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Concepts and References

Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM): The Annual Survey of Manufactures surveys most establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing in Canada. Statistics are collected from most Canadian manufacturing establishments grouped into 238 industries classified by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) constituting the Canadian manufacturing sector. Shipments, cost of inputs, and salaries and wages are some of the principal statistics compiled based on the survey. For further information, refer to Manufacturing industries of Canada: national and provincial areas, Statistics Canada, Catalogue No. 31-203-XPB.

Apparent domestic market: The apparent domestic market is calculated by subtracting exports from the value of shipments and adding the value of imports.

Constant dollars: A valuation expressed at the prices prevailing during a fixed reference or base period. The current base period is 1992 (1992=100).

Consumer Price Index (CPI): The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a monthly indicator of the changes in consumer prices experienced by Canadians. The CPI measures the price change by comparing, through time, the cost of a fixed basket of commodities purchased by Canadian consumers in a particular year. The current base year is 1992. Since the basket contains commodities of unchanging or equivalent quantity and quality, the index reflects only pure price movements. For further information, refer to Consumer prices and price indexes, Statistics Canada, Catalogue No. 62-010-XPB. 

Gross domestic product (GDP): Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures the unduplicated value of production within the geographical boundaries of Canada. The GDP of an industry is the value added by factors of production in transforming inputs purchased from other producers into output. For further information, refer to Gross domestic product by industry, Statistics Canada, Catalogue No. 15-001-XPB.

Industrial capacity utilization rates in Canada: An industry’s capacity use is the ratio of its actual output to its estimated potential output. Statistics Canada derives estimates of an industry’s potential output from measures of its capital stock. Since 1987, Statistics Canada has surveyed companies for their estimates of annual capacity use, in order to produce survey-based industry measures. 

A company’s measure of its level of operation, as a percentage of potential, takes into account changes in the obsolescence of facilities, capital-to-labour ratios and other characteristics of production techniques. The surveyed rates anchor the calculated quarterly series and ensure they reflect such changes. For further information on quarterly or annual estimates of capacity utilization for good producing industries (excluding farmers), contact the Investment and Capital Stock Division of Statistics Canada by telephone at (613)-951-0655 or refer to Statistics Canada's CANSIM matrix 3140.  

Industry price indexes: Industrial product price indexes (IPPI) measure price changes for major commodities sold by Canadian manufacturers. The historical series on the 1992 base (1992=100) are computed for the industry indexes classified under the 1980 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) and for commodity indexes classified under the Principal Commodity Group Aggregates (PCGA) classification. For further information, refer to Industry price indexes, Statistics Canada, Catalogue No. 62-011-XPB.

International Trade: Statistics Canada's International Trade Division (ITD) publishes monthly information on national imports and exports and is the source of trade data from Statistics Canada. 

The Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) gathers data about shipments and employment, input expenses, and since the 1993 survey, shipment destinations, based on the financial year of each establishment. Some of the shipment destinations reported in the ASM are exports. Possible destinations include the 12 provinces and territories, the United States, and all other countries. 

Exports are attributed to the final known destination for merchandise at the time of export. The shipments’ destination is the first destination of the shipments after leaving the factory or manufacturers’ warehouse. Import and export data are gathered and classified according to the Standard Classification of Goods, an extension of the Harmonized System. Shipment statistics from the Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) are gathered by industry, based on the Standard Industrial Classification System, 1980. The ASM also gathers data on commodities shipped by establishment, according to the Standard Classification of Goods.

Due to the two sources for trade statistics, it is recommended that internal and external Statistics Canada users be warned about significant problems related to comparing these two information sources.

Investment:   Information on capital spending provides a useful indication of market conditions both in the economy at large and in particular industries. Since such expenditures account for a large and relatively variable proportion of gross domestic expenditures, the size and content of the investment activity provides significant information about demands that have been placed upon the productive capacities of the economy during the period covered by the Survey of Capital Expenditures. In addition, information on the relative size of the capital expenditures program planned, both in total and for individual industries, gives an indication of the views management hold on future market demands in relation to present productive capacity.

The following types of investment data are available: capital and repair expenditures, construction expenditures, and machinery and equipment expenditures for Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) divisions and industries at the Canada level and by SIC division at the provincial level. The report also provides the split between private and public investment. The tabulations focus on capital spending intentions for the coming year, preliminary estimates of actual investment for the current year and the actual investment for the previous year. The investment data are gathered from about 25,000 establishments and establishment groups in Canadian businesses, institutions and governments. For further information, refer to Private and public investment in Canada, Statistics Canada, Catalogue 61-205-XPB.

Major manufacturing group: The major group is the second level of aggregation in the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. The activities and characteristics of the Manufacturing Division are summarized into 22 major groups. The major groups of production are organized according to the standard definition of industries as outlined in the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 1980, Statistics Canada, Catalogue No. 12-501-XPE.

Monthly Survey of Manufacturing (MSM): Inventories, shipments and orders values constitute monthly projections of Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) values based on returns from a stratified, systematic sample of manufacturing establishments. The data from the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing are currently benchmarked to the 1995 Annual Survey of Manufactures. For further information, refer to Monthly survey of manufacturing, Statistics Canada, Catalogue No. 31-001-XPB. 

NAICS Canada:

Standard Industrial Classification System (SIC): In analysing and publishing data it is necessary to isolate meaningful types of specialization among producing units and this is done by grouping units (establishments) engaged in similar types of activities in relation to goods and services. The Standard Industrial Classification used by the Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) has been developed primarily for establishments or separate operating entities. These establishments provide select production account variables (such as material and service inputs, salaries and wages, revenue from shipments/sales, inventory change, etc.). The SIC industry structure allows Statistics Canada to take advantage of the information available from the accounting records of establishments, from administrative sources relating to them or from them, or from empirical studies. For further information, refer to Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 1980, Statistics Canada, Catalogue No. 12-501-XPE.

Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH): The monthly, establishment-based Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours is designed to measure the levels and month-to-month trends of payroll employment, paid hours and earnings. The data are complied at detailed industrial levels for Canada, provinces and territories. For further information, refer to Employment. earnings and hours, Catalogue No. 72-002-XPB.

Readers should note that data from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls, and Hours (SEPH) is not strictly comparable with the employment data obtained from the Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM). It is recommended that data users use caution when comparing these two information sources. 

Trade balance: Trade balance is the difference between exports and imports. 

Unemployment rate: Unemployment rate represents the number of unemployed persons expressed as a percentage of the labour force. For further information, refer to Historical labour force statistics, Statistics Canada, Catalogue No. 71-201-XPB.

Value added: Value added is a measure of net output, that is, of gross output less those purchased inputs which have been embodied in the value of the product. This concept avoids any double counting of goods production since what each establishment has purchased from other establishments has already been deducted from its own output. For further information, refer to Concepts and definitions of the census of manufactures, Statistics Canada, Catalogue No. 31-528, Occasional. 

The term "Census Value Added" is also commonly referred to. This item is a residual, representing the difference between the value of goods and industrial services produced and the direct material costs associated with the production of goods and services. This residual represents, in effect, the payment to the factors of production.

It should be noted that the concept of census value added does not include a provision for the cost of purchased service inputs. Neither does it provide for a revaluation of inventories from book value to prices of the current period. As a result, census value added is conceptually different from the measurement of value added used in the Canadian System of National Accounts. 

1994 North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): Under the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Parties (Canada, the United States and Mexico) are gradually required to eliminate duties on each other’s goods. The NAFTA takes precedence over the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other agreements to which Canada, Mexico and the United States are signatories.