Supplement to Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment related to the 4th wave of the Survey Series on People and their Communities – Participation and Experiences in Community Sports (SSPC-PECS)
Date: November 2023
Program manager: Director, Centre for Social Data Integration and Development
Director General, Social Data Insights, Integration and Innovation
Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB)
Personal information collected through the Survey Series on People and their Communities is described in Statistics Canada's "Special Surveys" Class of Personal Information. The Personal Information Bank refers to information collected through Statistics Canada's ad hoc surveys, which are not part of the regular survey taking activities of the Agency. They cover a variety of socio-economic topics including health, housing, labour market, education and literacy, as well as demographic data.
"Special Surveys" Class of Personal Information (Bank number: StatCan PPU 016) is published on the Statistics Canada website under the latest Information about Programs and Information Holdings chapter.
Description of statistical activity
Under the authority of the Statistics Act,Footnote 1 Statistics Canada has been conducting the voluntary Survey Series on People and their Communities (SSPC) since October 2022. This survey series operates under the umbrella of the Disaggregated Data Action Plan (DDAP) which was part of the Government of Canada's federal Budget 2021. It collects information about the lived experiences of specific sub-populations in Canada, such as racialized groups and immigrants. Each survey collection in the series (Wave) contains questionnaire content that changes based on emerging data needs, with an overall aim of providing insights on intersections such as those between racialized identity and immigrant status with various social topics with specific data gaps related to the level of granularity of the data. The first three waves in the series on Community Engagement (SSPC-CE / Wave 1), Sport, Workplace Culture, Political Engagement and Shared Values (SSPC-SWCPESV / Wave 2), and Quality of Life, Sources of Information and Trust (SSPC-QLSIT / Wave 3) were internally funded through the Disaggregated Data Action Plan initiative and the fourth wave on Participation and Experiences in Community Sports (SSPC-PECS / Wave 4) will be funded by Heritage Canada.
The first SSPC wave sampled a total of 70,000 individuals that were representative of the Canadian population aged 15 and older selected from the 2021 long-form Census survey frame, with an oversamplingFootnote 2 of individuals belonging to self-identified visible minority groups and immigrants to Canada to ensure enough data would be captured to be able to release disaggregated statistics on relevant sub-groups that meet Statistics Canada's Quality Guidelines. The initial SSPC sample was comprised of two evenly divided subsamples of 35,000 individuals each. Respondents were asked at the end of their first questionnaire to provide their email address or phone number if they agreed to be contacted for participation in future surveys in the series.
Respondents that provided valid contact information were then used to create a sample of targeted respondents for subsequent waves, totaling 35,773 individuals. This methodology, also known as a panel survey, repeatedly uses the same group of respondents that provided their contact information for such purposes for all subsequent waves. If respondents who previously agreed to participate in the SSPC no longer wish to participate, they can withdraw their participation and opt-out of the series by contacting Statistics Canada using the information provided in their email invitations or during their telephone interview.
SSPC Waves 1-3 collected less sensitive and less detailed personal information (e.g. Wave 1 collected information about the presence of generalized long-term conditions and disabilities, rather than granular details about those health conditions), and as such any related privacy risks were assessed in Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA).
Wave 4 of the SSPC on Participation and Experiences in Community Sports (SSPC-PECS), will be collecting new content about the respondents' participation in sport, with a focus on immigrants' and racialized peoples' experiences with unfair treatment, racism and discrimination as a victim or witness in sports and involvement in non-athletic roles in sport. This sensitive content, in conjunction with the longitudinal nature and linkages with responses in the previous waves and the Census, warrants the development of this supplement to the Generic PIA in order to assess, describe and mitigate any potential associated privacy risks.
To reduce respondent burden and enhance the analytical value of the data, longitudinal microdata linkage is performed on the data from each wave of the SSPC and to sociodemographic data from the 2021 long-form Census, with information collected in SSPC-CE being linked to information from subsequent waves. Statistics Canada's microdata linkage and related statistical activities were assessed in Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment.Footnote 3 All data linkage activities are subject to established governance,Footnote 4 and are assessed against Statistics Canada's principles of necessity and proportionality.Footnote 5 All approved linkages are published on Statistics Canada's website.Footnote 6
There is no planned sharing of the microdata for the SSPC. Availability and access to the program data will focus on using existing Statistics Canada access mechanisms such as the Federal Research Data Centre (FDRC), research data centre network (RDC),Footnote 7 Real Time Remote Access (RTRA) and Virtual Data Lab (VDL). The data will also be available in non-confidential aggregated formats via Statistics Canada's website.
Reason for supplement
While the Generic Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) addresses most of the privacy and security risks related to statistical activities conducted by Statistics Canada, this supplement was developed to address the collection and use of sensitive new content in Wave 4 of this survey series that includes information about respondents' experiences with unfair treatment, racism and discrimination as a victim or witness, combined with sociodemographic and other information collected from prior survey series waves. As is the case with all PIAs, Statistics Canada's privacy framework ensures that elements of privacy protection and privacy controls are documented and applied.
Necessity and Proportionality
The collection and use of personal information for Wave 4 of the Survey Series on People and their Communities – Participation and Experiences in Community Sports (SSPC-PECS) can be justified against Statistics Canada's Necessity and Proportionality Framework:
Necessity
The first three waves of the SSPC were internally funded by the Disaggregated Data Action Plan (DDAP), while Wave 4, the SSPC-PECS, supports the DDAP and is funded by Canadian Heritage. It addresses issues relates to equity, diversity, and inclusion in the sport domain, including support for demographic groups traditionally underrepresented in sport, to produce detailed statistical information using the personal characteristics of respondents to underline the similarities and differences between and among groups. The data will serve to provide insights and fill data gaps on Canada's social and cultural environment related to barriers in sport participation of different demographic groups. It will do this by highlighting the attitudes and lived experiences of specific population groups, such as racialized groups and immigrants, in regard to their participation in sport, involvement in non-athletic roles in sport and experiences of unfair treatment, racism and discrimination in community sports culture in Canada. The information aims to support policy, program development and funding decisions, and to provide evidence for projects such as the Community Sport for All Initiative of the Sport Support Program from Heritage CanadaFootnote 8 or the implementation of the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport,Footnote 9 both of which have a goal of promoting accessibility and equity in sports in Canada.
The panel survey methodology is required in conjunction with the oversampling methodology due to the low prevalence of certain targeted respondents (racialized groups and immigrants) in the general population, in order to manage response burden and fatigue while continuing to be able to extract important information. In both cases, the purpose is ultimately to be able to produce and publish robust confidential disaggregated statistics that meet Statistics Canada's Quality Guidelines.
Excluding the approximately 1500 minors aged 15 and older in the SSPC sample was considered for the SSPC-PECS, however doing so would result in data findings that are not representative of the Canadian population. Information from minors 15 and older is important to collect and analyze for the SSPC-PECS, as this age group is often involved in sport at a higher prevalence than those of other age groups, meaning their experiences will help to fill the existing data gaps identified, and represent an important affected demographic. These individuals have agreed to participate in the survey series and have expressed a desire to respond to emerging data issues. As with all respondents of the SSPC, if at any time the minor chooses not to participate, they can skip the question or request to be removed from the survey series.
Effectiveness - Working assumptions
The SSPC-PECS is the most effective method to fill the data gaps identified by Sport Canada on issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion in sport for traditionally underrepresented demographic groups. Specifically, due to the lower prevalence of racialized groups and immigrants in the general population, contrasted with the need to produce more detailed disaggregated data on those sub-populations, the SSPC uses Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Population as the survey frame. The survey frame was stratified by racialized groups, immigration status, and geographic region, so that reliable estimates could be produced for domains of interest. The non-racialized group was also sampled along with racialized groups to ensure coverage of the entire target population and as a comparison to racialized groups. The differences in sampling rates between the various target groups makes it possible to carry out more disaggregated and intersectional analysis with this survey than a survey with a general population sample design.
The panel survey methodology allows Statistics Canada to link respondent information (e.g., sociodemographic, and other analytical information collected) for those that respond across survey waves, reducing the response burden of subsequent waves by eliminating the need to repeatedly request the same information. Further, a panel survey with oversampling is required due to the expected low prevalence of sub-groups and variables of interest (racialized groups and immigrants; experiences), to be able to collect and publish reliable confidential disaggregated statistics on these factors.
The questionnaire content in Wave 4 was developed in collaboration with subject matter experts from Heritage Canada as well as the Diversity and Sociocultural Statistics division within Statistics Canada. Statistics Canada's Questionnaire Design Resource Centre (QDRC) provided input and feedback for the survey questionnaire after conducting a series of qualitative testing interviews with individuals who are representative of the sample. Overall, QDRC participants reacted positively, and the topics covered in the survey were of general interest. There were no major issues observed and there were no concerns about the proposed topics being too personal or sensitive.
This combination of survey methodology and questionnaire content enables the effective production of robust statistics that meet Statistics Canada's quality guidelines and provide insights into differences and similarities in experiences among and between visible minorities and immigrants, compared to the rest of the Canadian population.
Proportionality
Questions were developed with Heritage Canada to fill specific data gaps and help support policy and program development around Canadian sports culture. While the sensitivity of these questions on experiences of unfair treatment, racism, and discrimination in sports settings may cause distress for some respondents, the results from this survey are expected to provide data to help address issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion for demographic groups traditionally underrepresented in sport, potentially leading to a reduction in the occurrence and prevalence of racism and discrimination in sports in Canada. Although no concerns were raised by participants in focus groups during the testing of the questionnaire, respondents will be provided with the ability to skip the questions, as well as with information on relevant resources. Additionally, interviewers are trained to provide relevant resources to respondents who show signs of distress, and to offer to skip sensitive questions.
Moreover, many of the sociodemographic personal information elements required for analysis such as age, gender, education, knowledge of languages, immigrant status and racialized group do not need to be collected in the SSPC-PECS, as they were either collected in previous SSPC waves or are available through the planned microdata linkages to the 2021 Long-form Census of Population. Respondents will therefore not need to transmit the same personal information multiple times to Statistics Canada, thus limiting the scope of information collected in subsequent waves to only new required information.
Alternatives
Alternative sources for the data to be collected in the SSPC-PCES are not available in any other Statistics Canada surveys or administrative data holdings. Alternative designs to a panel survey were considered for collecting this information, including a traditional survey, however, the response burden a traditional survey would place on this population would have likely compromised the ability to achieve response rates required to produce reliable statistics. Ultimately, a panel survey was deemed the optimal collection method to produce all the required disaggregated data for analysis without overburdening respondents.
Additionally, although the General Social Survey (GSS)Footnote 10 program collects similar information, it does not collect the specific data gaps identified by Heritage Canada's analytical needs, such as racism and discrimination in sports. Moreover, the GSS does not oversample for a sufficient level of disaggregation needed to identify disparities between racialized and non-racialized groups and immigrants and non-immigrants on these topics.
Mitigation factors
The overall risk of harm to the survey respondents has been deemed manageable with existing Statistics Canada safeguards that are described in Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment, including the following measures:
Resources
Some questions contained in the SSPC-PECS are considered sensitive as they relate to an individual's experience or witnessing of unfair treatment, racism, or discrimination. Relevant resources will be provided to respondents in the information for survey participants and interviewers will be instructed to provide the resources should a respondent experience any distress. Additionally, respondents will be provided with the possibility to skip questions.
Consent
Individuals selected for the SSPC-PECS will be informed in the invitation email and in the electronic questionnaire or during the telephone interview that their participation is voluntary before being asked any questions.
Confidentiality
Variables that directly identify respondents will be separated from the data files in the first stage of data processing and placed in a secure location with controlled access. Variables that might indirectly identify respondents are examined and modified as necessary in order to protect the privacy and confidentiality of respondents. Individual responses will be grouped with those of others when reporting results. Individual responses and results for very small groups will never be published or shared with government departments or agencies. Careful analysis of the data and appropriate additional disclosure controls will be performed prior to the publication and sharing of data (in RDCs, etc.) to ensure that marginalized and vulnerable communities are not disproportionally impacted.
Data linkage
The linkage of SSPC-PECS data with other sources of information will be used in statistical studies to evaluate data quality and the impact of non-response, to improve and assist with data editing and imputation, and for direct replacement of data in presence of partial non-response when the quality is deemed appropriate. The linkage files will be used only within Statistics Canada for methodological research, development and processing.
Security measures for linkage keys and administrative files respect the policies, directives and guidelines for information technology security at Statistics Canada. When linkage is required, it is done using anonymized statistical identifiers ("linkage keys") and, as a result, no linked file contains personal identifiers such as name, phone number and address (excluding postal code). These anonymized statistical identifiers are used to link to other sources of information for statistical purposes only. The personal identifiers obtained are removed from the rest of the information and securely stored with restricted access with an approved operational requirement to access them, and whose access is removed when no longer required.
Transparency
Prior to the survey, respondents will be informed that the survey is voluntary, and of the survey purpose, allowing them to decide whether they wish to participate.
This information will be provided in the invitation email, the electronic questionnaire, by interviewers, as well as on the SSPC-PECS website.
Conclusion
This assessment concludes that, with the existing Statistics Canada safeguards including those listed above, any remaining risks are such that Statistics Canada is prepared to accept and manage the risk.
Formal approval
This Supplementary Privacy Impact Assessment has been reviewed and recommended for approval by Statistics Canada's Chief Privacy Officer, Director General for Modern Statistical Methods and Data Science, and Assistant Chief Statistician for the Social, Health and Labour Statistics field.
The Chief Statistician of Canada has the authority for section 10 of the Privacy Act for Statistics Canada, and is responsible for the Agency's operations, including the program area mentioned in this Supplementary Privacy Impact Assessment.
This Privacy Impact Assessment has been approved by the Chief Statistician of Canada.