Table of contents
- Introduction
- Implementation: Privacy
- Training initiatives for privacy
- Policies, guidelines and procedures
- Complaints and investigations
- Monitoring of the requests
- Privacy breaches
- Privacy impact assessments
- Record linkage
- Types of disclosure under subsection 8(2) of the Privacy Act
- Appendix A: Delegation instrument
- Appendix B: Statistical report
- Appendix C: Record linkages
Introduction
The Privacy Act gives Canadian citizens and people living in Canada the right to access their personal information being held by federal government institutions. The Act also protects against unauthorized disclosure of that personal information and it strictly controls how the government collects, uses, stores, discloses, and disposes of any personal information.
The Annual Report on the Administration of the Privacy Act is prepared and submitted, in accordance with section 72 of the Act, and it covers the period from April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2017. The report is tabled in Parliament.
Administration of the Privacy Act
The Privacy Act, which concerns itself with personal information, stipulates that government institutions can collect personal information only if it relates to the operation of programs or activities of these institutions. In the case of Statistics Canada, the Statistics Act provides the authority to collect personal information for statistical purposes. The privacy legislation demands that government institutions inform those from whom information is collected about the purpose of the collection. In addition, institutions are required to protect the collected information from disclosure.
The administration of the privacy legislation within Statistics Canada is the responsibility of the Office of the Chief Statistician of Canada. The Chief of Staff is the Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator for the Agency.
Organization and mandate of Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada's mandate derives primarily from the Statistics Act. The Act requires that the Agency collect, compile, analyze and publish statistical information on the economic, social, and general conditions of the country and its citizens. The Act also requires that Statistics Canada coordinate the national statistical system, in particular, to avoid duplication in the information collected by government. To this end, the Chief Statistician may enter into joint data collection or sharing agreements with provincial and territorial statistical agencies, as well as with federal, provincial and territorial government departments, pursuant to provisions of the Act.
The Statistics Act specifically requires Statistics Canada to conduct a Census of Population and a Census of Agriculture every five years. The Act also gives the Agency substantial powers to request information for statistical purposes through surveys of Canadian businesses and households. By default, response to Statistics Canada's surveys is mandatory under the Act; refusal to participate is subject to legal penalties. The Act includes provisions to make participation in data collection voluntary, and Statistics Canada has generally done so with household data collection other than the Census of Population and the Labour Force Survey. The Census of Agriculture and most other business surveys are mandatory.
By law, Statistics Canada can also access administrative records, including personal and business tax data, customs declarations, and birth and death records. Such records are critical sources of statistical information that enable the Agency to reduce the reporting burden on businesses and individual respondents. Statistics Canada is considered a leader among the world's statistical agencies in reducing reporting burden by using administrative data.
These mechanisms help Statistics Canada to fulfill its commitment to ensuring that Canadians have all the key information on Canada's economy, society and environment that they require to function effectively as citizens and decision-makers in a rapidly evolving world.
Delegation instrument
The delegation instrument exercises the powers and functions of the Minister as the head of a government institution, pursuant to section 73 of the Privacy Act. The current detailed list of authorities under the Privacy Act has been formally delegated by the Minister of Industry (Appendix A) as of August 2013 and provides full delegated authority to the Chief Statistician of Canada, the Chief of Staff and the Director of the Information Management Division.
Resources
The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office operates with an allocation of 2.42 persons per year. The Departmental Secretary along with the Director of the Information Management Division have been delegated most of the responsibilities. A Senior Access to Information and Privacy Project Manager and a Senior Access to Information and Privacy Project Officer work full-time in the office.
Statistical report
The statistical report provides aggregate data on the application of the Privacy Act. This information is made public annually in an Info Source Bulletin, and is included with the annual report. The following includes the statistical report on privacy for the current reporting period (Appendix B).
Implementation: Privacy
The Privacy Act has a substantial impact on Statistics Canada, but the impact cannot be measured only by the number of requests processed. Although society seeks a broader range of detailed information, it also demands more accountability on the part of government about the collection of personal information and the purposes served by the information. The Agency has taken a number of initiatives to address the privacy challenges this dichotomy raises.
Statistics Canada has internal directives that reflect the basic principles found in the Privacy Act. The Agency's Directive on Informing Survey Respondents requires that all respondents be informed of the expected use of the statistics produced from the survey results, the authority under which the survey is taken, their obligation to respond, the confidentiality protection given to all information collected under the Statistics Act, and any data-sharing arrangements pursuant to provisions of the Statistics Act.
Statistics Canada also developed the Directive on Record Linkage to respond to concerns of both respondents and privacy advocates on the potential of matching an individual's information gathered from a variety of sources.
These two directives not only support compliance with the letter and the spirit of the Privacy Act, but also demonstrate the Agency's commitment to the protection and appropriate use of the personal information under its control, while still meeting its mandate.
Privacy requests
Disposition of requests completed
- All disclosed: 34
- Disclosed in part: 35
- Nothing disclosed (exempt): 0
- Does not exist: 41
- Abandoned: 5
- Total: 115
The Agency received 112 new requests in 2016/2017 and four (4) requests were carried over from the previous reporting period. During this period, 115 requests were completed and one request was carried forward to the next reporting period.
For 69 requests, information was disclosed completely or in part. For 41 requests, the information did not exist, and 5 requests were abandoned by the requestors. The public is the largest privacy client group for Statistics Canada.
In addition to requests from the general public, the Agency receives requests from current and former federal public servants regarding personal or staff relations issues. Statistics Canada responds to a number of requests for personal information through its pension search program. This program provides members of the public with information from their own census records, and from the 1940 National Registration records, to support their applications for pensions, citizenship, passports and other services when other administrative records—such as birth certificates—are required, but no longer exist or were never issued.
Responding to privacy requests involved reviewing more than 24,000 pages, of which over 17,320 were released. Fifty-eight (58) requestors received information electronically on CD-ROM and 11 requestors received the information in paper format at their request.
| Fiscal Year | Requests Received | Requests Completed | Number of Pages Processed | Number of Pages Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016/2017 | 112 | 115 | 24,628 | 17,320 |
| 2015/2016 | 115 | 111 | 11,058 | 7,518 |
| 2014/2015 | 55 | 55 | 1,748 | 1,293 |
| 2013/2014 | 118 | 118 | 1,661 | 1,603 |
| 2012/2013 | 47 | 54 | 6,534 | 3,739 |
Other requests
During this period, Statistics Canada has not received any Privacy Act consultation request from other departments.
Disposition of completed requests
The disposition of the 115 requests completed in 2016/2017 was as follows:
- 34 were fully disclosed (30%)
- 35 were disclosed in part (30%)
- 41 had no existing information (36%)
- 5 were abandoned by applicants (4%)
Completion time and extensions
In 2016/2017 the number of privacy requests completed increased to 115 for an average of 84 over the last four years. All 115 requests processed in 2016/17 were all within the time period and as prescribed by the Act. Several factors contributed to the timely response, including greater oversight at the managerial level and information sessions with officials and sector contacts. Out of the 115 requests, in 5 cases extensions were taken under paragraph 15 (a)(i) for interference with operations of the department.
The 115 requests completed in 2016/2017 were processed in the following time frames:
- 69 within 1 to 15 days (60%)
- 41 within 16 to 30 days (36%)
- 5 within 31 to 60 days (4%)
Exemptions invoked
In 2016-17, exemptions were invoked as per specific sections of the Privacy Act, the exemptions were as follows:
- Section 22(1)(b): Law enforcement and investigation (6)
- Section 26: Exempting personal information about individuals other than the requestor (34)
- Section 27: Exempting personal information related to solicitor-client privilege (1)
Costs
In 2016/2017, the ATIP Office incurred an estimated $202,969 in salary costs and $2,047 in costs related to administering the Privacy Act.
Training initiatives for privacy
In 2016/2017, the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office provided formal instruction to Agency staff on the Privacy Act. Twelve (12) training sessions were held and over 200 people attended.
At the sessions, participants learned about the Act and gained a better understanding of their obligations, policies, directives, personal information collected about employees of Statistics Canada, clients or the public, and appropriate use of such personal information. These sessions were given to divisional and management teams in Human Resources, Producer Prices Division, Manufacturing and Wholesale Trade Division, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Standards Division and Public Sector Statistics and several other individual sections across the Agency.
Statistics Canada's Information Management Division offers courses on a variety of subjects related to the Statistics Act and the Privacy Act as well as supporting policies and directives. These include "Conducting Privacy Impact Assessments" and "Privacy and Confidentiality", with a focus on personal information collected about employees of Statistics Canada, clients or the public, and appropriate use of such personal information. Three (3) sessions were provided during the current reporting period to 20 employees from various divisions. Statistics Canada also requires employees to complete computer-based courses on confidentiality. A mandatory course for new employees provides them with a brief overview of confidentiality, illustrating its importance at Statistics Canada. A second course with similar content must be completed by Statistics Canada employees for renewal of their identification card. For most employees, this occurs every three years. In the current reporting period, a total of 1,963 employees completed these courses.
Policies, guidelines and procedures
The ATIP Office has a variety of tools in place to ensure that ATIP sector contacts are well informed about their roles and responsibilities for coordinating privacy requests. These tools include checklists on the steps to follow when providing records for privacy requests and on the availability of the ATIP team throughout the process. There are also a variety of directives and policies provided by Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada about the protection of personal information. Personal information is protected by the Privacy Act and will only be disclosed as permitted by that Act.
Given its unique position in the federal government in collecting personal information solely for statistical and research purposes, Statistics Canada has determined that the privacy issues associated with its survey activities could be addressed by means of a generic Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) that would address the majority of survey collections undertaken by the Agency under the authority of the Statistics Act. In 2015/2016, Statistics Canada rewrote its generic PIA. In addition to updating information that changed since the 2009 review, the revised PIA covers all aspects of all statistical programs. This updated PIA is posted on the Statistics Canada website.
Nevertheless, in accordance with its Directive on Conducting PIAs, Statistics Canada will conduct PIAs for all new and significantly redesigned surveys and programs involving the collection, use or disclosure of personal information that raise unique or additional privacy, confidentiality or security risks.
Complaints and investigations
Five new complaints against Statistics Canada were lodged with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC). The complaints were about exemptions and refusal in general. One complaint was carried over from last year for a total of six.
Three complaints were closed this year, they were all discontinued. Three complaints are still being examined.
Monitoring of the requests
At Statistics Canada, the ATIP Office processes and monitors requests by registering them in a comprehensive system known as Privasoft – Case Management. An acknowledgement of the request is sent to the client and a retrieval form is forwarded to the relevant program area, Office of Primary Interest (OPI). If the OPI and/or the ATIP Office need to clarify the request, the ATIP Office contacts the client.
The retrieval form was created by the ATIP Office at Statistics Canada and is based on the Policy on Privacy Protection and the Directive on Privacy Practices from the Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada. The form includes the text of the request, the name of the ATIP Officer and his/her phone number, and the date by which records are required (normally 5 to 10 days). The form states that the ATIP Office is required to report annually on the administrative costs related to requests and thus information is needed on the level(s) and group(s) of those involved in the retrieval and the amount of time spent working on the request (including time for search, retrieval, internal review (relevant or not to the request) and photocopying). The individuals providing the records are asked to identify any records which may be sensitive in nature (e.g., personal information, legal issues) and the Director or Director General of the program area signs the form.
The ATIP Office assists the program areas with the retrieval of records from day one. As 5 to 10 days are allowed for the retrieval, a follow-up is made on the fifth day. If additional time is required for the retrieval, this is when the program area is to notify the ATIP Office. An additional 1 to 5 days may be granted depending on the amount of work remaining. Once the documents are received from the OPI, the ATIP Office ensures the form is duly completed and that it has been signed by the appropriate manager. The ATIP Office takes 5 to 10 days to review and process the records. Once the work from the ATIP Office is completed, the final version is released to the client. The OPI and management are very aware of the importance of ATIP requests.
Privacy breaches
A standard template is used to document incidents. This template incorporates the elements suggested in the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's guidelines on how to respond to a privacy breach. The template has been approved by the Agency's Executive Management Board. At a minimum, the incident report will contain the following information:
- a description of the incident (who, what, when, where, why, how)
- the actions already taken and planned for the future
- a description of the risks/impacts
- any other information that might be helpful in locating any lost item or in assessing the consequences of loss or compromise
- recommendations for reducing or eliminating the risk of the event reoccurring in future
- information on whether the individuals or organizations whose information was breached were informed of the incident
- rationale for not informing the individuals or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC), should this course of action be taken.
"Best practices" to eliminate or reduce future recurrences that are identified during an investigation must be communicated to other employees to prevent a recurrence of the breach.
There were 30 privacy breaches at Statistics Canada during the reporting period, of which only three were material in nature. A total of 607 people and 1,011 households were affected by these 30 breaches. Amongst the 607 people affected, 444 were a result of one incident which was not material in nature.
Three material breaches were reported to the OPC, affecting a total of 19 individuals.
In all the material breach cases, efforts were made to inform individuals of the breach, if possible. None of the breaches are known to have led to criminal activity.
Statistics Canada has implemented a number of additional measures specific to the areas which experienced a breach, including the following:
- training for employees and managers in multiple divisions
- review of procedures and systems.
Privacy impact assessments
The Statistics Canada Directive on Conducting PIAs specifies the roles and responsibilities of its senior managers and privacy specialists in the Information Management Division with regard to the collection, use and dissemination of personal information. This directive applies to all statistical and non-statistical programs that engage in the collection, use or dissemination of personal information.
In 2006, Statistics Canada developed the Generic PIA for Statistics Canada Surveys (updated in 2009), which covers the majority of the Agency's household and business surveys conducted under the authority of the Statistics Act. The generic PIA addresses the ten privacy principles, and includes a threat and risk assessment that focuses on the Agency's major data collection methodologies such as computer-assisted interviewing, self-enumeration, and electronic data reporting.
In 2015/2016, Statistics Canada rewrote its generic PIA. In addition to updating information that changed since the 2009 review, the revised PIA covers all aspects of all statistical programs. This updated PIA is posted on the Statistics Canada website.
For all new and significantly redesigned collections, uses or disclosures of personal information that raise unique or additional privacy, confidentiality or security risks, a supplement to the generic PIA will be produced.
Specific PIAs are also conducted for new or redesigned administrative programs and services that involve the collection, use and disclosure of personal information that are not addressed in the generic PIA.
In the current reporting period, two PIAs were approved and submitted to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the Treasury Board Secretariat.
Summaries of completed privacy impact assessments can be found at the following page of Statistics Canada's website: Privacy impact assessments.
The following are brief descriptions:
Chief Statistician of Canada Infographics Challenge 2017
A privacy impact assessment (PIA) for the Chief Statistician of Canada Infographics Challenge was conducted to determine if there were any privacy, confidentiality and security issues associated with the contest, and if so, to make recommendations for their resolution or mitigation. Statistics Canada launched the Chief Statistician of Canada Infographics Challenge on its website as part of an initiative to inspire innovation in how new data are released by Statistics Canada. The purpose of this contest is to engage postsecondary students in the National Capital Region and give them an opportunity to produce innovative infographics designs with Statistics Canada data to enhance the public awareness of Statistics Canada's programs and services. Contestants were asked to register online and provide basic personal information. The use of participant's information was strictly limited to the purposes of the contest. The assessment of the Chief Statistician of Canada Infographics Challenge did not identify any privacy risks that cannot be managed using existing safeguards.
Automated Access Control System and Closed Circuit Television Monitoring Program
The 2009 privacy impact assessment for the Automated Access Control System and Closed Circuit Television Monitoring Program was updated to report a new use of the information collected from the automated access control system. Specifically, the entry and exit logs of the employee swipes would now be permitted to be used for investigating safety, security and personnel management. A system log is automatically generated, logging the entry and exit of employees. This feature supports a greater level of safety and security for Statistics Canada employees, in particular when they are in the buildings after normal hours working hours such as evenings and weekends. The assessment did not identify any privacy risks that cannot be managed using existing safeguards. Statistics Canada has ensured that there are measures in place that meet central agency and Statistics Canada security standards for the protection of personal information captured by the system and the program.
Record linkage
As outlined in Statistics Canada's Directive on Record Linkage, linkages of different records pertaining to the same individual are carried out only for statistical purposes and only in cases where the public good is clearly evident. One of the primary objectives of these linkages is to produce statistical information that facilitates a better understanding of Canadian society, the economy and the environment.
All record linkage proposals must satisfy a prescribed review process as outlined in the directive. In addition to demonstrating the public benefit, each submission must provide details of the output, frequency, and retention of files and identifiers. The public dissemination of any information resulting from record linkages, like all other statistical information, is only at an aggregate level which protects the confidentiality of the information of individuals.
In 2016/2017, there were 26 approved record linkages that involved personal information. A summary of these record linkages is found in Appendix C.
Types of disclosure under subsection 8(2) of the Privacy Act
Subsection 8(2) of the Privacy Act describes the circumstances under which personal information may be disclosed without the consent of the individual to whom the information pertains. Although this disclosure of personal information is discretionary, it is subject to any other Act of Parliament. In the case of Statistics Canada, the Statistics Act provides a statutory prohibition against disclosure of identifiable information, without the knowledge and consent of the individual concerned. Therefore, personal information collected under the Statistics Act cannot be disclosed pursuant to subsection 8(2).
In the case of personal information, in records held by Statistics Canada, and subject only to the Privacy Act (i.e., those of employees and contractors), disclosures under subsection 8(2) can occur in certain circumstances: for the purpose for which information is obtained or compiled by the institution, for a use consistent with the purpose described in personal information banks registered to Statistics Canada, or for the purpose of complying with subpoenas, warrants, court orders and rules of court.
Paragraph 8(2)(m) of the Privacy Act allows for disclosures of personal information in the public interest, and Paragraph 8(2)(e) allows for disclosures of personal information "to an investigative body…for the purpose of enforcing any law." During the reporting period, Statistics Canada did not disclose any personal information under subsections 8(2)(m) or/and 8(2)(e) of the Privacy Act.
Appendix A
Access to Information and Privacy Acts Delegation Order
The Minister of Industry, pursuant to section 73 of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, hereby designates the persons holding the positions set out in the schedule hereto, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers and functions of the Minister as the head of Statistics Canada, under the section of the Act set out in the schedule opposite each position. This designation replaces all previous delegation Orders.
Schedule
| Position | Access to Information Act and Regulations | Privacy Act and Regulations |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Statistician of Canada | Full authority | Full authority |
| Chief of Staff, Office of the Chief Statistician | Full authority | Full authority |
| Director, Information Management Division | Full authority | Full authority |
| Departmental Secretary | Sections: 7(a), 7(b), 8(1), 9, 11(2), 11(3), 11(4), 11(5), 11(6), 12(2)(b), 12(3)(b), 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 22.1, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27(1), 27(4), 28(1)(b), 28(2), 28(4), 33, 35(2)(b), 68, 69, 71(1) Regulations: Sections: 6(1), 7(2), 7(3), 8, 8.1 |
Sections: 8(2)(j), 8(2)(m), 8(4), 8(5), 9(1),9(4), 10, 14, 15, 17(2)(b), 17(3)(b), 18(2), 19(1), 19(2), 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 70 Regulations: Sections: 9, 11(2), 11(4), 13(1), 14 |
| Senior Access to Information and Privacy Project Manager | Sections: 7(a), 8(1), 9, 11(2), 11(3), 11(4), 11(5), 11(6), 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27(1), 27(4), 28(1)(b), 28(2), 28(4), 68, 69, 71(1) Regulations: Sections: 6(1), 7(1), 7(2), 7(3), 8, 8.1 |
Sections: 8(2)(j), 8(2)(m), 10, 14, 15, 17(2)(b), 17(3)(b), 18(2), 19(1), 19(2), 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 70 Regulations: Sections: 9, 11(2), 11(4), 13(1), 14 |
| Senior Access to Information and Privacy Project Officer | Sections: 7(a), 8(1), 9, 11(2), 11(3), 11(4), 11(5), 11(6), 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27(1), 27(4), 28(1)(b), 28(2), 28(4), 68, 69, 71(1) Regulations: Sections: 6(1), 7(1), 7(2), 7(3), 8, 8.1 |
Sections: 8(2)(j), 8(2)(m), 10, 14, 15, 17(2)(b), 17(3)(b), 18(2), 19(1), 19(2), 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 70 Regulations: Sections: 9, 11(2), 11(4), 13(1), 14 |
The original version was signed by
The Honourable James Moore
Minister of Industry
Dated, at the City of Ottawa
August 16, 2013
Appendix B: Statistical Report on the Privacy Act/h2>
Name of institution: Statistics Canada
Reporting period: 2016-04-01 to 2017-03-31
Part 1: Requests Under the Privacy Act
| Number of Requests | |
|---|---|
| Received during reporting period | 112 |
| Outstanding from previous reporting period | 4 |
| Total | 116 |
| Closed during reporting period | 115 |
| Carried over to next reporting period | 1 |
Part 2: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period
2.1 Disposition and completion time
| Disposition of Requests | Completion Time | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 15 Days | 16 to 30 Days | 31 to 60 Days | 61 to 120 Days | 121 to 180 Days | 181 to 365 Days | More Than 365 Days | Total | |
| All disclosed | 16 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 |
| Disclosed in part | 17 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 |
| All exempted | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| All excluded | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No records exist | 31 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 |
| Request abandoned | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Neither confirmed nor denied | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 69 | 41 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 115 |
2.2 Exemptions
| Section | Number of Requests |
|---|---|
| 18(2) | 0 |
| 19(1)(a) | 0 |
| 19(1)(b) | 0 |
| 19(1)(c) | 0 |
| 19(1)(d) | 0 |
| 19(1)(e) | 0 |
| 19(1)(f) | 0 |
| 20 | 0 |
| 21 | 0 |
| 22(1)(a)(i) | 0 |
| 22(1)(a)(ii) | 0 |
| 22(1)(a)(iii) | 0 |
| 22(1)(b) | 6 |
| 22(1)(c) | 0 |
| 22(2) | 0 |
| 22.1 | 0 |
| 22.2 | 0 |
| 22.3 | 0 |
| 23(a) | 0 |
| 23(b) | 0 |
| 24(a) | 0 |
| 24(b) | 0 |
| 25 | 0 |
| 26 | 34 |
| 27 | 1 |
| 28 | 0 |
2.3 Exclusions
| Section | Number of Requests |
|---|---|
| 69(1)(a) | 0 |
| 69(1)(b) | 0 |
| 69.1 | 0 |
| 70(1) | 0 |
| 70(1)(a) | 0 |
| 70(1)(b) | 0 |
| 70(1)(c) | 0 |
| 70(1)(d) | 0 |
| 70(1)(e) | 0 |
| 70(1)(f) | 0 |
| 70.1 | 0 |
2.4 Format of information released
| Disposition | Paper | Electronic | Other formats |
|---|---|---|---|
| All disclosed | 9 | 25 | 0 |
| Disclosed in part | 2 | 33 | 0 |
| Total | 11 | 58 | 0 |
2.5 Complexity
2.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed
| Disposition of Requests | Number of Pages Processed | Number of Pages Disclosed | Number of Requests |
|---|---|---|---|
| All disclosed | 3127 | 3127 | 34 |
| Disclosed in part | 21501 | 14193 | 35 |
| All exempted | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| All excluded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Request abandoned | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Neither confirmed nor denied | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 24628 | 17320 | 74 |
2.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests
| Disposition | Less Than 100 Pages Processed | 101-500 Pages Processed | 501-1000 Pages Processed | 1001-5000 Pages Processed | More Than 5000 Pages Processed | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Requests | Pages Disclosed | Number of Requests | Pages Disclosed | Number of Requests | Pages Disclosed | Number of Requests | Pages Disclosed | Number of Requests | Pages Disclosed | |
| All disclosed | 25 | 1845 | 9 | 1282 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Disclosed in part | 18 | 1782 | 8 | 3960 | 9 | 8451 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| All exempted | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| All excluded | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Request abandoned | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Neither confirmed nor denied | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 48 | 3627 | 17 | 5242 | 9 | 8451 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2.5.3 Other complexities
| Disposition | Consultation Required | Legal Advice Sought | Interwoven Information | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All disclosed | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Disclosed in part | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 34 |
| All exempted | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| All excluded | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Request abandoned | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Neither confirmed nor denied | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 34 |
2.6 Deemed refusals
2.6.1 Reasons for not meeting statutory deadline
| Number of Requests Closed Past the Statutory Deadline | Principal Reason | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workload | External Consultation | Internal Consultation | Other | |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2.6.2 Number of days past deadline
| Number of Days Past Deadline | Number of Requests Past Deadline Where No Extension Was Taken | Number of Requests Past Deadline Where An Extension Was Taken | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 15 days | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 to 30 days | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 60 days | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 120 days | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 121 to 180 days | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 181 to 365 days | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| More than 365 days | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2.7 Requests for translation
| Translation Requests | Accepted | Refused | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| English to French | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| French to English | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Part 3: Disclosures Under Subsections 8(2) and 8(5)
| Paragraph 8(2)(e) | Paragraph 8(2)(m) | Subsection 8(5) | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disclosures | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Part 4: Requests for Correction of Personal Information and Notations
| Disposition for Correction Requests Received | Number |
|---|---|
| Notations attached | 0 |
| Requests for correction accepted | 0 |
| Total | 0 |
Part 5: Extensions
5.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests
| Disposition of Requests Where an Extension Was Taken | 15(a)(i) Interference With Operations |
15(a)(ii) Consultation |
15(b) Translation or Conversion |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Section 70 | Other | |||
| All disclosed | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Disclosed in part | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| All exempted | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| All excluded | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No records exist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Request abandoned | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
5.2 Length of extensions
| Length of Extensions | 15(a)(i) Interference with operations |
15(a)(ii) Consultation |
15(b) Translation purposes |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Section 70 | Other | |||
| 1 to 15 days | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 to 30 days | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Part 6: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations
6.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and other organizations
| Consultations | Other Government of Canada Institutions | Number of Pages to Review | Other Organizations | Number of Pages to Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Received during the reporting period | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outstanding from the previous reporting period | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Closed during the reporting period | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pending at the end of the reporting period | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
6.2 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions
| Recommendation | Number of Days Required to Complete Consultation Requests | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 15 Days | 16 to 30 Days | 31 to 60 Days | 61 to 120 Days | 121 to 180 Days | 181 to 365 Days | More Than 365 Days | Total | |
| All disclosed | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Disclosed in part | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| All exempted | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| All excluded | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Consult other institution | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
6.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations
| Recommendation | Number of days required to complete consultation requests | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 15 Days | 16 to 30 Days | 31 to 60 Days | 61 to 120 Days | 121 to 180 Days | 181 to 365 Days | More Than 365 Days | Total | |
| All disclosed | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Disclosed in part | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| All exempted | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| All excluded | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Consult other institution | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Part 7: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences
7.1 Requests with Legal Services
| Number of Days | Fewer Than 100 Pages Processed | 101-500 Pages Processed | 501-1000 Pages Processed | 1001-5000 Pages Processed | More than 5000 Pages Processed | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Requests | Pages Disclosed | Number of Requests | Pages Disclosed | Number of Requests | Pages Disclosed | Number of Requests | Pages Disclosed | Number of Requests | Pages Disclosed | |
| 1 to 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 to 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 120 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 121 to 180 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 181 to 365 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| More than 365 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
7.2 Requests with Privy Council Office
| Number of Days | Fewer Than 100 Pages Processed | 101‒500 Pages Processed | 501-1000 Pages Processed | 1001-5000 Pages Processed | More than 5000 Pages Processed | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Requests | Pages Disclosed | Number of Requests | Pages Disclosed | Number of Requests | Pages Disclosed | Number of Requests | Pages Disclosed | Number of Requests | Pages Disclosed | |
| 1 to 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 to 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 120 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 121 to 180 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 181 to 365 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| More than 365 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Part 8: Complaints and Investigations Notices Received
| Section 31 | Section 33 | Section 35 | Court action | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Complaints and Investigations Notices Received | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
Part 9: Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs)
Number of PIA(s) completed: 2
Part 10: Resources Related to the Privacy Act
10.1 Costs
| Expenditures | Amount |
|---|---|
| Salaries | $202,969 |
| Overtime | $0 |
| Goods and Services | $2,047 |
| Professional services contracts | ($0) |
| Other | ($2,047) |
| Total | $205,016 |
10.2 Human Resources
| Resources | Person Years Dedicated to Privacy Activities |
|---|---|
| Full-time employees | 2.42 |
| Part-time and casual employees | 0.00 |
| Regional staff | 0.00 |
| Consultants and agency personnel | 0.00 |
| Students | 0.00 |
| Total | 2.42 |
Appendix C: Record linkages
Approved record linkages containing personal information
Evaluation of the quality of addresses on CCTB and IDENT files and cleaning of the T1FF to exclude duplicates and optimize the linkage. (007-2016)
Purpose: The Demographic Estimates Program (DEP) is responsible for the production of international and internal migration estimates. The Household Survey Methods Division (HSMD) offers methodological services to the Demography Division (DEM) in order to improve the population estimates.
Preliminary interprovincial migration is estimated using monthly data from the Canadian Childcare Tax Benefit (CCTB). Migrants are identified by comparing the addresses (postal codes) of CCTB recipients for two consecutive time periods. For this reason, the quality of CCTB addresses are of the upmost importance. Also, because we are mainly interested in migration, it is important that the addresses are updated as soon as possible. The IDENT file is now available quarterly at Statistics Canada. This source offers the possibility of evaluating the quality of CCTB addresses for quarterly time periods by looking specifically at individuals who changed their address on one file or the other in order to verify the consistency of the change.
Interprovincial and subprovincial final estimates are calculated using tax data from the T1FF. As for preliminary estimates, interprovincial and subprovincial migrants are identified by comparing the addresses of tax filers and their dependents for two consecutive years. Filers eligible for that comparison are those who appear on the T1FF for the two years that are being compared. Some individuals change their social insurance number (SIN) or change from a dependent identification number (DIN) to a SIN over time. As a result, these changes create duplicates on the T1FF and make the linkage between the two compared files more difficult. The linkage of the T1FF to auxiliary sources allows us to track individuals whose identification numbers changed over time, and to clean the files to improve their representiveness of the population.
Description: Because of these issues, evaluations were done to 1) assess the quality of CCTB addresses by comparing them with those of the IDENT files and 2) understand the impact of the cleaning of the T1FF identification numbers, which removes duplicates and ensures a common number is kept for the two studied years.
Output: The linkage files between CCTB and IDENT will be kept until April 1st, 2018 (at the latest). After that date, they will be destroyed.
The linkage files between T1FF and the auxiliary sources used for the cleaning would be used in production, which means they could be required for any production-related revisions. For that reason, it is recommended to keep these files.
For these two record linkage projects, aggregated and non-confidential results will be presented internally and externally. They could also be released in reports or scientific papers (conferences and scientific journals).
Linking command organization from the Department of National Defence (DND) Human Resources (HR) management file. (016-2016)
Purpose: To link respondent's survey data to their "command organization" from the DND HR management file to ensure that this information will be as accurate as possible.
Description: Each respondent's survey data will be linked to their "command organization" from the DND HR management file (the frame file) using survey access codes (SAC). The command organization will then be kept on the final micro file; the SACs will be removed.
Output: The linked variable (command organization) will be used in the data analysis and included on disseminated aggregate data files. It will be included on the final micro data file which will be delivered to the Research Data Centres. This variable on the final micro data file will be retained indeterminately.
Linking Data from the 2012 Survey of Financial Security to income tax Records file (T1) (034-2016)
Purpose: The purpose of this linkage is to obtain income data and reduce respondent burden, interviewer time and collection costs for the 2016 Survey of Financial Security.
Description: The 2016 Survey of Financial Security database and the 2015 T1 File will be linked using the address, city, date of birth, first name, surname, sex, province, NYSIIS and SNDX code for surname, postal code, marital status, telephone number and first initial. This information will be removed from the linked file as soon as the linkage is completed, and stored separately. Access to these files will be restricted to Statistics Canada employees whose assigned work activities require access.
Output: No information containing personal identifiers will be released outside of Statistics Canada from this linkage activity. Only aggregate statistics and analysis conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. The Survey of Financial Security will be conducted from September 1st to December 1st 2016 and therefore, the linkage would be undertaken in 2016/2017.
2016 General Social Survey on Canadians at Work and Home: Linking to tax data from the T1 Personal Master File, T1FF Family File, and T4 Summary and Supplementary File (045-2016)
Purpose: Linking the 2016 GSS responses to the personal tax files of respondents and their household members provides more accurate income data for both persons and households. In addition, linking reduces respondent burden, and lowers collection and data processing costs.
Description: The 2016 GSS is a sample-based survey with a cross-sectional design. Collection is conducted through computer assisted telephone interviews (CATI) and/or self-completed Electronic Questionnaires (EQ) from a sample of Canadians residing in the 10 provinces.
Over the years, GSS questions relating to income have consistently shown high non-response rates. Many respondents who did provide income figures had given rough estimates rather than exact amounts. Donor imputation has been used for partial and item non-response.
The information collected from the 2016 GSS will be linked to the personal tax records (T1, T1FF or T4) of respondents and the tax records of all household members.
Linking to the tax files will ensure better quality data, lower respondent burden and decreased costs.
Respondents will be notified of the planned linkage before and during the survey. Those who object to the linkage will have their concerns recorded and no linkage to their tax data will take place.
Output: The availability of the 2016 GSS Analytical Data File will be announced in The Daily. The file will be made available to Statistics Canada researchers and to deemed employees at the Statistics Canada Research Data Centres. All data will remain confidential and protected under the Statistics Act.
Along with the availability announcement of the Analytical Data File, non-confidential aggregate statistics will also be released either in table and/or article format.
Air Pollution Study: Linkage of 1996 Census of Population, T1 Personal Master Files, Mortality and Canadian Cancer Registry (047-2016)
Purpose: To assess the impact of long-term exposure to air pollution on human health, with the objective to inform the development of Canada-wide standards for key criteria pollutants. Linkage of separate sources of information is an important way in which Statistics Canada can meet identified data gaps on environmental data related to human exposure to air pollution.
The specific objectives of this study are: to determine whether non-accidental deaths and cancers are associated with long-term low exposure to ambient air pollutants.
Description: A sample of approximately 3.4 million Canadians was selected from respondents to the 1996 Census of Population long-form questionnaires and their Census information will be linked to the T1 Personal Master File (1981 to 2016), the Amalgamated Mortality Database (1996 to 2016) and the Canadian Cancer Registry (1992 to 2016). Air pollution data (e.g. fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3)) will be spatially integrated to these files.
The linked files will contain only those data items required to conduct the study. Personal identifiers, such as name and social insurance number, will be used only for linkage purposes, then removed from the linked analytical microdata file. Only a sample of individuals who completed the 1996 Census of Population long-form questionnaires were included on the file.
Output: All access to the linked microdata file will be restricted to Statistics Canada personnel (including Statistics Canada deemed employees) whose work activities require access. Only aggregate data that conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. Major findings will be used to create research papers for publication in peer-reviewed journals and presentation at workshops and conferences.
The linked file, stripped of personal identifiers, will be retained until no longer required, at which time the file will be destroyed.
Linkage of the McMaster 2014 School Mental Health Survey (SMHS) aggregate scores to the 2014 Ontario Child Health Study (OCHS) (059-2016)
Purpose: The main objective of this linkage is to combine aggregate scores of a school climate study conducted by McMaster in various Ontario schools called School Mental Health Survey (SMHS) with data collected in the 2014OCHS. The linkage will allow for a more complete portrait of children's mental health in Ontario.
Description: Aggregate scores from McMaster's School Mental Health Survey will be matched for each respondent using the school identifier (which identifies a school uniquely in the sample). The final output will be a micro data file containing both OCHS and SMHS data.
Output: The aggregate scores obtained from McMaster's School Mental Health Survey are combined with parent (guardian) reported data on the 2014 Ontario Child Study. The data are processed and prepared for dissemination. The linked data set will become the master file and will be available through the Research Data Centres without personal identifiers and only accessed by deemed employees of Statistics Canada. Any data being removed from the Research Data Centres will be vetted to ensure that individuals or schools cannot be identified.
The linkage will also be used to create a share file for the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care which will be under the provisions of a data sharing agreement. The Ministry of Health is funding the McMaster researchers for the OCHS. This information is very important to understand the health of children and youth and the purpose is to have up to date information about children's mental health in Ontario.
By linking data from this survey with data on the use of children's health services, response burden was reduced and they will be able to examine whether or not these services are being used effectively and have access to administrative information about visits to the doctor and program participation.
Characteristics of renter's households from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Rental file, 2010 to 2014 T1 Family File and 2011 National Household Survey Linkage (060-2016)
Purpose: The purpose of this record linkage is to generate information on the users of different types of housing accommodations in Canada.
Statistics Canada will use the linked data to create a portrait of renter's households by different type of rental initiation for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). CMHC will use it to help understand the relationship between household's socio-economic characteristics, housing characteristics, housing conditions and access to affordable housing in Canada. This will help inform the development of the strategy to re-establish the federal government's role in supporting affordable housing mandated by the current government.
The resulting data will fill a data gap with high quality information while avoiding additional respondent burden.
Description: The data linkage will be made for all respondents to the 2011 National Household Survey and the 2010 to 2014 T1 Family File.
Selected variables from the 2011 National Household Survey database and the 2010 to 2014 T1 Family File will be linked to data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Rental Building Survey.
Output: Only non-confidential aggregated data tables, which conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act, will be released outside of Statistics Canada. The linked files (without any personal identifiers) will also be placed in the Federal Research Data Centre for the sole use by CMHC's deemed employees of Statistics Canada.
Update of the 2006 Census of Population to the Discharge Abstract Database and the Vital Statistics Death Database (formerly the Canadian Mortality Database) (063-2016)
Purpose: The purpose of the proposed record linkage project is to link 2006 Census of Population to the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) and to the Vital Statistics Death Database (VSDD). These linked data will enhance the ability to better understand patterns of health outcomes (i.e. hospital, mortality) for key sub populations identified in the Census including immigrants, ethnic groups, Aboriginal peoples and those in lower socio-economic groups.
Description: The following files will be linked: Census of the Population 2006 (2b long-form), Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) (1999/2000 to 2013/2014), Vital Statistics Death Database – (VSDD) (2006-2011); Amalgamated Mortality Database (AMDB) and T1 Historical Personal Master File (T1H).
This linkage project builds on previous linkage activities and will be conducted using the linkage keys of following approved linkages which have involved linkage via tax records: Linkage of the Census of Population 2006 to the Discharge Abstract Database, the Canadian Mortality Database and the Landing File for Purposes of the Longitudinal Health and Administrative Data (LHAD) Initiative (#088-2014) and Changes in work and earnings following health shocks (082-2015).
Output: Methodological and analytical findings resulting from these linked data will be used to prepare research papers for publication in analytical reports, peer-reviewed scientific journals, CANSIM, for presentation at conferences, workshops and meetings. The linkable data files will also be used to develop tabular data and indicators for release on Statistics Canada's website. Only non-confidential aggregate statistics that will not result in the identification of an individual person, business or organization will be released outside of Statistics Canada.
A Linkage of the Future to Discover Pilot Project and the T1 Family File (065-2016)
Purpose: The purpose of the Future to Discover (FTD) Pilot Project - T1 Family File (T1FF) linkage study is to analyze the long-term post-secondary employment and earnings impacts of interventions for participants in the FTD Project in order to inform future programs and policies. Studies produced through this linkage have the potential to address important information gaps that will inform policy and program development related to overcoming barriers to post-secondary education, especially for those from lower income families, namely, lack of career clarity, misinformation about post-secondary education including its costs and benefits and lack of financial resources.
Description: The Future to Discover (FTD) Pilot Project data file, 2004-2011, will be linked to the 2007-2014 T1 Family File (T1FF). The FTD Pilot Project data file consists of survey and administrative data for approximately 5,400 New Brunswick and Manitoba participants in the Future to Discover Project. The SDLE Production team will link the FTD Project's participants to the Derived Record Depository (DRD) using deterministic and probabilistic linkage methodologies. The Tl Personal Master Files of 1981 to 2014 have also been linked to the DRD and will provide the SINs of the cohort members in order to link to the T1FF and create outcome files from 2007-2014.
Output: Only non-confidential aggregate statistics and analytical output that will not result in the identification of an individual person, business or organization will be released outside of Statistics Canada. SRDC will access the data through the Federal Research Data Centre and will prepare and submit final reports to the provincial governments of New Brunswick and Manitoba and to the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. These final reports will also be published on SRDC's website. Finally, the results will be disseminated and discussed at academic conferences, policy conferences and workshops, as well as at meetings with provincial education departments and educators. The linked analysis file will not contain any personal identifiers.
Labour market and business-related outcomes for the participants of the Pathways to Education Canada program (067-2016)
Purpose: The results from this linkage proposal will help identify and assess the impact(s) that the Pathways to Education Canada (Pathways) program has on the labour-market and business-related outcomes of its participants. The results will help determine if Pathways is achieving the goals it sets out to accomplish and help determine if the federal government's recent investment into the program is producing the benefits expected and whether any continued investment should be considered in the future by the federal government.
Description: This project will link Pathways' participants data and Toronto District School Board (TDSB) education data to the T1 Family File (T1FF, containing information on the incomes of all Canadians), and the Canadian Employer-Employee Dynamics Database (CEEDD). CEEDD is a link between various tax files including the T1 Historical Personal Master file, the T1 Financial Declaration file, the T1 Business Declaration file, the T2 Incorporated Business files, the T4 Statement of Remuneration Paid, the Payroll Deduction Accounts (PD7), and the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB). The linkage will provide the opportunity to compare the labour market and business-related outcomes of Pathways program participants with non-participants and assess the impact(s) that Pathways has on participants. The analysis will examine whether the students who went through the Pathways program have an advantage transitioning into and persisting in the labour market due to their participation. Linkages would occur for approximately 150,000 students that entered Grade 9 in a TDSB high school in the years from 2000 to 2008.
Output: Only non-confidential aggregate statistical outputs and analyses that conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. The information will be presented in the form of tables of regression results and summary statistics related to the project's goal of evaluation the Pathways program. Results will also be shared with the evaluation group within ESDC to support government officials in conducting a robust as part of the departmental evaluation plan for the Pathways program.
Longitudinal Census of Agriculture to Agriculture Taxation Data (071-2016)
Purpose: The objective is to assess the productivity of farms producing grains and oilseeds and compare results with other OECD countries. Agricultural policy and program performance measurement requires a good understanding of the productivity of Canadian farms not only internal, but also vis-à-vis its international competitors. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Estimation of Changes in Productivity of Field Crop Farms project will significantly increase this knowledge, as it develops a common methodology of measuring total factor productivity increases in Canada and other countries. This international benchmarking would provide the baseline for performance measurement. Results may produce insight on policies related to investment in research and innovation, regulatory burden, or other policy conditions that may contribute to increasing the competitiveness of the sector.
Description: The Agricultural Operation Entity Number (AGOPID) will be used as the key identifier to the Census of Agriculture to Census farm variables (2001, 2006 and 2011). The questionnaire number (STMPNO) will be used to link the Agricultural Operator variables to the farm variables on the longitudinal linked file. The farm id unique number (FARMID) from the final Agriculture taxation data files will be used to match the taxation data with the farm variables to create the final linked file.
Output: Non-confidential aggregates and econometric coefficients will be disseminated outside Statistics Canada to the OECD analysts under the Farm Level Analysis Network for the preparation of the international report on farm productivity which will compare results for several member countries. A shorter version is planned to be published using Statistics Canada publication Vista on the Agri-Food Industry and the Farm Community (cat. 21-004-XIE).
Record-linkage Amendment to: Canadian Employer-Employee Dynamics Database (CEEDD) 015-2013 (072-2016)
Purpose: The activities and economic outcomes of workers are shaped in many ways by the firms or organizations in which they are employed, and conversely, worker characteristics have implications for firm performance. Together, individual-level and firm-level data that are integrated to facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of labour market processes and economic outcomes than is possible using either type of data in isolation.
The CEEDD will be a multi-purpose file capable of supporting research on many issues. These include projects on business start-ups and job creation, with particular emphasis on the role of immigrant entrepreneurs; the distribution of immigrants across business enterprises and how this differs from the distribution of Canadian-born workers; how workforce aging is playing out within business enterprises, including its effect on labour productivity; local labour market information, including hiring rates, separation rates, layoff rates, and aggregate turnover rates within sub-provincial regions and the impacts of organizational changes, such as mergers and acquisitions, on individual-level outcomes.
Description: Information at the level of the business-enterprise will be drawn from the National Accounts Longitudinal Micro data File (NALMF) while individual- and job-level data will be drawn from T1 files and T1 family files, the T4 Statement of Remuneration Paid file, the Record of Employment (ROE) file, the Longitudinal Immigration Data Base (IMDB), and the Temporary Foreign Work file, for the years 1997 onward. All linkages will be done on a deterministic basis using Business Numbers (BNs) and/or Social Insurance Numbers (SINs).
Business Numbers and SINs will be transformed into unique personal identifiers that will remain on the business-level and individual-level files in a scrambled form. The use of scrambled identifiers will allow users to differentiate units in the cross-sectional data, and to follow them longitudinally over time. Postal code information will be used to create aggregated geography variables and then removed from the files.
All BNs, SINS and other identifiers that may be on the files such as names and addresses (including postal codes) will be removed from the linked analytical files and stored in a separate location accessible only to indeterminate Statistics Canada employees who job duties require them to access this information.
Output: The outputs of the proposed database will include two components. One is labour market indicators (e.g. hiring, separations, job creation/destruction) at national, provincial and sub-provincial levels of geography. This information will conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act. The other is the longitudinal files that will serve the internal and external researchers. Only aggregate statistics and analysis conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. The linked file and linking key file will be retained by Statistics Canada until no longer required, up to, March 31, 2026, at which time they will be destroyed.
The linked files will be hosted by the Center of Data Development and Economic Research (CDER) of Economic Analysis Division. External researchers will be able to access the linked data on Statistics Canada premises, under the Policy on the Use of Deemed Employees and current MOUs with the CDER. Synthetic files will be created for external researchers for direct access, while the original files will only be accessed via batch mode with no viewing function. Research studies will be published in Statistics Canada's Research Paper Series as well as in academic journals. Research studies will also be presented at professional conferences.
Employment, Health & Well-Being Database (EHWD): Capitalizing on processing linkages between the CCHS and administrative data (075-2016)
Purpose: The objective of this initiative is to create a linked database that will support research on health, subjective well-being, and labour market outcomes. The proposed linkage will combine data on health, health behaviours, retirement experiences, subjective well-being and socio-demographic characteristics from several cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) with data from various taxation- and employment-based administrative files. The resulting analytical file will support research on inequalities in health outcomes and consequences for labour market outcomes, retirement transitions, well-being and mobility, among others.
Description: This project builds on a linkage between the CCHS and tax data developed as part of the administrative processing of record linkage #030-2012 which combined various health-related databases. This linkage key enables a link between CCHS and various taxation- and employment-based administrative files, specifically the T1 Family File, T1 Personal Master File, T4 Summary File, T4E Statement of EI Benefits Received, EI Status Vector File, Record of Employment, and Longitudinal Employment Analysis Program. These data combine unique cross-sectional information on health, health behaviours, subjective well-being and retrospective self-reported retirement behaviour with longitudinal data on income and employment.
Output: Methodological and analytical findings resulting from these linked data will be used to prepare research papers for publication. The linked file will also be used to develop tabular data and indicators for release on Statistics Canada's website. Only non-confidential aggregate statistics that will not result in the identification of an individual person, business or organization will be released outside of Statistics Canada.
Ontario Child Health Study Linkage with Data extracted from the Ontario Ministry of Education. (078-2016)
Purpose: Administrative information from the Ontario Ministry of Education will be linked to the 2014 Ontario Child Health Study (OCHS). The purpose of this linkage is to obtain accurate data on educational achievement, special education requirements, program type and school behaviour. This information will provide researchers valuable information that will be used to study the relationships between overall health, mental health and academic performance.
Description: Administrative education data extracted from the Ontario Ministry of Education will be linked for each respondent using a unique StatCan identifier found on the returned file to the OCHS survey data and added to the final micro data. The final output will be a micro data file containing both OCHS and administrative education data.
Output: The administrative education data obtained from the Ontario Ministry of Education are combined with parent (guardian) reported data on the 2014 Ontario Child Health Study. The data are processed and prepared for dissemination. The linked data set will become the master file and will be available through the Research Data Centres without personal identifiers and only accessed by deemed employees of Statistics Canada. Any data being removed from the Research Data Centres will be vetted to ensure that individuals cannot be identified.
By linking data from this Ministry with data from OCHS, response burden was reduced and will allow an examination of the relationships between overall health, mental health and academic performance.
A Linkage of the B.C. Performance Indicator Reporting System Data (PIRS) and the T1 Family File (T1FF) (079-2016)
Purpose: The main objective of this study is to examine the labour market outcomes of individual, especially youth, who are not in employment, education, or training (NEET) before and after participating in a provincially-sponsored training program and attempt to assess the effectiveness of this training program in the province of British Columbia. There are many job training programs targeted at youth who are NEET in Canada, but there has not been a systematic evaluation of these training programs or the individual outcomes. This study proposes to fill this gap by examining the labour market outcomes of NEET youth post-training in the province of British Columbia who took part in a job training program, namely the Labour Market Agreement (LMA) program. The analysis of the linked data will help identify the skills and/or education workers may be lacking that hinder their success in the labour market. This will inform how this program can be tailored to meet the training needs of students and improve their labour market outcomes.
Description: Using the protocol of the Social Data Linkage Environment (SDLE), the SDLE Production team will link the B.C. Performance Indicator Reporting System Data (PIRS) participants to the Derived Record Depository (DRD) using probabilistic linkage methodologies. The T1 Personal Master Files (T1 PMF) of 1981 to 2012 have also been linked to the DRD and will provide the SINs of the cohort members in order to link to the T1 Family File (T1FF). The following variables will be used for the linkage: first name(s), surname(s), date of birth, sex, and last known postal code. The resulting associations of the cohort record identifiers and the Tl PMF record identifiers will be stored in the SDLE Key Registry. The Key Registry does not contain personal identifiers. The SDLE Analysis and Data Development team will use the keys stored in the Key Registry to link the SINs from the Tl PMFs to the cohort record identifiers and then, using the SIN, add the cohort record identifier to the TIFF records with the corresponding SIN. The SIN will then be removed from the final tax outcome files. The final outcome files will not contain any personal identifiers.
Output: The results of the analysis of the linked data will be presented in a written research report, and possibly a presentation, delivered to the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism, Skills, and Training of British Columbia. All results will be non-confidential aggregate statistics and analytical output that will prevent any identification of an individual person, business or organization outside of Statistics Canada.
Profiles of repeated contact with the Saskatchewan criminal justice system: Linking Saskatchewan re-contact data with income, health and immigration data (081-2016)
Purpose: To establish baseline information about those who have been identified as either one time, repeat or chronic users of the justice system. Specifically, the study will seek to identify the factors associated with repeated contact with the justice system and will generate information about their involvement with Saskatchewan's other social or human services—namely health, education and those in other social/community sectors. This study will link justice data with other administrative records including income, health and immigration data in order to identify the risk and protective factors associated with repeated contact with the justice system and to generate information about involvement with Saskatchewan's other human and social services, including health and education.
The study will provide a more complete understanding of the factors associated with repeat contact with the justice system. It will also assist policymakers and justice administrators in developing crime control strategies – those aimed at prevention as well as reduction in re-offending by addressing key questions about repeat contact with the criminal justice system and chronic offending in Canada.
Description: The linkage will bring together records from the Phase 2 re-contact Saskatchewan justice cohort, with other social domain data, including the T1 Family File, the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System, the Discharge Abstract Database, the Vital Statistics Death Database and the Immigrant Landing file. The information will be used to generate aggregate information on the factors related to repeated contact with the justice system.
Output: Only non-confidential aggregate statistics and analyses conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. The file will not contain any direct identifiers such as name, address, telephone number or social insurance number. Access to linking keys and linked analysis files will be restricted to Statistics Canada employees whose assigned work activities require such access.
High-level and non-confidential findings may be reported in the form of presentations to various National Justice Statistics Initiative partners.
Linkage of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) annual component to the Immigration Landing File (ILF) and the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB) (084-2016)
Purpose: The purpose of this project is to address important data gaps related to information on the health, social and economic outcomes of immigrants to Canada. The linked data will be used by Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to conduct research on these outcomes for immigrants in different classes and categories and comparing these outcomes to those of the Canada-born population.
Description: Data from the annual Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) from cycle 2.1 until 2014 and from the CCHS Mental Health surveys (cycles 1.2 and 5.2) will be linked to the following databases: 1980 to 2014 Immigrant Landing File (ILF) and the 1982 to 2013 Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB). Only those CCHS respondents who agreed to link and share their survey information with Health Canada, The Public Health Agency of Canada and the Provincial Ministries of Health will be included in the project. The CCHS annual component provides comprehensive information regarding the health status/outcomes, health care utilization, social activity, social support, and other social-demographic characteristics of the Canadian population. The CCHS mental health surveys include information related to mental disorders, use of mental health services and mental health determinants. The ILF is an administrative database, produced by IRCC and includes demographic, immigration program and personal information from the landing record of individuals. The IMDB is a database combining immigration and taxation records. The IMDB provides information on the economic behaviour of the immigrant tax filer population in Canada. The final analysis file will not contain direct personal identifiers.
Output: The linked files will at all times remain on Statistics Canada premises. Only non-confidential aggregate data that conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. The linked data will be used by the Research and Evaluation Branch of IRCC as deemed employees of Statistics Canada in the Federal Research Data Centre (FRDC) for policy research and analysis purposes. In addition, the linked data files will be made available for use by deemed employees of Statistics Canada through the Research Data Centres (RDCs) as per the Subsequent Use of Linked Data provision in the Directive on Record Linkage. Research papers based on analyses of the linked data could be presented internally, at conferences and/or submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals.
Internal Linkage of New Brunswick Registry File and creation of the New Brunswick Smoking Record Linkage Environment (NBSRLE) (085-2016)
Purpose: The province of New Brunswick has commenced litigation against several tobacco companies in the Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick pursuant to the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act, SNB 2006, c.T-7.5, which enables the province to seek compensation from the tobacco companies for tobacco related health care costs. To support both parties in this litigation, Statistics Canada has signed an agreement concerning access to confidential personal information of residents of New Brunswick with the province of New Brunswick and Imperial Tobacco Canada, JTI-MacDonald Corp., B.A.T. Industries p.l.c., British American Tobacco (Investments) Limited, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco International Inc.
Statistics Canada will create a record linkage environment for the New Brunswick Tobacco Project called the New Brunswick Smoking Record Linkage Environment (NBSRLE). This environment will be used to link Statistics Canada survey data to New Brunswick administrative health data using established record linkage techniques. The NBSRLE will enable Statistics Canada to provide access to linked and unlinked data within the Research Data Centers (RDC) to deemed employees, which will ensure the confidentiality of the personal information contained in the source data sets.
The purpose of this linkage is to build the administrative data component of the NBSRLE. The New Brunswick Registry File will be loaded to the NBSRLE as the Record Depository and the New Brunswick administrative databases will be linked to that Depository. The record linkage keys will be retained separately in the NBSRLE Key Registry.
Statistics Canada has the responsibility for securely storing and processing data files and for the production of analysis files needed to carry out approved research studies. NBSRLE research projects will involve the use of linked records, and in accordance with Statistics Canada's Directive on Record Linkage, approval by the Chief Statistician will be required for each new linkage related to this project.
Description: The NBSRLE Record Depository (RD) will be created from the New Brunswick Medicare Decision Support System Individual Registry File. The RD will be composed of the surnames, given names, date of birth, sex, postal code, health insurance number, resident id and postal code effective dates for health insurance card holders in New Brunswick. Each individual in the RD will be assigned an anonymous NBSRLE identifier, which has no value outside of the NBSRLE.
Linkage of the RD to New Brunswick health administrative databases will be performed in a dedicated NBSRLE. To ensure a high level of data security and privacy, the association of Statistics Canada-generated identification numbers from the RD and the administrative database Record Identifiers will be stored in a separate NBSRLE Key Registry, thus avoiding the need to store health administrative data with personal identifiers.
For analytical studies, the NBSRLE Identifier will replace health administrative data identifiers and access to linkable files will require prior linkage approval from Statistics Canada's Executive Management Board.
Access to the NBSRLE Key Registry will be restricted to the Statistics Canada employees responsible for its development and maintenance and those responsible for the creation of linked analysis data files. The Key Registry will contain linkage keys to permit linkage for approved studies for this project. The administrative files included as part of this linkage application are as follows:
- New Brunswick Medicare Decision Support System Individual Registry File
- New Brunswick Discharge Abstract Database
- New Brunswick Prescription Drug Program Database
- New Brunswick Physician Billing Database
- New Brunswick Extramural Hospital Database
- New Brunswick Nursing Homes Database
- New Brunswick Vital Statistics Death Event Database
Output: There are no linked analysis files created as part of this record linkage. The NBSRLE Record Depository and Key Registry will be used exclusively to support the development of research files for the New Brunswick Tobacco Project and no identifiable personal information will be released from the NBSRLE. Statistics Canada will retain the RD and Key Registry files until December 31, 2031.
Research projects will be approved on a study-by-study basis. These may only be carried out as part of a research agenda initiated by the designated representatives from the province of New Brunswick or the Defendants under contract with Statistics Canada. A summary of each approved study will be posted on the Statistics Canada web site.
Examination of the long-term community adjustment of offenders: Linking Federal correctional data with income, health and immigration data. (090-2016)
Purpose: The purpose of the proposed study is to establish baseline information about the re-integration of former offenders. The study will examine 10 to 15 year life trajectories of offenders in the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) based on experiences in prison (e.g., time served, release status) and post-release indicators of economic activity (e.g., reported income, taxes, social assistance), health (e.g., mortality), and social stability (geographic mobility, marital status). Although the outcomes for many federal offenders are expected to be worse than for the general population, it is expected that a significant proportion of ex-CSC inmates will successfully reintegrate as law abiding citizens. This study will estimate that proportion, and identify predictors of successful reintegration over time.
By generating information on the factors associated with successful community re-integration, the study will assist policymakers and justice administrators in developing crime control strategies – those aimed at prevention as well as reduction in re-offending in Canada.
Description: The linkage will bring together records from the CSC's corrections cohort, with other social domain data, including the T1 Family File, the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System, the Discharge Abstract Database, the Vital Statistics Death Database, the Canadian Cancer Registry and the Immigrant Landing file. The data will be used to generate aggregate information on offender's re-integration into society and the risk and protective factors associated with ex-offenders becoming law-abiding and contributing members of the community.
Output: Only non-confidential aggregate statistics and analyses conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. The file will not contain any direct identifiers such as name, address, telephone number or social insurance number. Access to linking keys and linked analysis file will be restricted to Statistics Canada employees and deemed employees whose assigned work activities require such access.
2016 Canadian Community Health Survey Annual Component (CCHS) Linkage to Tax Data (093-2016)
Purpose: The purpose of this linkage is to reduce respondent burden while improving data quality. This reduces the overall survey time which will reduce collection costs.
Description: HSD is planning to link the 2016 CCHS survey data to existing tax files to collect income information.
The first step is to determine if tax data are available for the CCHS 2016 sampled households. When this information is available, respondents will be given a linkage statement which includes a specific reference to linking to tax data. They will have the opportunity to refuse the linkage. For those respondents that refuse to link, a set of income questions will then be asked. For households where there is no tax data available, the income questions will be asked followed by the linkage statement.
After collection, the second step will be to link the 2016 CCHS data to the most recent available tax files (generally a two year lag from the collection year) to collect the income information for those respondents who did not refuse to link.
Given the CCHS sample is drawn from two frames (Canadian Child Tax Benefit file for respondents aged 12-17 and the Labour Force Survey (LFS) area frame for those 18+), there will be slightly different approaches to the two step linking strategy. For those aged 18 years or older, the sample records will for the most part contain an ARUID. Prior to collection of the CCHS Annual 2016, the ARUIDS for the selected sample will be linked to the 2014 or 2015 IDENT_ARUID file using ARUID and then linked to the most recent tax data available at the time of collection to identify cases that do not have 2015 tax data. So for the 2016 CCHS master data file, this will be either 2014 or 2015 T1 Personal Master File(T1). Cases that do not have 2014 tax data will be asked income questions as a back-up measure to provide income data. All respondents will also be given the tax linkage statements. For all those who did not object to the tax linkage (regardless of whether they were also asked income questions) we will attempt data linkage in the following manner:
- Link the ARUID to the 2015 IDENT_ARUID then use this to link to the 2015 T1, T1FF or T4 to obtain tax data.
- If a link is not found for 2015 then link to the 2014 IDENT_ARUID and use that link to find the 2014 T1, T1FF, T4 tax data.
The T1 enhanced file database (for 2014 and subsequent years) which contains ARUID may be used to facilitate the ARUID linkage instead of linking through the IDENT_ARUID file. Personal information such as name, date of birth and gender, or contact information such as telephone number or postal code may be used to verify the links (through ARUID), or improve linkage rates. This will utilize the Linkage Control File (LCF), as well as the SINSIN (Greenberg) file. When linking to the T1FF we will use the XVARS file to get linking information.
For the 12-17 year old selected respondents, records can be linked through the SIN number of the parents to identify those without 2014 T1, T1FF or T4 data. Those without the 2014 T1 data will be asked the income questions as a back-up measure. All respondents will also be asked the tax data linkage statement. For those who did not object to the tax linkage (regardless of whether they are asked the income questions) we will attempt linkage as follows:
- If the child still lives with the recipient (parent/guardian) then link the SIN of the parent to the 2015 T1,T1FF or T4 to obtain the most recent tax data.
- If a link is not found for the 2015 T1 or T1FF and the child still lives with the recipient (parent/guardian) then use the SIN to link to the 2014 T1,T1FF or T4 to obtain tax data.
If the child no longer lives with the recipient (parent/guardian) then linking through contact information such as name, address or phone number may be attempted.
Personal information such as name, date of birth and gender, or contact information such as telephone number or postal code may be used to verify the links (through ARUID), or improve linkage rates. This will utilize the Linkage Control File (LCF), as well as the SINSIN (Greenberg) file. When linking to the T1FF we will use the XVARS file to get linking information.
Output: The release of data from the 2017 Canadian Community Health Survey will be announced in The Daily. The master and share files are expected to be made available June 2018 to provincial and territorial ministries of health, the "Institut de la statistique du Québec" (Quebec respondents only), and approved researchers in partner departments (Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada) through share agreements, as well as to Statistics Canada researchers, and to deemed employees at the Statistics Canada Research Data Centres. Only information for which an informed consent was obtained from the respondent will be included in the share files. Rapid response files (master and share) will be released throughout the year if content is collected. All data will remain confidential and protected under the Statistics Act. There will be no personal identifiers on either data file.
The 2016 output files are similar to 2017, but the linked tax data will not be on the share file. The first release of linked data will be the rapid response master file (2016 data) in March of 2017.Income tax data will only be on the share file starting with the release of the 2017 reference year data.
Along with the availability announcement of the analytical data file (in The Daily), only non-confidential aggregate statistics will be released.
Characteristics of persons linked and not-linked to personal income tax and benefits records, using the 2011 Census and National Household Survey (NHS) linkage to income information from personal income tax and benefits records (097-2016)
Purpose: The purpose of this record linkage is to create a portrait of people that are linked and not-linked to tax data.
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will use the non-confidential aggregate tables to better understand the characteristics of persons that may not be receiving benefits because the persons are not found in CRA's administrative databases. This information will be used for program improvements such as targeted outreach to increase the number of recipients of benefits.
Canadians will benefit from this analysis that aims to inform the development of program improvements geared towards increasing awareness and the number of recipients of benefits programs.
Description: All respondents to the 2011 Census of Population have been linked with the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) and several income tax files and benefits records.
Respondents' information on types and amounts of benefits received, and the type of administrative databases in which they are present, have been extracted from various income tax files and benefits records and added to their responses from the 2011 Census and 2011 NHS records.
Output: Only non-confidential aggregated data tables, which conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act, will be released outside of Statistics Canada.
Canadian Income Survey: Linkage to Income Data Files (099-2016)
Purpose: The purpose of this linkage is to obtain income data and reduce respondent burden, interviewer time and collection costs for the Canadian Income Survey. The linkage allows obtaining information on income variables without burdening respondents with detailed questions about their income.
Description: The Canadian Income Survey database and the T1, T1IDENT, T5007 and CCTB files will be linked using the address, city, date of birth, first name, surname, sex, province, social insurance number, codes for surname, postal code, marital status, telephone number and first initial. This information will be removed from the linked file as soon as the linkage is completed, and stored separately. Access to these files will be restricted to Statistics Canada employees whose assigned work activities require access.
Output: Information containing personal identifiers will not be released outside of Statistics Canada from this linkage activity. Only non-confidential aggregate statistics and analysis conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada.
Linkage of the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD), National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS), and the Ontario Mental Health Reporting System (OMHRS) to the Canadian Vital Statistics Death Database (CVSD) (100-2016)
Purpose: The purpose of the linkage is to provide Canadians with a more comprehensive understanding of health care system interventions and their outcomes that are currently not possible using existing individual databases. The creation of this linked database will allow for the creation and public dissemination of:
- Performance indicators on short/long-term mortality in and out of hospital following hospitalization and procedures, including patients with mental health conditions
- Indicator studies on transitions of care and patient journey across the health care continuum
- Survival and outcome analysis for new and existing measures (e.g. one-five year total mortality rate, survival analysis for specific patient populations)
Description: On behalf of the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), Statistics Canada will be linking the DAD and NACRS data from 2000/01 to 2014/15, and the OMHRS data from 2005/06 to 2014/15 to the CVSD from 2000 to 2012. The resulting analytical files will contain all the records from the DAD, NACRS and OMHRS databases as well as selected variables from the CVSD. Personal identifiers will be removed from the analytical files and replaced by a random Statistics Canada-generated unique identifier.
Output: All data and analytical products to be released outside of Statistics Canada will conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act.
The linked analysis files and linkage key files will be retained by Statistics Canada for 5 years after they are made available to CIHI or until no longer required, at which point they will be destroyed. Access to the linkage key files will be restricted to Statistics Canada employees whose work activities require access.
2016 Census in Fort McMurray: 2015 Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) Census Linkage with the RMWB Contact for Addresses of Damaged Property provided by the Government of Alberta Office of Statistics and Information (OSI) (104-2016)
Purpose: Following the outstanding collaboration of the Government of Alberta and local authorities of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Statistics Canada has accepted a mandate from the Government of Alberta OSI, to gather information on people that were living in dwellings identified in the list of Damaged Properties.
Description: Damaged Properties data will be linked by address to the 2015 RMWB Census and a final micro data file will be created with both the Damaged Properties and the 2015 RMWB Census data. The final output will be the dissemination of statistical tables for various levels of geographies and variables.
Output: The 2015 RMWB Census data obtained with the addresses are combined with Damaged Properties data. The data are processed and prepared for dissemination. The linked data set will become the master file and will be available through the Statistical Registers and Geography Division (SRGD) with address identifiers with access restricted to Statistics Canada employees and deemed employees with a working requirement.
By linking data from Damaged Properties file and the 2015 RMWB Census, the OSI will be in a position to better asses the population that were living in the damaged properties.
Linking Health Administrative Data to the Immigrant Landing File to understand the health outcomes of immigrants (107-2016)
Purpose: The purpose of the proposed record linkage project is to link the Immigrant Landing File (ILF) to health administrative data including hospital, mortality and cancer records to support a program of research on immigrant health. These linked data will greatly enhance the ability to better understand patterns of health outcomes for immigrants overall, as well as by immigration categories (e.g. family class, refugees and economic class) and source country.
Description: The following files will be linked using the Social Data Linkage Environment (SDLE): Immigrant Landing File (1980-2013), Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) (1994/95 to 2014/15), National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS) (2002 to 2014) Ontario Mental Health Reporting System (OMHRS) (2005 to 2014/15), Canadian Vital Statistics: Death Database (CVSD) (1980 to most recent); Canadian Cancer Registry (CCR), T1 Personal Master File (T1PMF) (1981 to most recent), and Canadian Child Tax Benefits - ldent Files (CCTB-Ident) (2010 onwards). Tax files are used to obtain postal code information to confirm residency. No income information will be used.
Outputs: The linked file will at all times remain on Statistics Canada premises and will be made available in the Research Data Centres upon request. Access to the linked microdata will be restricted to Statistics Canada staff and deemed employees whose work activities require access. Access by deemed employees will be subject to Statistics Canada legal and policy requirements, in particular, the Directive on the Use of Deemed Employees and the Subsequent Use provision. HAD will be responsible for providing access to the linked data and fulfilling requirements for the subsequent use if necessary.
Methodological and analytical findings resulting from these linked data will be used to prepare research papers for publication in analytical reports, peer-reviewed scientific journals, CANSIM, for presentation at conferences, workshops and meetings. The linkable data files will also be used to develop tabular data and indicators for release on Statistics Canada's website. Only non-confidential aggregate statistics that will not result in the identification of an individual person, business or organization will be released outside of Statistics Canada.
Assignment of historical environmental exposures to health datasets for the purpose of environmental health research (108-2016)
Purpose: The purpose of this initiative is to attach historical environmental exposure data to external and internal health datasets in order to facilitate environment health research. Specifically, this initiative will address an important data gap in environmental health research, being the lack of data on where respondents have previously resided, as identified by CIHR. This record linkage project undertaken by Statistics Canada will attach environment exposure data to external and internal datasets by linking them to the DRD in order to attach historical places of residences (e.g. postal codes). These postal codes will then be used to attach environmental data (e.g. particulate matter, walkability, noise, ozone etc.) to external and internal datasets.
Description: Our health is influenced by the environment we live in. Although datasets often record a respondent's place of residence at time of collection, many do not record respondent's previous residence(s). Statistics Canada data holdings, specifically place of residence reported on tax administrative files, can help address this data gap. Through individual level tax files, it is possible to reconstruct a person's "residential" history beginning in 1981. Datasets will be linked to the Derived Record Depository in order to obtain historical place of residence beginning in 1981. Historical environmental exposures will be attached to these datasets using postal code-environmental exposure correspondence files and/or postal code representative points.
Output: The creation of enhanced datasets that include historical environmental exposures. These datasets will be part of a pan-national research program focused on addressing key issues related to the impact of the urban environment on health.