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Introduction

The following information covers the basic concepts that define the data provided in this product, the underlying methodology of the program and key aspects of the data quality. It emphasizes the strengths and limitations of the data and contributes to more efficient use and analysis of the data. The information is also useful when making comparisons with data from other programs or sources of information, regarding change over time.

The data contained in this publication complements the financial statistics presented in the provincial and territorial government business enterprise finance and provincial and territorial government revenue and expenditure data tables (see the Related products section at the beginning of this publication).

1. Description of the data concepts
2. Statistical methodology
3. Comparability of data and related sources

Description of the data concepts

Data are collected and compiled based on the Financial Management System (FMS) (Catalogue no. 68F0023). The data are compiled for all the provincial and territorial liquor authorities. Liquor authorities are part of the public sector of Canada, which consist of all levels of government and government business enterprises (GBE’s). GBE’s are all entities controlled by government and engaged in operations of a commercial nature. They operate in the marketplace, often in competition with similar organizations in the private sector. In Canada, all provinces and territories have liquor authorities which mandate is to control the sales of alcoholic beverages.

The statistical unit

For statistical purposes, Statistics Canada defines a hierarchical structure of units for each organization. The four standard statistical units that are used are listed below, from largest to smallest:

1. Enterprise
2. Company
3. Establishment
4. Location

The institutional unit is the unit of measure for the public sector universe (see Chart 1 below). In the public sector universe, institutional units are comparable to enterprises in the hierarchical structure listed above. The public sector contains all institutional units controlled and mainly financed by government. Institutional units are economic entities that are capable in their own right, of owning assets, incurring liabilities, and engaging in economic activities and transactions with other entities. Control may take the form of full ownership of the institutional unit or a majority holding of the voting shares. The availability of a complete set of annual financial statements is a prerequisite in order for an entity to be classified as an institutional unit within the public sector.

Accounting concepts, definitions and practices

The concepts and definitions for provincial and territorial liquor authorities are based on the guidelines of the Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB) of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA). Accounting practices are in accordance with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) of the CICA.

Statistical methodology

Coverage

Most of the data contained in this publication are derived from a survey on Control and Sale of Alcoholic Beverages completed by the liquor authorities. Responding to this survey is mandatory. This survey covers information on the value and volume of Canadian and imported sales of alcoholic beverages from liquor authorities' stores and agencies retail outlets. Liquor authorities are requested to report for themselves and on behalf of companies to which they have granted an alcohol beverage resale permit, such as breweries and wineries. Additional financial data on liquor authorities, which includes revenues, expenditures and balance sheet information, are compiled by extracting the appropriate data from their annual financial reports.

Data on value and volume of sales of imported alcoholic beverages on the domestic market is derived from the survey. Additional information on global imports and exports of alcoholic beverages is extracted from Statistics Canada's International Trade Division publications. Data are also collected from other organizations involved with alcoholic beverages such as the Brewers Association of Canada, which supplies Quebec statistics on volume of domestic and imported beer sales.

Error detection

Financial data come from audited financial statements of provincial and territorial liquor authorities; therefore, minimal error detection procedures are required. For survey data, several automated checks are performed on the data to verify internal consistency and identify extreme values. Current year data is also compared to prior years to ensure consistency. Any discrepancies in the data are verified with survey respondents.

Imputation

Since this statistical program is a census of provincial and territorial liquor authorities, the coverage is complete. Occasionally questionnaires received are missing data. Imputation is then performed for certain information not provided on the questionnaire. For non-response, imputation is performed using historical information where historical information is available; otherwise, donor imputation is used. The donor imputation procedure involves using available auxiliary information to substitute the data from an entity with similar characteristics. Overall, the imputation rate is less than 2%.

Estimation

The estimates are derived from the compilation of data obtained from the data sources of each unit of the target population.

Figure 1

Quality evaluation

The analysis of data that occurs before publication includes a detailed review of the individual responses, a review of general economic conditions as well as historic trends and comparisons with original financial statements of the liquor authorities. Any anomaly is verified and resolved before data are published. Cross-checking to the provincial and territorial public accounts is also performed. These measures ensure quality data.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any data that would divulge information obtained under the Statistics Act that relates to any identifiable person, business or organization. For the purpose of the Control and Sale of Alcoholic Beverages in Canada publication (63-202-XIE) and the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, the provincial and territorial liquor authorities grant the release of data as reported in the survey.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

Input data from the survey are not subject to revision or seasonal adjustment. Input data from audited financial statements are subject to their release by the respective entities and governments. For Statistics Canada's purpose, no provision is made to revise data due to prior-year restatements in the presentation of financial statements by liquor authorities. The treatment of certain financial items and transactions can be subject to revision as provincial and territorial governments release their public accounts data and the process of comparing transfer payments between governments and their liquor authorities is finalized. To this end, Statistics Canada has adopted a one-year revision cycle to allow for these revisions.

Data accuracy

Statistics Canada has no control over the accuracy of the input data at the time they are received. Efforts are taken to ensure that no errors are introduced through automated checks that verify internal consistency and identify extreme values, and procedures are applied that maximize the error-detection possibilities inherent in the data. While considerable effort was made to ensure high standards throughout all data gathering of administrative records and survey, the resulting estimates are inevitably subject to a certain degree of error. There are two categories of errors in statistical information - sampling errors and non-sampling errors. Non-sampling errors are the only type that applies to the provincial and territorial data of this program, given that there was no sampling process used to produce these data. Non-sampling errors can arise from a variety of sources and are difficult to measure and their importance can differ according to the purpose to which the data are used. Among non-sampling errors are gaps in the information provided by public sector bodies and errors in processing, such as data capture. Efforts have been made to minimize non-sampling errors in a number of ways including, designing survey questionnaires to reduce misinterpretation by respondents, performing edits on data during and after data capture, making efforts to reduce non-response, and maintaining ongoing communication with data suppliers.

Comparability of data and related sources

Statistics are based on a census of all provincial and territorial liquor authorities. Financial data are reconciled with annual reports of the liquor authorities. Non-financial data are edited for consistency and completeness and respondents are contacted to confirm or to explain variations.

The value of sales of alcoholic beverages excludes all general sales tax and the value of returnable containers. Until December 31, 1990, the federal sales tax was included in the value of sales at the retail level. With the introduction of the federal goods and services tax (GST) on January 1, 1991, the GST was imposed on the retail value of sales rather than included in the value of sales. In order that the value of sales remain comparable with the values of prior years, the goods and services tax has been added to the value of sales.

Per capita sales by value and volume are based on the population of inhabitants of 15 years of age and over. This is in accordance with the practice of Health Canada in presenting trends that are more realistic in the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Volume of sales of alcoholic beverages in litres of absolute alcohol is calculated by multiplying the sales volume by the percentage of alcohol content. In the case of spirits, the percentage of alcohol content is 40% with the exception of liqueurs (20%) and spirit coolers (5%). The percentage of alcohol content for most wines ranges between 11% and 12%. Consequently, the conversion rate used for wines is estimated at 11.5%. However, some wines may have an alcohol content above or below this range. The conversion rate used for wine based coolers is 5%. The conversion rate used for beer is also estimated at 5%. The alcohol content of most beers ranges between 4% and 6.5%.

Reference period

The statistical informationon the operations of provincial and territorial government liquor authorities that are derived from the survey and administrative data sources are for the April to March fiscal year.

Limitations of the data

Statistics on sales of alcoholic beverages by volume should not be equated with data on consumption. Sales volumes include only sales by liquor authorities and their agents, and sales by wineries and breweries and outlets that operate under license from the liquor authorities.

Consumption of alcoholic beverages would include all these sales, plus homemade wine and beer, wine and beer manufactured through brew-on-premises operations, all sales in duty-free shops and any unrecorded transactions.

Similarly, statistics on sales of alcoholic beverages by dollar value of sales should not be equated with consumer expenditures on alcoholic beverages. The sales data refer to the revenues received by liquor authorities, wineries and breweries and these revenues include sales to licensed establishments such as bars and restaurants.

The sales data do not, therefore, reflect the total amount spent by consumers on alcoholic beverages since the prices paid in licensed establishments are greater than the price paid by those establishments to the liquor authorities.