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Description:

Foreign ownership in telecommunications - always a sensitive issue for Canada - is likely to become even more important for policymakers to follow in the future, as globalization leads to increased competition. A new paper from Statistics Canada sheds light on the make-up of the industry, comparing the performance of foreign-and-Canadian-controlled firms.

Description:

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.

Description:

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.

Description:

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.

Description:

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.

Description:

The new 1999 Survey of Financial Security (SFS) will provide a picture of the value and nature of assets held by Canadian families. Such information will make it possible to analyse asset holdings over the life cycle, as well as to look at the financial vulnerability and future consumption capabilities of Canadians.

This report identifies some problematic and complex issues related to the evaluation of owner-occupied dwellings (principal residence) and examines several possible approaches to valuing these dwellings. The following information about the dwelling is considered in suggesting possible valuation methods: insured value, assessed value, dwelling characteristics, and purchase price and year of purchase. An optimal method to produce an objective value for a dwelling is also suggested and methods for deriving the value of principal residences located on farms are discussed as well.

Description:

Profiles are available by type of business (unincorporated, incorporated, and both combined) for about 680 different industries in Canada. They are also produced for each province and territory, but with reduced industry detail. This article focuses on revenue, profit, assets and equity.

Description:

The focus of this chapter is on the extent and nature of intergenerational income mobility, that is the degree to which an individual's income (as an adult) is related to the income earned by his or her parents (during the individual's childhood). As such our analysis is related to the economic literature surveyed for example in Becker and Tomes (1986), and more recently by Björklund and Jäntti (1997). However, we follow Hill and Duncan (1987) in suggesting that distinguishing between the various components of a family's income provides a way of incorporating both economic and sociological explanations into an empirical model of income mobility.

Description:

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.

Description:

The inspiration and content of this volume owe much to Larry Kotlikoff, Alan Auerbach and their collaborators for their pioneering work in the development of Generational Accounting. These papers include the latest efforts to apply their accounting framework to Canada as well as numerous extensions of parallel thinking to a far broader range of legacies. Both of these lines of research make use of Statistics Canada's unmatched sources of data and analytical capacities, so the sponsorship and content of this book make a natural match.

Description: Each year, Statistics Canada produces a report on foreign control {Foreign control in the Canadian economy}, as stipulated in the Corporations Returns Act. This report draws a national profile of foreign control in the Canadian corporate economy, examining financial and ownership information on corporations conducting business in Canada. This information is used to evaluate the extent and effect of non-resident control of the Canadian corporate economy. The report includes charts and tables providing time series on selected financial characteristics (assets, operating revenue and operating profits) by specific country of control and classified by major industry groups. The statistics provided in the Corporations Returns Act report are presented at the 21-industry level, using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS Canada 2017). Previous versions of this report may use different industry classification systems. The industry system used will be referenced within the specific version.

Description: The data on natural wealth reflects reserves of energy, selected minerals and timber (2021 preliminary).

Description: The cross-sectional public-use microdata file for the Survey of Financial Security is a collection of income, assets, debts and wealth data on the economy of Canadian families. The production of this file includes many safeguards to prevent the identification of any one person or family.

The file is produced at the economic family level with information on family demographics; income; financial behaviours and attitudes; principal residence; assets, debts and net worth; family composition and size; and, in years 2005 onward, the major income recipient. the major income recipient.

Please see the user guide for more information.  

Description:

This publication presents, on a quarterly basis, balance sheet, income statement, statement of changes in financial position and ratio data for the last five quarters. It covers 22 financial and non-financial sectors and their totals at the Canada level. The industry breakdowns are based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS 2012).

Description:

The publication is a joint initiative by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Statistics Canada providing detailed financial information (assets, liabilities, revenues and expenditures data) on farms across Canada. The data are disaggregated by province, farm type and revenue class. This publication also includes data highlights, information on concepts, methods, data quality and the survey questionnaire.

Description:

This publication presents transactions in Canadian and foreign bonds and stocks and in Canadian money market securities with non-residents. Transactions in each security are classified into new issues, retirements and trade in outstanding securities which shows sales and purchases. Monthly gross and net transactions are presented geographically with the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, other countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and other foreign countries by type of security.

This publication also includes historical data, as well as position information, quarterly and annually, on Canadian bonds and money market paper and a table on selected stock prices and capital market yields.

Description:

This publication contains annual data from 1981 to date for the balance sheet of the agricultural sector, at December 31, for Canada and the provinces. Data highlights and concepts and methods are also included.

In May, annual measures for the previous two calendar years are subject to revision. In November, estimates for the previous three years may be revised. Every five years a historical revision is done, based on the results of the Census of Agriculture. Although the data are available in late May and late November, the publication is not completed and released until the following July and January, respectively.

Description: This product provides data for national and sectoral wealth and net worth in the form of quarterly balance sheets for the total economy and its component sectors. Sector aggregations and tangible and financial asset and liability categories are reconcilable to quarterly financial flow account transactions. The diskettes include historical data, and is no longer being released.

Description:

This product contains statistics on registered pension plans at January 1, 2003. The major topic covered are plans and members by areas of employment, jurisdiction of plans registration, type of plan, public and private sector, funding arrangement, employee/employer contribution formula, benefit method and annual contributions made to a registered pension plan.

Statistics on Retirement compensation arrangements are also included and show the number of trusts, the assets, contributions and benefits for 1991 to 2001.

Description:

The publication presents information from companies primarily engaged in the gathering and transportation of crude oil and liquefied petroleum gases to refineries and for export. Details include: operating revenue/expenses, employment and payroll, balance sheet data, pumping stations, pipeline length and truck line systems, receipts and disposition of crude oil, summary of pipeline movements of crude oil and equivalent and liquified petroleum gases.

Description:

This Economic Insights article reports on the composition of capital expenditures in Canada. It highlights major changes in the distribution of aggregate capital spending over the last decade, as investments in structural assets accelerated in resource-based regions. The article also discusses the new preliminary actual estimates for 2012 and the investment intentions for 2013. It is one of a series of Economic Insights articles designed to facilitate ongoing assessments of the Canadian economy.

Description:

This publication presents Canada's asset and liability position with non-residents, with a detailed breakdown by claims (direct investment, portfolio, etc.) by industry and by country or organization (United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Japan, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and all other countries). The data also include the foreign holdings of Canada's public debt. In addition, data are provided on Canadian portfolio investments abroad and on the investment income arising from Canada's external assets and liabilities. This publication includes several pages of data analysis accompanied by graphics, definitions and data quality measures. Statistics are derived from surveys, administrative data and other sources.

Description:

Discussions of pension adequacy for elderly Canadians have used the rate at which income falls with age; the income replacement rate or the ratio of post-retirement income to pre-retirement income. Use of income streams to assess post-retirement welfare requires a standard against which adequacy of the replacement rates can be judged. Because some expenditures (for example, work-related expenses) can be expected to fall after retirement, a declining income stream does not necessarily signal financial problems for seniors. More importantly, income as normally measured captures only part of what is available to seniors if households possess assets, which in retirement are not being used to generate measured income.

This paper uses a different metric, referred to as "potential" income. Potential income is the sum of realized income and the income that could be realized from owned assets such as mutual funds and housing. Households prepare for retirement by saving and borrowing and investing the proceeds. The assets accumulated over a lifetime may or may not be drawn down in later years. If they are not, income streams underestimate the "potential" income available to support retirement. This paper takes this potential into account when comparing the pre- and post-retirement financial status of Canadian households.

Description:

This study examines the financial situation of individuals living in low-income families with at least one employed family member compared to low-income families with no employed family members and employed non-low-income families. It presents new findings from the Canadian Financial Capability Survey on the level of net worth, assets and debts, financial security and retirement preparation of these groups.

Description:

The economic well-being chapter of Women in Canada examines several factors related to well-being of women and compares it to that for men. More specifically, it examines total income and earnings, assets, debts and net worth by family type and age. Information on pension coverage, RRSP contributions, incidence of low income and dual earners is included.

Description:

The papers in this series are based on the Survey of Financial Security which is a study of what families own (assets) and what they owe (debts). Various topics are covered by this survey, such as the value of family assets (home; other property; vehicles; bank accounts; term deposits; life insurance; and investments in registered savings plans, bonds, mutual funds, stocks, etc.), the amount of family debts (amount owed on mortgages, car loans, credit cards, other charge accounts, student loans, etc.), major on-going expenses for housing and child care, and any employer pensions plans that members of the family belong to. Information is also available on the demographic, employment, income and educational characteristics of family members. This research paper series covers various topics relating to survey content, concepts and operations.

Description:

The student borrowing rate among postsecondary graduates increased between 1995 and 2005, with borrowers differing little from non-borrowers in terms of employment rates and total personal income. However, borrowers were less likely to have savings or investments, or own their own homes. Total debt for borrower and non-borrower graduates age 20 to 29 was similar, while borrowers had lower assets and net worth than non-borrowers.

Description:

This paper presents estimates of intangible investment in Canada for the purpose of innovation, advertising and resource extraction. It first expands upon work by Beckstead and Gellatly (2003), Baldwin and Hanel (2003), Beckstead and Gellatly (2003), Beckstead and Vinodrai (2003) and Baldwin and Beckstead (2003) who argue that the scope of innovative activity extends beyond research and development (R&D) as defined by the Frascati Manual. It extends the definition of innovative activities to include all scientific and engineering expenditures - regardless of whether they are market-based or produced with a firm. The paper also considers expenditures on intangible items such as brands or resource exploration.

The paper contributes to the existing literature by creating intangible investment estimates (science and engineering knowledge, advertising, mineral exploration by industry) using Statistics Canada's high quality and internally consistent databases. It produces estimates that accord with other intangibles studies (Corrado, Hulten and Sichel 2005, 2006; Jalava, Ahmavarra and Alanen 2007) and shows that traditional R&D type investment estimates account for about a quarter of intangible science and engineering investments.

Description:

New data from the Pension Satellite Account show there have been several notable shifts so far this decade in the structure of pension assets. Assets have nearly quadrupled, mostly due to higher investment income. Contributions rose steadily, but barely kept up with the increase in withdrawals as the population aged rapidly.

Description:

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.

Description:

An explanation of the structure and concepts of Canada’s financial flow and national balance sheet accounts.

Description:

The Methodological Guide: Canadian System of Environmental-Economic Accounting provides readers with information on environmental-economic accounts at Statistics Canada. It provides links to produced data and publications and describes the concepts, sources, and methods used to compile them. Topics include ecosystem accounting, asset accounts (natural resources in physical and monetary terms), physical flow accounts (energy and water use, and waste and greenhouse gas emissions), environmental activity statistics (expenditures on environmental protection), and the applications and extensions of those accounts (attribution of physical flows to final demand and intensity measures).

This user's guide has been developed by the Environmental Statistics Program to facilitate access to environmental-economic accounting information throughout Statistics Canada and to explain its linkage with international standards, the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting. This guide is continually being updated to maintain its relevance.

Description:

The methodology for estimating the Flows and Stocks of Fixed Capital has been redeveloped to ensure greater coherence of the capital stock program within the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (CSMA). This is done by incorporating investment flows directly from the CSMA on a detailed industry/asset basis. The data released will be based on the input-output final demand classification, with updated per asset depreciation profiles and prices.

Description:

The Whole Farm Data Base (WFDB) is the product of a joint venture between Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Statistics Canada. It was developed with the intention to meet the increasing demands of users of agricultural statistics for more disaggregated data at the whole farm level. The WFDB provides the means for users to evaluate agricultural policies and programs as well as analyze the viability, stability, and competitiveness of various farm businesses.

Integrating into one base the agricultural data, which are available from administrative and survey sources, is the essence of the WFDB. It can offer users access to a wider than ever range of disaggregated physical and financial data at the farm level.

This reference manual will familiarize potential users of the WFDB with the structure of the data base and the quality of the data and give a description of the WFDB products and services that are currently available.

Description:

Official data from statistical agencies are not always ideal for cross-country comparisons because of differences in data sources and methodology. Analysts who engage in cross-country comparisons need to carefully choose among alternatives and sometimes adapt data especially for their purposes. This paper develops comparable capital stock estimates to examine the relative capital intensity of Canada and the United States.

To do so, the paper applies common depreciation rates to Canadian and U.S. assets to come up with comparable capital stock estimates by assets and by industry between the two countries. Based on common depreciation rates, it finds that capital intensity is higher in the Canadian business sector than in the U.S. business sector. This is the net result of quite different ratios at the individual asset level. Canada has as higher intensity of engineering infrastructure assets per dollar of gross domestic product produced. Canada has a lower intensity of information and communications technology (ICT) machinery and equipment (M&E). Non-ICT M&E and building assets intensities are more alike in the two countries.

However, these results do not control for the fact that different asset-specific capital intensities between Canada and the United States may be the result of a different industrial structure. When both assets and industry structure are taken into account, the overall picture changes somewhat. Canada's business sector continues to have a higher intensity of engineering infrastructure and about the same intensity of building assets; however, it has a deficit in M&E that goes beyond ICT assets.

Description:

This paper focuses on the role of investments in infrastructure in Canada. The size of infrastructure investments relative to other capital stock sets this country apart from most other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. The paper reviews the approaches taken by other researchers to define infrastructure. It then outlines a taxonomy to define those assets that should be considered as infrastructure and that can be used to assess the importance of different types of capital investments. It briefly considers how to define the portion of infrastructure that should be considered 'public'. The final two parts of the paper apply the proposed classification system to data on Canada's capital stock, and ask the following questions: how much infrastructure does Canada have and in which sectors of the economy is this infrastructure located? Finally, the paper investigates how Canada's infrastructure has evolved over the last four decades, both in the commercial and non-commercial sectors, and compares these trends with the pattern that can be found in the United States.

Description:

This guide will be of assistance when using the public use microdata file (PUMF) of the Survey of Financial Security (SFS) conducted by the Pensions and Wealth Surveys Section of the Income Statistics Division.

Description:

This paper generates depreciation profiles for a diverse set of assets based on patterns of resale prices and retirements. In doing so, it explores the sensitivity of estimates of the growth in capital stock and capital services to alternate estimates of depreciation.

In the first instance, survival analysis techniques are used to estimate changes in valuation of assets over the course of their service life. In the second instance, a two-step procedure is utilized that first estimates the discard function for used assets (assets discarded at zero prices) and then uses the resulting estimates to correct for selection bias that arises when just positive used-asset prices are employed to estimate age-price profiles to produce depreciation rates. For the third method, a discard function and an asset efficiency function are jointly specified and estimated.

These three different methods produce depreciation profiles that follow convex patterns. Accelerated profiles are apparent for many individual assets in the machinery and equipment and structures classes.

We also compare the ex post estimates of length of life that are based on outcomes to ex ante expected lives and find they are much the same. We therefore choose ex ante lives along with information from the ex post rates on the rate of decline in an asset's value to generate a set of depreciation rates for use in the productivity accounts.

We then use our depreciation model to produce estimates of the growth in capital stock and capital services over the 1961 to 1996 period. We find that the resulting estimates of capital stock and capital services are quite similar to those previously produced.

Description:

This guide will be of assistance in understanding the concepts, methodology and data quality of the surveys conducted as well as the data analysed by the Pensions and Wealth Surveys Section of the Income Statistics Division. It covers the following surveys/programs:- Pension Plans in Canada;- Trusteed Pension Funds (Census and Quarterly);- Survey of Financial Security; and- Pension adjustment/registered retirement savings plans data file provided by Canada Customs and Revenue Agency.

Description:

This publication describes the structure and administration of provincial/territorial legal aid services in Canada. It also includes information on legislation, organization, coverage, eligibility, duty counsel and tariffs.