subscribers, households passed by cable, kilometres of cable, channel capacity and program hours. Financial statistics include detailed revenue and expense accounts, balance sheet and statement of retained earnings. The preamble to the publication consists of statistical highlights, a written analysis and text tables which display a financial and operating summary of the cable television industry. Also included is a glossary of terms for the industry.

The Canadian Out-of-Employment Panel Survey was conducted by Statistics Canada for Human Resources Development Canada, Strategic Evaluation and Monitoring. This survey interviewed people who had a job interruption during one of the two reference periods: (1) Jan. 29-Mar. 11, 1995; or (2) Apr. 23-June 3, 1995.

The survey gathered information on subsequent employment during a 13-month period, background demographics on the individual and the household, as well as information on job search activities and outcomes, income, assets and debts, expenditures, and training.

In 1996, the COEP survey was re-designed as the Changes in Employment Survey, referred to as COEP 1996. The re-designed survey had changes in the sample design and content to allow a more complete picture of the population of individuals experiencing a loss or change of employment.

The survey collects information on employment history during an 18-month period, background demographics on the individual and the household, as well as information on job search activities and outcomes, income, assets and debts, expenditures, and training.The main changes to the sample design compared to COEP 1995 are as follows: all individuals who are issued an ROE in the reference period are included in the 1996 design whereas under the 1995 design, only individuals whose ROE was issued for particular reasons were included; and the reference periods for the 1996 design are consecutive quarters, giving complete coverage across time whereas for the 1995 design, two discrete time periods were selected.

The main change to the content compared to COEP 1995 is as follows: information is collected about all employers the individual worked for during the reference period whereas under the 1995 design, information was only collected for the ROE employer, the next employer and the current employer.

Using national accounts data on the financial flows, balance sheets and Canada's international investments, this paper shows how the crisis in financial markets has affected financial behaviour in Canada.

Buoyed by rising incomes coupled with stable inflation and low interest rates, Canadians went on a spending spree between 1999 and 2005. However, much of the increased spending was financed through credit, as the personal savings rate slumped and per capita debt jumped. This paper divides families into seven cohorts, based on the year of birth of the major income recipient, and compares family assets and debts in 2005 with the situation in 1999 to provide a rough life-cycle portrait of Canadian families.

A wide variety of assets can be held in registered retirement savings plans ranging from investments with predictable values, like guaranteed investment certificates, to those whose values vary, like stocks of individual companies. Returns to these investments, and therefore income levels in retirement, can vary dramatically, depending on the economic climate and the mix of investments. This article examines the characteristics of families with RRSPs and the allocation of assets within their RRSPs according to the level of predictability of the return on investment.

This paper offers empirical evidence on the actual rates and forms of economic depreciation for a comprehensive set of assets. Using a Canadian micro database on the purchase and disposal of capital goods from Statistics Canada's Capital Expenditure Survey, the study estimates depreciation rates for 36 asset categories, which represent half of the Canadian business capital stock. Depreciation rates for the remaining assets are calibrated using the average age-price relationship from the estimation and surveyed service lives obtained from the Capital Expenditure Survey. The impact of the estimated depreciation rates on the Canadian capital stock and depreciation allowances is also presented.

This study uses administrative tax data and the Survey of Financial Security to explore trends in the number and characteristics of high-income Canadians, as well as their wealth and effective income tax rates, from 1982 to 2004. The paper uses a range of thresholds to delineate high income and emphasizes statistics on the top 5%, 1%, 0.1% and 0.01% of tax filers.

The study found that an individual income of $89,000 was needed to be counted among the top 5% if income recipients in 2004. A family income of $154,000 would place one in the top 5% of families. The growth in incomes at the high end has been quite rapid while incomes of the majority of the population remained stable. Compared with the U.S., Canada had significantly fewer high-income recipients in 2004, and their incomes were considerably less. Higher-income individuals tend to be middle aged married males that live in the larger urban centres. While women have made up a larger portion on the top 5% of tax filers since 1982, they have not made gains in the very highest income groups. High income Canadians have roughly the same share of total wealth as they do of total income.

High income Canadians, in line with an increasing share of total income, have been paying an increasing share of total personal income taxes. Their share of total income increased from 21% to 25% between 1992 and 2004 while their share of income taxes paid increased from 30% to 36%. At the same time their effective tax rate dropped from 29% to 27%. Thus despite lower tax rates the increase in incomes was large enough, when combined with the progressive tax system, to result in an increased share of total taxes paid by high income Canadians. There is considerable heterogeneity in effective tax rates at the individual level with some high income individuals facing an effective tax rate of over 45%, while some pay as little as 10%. The proportion of tax filers, across the income distribution, who pay zero taxes decreased between 1992 and 2004.

This report provides an overview of the results of the Survey of Financial Security (SFS). This survey collected information on the assets and debts of families and unattached individuals. Data collection took place from May to July 2005, in all provinces.

The 2005 SFS provides a comprehensive picture of the wealth of Canadians. Information was collected on the value of all major financial and non-financial assets and on the money owing on mortgages, vehicles, credit cards, student loans and other debts. The value of these assets less the debts is referred to in this report as net worth.

Corporations have been posting record profits over much of the last decade. Meanwhile, business fixed capital investment has been relatively sluggish in recent years. This situation has led to a significant shift in the corporate sectors' net lending/borrowing position - from one of a chronic deficit position to one of sustained surplus. After having run deficits for almost 30 years, corporations have emerged with significant surplus positions in the last decade. This has placed the corporate sector in a new role - that of increasingly supplying funds to the rest of the economy.

This note looks at this development from a few angles, focusing on non-financial corporations. It identifies the underlying causes for, and the major effects of, the development of an expanding corporate surplus position. In short, non-financial corporations have taken advantage of record profits, historically low interest rates and relatively buoyant stock markets to substantially re-structure their balance sheets. It has reached the point where corporate finances, in aggregate, are the healthiest they have been in the last thirty years.

Foreign control in our economy has fallen and rebounded largely as a result of regulatory changes, especially in energy.

These products present extensive historical, up-to-date and detailed information covering the following topics: Old Age Security programs, registered pension plans (RPPs), registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs), trusteed pension funds, pension adjustment (PA), retirement compensation arrangements (RCAs), Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Quebec Pension Plan (QPP).

These products will be useful for a wide audience, including pension professionals (e.g., employee benefit and investment specialists), employers and policy analysts, as well as educational institutions whose curricula cover these increasingly important programs.

Important note: Please refer to the content note for specifics concerning the information available in each medium.

This paper outlines broad changes in foreign ownership in Canada over the last forty years. It makes use of several different but complementary data sources that are produced by Statistics Canada to analyze the importance of foreign ownership in Canada. Over the last four decades, foreign multinationals that are operating in Canada have experienced first, a retrenchment and then, a resurgence in their activities. This retrenchment occurred during the period when foreign investment was tightly regulated and could be found across most industries, but was particularly evident in the energy and mining sector. The resurgence that has occurred subsequent to the introduction of a more liberal regulatory regime was also relatively widespread, though there are several sectors like the science-based and energy industries where this has not occurred.

This document briefly describes the Survey of Financial Security and presents the questionnaire used for the interview. The Survey of Financial Security (SFS) was conducted during May and June of 1999. The information was collected by personal interview, using a paper questionnaire. Introductory material was sent to the respondent prior to the first contact by the interviewer.

Approximately 23,000 dwellings were selected for the sample, most using the Labour Force Survey frame. The high-income sample was drawn from geographic areas with a larger concentration of high-income households.

The survey collected the following type of information: (1) general demographic information on all members of the family, (2) more detailed information on the education, employment, income, etc., on those family members 15 years of age and older, and, (3) asset and debt information on the family as a whole.

The intent of this document is to provide an inventory of the surveys, databases, publications, articles and work in progress in Statistics Canada that relate to Canada's retirement income programs. The inventory provides information on publications, output and relevant data elements produced by the surveys and databases. It does not provide an exhaustive description of these data sources, but instead focuses on the information that can be used for purposes of researching/analysing retirement income programs. Some of the information contained does not specifically relate to these programs but might be used as a secondary source when doing research in this area.

Although income and expenditure data provide an indication of current consumption and ability to purchase goods and services, they provide little information on the long-term ability of families to sustain themselves. The results of this survey will provide information on the net worth (wealth) of Canadian families, that is, the value of their assets less their debts.

This paper examines the objectives of the survey, how the survey has changed since 1984, the types of questions being asked and information that will be provided, as well as other survey background. An accompanying table outlines the content of the questionnaire. The intent of this paper is to describe the work done to date and the next steps for this important subject.

The main objectives of a new Canadian survey measuring asset and debt holding of families and individuals will be to update wealth information that is over one decade old; to improve the reliability of the wealth estimates; and, to provide a primary tool for analysing many important policy issues related to the distribution of assets and debts, future consumption possibilities, and savings behaviour that is of interest to governments, business and communities.

This paper is the document that launched the development of the new asset and debt survey, subsequently renamed the Survey of Financial Security. It looks at the conceptual framework for the survey, including the appropriate unit of measurement (family, household or person) and discusses measurement issues such as establishing an accounting framework for assets and debts. The variables proposed for inclusion are also identified. The paper poses several questions to readers and asks for comments and feedback.

This document summarizes the comments and feedback received on an earlier document: Towards a new Canadian asset and debt survey - A content discussion paper. The new asset and debt survey (now called the Survey of Financial Security) is to update the wealth information on Canadian families and unattached individuals. Since the last data collection was conducted in 1984, it was essential to include a consultative process in the development of the survey in order to obtain feedback on issues of concern and to define the conceptual framework for the survey.

Comments on the content discussion paper are summarized by major theme and sections indicate how the suggestions are being incorporated into the survey or why they could not be incorporated. This paper also mentions the main objectives of the survey and provides an overview of the survey content, revised according to the feedback from the discussion paper.

This paper presents a proposal for conducting a Canadian asset and debt survey. The first step in preparing this proposal was the release, in February 1997, of a document entitled Towards a new Canadian asset and debt survey whose intent was to elicit feedback on the initial thinking regarding the content of the survey.

This paper reviews the conceptual framework for a new asset and debt survey, data requirements, survey design, collection methodology and testing. It provides also an overview of the anticipated data processing system, describes the analysis and dissemination plan (analytical products and microdata files), and identifies the survey costs and major milestones. Finally, it presents the management/coordination approach used.

During September and October 1997, the Questionnaire Design Resource Centre (QDRC) completed 10 focus groups and 4 in-depth interviews with respondents and 6 debriefing sessions with interviewers in a test of the proposed questionnaires and data collection methodology for the 1998 Asset and Debt Survey (now called the Survey of Financial Security, to be done in 1999).

The main goals of the testing were: to evaluate the data collection methodology and survey instruments (including the introductory materials [guide] and questionnaires [Part 1: background information about family members, Part 2: questions on assets and debts]); to identify problem areas; to make recommendations to ensure that the final survey instruments are respondent-friendly and interview-friendly, that the questionnaires can be easily understood and accurately completed; and finally, to investigate how respondents recall information.

This report summarizes the highlights of the study, including the recommendations based on the findings of the focus groups, in-depth interviews and debriefing sessions, as well as those from the experience of the QDRC in carrying out similar studies for other household surveys.

This report presents the results of the May 1993 Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) test as they relate to the wealth items, at the individual level and at the family level.