| Statistique Canada | |
 | |
 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1 May 1971; 54 years ago (1 May 1971) |
| Preceding agency | |
| Headquarters | Ottawa,Ontario, Canada |
| Employees | 7,220 (March 2024)[1] |
| Annual budget | CA$740.7 million (2023–24)[2] |
| Minister responsible | |
| Agency executive | |
| Website | statcan |
Statistics Canada (StatCan;French:Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of theGovernment of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered inOttawa.[3]
The agency is led by thechief statistician of Canada, currentlyAndré Loranger, who assumed the role on an interim basis on 1 April 2024[4] and permanently on 20 December 2024.[5] StatCan is accountable to Parliament through theminister of Innovation, Science and Industry, currentlyMélanie Joly.
Statistics Canada acts as the national statistical agency for Canada, and Statistics Canada produces statistics for all theprovinces as well as the federal government. In addition to conducting about 350 activesurveys on virtually all aspects of Canadian life, theStatistics Act mandates that Statistics Canada has a duty to conduct a country-widecensus of population every five years and acensus of agriculture every ten years.[6]
It has regularly been considered the best statistical organization in the world byThe Economist,[7] such as in the 1991[8] and 1993[9] "Good Statistics" surveys. ThePublic Policy Forum and others have also recognized successes of the agency.[10]
The head of Statistics Canada is the chief statistician of Canada. The heads of Statistics Canada and the previous organization, the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, are:
Statistics Canada publishes numerous documents covering a range of statistical information about Canada, includingcensus data,economic andhealth indicators,immigration economics,income distribution, and social and justice conditions. It also publishes apeer-reviewedstatistics journal,Survey Methodology.
Statistics Canada provides free access to numerous aggregate data tables on various subjects of relevance to Canadian life. Many tables used to be published as the Canadian Socio-economic Information Management System, or CANSIM, which has since been replaced by new, more easily manipulated data tables.[11]
The Daily is Statistics Canada's free online bulletin that provides current information from StatCan, updated daily, on current social and economic conditions.[12]
Statistics Canada also provides the Canadian Income Survey (CIS)—a cross-sectional survey that assesses the income, income sources, and the economic status of individuals and families in Canada.[13] Data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) is combined with data from the CIS. The 24 February 2020 reported statistics on the poverty based on the market basket measure (MBM).[14]
As of 1 February 2012,[update] "information published by Statistics Canada is automatically covered by the Open License with the exception of Statistics Canada's postal products and Public Use Microdata Files (PUMFs)." Researchers using StatCan data are required to "give full credit for any Statistics Canada data, analysis and other content material used or referred to in their studies, articles, papers and other research works." The use of Public Use Microdata Files (PUMFs) is governed by the Data Liberation Initiative (DLI) License signed by the universities and Statistics Canada. Aggregate data available through the Canadian Socio-economic Information Management System CANSIM, and the census website isOpen Data under the Statistics Canada Open License Agreement.[15]
By 24 April 2006, electronic publications on Statistics Canada's web site were free of charge with some exceptions.[16]
The historicaltime series data from CANSIM is also available via numerous third-party data vendors, including Haver Analytics,[17] Macrobond Financial,[18] and Thomson Reuters Datastream.[19]
The Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN) is a network of quantitative social sciences which includes 27 facilities across Canada that provide "access to a vast array of social, economic, and health data, primarily gathered" by Statistics Canada and disseminate "research findings to the policy community and the Canadian public."[20]
Statistics Canada was formed by the Statistics Act,[21] which came into force on 1 May 1971.[22] It replaced theDominion Bureau of Statistics,[23] which was formed in 1918. Statistics Canada published a print copy of the yearly almanac entitledCanada Year Book from 1967 to 2012[24] when it ceased publication due to ebbing demand and deep budgetary cutbacks to StatCan by the federal government.[24] It was a yearly compendium of statistical lore and information on the nation's social and economic past, people, events and facts.[25] TheCanada Year Book was originally edited by a volunteer from theDepartment of Finance and published by a private company, which offset costs with advertisement sales. This method continued until 1879, at which time the record ceases, until 1885, at which time theDepartment of Agriculture took up the burden. The duty of publication was transferred to the Dominion Bureau of Statistics upon its formation in 1918.[citation needed]
On 18 June 2005, after years of study by expert panels, discussion, debate (privacy vs the interests of genealogists and historians), Bill S-18An Act to Amend the Statistics Act was passed which released personal census records for censuses taken between 1911 and 2001, inclusive.[26] Debate over the census and their contents had periodically created changes in theStatistics Act such as a2005 amendment making the privacy restrictions of the census information expire after more than a century. In addition, with Bill S-18, starting with the 2006 census, Canadians can consent to the public release of their personal census information after 92 years. Census returns are in the custody of Statistics Canada and the records are closed until 92 years after the taking of a census, when those records may be opened for public use and transferred toLibrary and Archives Canada subject to individual consent where applicable.[27]
The mandatory long census form was cancelled by the federal government in 2010 in favour of a voluntary household survey (NHS).[28] The mandatory long form census was reinstated in time for the 2016 census of population.
In 2011, Statistics Canada released an audit acknowledging that from 2004 to 2011, their automated computer processes had "inadvertently made economic data available to data distributors before the official publication time." In November 2011, in response to the audit, StatCan stopped that process.[29]
Nearly half of Statistics Canada's 5000 employees were notified in April 2012 that their jobs might be eliminated as part ofausterity measures imposed by the Conservative federal government in the2012 Canadian federal budget.[30] The 2,300 employees underwent a process to determine which ones were not impacted, which were eliminated and which were given early retirement or put in new positions.[31] These budget cuts reduced the amount of information Statistics Canada was able to produce during that time period.[30]
By law, every household must complete theCanada census form.[32] InMay 2006, an Internet version of the census was made widely available for the first time. Another census was held inMay 2011, again with the internet being the primary method for statistical data collection. Themost recent census was held in May 2021, with the resulting data expected to be published in seven separate data sets throughout 2022.[33] Additional data will be published at a future date which has yet to be determined.
On 17 June 2010 anOrder in Council was created by Minister of IndustryTony Clement defining the questions for the 2011 census as including only the short-form questions; this was published in theCanada Gazette on 26 June 2010,[34] however a news release was not issued by Minister Clement until 13 July 2010. This release stated in part "The government will retain the mandatory short form that will collect basic demographic information. To meet the need for additional information, and to respect the privacy wishes of Canadians, the government has introduced the voluntary National Household Survey".[35] On 30 July 2010 Statistics Canada published a description of the National Household Survey.[36]
Minister Clement initially indicated that these changes were being made based on consultations with Statistics Canada[37] but was forced to admit that the change from a mandatory to voluntary form was not one of the recommendations received from StatsCan after the head of the agencyMunir Sheikh resigned in protest.[38] Information was uncovered that indicated attempts on the part of the government to distance themselves from the decision, instructing Statistics Canada officials to delete the phrase "as per government decision" from documents which were being written to inform Statistics Canada staff of the change.[39] Minister Clement had claimed that concerns over privacy[40] and the threat of jail time[41] were the reasons for the change[42] and had refused to reverse his decision[43] stating that the prime minister supported the legislation.[44] The argument over privacy was subsequently undermined by aprivacy commissioner statement that she was "satisfied with the measures Statistics Canada had put into place to protect privacy".[45] Other industry professionals also came out in defence of Statistics Canada's record on privacy issues.[46][47] The government maintained its position, with Lynn Meahan, press secretary to theMinister of Industry, stating that the new census would result in "useable (sic) and useful data that can meet the needs of many users."[48]
During the 2010 debates, theFreedom Party of Ontario (FPO), a small group based onAyn Rand's writings, whose 42 candidates received 12,381 votes (or 0.26% of the popular vote) in the 2014 election, opposed the long census. They also opposedbilingualism,political correctness and the inclusion of a question on race on the1996 Canadian census. FPO claimed that Canadian and British traditions had been dishonoured bymulticulturalism. They were among a minority who argued that using statistical data to analyse resource allocation is not beneficial.[46][49][50]
Central to the debate on this issue was the effect on the quality of data which would be collected by Statistics Canada under the new system. Many groups made the claim that a voluntary system would not provide a quality of data consistent with what Statistics Canada is known for[38][43][46][47] while others felt that politically motivated changes to StatsCan methodology tainted the reputation of the whole organization in the international setting.[51] Supporters of the change offered models of European countries who were adopting alternate systems,[40] although in these states the census was being replaced with a database of information on each citizen rather than a voluntary poll and none of these systems were planned for the Canadian 2011 census. They also challenged the existing system's ability to cope with rapid socio-demographic changes, though this would not be addressed without increasing the frequency of the survey. Some public opposition to the changes were expressed onFacebook.[52]
According toThe Globe and Mail, by 2015 an increasing number of economists had joined with organizations such as the Canadian Chamber of Commerce,Canadian Federation of Independent Business,Canadian Economics Association,Martin Prosperity Institute,Toronto Region Board of Trade, Restaurants Canada and the Canadian Association of Business Economics to call for a reinstatement of the mandatory long form.[28] Edmonton's chief economist had preferred the long form and argued that the National Housing Survey was only useful at the aggregate city level and left "a dearth of data on long-term changes at the neighbourhood level and within demographic groups... making it difficult to make decisions such as 'where to build a library, where to build a fire hall' without specific demographic information,"[28] and that because it was not mandatory, there was a lower response rate and therefore increased risk of under-representation of some vulnerable segments of society, for example aboriginal peoples and newly arrived immigrants, which made it more difficult to "pinpoint trends such as income inequality, immigrant outcomes in the jobs market, labour shortages and demographic shifts."[28]
One day after his election in November 2015, the Liberal government ofJustin Trudeau reinstated the mandatory census long form[53] and it was used in the 2016 census.[54][55]
Former industry minister Tony Clement recanted on his support for the elimination of the long form. He avowed that there were ways to protect both indispensable data and Canadians' privacy. Blaming his party for a "collective" decision to terminate the long form, he said, "I think I would have done it differently." He implied incorrectly that Statistics Canada head Munir Sheikh had agreed with the cancellation when it was done.[56]
Statistics Canada divided Canada into the following standard geographic units for statistical purposes in the 2016 census.[57]
18. (1) The information contained in the returns of each census of population taken between 1910 and 2005 is no longer subject to sections 17 and 18 ninety-two years after the census is taken. (3) When sections 17 and 18 cease to apply to information referred to in subsection (1) or (2), the information shall be placed under the care and control of the Library and Archives of Canada.
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