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The Daily. Tuesday, December 19, 2000
Statistics Canada, in collaboration with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), is launching an initiative that will help strengthen the country's social research capacity, support policy relevant research, and provide insights on important issues to the Canadian public. The initiative involves the creation of nine research data centres that will open at universities across the country over the coming year. Six of the centres will receive funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation.
The university-based centres are secure physical locations at which quantitative social science research will be conducted. They will operate as extensions of Statistics Canada offices, with a full-time Statistics Canada employee at each site. Data files used by researchers in the centres will be stripped of all identifying information such as names, addresses and telephone numbers. Nonetheless, to ensure absolute confidentiality, the centres will be subject to the same security provisions as all other Statistics Canada offices. Researchers will conduct the work under the terms of the Statistics Act, as would any other Statistics Canada employee. This means that the centres are protected by a secure access system; that computers containing data will not be linked to external networks; that researchers must swear a legally binding oath to keep all identifiable information confidential; and that the results of their research will be published by Statistics Canada.
The strictly controlled environment of the centres makes it possible to perform essential social research while assuring the security of the data. Statistics Canada has developed new surveys that offer a rich source of information for analysing social issues such as those related to children, youth, the economy, health and health care. While fully protecting the confidentiality of identifiable information, these surveys must be analytically exploited in order to illuminate important public policy issues for the benefit of all Canadians. The new data could be used to examine, for example, why children move into or out of low-income living situations; significant aspects of the home and school environment that contribute to child development; and the impact that factors like stress and physical activity may have on health.
Prospective researchers who wish to work with data from the surveys must submit project proposals to an adjudicating committee operating under the auspices of SSHRC and Statistics Canada. Approval of proposals will be based on the merit of the research project and on the need to access detailed data. The centres and research projects will be evaluated periodically to assess security standards and the success of analysis resulting from the projects.
The first Research Data Centre opens today at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. The eight remaining centres will be hosted by the Université de Montréal, Dalhousie University, and the Universities of Toronto, Waterloo, Calgary, Alberta, New Brunswick (Fredericton), and British Columbia and will open at various times in the next six to eight months.
For more information, contact Garnett Picot (613-951-8214), Business and Labour Market Analysis Division.