Canadian Survey on Disability, 2022: Concepts and Methods Guide
4. Data collection

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4.1 Time Frame

The Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD) was conducted from June 3 to November 30, 2022. As a post-censal survey, it followed the 2021 Census of Population which was conducted starting on May 11, 2021. A time lag of approximately 13 to 18 months existed between the two surveys.

4.2 Communications

In the months leading up to data collection for the 2022 CSD, preparations were made to ensure that respondents had all the information they would need about the survey. A CSD survey webpage appeared on the Statistics Canada website as part of the agency’s official survey repository and registry system, called the Integrated Metadatabase (IMDB). This webpage included a survey description, background information on the survey and its methodology, and a link to the questionnaire. In addition, a special webpage of Information for Survey Participants (ISP) was developed with step-by-step information on how to participate, “Questions and Answers” about the survey, an introduction video in American Sign Language, and an informational brochure in English, Inuinnaqtun and Inuktitut.

In order to create on-line visibility for CSD collection activities, a social media campaign for the survey was launched on Statistics Canada’s social media accounts. Social media postings were made throughout the survey collection period with weekly to biweekly announcements about the survey, a variety of promotional infographics, customized images and other relevant statistical results from the 2022 CSD.

4.3 Mode of collection

Collection for the 2022 CSD was done using an Internet-based electronic questionnaire (EQ). Respondents could answer the EQ directly online without interviewer assistance (i.e., self-response) using a secure access code they received in the mail. We refer to this type of collection using the acronym rEQ. In addition, telephone interviews were used early in the collection period, as well as in the middle and at the end of collection for non-response follow-up. For this type of collection mode, the interviewers asked the questions to the respondent and entered the answers directly in the respondent’s EQ during the interview. The acronym iEQ is used to refer to this type of collection.

Survey respondents received an invitation to complete the survey online (respondent-led EQ), and incomplete cases were transferred to regional offices for follow-up, or interviewer-led EQ collection. Approximately one month into collection, representatives from Statistics Canada were deployed to assist collection in Nunavut to facilitate adequate sampling from this region.

A few days before the start of collection, invitation letters and informational brochures were sent to respondents to inform them of the upcoming survey and mentioning the importance of participating. Where possible, respondents in Nunavut and in some communities outside Nunavut received hand delivered invitation letters and brochures, the latter provided in English, French, Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun. Each letter included a link to the CSD web page, as well a toll-free number to call if they had questions (and a TTY number for the hearing impaired). The brochures described the survey, the importance of participation and topics covered.

The Information for Survey Participants (ISP) page included a number to call in order to be mailed survey information in Braille.

The introduction letters sent to respondents included a link to the electronic questionnaire as well as a secure access code. The letter included a phone number to call in order to complete the survey by iEQ and indicated that respondents may receive communication from an interviewer to complete the survey by iEQ a few weeks following the beginning of collection.

Over the six-month collection period, up to six reminder letters and four reminder e-mails were sent to respondents who had not yet submitted their questionnaire. Approximately 36% of respondents completed their survey using iEQ, with the remainder completing the survey using rEQ. For respondents designated for telephone contact, interviewers were instructed to make all reasonable attempts to obtain a completed interview with the selected member of the household. For cases in which the timing of the interviewer’s call was inconvenient, an appointment was arranged to call back at a more convenient time. For cases in which there was no one home, call backs were made at different moments of the day and different days of the week to maximize chances of reaching the respondent. Those who refused to participate were sent a letter to explain the importance of the survey and encourage their participation, and were re-contacted by telephone. Where possible, respondents in Nunavut were visited in-person by Statistics Canada to make contact, explain the survey and set up an interview appointment if necessary.

Across Canada, respondents were interviewed in the official language of their choice — English or French. For the limited number of cases where responses were provided in a language other than English or French, these responses were translated into an official language at StatCan and included in the data.

Note on Northern collection

Given challenges with collecting data in Canada’s Northern communities, an approach called CAPI Lite Plus (CLP) was used to support collection in parts of Nunavut. Since conducting CLP in Northern communities is more challenging for obtaining targeted response rates and has a higher cost per case due to travel costs, planning and coordination of workload was important to ensure an efficient collection process. The CSD therefore coordinated the CLP approach with another one of the post-censal survey (Indigenous People’s survey) who were in collection at the same time.

Since CAPI Lite Plus only became available to Statistics Canada beginning in January 2022, it was not until part-way through the data collection for CSD that it was implemented.

Essentially, interviewers from the Western regional offices travelled North to conduct CLP. While in the communities, interviewers obtained contact information and set-up appointments for as many cases as possible. They did not conduct interviews while in the communities. These appointments were covered by western CAPI Interviewers (via iEQ) as per a daily list which came to them from head office. Interviewers in the communities focused on contacting respondents in person following social distancing protocol to gather contact information, present the merits of completing the survey and set appointments. This work was done on paper as interviewers did not always have sufficient laptop connectivity going door-to-door. At the end of each day, upon returning to a secure setting, using their laptop, interviewers updated cases with the new contact information they gathered, which was transferred electronically to Head Office.

4.4 Security of online survey questionnaires

The electronic data collection system for the 2022 CSD involved a secure web server for the Internet-based EQ questionnaire, which captured both the iEQ and rEQ survey data.

Statistics Canada takes the protection of confidential information provided online very seriously. A secure login process and robust encryption are key elements in helping to prevent anyone from viewing or tampering with a respondent’s survey information when it is completed and submitted online.

To protect the security of respondents’ personal information when using the Internet, Statistics Canada has incorporated the following safeguards:

• It uses strong bi-directional encryption technologies to ensure end-to-end security of data passing between the respondent’s computer device and Statistics Canada’s web server.
• Survey data are processed and stored on a highly restricted internal network and cannot be accessed by anyone who has not taken the oath of secrecy. It is accessed only on a “need-to-know” basis.
• Data submitted to Statistics Canada’s web servers are encrypted before being stored and remain encrypted until they are transferred to the high security internal network.

Powerful firewalls, intrusion detection and stringent access control procedures are used to limit access to back-end systems and databases.

4.5 Supervision and quality control

Data collection was closely monitored throughout the six months of field activities through coordinated efforts between three specialized teams: Statistics Canada’s regional data collection offices, the Collection Planning and Research Division and the methodologists, analysts and managers of the CSD survey team.  

Quality control began with in-depth training of regional data collection managers and senior interviewers. Training addressed both the survey content and the interviewer-led electronic questionnaire (iEQ) application. A detailed interviewers’ manual was developed and presented through a combination of virtual, instructor-led learning and a period of self-study. Presentations were delivered by analysts, methodologists and collection experts. Interviewers completed a series of mock interviews to become familiar with the survey’s concepts and definitions as well as the EQ screens.

Regional data collection managers and senior interviewers ensured that training for the CSD was provided to all front-line interviewers across all regional offices. They also ensured that all interviewers were familiar with the concepts and procedures of the survey. In addition, they were responsible for the ongoing supervision of interviewers, including the monitoring of interviews throughout the survey collection period to ensure that standard procedures were being followed.

CSD head office managers, methodologists and analysts also provided oversight and quality control throughout data collection. Statistical reports on collection progress were generated and closely scrutinized by analysts and methodologists on a daily basis. Ongoing communication and feedback between the regions and head office was provided through a quick-response ticket system, along with regular meetings for coordinating field work efforts and fine-tuning collection strategies.

4.6 Proxy interviews

Since disability is difficult to measure and very subjective, interviewers were asked to make every effort to conduct the interview with the selected person. However, in the following circumstances, a proxy interview was acceptable:

• The selected person was away for the duration of the survey.
• The selected person spoke neither English nor French.
• The selected person was unable to participate because of mental or physical health problems.
• A parent or guardian requested to respond for his or her child.

In order to be accepted as a proxy respondent, the person responding must be:

• an adult who speaks either English or French;
• reachable during the survey’s data collection period;
• the person most knowledgeable, or among the most knowledgeable, about the selected person’s difficulties and challenges related to activity limitations and participation restrictions.

A total of 3,533 proxy interviews were conducted, 2,972 of which are considered complete, 210 out of scope,^{Note Note} and 351 incomplete. The 2,972 complete proxy interviews represent 9.2% of complete responses.

The table below shows the distribution of the 2,972 proxy interviews deemed to be completed, by respondent’s age and reason for the proxy interview.

4.7 Special issues

Natural disasters

The CSD team closely monitored collection to be able to adjust to changing priorities as needed, in particular as the team drew closer to end of collection. For example, during Hurricane Fiona which put several communities in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island into local states of emergencies, collection was paused in affected areas to reduce the burden on communities trying to recover. This involved turning off and on telephone priorities for iEQ follow-up as communities were recovering.

COVID-19

The CSD 2022 was collected during the second year following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and had a long collection period of about 6 months.

It should be noted that at this point, health restrictions, perceptions on COVID-19, and availability of vaccines and testing, varied between provinces and health regions. Causal impacts on data collection cannot be drawn, but drawing attention to the context is important.

For example, the following question might have been interpreted differently depending on whether respondents interpreted this as ‘ever having had COVID-19’, or ‘ever having tested positive for COVID-19’, and may also be connected with the availability of testing in the time leading up to the CSD interview as well as other factors.

4.8 Response rate

Collection for the CSD ended with a response rate of 61.1%. This response rate is the number of complete respondents (with or without a disability) divided by the number of cases sent to collection minus the out-of-scope cases. Out of scope cases include people who died, emigrated, were institutionalized, moved to a First Nations reserve, are full-time members of the Canadian Forces living on a military base, are visitors to Canada (misclassified during the census) or who reported being less than 16 years of age at the time of the interview. Hence, the response rate reflects the percentage of cases that completed the interview relative to the number of cases that should have completed it (which is why the out-of-scope cases are excluded from the denominator).

Response rate = Completed cases / (Cases sent to collection — Out-of-scope cases)

Once the data are examined, cases which appeared to be “respondent” can sometimes be considered incomplete or out of scope, affecting the number of cases that can be used for analytical purposes. After cleaning the data and reclassifying certain cases as non-respondent, the number of respondent and out-of-scope cases were recalculated, and thus a “clean” response rate was recalculated. The tables below provide the clean response rates by province/territory and age group.

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