- Strategic Outcome 1
- Program 1: Economic and Environmental Statistics
- Program 2: Socio-economic Statistics
- Program 3: Censuses
- Program 4: Statistical Infrastructure
- Strategic Outcome 2
- Program 5: Cost-recovered Statistical Services
- Program 6: Internal Services
Strategic Outcome 1
Canadians have access to timely, relevant and quality statistical information on Canada's changing economy and society for informed debate, research and decision making on social and economic issues.
Program 1: Economic and Environmental Statistics
The purpose of this program is to create a trusted, relevant and comprehensive source of information on the entire spectrum of Canada's economy to inform public debate on economic issues; support economic policy development, implementation and evaluation; and guide business decision making. It is the primary source of information for developing the country's fiscal and monetary policies, and for studying the economic evolution of Canadian industries and regions. These statistics support various statutory requirements, among others, the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Regulations, the Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act, Land Claims Settlements Agreements, and the Comprehensive Integrated Tax Coordination Agreement related to the Harmonized Sales Tax. The outputs are also vital to research and to economic policy development, implementation, and evaluation by a number of federal departments, such as the Bank of Canada, Finance Canada, Industry Canada, Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, and by provincial and territorial governments. They are extensively used by the private sector for business planning and decision making and by international agencies, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the United Nations (UN). Outputs include monthly and annual measures of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Consumer Price Index (CPI), current indicators of retail and wholesale trade, Canada's merchandise export and import statistics, estimates of agricultural income and expenditures, transportation statistics, and statistics relevant to the analysis of relationships between human activity and the environment, in Canada.
Sub-program 1.1: Macro Accounts (System of National Accounts)
This program provides a conceptually integrated framework of statistics and analysis for studying the evolution of the Canadian economy. The accounts are centred on the measurement of production of goods and services, and the purchase/sale of goods and services in domestic and international markets. Corresponding price indexes are derived, and estimates of economic activity in ‘real’ or ‘inflation adjusted’ terms are prepared. Monetary flows are tracked among the five major sectors of the economy: households, non-profit institutions serving households, corporations (financial and non-financial), governments, and non-residents. Saving, investment, assets, liabilities, and national wealth are measured. This program also produces statistics on economic transactions and on Canada's assets and liabilities with the rest of the world, of which the primary output is the Balance of Payments and the International Investment Position. Financial and employment statistics for the Canadian public sector are produced; more specifically, revenues, expenditures, assets, liabilities and debt statistics for the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government, including government health and education institutions. The program supports various statutory requirements, including the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Regulations, the Comprehensive Integrated Tax Coordination Agreement, and the Special Data Dissemination Standard with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Its outputs, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Balance Sheet and Financial Flows, Provincial Economic Accounts, the Input-Output tables and the various satellite accounts, such as the Tourism Satellite Account and the Pension Satellite Account, are vital to the policy development and program responsibilities of the Bank of Canada, Finance Canada, Industry Canada, Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, and several other federal and provincial departments and agencies. Its outputs are also widely used in the private sector.
Sub-program 1.2: Industry Statistics
The program plans, directs, coordinates, and controls the provision of statistical information and advice on a broad range of industrial sectors. These range from distributive trades, manufacturing, transportation, and other service industries, to governments, private organizations and institutions. It also produces timely statistics concerning the activities of the agriculture sector and its participants. This is achieved by conducting annual and sub-annual surveys of manufacturing, transportation, retail, and wholesale trade. The program also includes annual and sub-annual surveys on farm income and prices, and crop and livestock statistics. The program supplies the System of National Accounts with data required by the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Regulations, and the Special Data Dissemination Standard with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Data are required as part of Canada's participation to the North American Free Trade Agreement under the Snapback provision and the Bank Act Regulations, Section 427. The program also satisfies the information requirements of Transport Canada, the Canadian Transportation Agency, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, other federal government departments, provincial governments, international organizations, industry associations, the academic community and the public at large. The program also assists large, complex, business enterprises with data collection requirements.
Sub-program 1.3: Economy-wide Business Statistics
This program plans, directs, coordinates and controls the provision of statistical information and advice on financial and taxation statistics for enterprises, international trade, investment and capital stock, consumer and industrial prices, small businesses, and science, innovation and electronic information to governments, private organizations and institutions. This program tracks the size, financial structure and ownership characteristics of the corporate sector in Canada. The program also has responsibility for measuring production in the finance and insurance industries. Data is produced on the Corporation Returns Act and the Financial and Taxation Statistics for enterprises, as well as Canada's merchandise export and import statistics and related price and volume indices (Customs and Balance of Payments basis). This program supplies the System of National Accounts with data required by the Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act, Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Regulations and the Comprehensive Integrated Tax Coordination Agreement. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), and other price indexes (industrial product prices, services producer prices, non-residential construction prices, new housing prices, machinery and equipment prices, and farm input prices) are named in numerous acts for various reasons: Canada Pension Plan Act, Old Age Security Act, the adjustment of income tax basic deductions and inflation indicators in the Government of Canada-Bank of Canada Agreement on Inflation Control Targets. The indexes are also required by the System of National Accounts to satisfy the Fiscal Arrangements Act, and the Special Data Dissemination Standard with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Sub-program 1.4: Environmental Statistics
This program integrates environmental and socio-economic information into sets of statistics relevant for the analysis of relationships between human activity and the environment in Canada. The primary outputs for this program are time-series estimates of various components of Canada's environmental wealth (water, ecosystems, sub-soil minerals), natural resource usage, pollution flows and environmental protection expenditures. A detailed, geographically referenced database is maintained, which facilitates environmental studies by eco-region or by water basin. The program includes an annual, analytical publication entitled Human Activity and the Environment, which is widely used by schools, as well as by federal and provincial government policy makers. Program outputs are used by Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada, provincial government departments, as well as various private sector organizations and international institutions.
Sub-program 1.5: Analysis of Economic and Environmental Statistics
This program plans, directs, coordinates and conducts a range of data development initiatives and statistical analyses; publishes studies that focus on topics in macroeconomics and microeconomics; uses data from the National Accounts to shed light on current issues; and generates studies on productivity, as well as estimates of multifactor productivity. This program also provides Statistics Canada's assessment of current economic conditions, through the publication of articles in “Economic Insights.” These activities serve four main functions: (1) to generate new data that can be used by the analytical community; (2) to demonstrate how these data can be used to provide analysis of relevant issues that dominate public debate; (3) to contribute to improved quality by vetting Statistics Canada data to assess their fitness for various uses; and (4) to provide in-depth feedback and quality assurance to a wide range of the data-producing units with Statistics Canada.
The program also includes the Canadian Centre for Data Development and Economic Research, which allows outside analysts from governments, research institutions and academia to make use of business microdata for research purposes. Strategic partnerships are entered into with highly trained economists to undertake important policy-relevant economic research on topics, such as productivity, international trade, investment patterns and firm dynamics, while assuring the confidentiality and security of data.
Program 2: Socio-economic Statistics
The socio-economic statistics program's purpose is to provide integrated information and relevant analysis on the social and socio-economic characteristics of individuals, families, and households, as well as on the major factors that affect their well-being. This information is used to inform public debate on socio-economic issues; support social policy development, implementation and evaluation; guide public and private decision making; it is the primary source for assessing the impact of changing economic circumstances on Canadians. The information is used extensively to evaluate and cost economic and social policy options and alternatives by federal departments, such as Employment and Social Development Canada, Industry Canada, Justice Canada, Public Safety Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Canadian Heritage, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Transport Canada, and Infrastructure Canada, as well as by provincial governments. The Socio-economic Statistics program supports statistical requirements specified by legislation or regulations in the areas of labour, immigration and employment equity. The program also provides information, analysis and measures on publicly funded facilities, agencies, and systems designed to meet the socio-economic and physical needs of Canadians; on the characteristics of the individual Canadians and families they serve; and on the outcomes of the services they provide, such as justice, health, and education.
Sub-program 2.1: Labour, Education, Income and Tourism Statistics
This program provides indicators that allow the measurement of the economic well-being of Canadians through information on the labour market, income, expenditures and wealth, pensions, housing, and education, as well as statistics on tourism. Indicators are produced at various frequencies. Labour market estimates, which are among the most timely and important measures of the overall performance of the Canadian economy, are reported monthly. A multi-dimensional picture of the financial well-being of Canadian families and individuals is provided through an annual survey on income and expenditures, as well as a periodic measurement of wealth. Indicators collected through tax data complete that picture. Information on pension funds is provided quarterly, and information on pension plans is provided yearly. The program also has a comprehensive set of pan-Canadian education statistics and analysis that is released yearly. Tourism indicators are released monthly. The program supplies data to the System of National Accounts, the Tourism Satellite Accounts, and the Balance of Payments. The program collection mandate stems from requirements in the Employment Insurance Act, the Judges Act, the Senate Act, the House of Commons Act, the Canada Pension Plan Act, and Quebec Pension Plan Act, and the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Regulations. The outputs of this program support economic, social and monetary policy, and governments, financial institutions and researchers alike rely heavily on these outputs to monitor the impact of policies and programs. Specific user agencies include Finance Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Industry Canada, the Canadian Tourism Commission, and the Bank of Canada.
Sub-program 2.2: Health and Justice Statistics
This program provides statistical information and analysis about the state of health of Canadians, as well as criminal and civil justice in Canada. The program conducts the ongoing Canadian Community Health Survey and the Canadian Health Measures Survey, collects the data for and maintains Canada's Vital Statistics, as well as the Canadian Cancer Registry. Health information is used to assist and support health planners and decision-makers at all levels of government, to sustain demographic and epidemiological research, and to report to the Canadian public about their collective health and health-care system. Vital Statistics data are used by the Population Estimates Program, whose results, in turn, are used for the Equalization Program. The National Justice Statistics Initiative strives to develop, implement and manage an effective national justice statistics program through the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, which is the operational arm of a federal-provincial-territorial partnership. The rationale for this program stems from a Memorandum of Understanding with Justice Canada, and Cabinet decisions where Statistics Canada was named a partner in the National Justice Statistics Initiative. The program administers several surveys on crime reporting, homicide, police administration, adult and youth criminal courts, civil courts, adult corrections, as well as surveys on expenditures, personnel, and key indicators reports on adult and youth corrections. The program also administers the Family Violence Statistical Program funded by the Family Violence Initiative.
Sub-program 2.3: Demographic, Aboriginal and other Social Statistics
This program produces Canada's quarterly and annual post-censal and inter-censal population estimates, and population projections, which are used by all levels of government, the private sector, researchers and non-government organizations. Population estimates are used to satisfy the statutory requirements of the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Regulations, including the Canada Health and Social Transfers, the Equalization Program, and the Wait Times Reduction Transfer. Territorial estimates are used in the Territorial Formula Financing. Population estimates are used to allocate federal seats to provinces under the Fair Representation Act. Population estimates must be used in connection with the following legislations: Canada Pension Plan Act, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act, Canada Student Loans Act, and the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act. Data include components of population growth, namely estimates of births, deaths, immigration, total emigration, change in non-permanent residents, and inter-provincial and intra-provincial migration. This program also includes enabling access to microdata for research purposes and producing information and analytic outputs on key social issues. These comprise immigration, visible minorities, religion, ethnicity, language, social identity, giving and volunteering, victimization, youth, families, gender, seniors, time use, care giving and receiving, and social well-being, through the General Social Survey. The information is used to support various pieces of legislation, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Citizenship Act, the Multiculturalism Act, the Official Languages Act, and the Employment Equity Act. The program provides information and subject-matter expertise to help support the policy interests of Employment and Social Development Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Justice Canada, Canadian Heritage, and Status of Women Canada. It is also responsible for providing subject-matter expertise, coordination, and integration in the collection, analysis and dissemination of data about Aboriginal people, on topics such as education, use of Aboriginal languages, labour activity, income, health, communication technology, mobility, and housing conditions, which are used by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and Aboriginal governments and organizations.
Sub-program 2.4: Analysis of Socio-economic Statistics
This program plans, directs, coordinates and conducts a range of statistical analyses and publications. Substantive areas of analysis include population aging and its impacts on labour markets and health care needs; wait times and access to health care; the economic circumstances of immigrants; population health status; the impact of diseases and health determinants; trends in income distribution, including both low income / vulnerable populations; and geographic patterns, including Canada's major cities. Analysis of income and labour market data covering topics, such as data on labour force status, occupation, labour compensation, pensions, industry, individual and family income and expenditure, for both the census and sample surveys that are of interest to policy makers, academics, business leaders and individuals, is also undertaken. These activities serve four main functions and audiences: providing high quality and often leading-edge analyses on important contemporary topics for the general public; providing information of direct relevance to matters of current policy concern; contributing, more generally, to the corpus of national and international research in the peer-reviewed literature; and providing an important quality assurance role to verify the accuracy and relevance of the statistics produced, to assist users in interpreting the data, and to develop relevant concepts for the production of statistics.
Program 3: Censuses
The Census Program's purpose is to provide statistical information, analyses, and services that measure changes in the Canadian population, in demographic characteristics, and in the agricultural sector. It serves as a basis for public and private decision making, and research and analysis in areas of concern to the people of Canada. The program includes the Census of Population Program (including the National Household Survey) and the Census of Agriculture. The Census of Population Program provides detailed information on population sub-groups for small geographic areas, which is required to assess the effects of specifically targeted policy initiatives, and serve as a foundation for other statistical surveys. Population counts and estimates are used in determining electoral boundaries, the distribution of federal transfer payments, and the transfer and allocation of funds among regional and municipal governments, school boards, and other locally based agencies within provinces. The Census of Agriculture provides a comprehensive picture of the agriculture sector at the national, provincial and sub-provincial levels, and is mandated by the Statistics Act. The program meets statistical requirements specified constitutionally, and supports those in statutory requirements and regulatory instruments. All per capita measures in fiscal policies and arrangements, in other economic analysis, and in program and service planning, come from this program's statistical information.
Sub-program 3.1: Census of Population Program
This program plans, develops and implements all collection, data processing and dissemination of the decennial and quinquennial censuses of population, Canada's national inventory of key socio‑economic phenomena. The Census Program provides a statistical portrait of Canada and its people. This program is the only reliable source of detailed data for small groups (such as lone-parent families, ethnic groups, industrial and occupational categories, and immigrants) and for areas as small as a city neighbourhood, or as large as the country itself. Because the Canadian census is administered every five years, and the questions are similar, it is possible to compare changes that have occurred in the composition of Canada's population over time. The census includes every person living in Canada on Census Day, as well as Canadians living abroad, either on a military base, attached to a diplomatic mission, at sea, or in port aboard Canadian-registered merchant vessels. Persons in Canada, including those holding a temporary resident permit, study permit, or work permit, as well as their dependents, are also part of the census. This program is mandated in many statutes and acts including the Statistics Act, Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Regulations, Canada Council for the Arts Act, Provincial Subsidies Act, Railway Relocation and Crossing Act, Industrial and Regional Development Act, Constitutional Amendments, Income Tax Act, Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security Act, and the War Veterans Allowance Act.
Sub-program 3.2: Census of Agriculture
This program conducts the quinquennial Census of Agriculture, and produces and publishes economic series on the agriculture sector that flow to the System of National Accounts to form the agriculture component of the Gross Domestic Product, and thereby satisfy requirements of the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Regulations. Information from this program is used to improve the register of farms, for the purpose of conducting surveys and censuses, to ensure proper survey coverage using samples that are as small as statistically possible and thereby minimizing response burden. This program provides a comprehensive picture of the agriculture sector at the national, provincial and sub-provincial levels, and is mandated by the Statistics Act. Small-area and benchmarking data, produced quinquennially from the Census of Agriculture, are critical to industry structural analysis, crisis management, environmental programs, pesticide management, carbon credits, water-use planning and protection, rural development, and traceability. No other comprehensive source of these data currently exists, and coverage of farms of all sizes is important. In some sectors and regions, small farms are significant to the economy, and data are required for policy and program development.
Program 4: Statistical Infrastructure
Statistical infrastructure comprises activities and services that are administered to support a strong statistical system. Professional and Statistical Services include the development of sound statistical methodology, standardized concepts and classifications (including geographic concepts), the development and provision of statistical metadata, the development and maintenance of registers of enterprises and addresses for statistical purposes, and the provision of advice with respect to the Statistics Act, and data-sharing agreements. Operational Statistical Services provide support to data collection activities for Statistics Canada's surveys, such as data capture, coding, editing, interviewer hiring and training, and the provision of advice to clients regarding statistical products. It also includes the production of Statistics Canada's catalogued publications, online databases, as well as the dissemination of Statistics Canada's official release vehicle, The Daily. The Continuity and Quality Maintenance Program includes the co-ordination of the aspects of the agency's Integrated Strategic Planning Process that ensure the continuity and quality maintenance of programs.
Sub-program 4.1: Professional and Statistical Services
The professional and statistical services program develops sound statistical methodology, standardized concepts and classifications (including geographic concepts), and statistical metadata; and prepares and maintains registers of households, farms, and other businesses and organizations for the purpose of conducting surveys and censuses. This program is also responsible for acquiring statistical data from Canada Revenue Agency and other administrative sources in order to make these data available to other programs throughout the agency. Research activities aimed at providing practical solutions related to survey and questionnaire design, the analysis of survey data, and other specific topics are undertaken, and expert advice on survey methodology is provided to an international audience. The program also provides agency-specific legal services relating to the Statistics Act and to data sharing agreements. Professional and Statistical Services also carries out research and development activities relating to a number of areas, such as statistical methodology, data collection, and operational activities, assists large complex business enterprises with data collection requirements, and enables access to microdata for research purposes.
Sub-program 4.2: Operational Statistical Services
Operational statistical services comprise those activities and services relating to the collection of data from respondents; the entry of data into computer systems; the coding of data into standard categories; and the processing of data obtained from other government organizations or administrative sources, rather than directly from respondents. This sub-program also includes the activities associated with the release of the agency's information to the public. Examples include the production of, online databases and the dissemination of Statistics Canada's official release vehicle, The Daily. The program also oversees the hiring and training of interviewers to support ongoing, ad-hoc and cost-recovered surveys, and provides an Advisory Services function, including the National Contact Centre.
Sub-program 4.3: Continuity and Quality Maintenance Program
This program coordinates the aspects of the agency's Integrated Strategic Planning Process that ensure the continuity and quality maintenance of programs.
Strategic Outcome 2
Specific client needs for high-quality and timely statistical services are met.
Program 5: Cost-recovered Statistical Services
This activity produces high-quality, cost-recovered statistical services that meet the needs of specific federal and provincial institutions and other clients. The projects are grouped according to type, with the groupings comprising projects that involve Economic and Environmental Statistics, Socio-economic Statistics, the Censuses, as well as Statistical Infrastructure and Internal Services.
Sub-program 5.1: Cost-recovered Services related to Economic and Environmental Statistics
This activity produces high-quality, cost-recovered economic and environmental outputs that meet the needs of specific federal and provincial institutions and other clients. This program designs, implements, analyzes, and disseminates the results of large-scale or complex surveys and newly created databases for external clients, to provide useful information to the broadest possible spectrum of users. Examples include the surveys of small and medium-sized enterprises, the digital economy, construction wage rates, Internet use, household energy use, and household interaction with the environment. Cost-recovered analytical projects, research and database creation, including those conducted in the Canadian Centre for Data Development and Economic Research, and micro-simulations are also part in this program.
Sub-program 5.2: Cost-recovered Services related to Socio-economic Statistics
This activity produces high quality cost-recovered socio-economic outputs that meet the needs of specific federal and provincial institutions and other clients. This program designs, implements, analyses and disseminates the results of large-scale or complex surveys and newly-created databases for external clients to provide useful information to the broadest possible spectrum of users. Examples include surveys on public service employment, employment insurance and labour market, young Canadians, literacy and education, Aboriginal peoples, community-related activities such as resiliency, and health including tobacco use. Cost-recovered analytical projects and research, the Longitudinal Immigration Database, population projections for specific sub-populations or based on customised sets of assumptions, demographic projections and micro-simulations are also included in this program.
Sub-program 5.3: Cost-recovered Services related to the Censuses
This activity produces high quality cost-recovered outputs related to the Censuses that meet the needs of specific federal and provincial institutions and other clients. This program designs, implements, analyses and disseminates the results of large-scale or complex surveys for external clients to provide useful information to the broadest possible spectrum of users. Examples include linking of the Census database to other surveys or administrative databases for analytical purposes as well as production of statistics for small geographic areas.
Sub-program 5.4: Cost-recovered Services related to Statistical Infrastructure
This activity produces high-quality, cost-recovered outputs related to statistical infrastructures that meet the needs of specific federal and provincial institutions and other clients. An example is the imaging/data capture of the E311 Travel Declaration Cards for Canadians for the Canadian Border Services Agency. This activity also produces high-quality, cost-recovered programs that provide access to Statistics Canada's public-use and confidential microdata, including the Data Liberation Initiative, which provides access to Public Use Microdata Files in the libraries of post-secondary institutions. Other services include the Research Data Centres that currently supply secure access to detailed microdata files in 26 universities, and in one research institute across Canada, as well as the Real Time Remote Access program, which provides access remotely, in more or less real time, to researchers who submit code and receive automatically-vetted output back.
A portion of the revenues allocated to cover statistical infrastructure costs in support of all cost-recovered statistical services is also reflected in this program.
Sub-program 5.5: Cost-recovered Services related to Internal Services
This activity reflects the portion of the revenues allocated to cover internal services costs in support of all cost-recovered statistical services.
Program 6: Internal Services
Internal services are groups of related activities and resources that are administered to support the needs of programs and other corporate obligations of an organization. These groups are Management and Oversight Services, Communications Services, Legal Services, Human Resources Management Services, Financial Management Services, Information Management Services, Information Technology Services, Real Property Services, Materiel Services, Acquisition Services, and Travel and Other Administrative Services. Internal Services include only those activities and resources that apply across an organization and not to those provided specifically to a program.