2. Methodology of the analysis

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For our comparative analysis, we will focus specifically on the 0 to 17 age group since Demography Division uses the CCTB's eligible children population, aged 0 to 17 inclusively, on which to base its preliminary quarterly population estimates of the inter-provincial migration component. Prior to 1993, the Family Allowance Benefits (FAB) file was utilized, but due to legislative changes, this universal child benefit was replaced with the income-based CCTB. The analysis will cover the period 2001/2002 to 2005/2006 since preliminary estimates of children from the CCTB are still readily available. Previous data were revised and adjusted for the inter-censal error following the 2001 Census.⁵

A 2007 update of the results of part of a questionnaire given to the provinces and territories in February 1996 is included. Tables 2 and 3 in section 3.2 outline each province and territory's medical coverage based on the inclusion criteria. To assess the feasibility of Medicare records as a source for estimating migration, we have provided the following criteria:

Text table 1
Criteria to assess the feasibility of using Medicare records for estimating migration

As a point of reference, we will introduce a coverage table comparing all of the provincial health care registrations to our estimates of the total population. Coverage implies two dimensions of measurement: how well the file represents the entire population of the province or territory by its inclusion criterion (Eligibility) and secondly the adherence to the program from its citizens (Completeness), especially, new citizens moving into a province or territory. The concept of eligibility is more entrenched in each province's administrative and legislative rules about who is on their administrative file, but issues like type of medical coverage, opting out provisions and user fees are likely to have an impact on the adherence of its citizens to the program. All other criteria are less rigid and are reflections of the administrative burden of preparing and reporting the information to Statistics Canada.

Table 1 below is a summary of our assessment for each province and territory on how it meets these quality measures. The top portion of the table is a result of the coverage measurement of the entire health care files, while the lower portion summarizes the information from the health care registrations of new residents. These findings are discussed in the paper.

Table 1
Quality measure comparison between provincial/territorial health care registrations of total residents, new residents and the CCTB files

Two other criteria applicable across provinces and territories are also essential:

Text table 2
Further criteria to assess the feasibility of using Medicare records for estimating migration

These latter criteria are assessed more from their administrative rules and how they differ from one jurisdiction to another than from the data itself. In Annex H, you will find a copy of the provincial registration forms (where available) and their rules for program administration.

Below is a table summarizing how the provincial/territorial health records meet the uniformity and accuracy criteria.

Text table 3
Application of uniformity and accuracy criteria to provincial/territorial Medicare records

 

⁵ . Final quarterly estimates are based on the CRA Tax filer information and adjusted for the error of closure measured from the census and interpolated to the previous census for this component.