Programs
This past year, the agency continued to publish and disseminate its core set of statistics, and also supported government priorities. These priorities include middle-class growth; climate change; economic growth through innovation; the increase and diversification of trade and foreign investment; better social and economic security for Canadians; and modern, sustainable and resilient infrastructure. The agency's statistical information enables the tracking and measurement of program results. These data help Canadians better understand our country—its population, resources, economy, society and culture—and, in turn, make informed decisions.
In 2017–18, the agency published 1,184 data releases. There were 26.5 million visits to the Statistics Canada website, including 2.6 million visits to The Daily, the agency's statistical news bulletin. The number of statistical products available on the website increased by 2,330 in 2017–18, for a total of 33,642.
The agency also began to lay the foundation for a modernization initiative to meet the evolving information needs of Canada's growing digital economy and society, through active engagement and experimentation with new methods. The agency is modernizing each step of the statistical process, from initial data collection to final data use, while increasing quality and statistical rigour.
Furthermore, the adoption of Bill C-36, which amended the Statistics Act, strengthens the independence of Statistics Canada, as per the mandate letter of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. The amendment states that the Chief Statistician will be appointed to hold office during good behaviour for a term of five years, and it assigns powers to the Chief Statistician related to the methods, procedures and operations of Statistics Canada. To balance these responsibilities, the Canadian Statistics Advisory Council will be established to advise the Minister and the Chief Statistician in a transparent manner on any question either of these individuals refers to the council about the quality of the national statistical system. A number of associated processes will be put in place to support this independence, such as the posting of new mandatory surveys on Statistics Canada's website.
Program 1: Economic and Environmental Statistics
Description
Program highlights
This program produces monthly and annual measures of the gross domestic product, the Consumer Price Index, indicators of manufacturing, 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.
Through the Economic and Environmental Statistics Program, Statistics Canada creates 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. These statistics support various agreements and statutory requirements specified by legislations or regulations in such areas as taxation.
Results
In 2017–18, not only did Statistics Canada continue to publish and disseminate its core set of economic and environmental statistics, but it also expanded the scope of its work to support several of the government's key priorities, as described below.
The global economy has undergone significant structural shifts in recent years partly because of the 2008 global financial crisis and rising levels of globalization. The impact of macroeconomic shifts on household income, wealth inequality and financial stability has become a major focus for policy makers. In 2017–18, Statistics Canada developed the distributions of household economic accounts, which are new datasets that describe the distribution of household income and net worth according to various characteristics of households such as gender and age. These new data provide policy makers and academics with new tools to examine inequality and its impact on our society.
Statistics Canada also received funding through Budget 2017 to develop and implement the new Housing Statistics Program, which will be a nationwide database of all properties in Canada. It will provide up-to-date information on purchases and sales, as well as information on homeowner demographics and financing characteristics. In 2017–18, Statistics Canada published information on non-resident home ownership for the Vancouver and Toronto census metropolitan areas. This was done using administrative data sources, in partnership, and provided timely data in a phased manner within weeks. This is the first step in an important initiative—its goal is to provide a comprehensive set of statistics on the housing sector for all census sub-divisions in Canada by 2022.
Early in 2017–18 Statistics Canada began to prepare the statistical system for gauging the impact of the transition from illegal to legal cannabis use for non-medical purposes, and for shedding light on the social and economic activities related to the use of cannabis thereafter. While the system of social statistics captures some information on the use of cannabis, updates were required to more accurately measure health effects and the impact on the judicial system. Until recently, economic statistics were largely silent on the role illegal cannabis plays in the economy. Both the social and the economic statistical systems were updated to reflect the legalization of cannabis so that the agency can provide the data required to measure the economic and health implications of cannabis use. To date, this work has involved updating classification standards and developing models and surveys to measure cannabis consumption and use.
As part of the agency's modernization efforts, the cannabis pathfinder project included the development of experimental estimates of cannabis consumption in Canada spanning the period from 1960 to 2015. Data were obtained through crowdsourcing, which led to voluntary and anonymous surveys that allowed the agency to obtain data on cannabis pricing and consumption in each province. These estimates were developed by integrating numerous information sources within and outside Statistics Canada using statistical techniques and professional expertise. To complement the data collected through crowdsourcing, the agency established a pilot project to use wastewater analysis to measure traces of chemicals from cannabis and other drugs, such as opioids. This approach was inspired by the methodology that has been used in Europe for the past 10 years and will fill data gaps to estimate drug consumption levels in the general population.
In 2017–18, Statistics Canada released a range of cannabis data related to household use, household expenditures, prices and production by province and territory. These data were important inputs in developing policy and regulations related to the production and distribution of cannabis in Canada. This work will continue in the future to fully understand the impacts of this significant societal shift, to inform policy development and decision making, and to support the implementation of legalization.
Through close collaboration with other government departments, the agency also achieved significant progress relating to trade, clean technology, the digital economy and innovation.
Diversifying trade and investment
As Canada moves to diversify its trade and investment it is important to understand Canada's importing and exporting community. In 2017–18 Statistics Canada released new information highlighting the characteristics of Canadian importers and exporters. These data tell an important story about the number of firms in Canada engaged in international trade, with whom they predominantly trade as well as their trading patterns from year to year.
To fill an important analytical gap relating to trade flows, Statistics Canada published a value-added exports database that provides a set of analytical trade measures to complement the basic statistics on the gross exports and imports of goods and services. These estimates provide a measure of the importance of each industry's exports for the entire economy. The agency also partnered with Global Affairs Canada to develop and produce detailed statistics to support trade negotiations with the United States on softwood lumber. Furthermore, Statistics Canada developed a new approach to provide information related to Canada's economic and financial activity with the world. In April, the agency released the Canada and the World Statistics Hub, which brings together data from a number of Statistics Canada products and presents the data in a single interactive analytical tool.
In addition, Statistics Canada worked with a number of government departments to implement a conceptual framework to measure the clean technology sector, and started to publish information to gain a better understanding of the role of clean technology in the Canadian economy. In 2017–18 Statistics Canada also launched a program to address data gaps created by the digitalization of the economy. The goal of this program is to quantify the various aspects and impacts of the digital economy and to engage with the international community in developing statistical frameworks and methods to measure the digital economy.
Economic growth through innovation
Intangible capital, such as software and research and development, is becoming increasingly important with the expansion of the knowledge-based and digital economy. Work is on-going to assess which expenditures yield long-lasting benefits and to expand the scope of what is included in intangible capital. This year, the agency produced estimates of intangible capital on an experimental basis and is assessing its contribution to output and productivity growth.
Furthermore, the agency is making progress towards measuring the impact of public infrastructure investments. This past year, time-varying estimates of the impact of public infrastructure investment on gross domestic product growth were produced for Ontario; estimates will be developed for the rest of the country in 2018–19. The agency also published a study that examined the impact of foreign direct investment in Canada on the productivity growth rate in manufacturing during the post-2000 period. The exit of large and productive foreign-controlled enterprises was found to contribute significantly to the decline in manufacturing labour productivity.
Overall, over the course of the year the Economic and Environmental Statistics Program has achieved significant increases in content and relevance, while also reducing data gaps. The number of analytical products from the Program that were accessed on the Web exceeded the target. Moreover, 96% of statistical programs assessed were fully compliant in terms of the completeness, accuracy, interpretability and timeliness of their metadata; this represents an increase from 92% in 2016–17, and the Program continues to work towards the target of 100%. Also, to ensure that users have the guidance they require to benefit fully from Statistics Canada's information holdings, the agency must provide documentation that is comprehensive and up to date. For 2017–18, all mandatory technical reference guides were deemed available, timely, accurate and interpretable. Finally, the response rate for surveys conducted by the Program exceeded the target in 2017–18. The table below shows results for each year from 2015–16 to 2017–18, and where targets were exceeded.
| Expected results | Performance indicators | Target | Date to achieve target | 2017–18 Actual results | 2016–17 Actual results | 2015–16 Actual results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadians and public and private sector organizations use economic and environmental statistics for monitoring the economy for policy development and for research | Number of analytical and data products accessedProgram 1 note 1 | 4,000,000 | March 31, 2018 | 4,004,099 | 4,823,767 | Not availableProgram 1 note 2 |
| Percentage of surveys with up-to-date metadata in the Integrated Metadatabase | 100% of all statistical programs have a rating of “fully compliant” for all metadata elements specified in the Directive on Documenting Statistical Metadata.Program 1 note 3 | March 31, 2018 | 96% | 92% | 75% | |
| Percentage of up-to-date technical reference guides | 100% | March 31, 2018 | 100% | 100% | 100% | |
| Response rate | 85% | March 31, 2018 | 88% | 87% | Not availableProgram 1 note 2 | |
| Percentage of key estimates meeting expected accuracy | 90% | March 31, 2018 | 95% | 94% | 96% | |
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| 2017–18 Main Estimates |
2017–18 Planned spending |
2017–18 Total authorities available for use |
2017–18 Actual spending (authorities used) |
2017–18 Difference (Actual spending minus Planned spending) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 129,398,587 | 129,398,587 | 138,460,134 | 138,960,829 | 9,562,242 |
| 2017–18 Planned full-time equivalents | 2017–18 Actual full-time equivalents | 2017–18 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents) |
|---|---|---|
| 1,376 | 1,477 | 101 |
The difference in spending and full-time equivalents (FTEs) is mainly the result of an increase in resources related to a new initiative included in Budget 2017 to implement the Canadian Housing Statistics Program; funding for this initiative was approved in the Supplementary Estimates process. Expenditures also varied as a result of wage increases following the ratification of new collective agreements. Furthermore, FTEs vary slightly as a result of differences between the average salary rates paid and the estimated average salary rates used in calculations at the planning stage.
Information on Statistics Canada's lower-level programs is available in the GC InfoBase.
Program 2: Socio-economic Statistics
Program highlights
This program produces statistics on employment and the labour market, how graduates fare in the labour market, the health of Canadians, the integration of immigrants into Canadian society and the various pathways taken through the justice system.
Description
Through the Socio-economic Statistics Program, Statistics Canada provides 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; to support social policy development, implementation and evaluation; and to guide public and private decision making. These statistics support requirements specified by legislation or regulations in such areas as labour, immigration, official languages and employment equity.
Results
The modernization of Statistics Canada is playing a key role in the organization and prioritization of the Socio-economic Statistics Program. A three-year social statistics transformation strategic plan has been elaborated, which includes a road map for developing three pillars organized around data: infrastructure, generation and use. The ultimate goal is increased relevance, timeliness and granularity of social statistics that are made more accessible to Canadians.
In 2017–18, Statistics Canada released the pilot data from the Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth. Exploratory analysis was undertaken to improve data collection and response rates, and to update the questionnaire content, including the addition of questions on the perception of harm and on access that address the recent changes to cannabis legislation. The pilot data were released to academic and government researchers through Statistics Canada's research data centres, located in secure facilities within universities across Canada. Researchers were able to conduct additional exploratory analyses in anticipation of the release of the full survey results in 2020.
To support government priorities relating to Indigenous communities, Statistics Canada collaborated with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada to conduct the Aboriginal Peoples Survey. Data collection was completed in August 2017 with a response rate of 76% (82.4% for the north). Data processing and verification are underway, and the release of the analytical data file, products and analysis is scheduled for 2018. The Program engaged with national Indigenous organizations to promote the survey through various means, including social media, which contributed to the high visibility of this important survey and the support for it.
New method to increase employment target under the Nunavut Inuit Labour Force Analysis
As part of the Nunavut Supplement, the agency used a new collection strategy, which resulted in 79% of the collection team (13 interviewers and 120 guides) being hired locally across the territory. This contributed to Canada's commitment to the employment target of the Nunavut Inuit Labour Force Analysis. Statistics Canada is considering this highly successful strategy for further data collection in the north.
The survey included the Nunavut Supplement, which consisted of additional questions to develop the Nunavut Inuit Labour Force Analysis. The purpose of the analysis is to assess the existing skill level and the degree of formal qualifications among the Inuit labour force and to help in the formulation of Inuit employment plans and pre-employment training. As well, in October 2017, the agency released a number of data and analytical products from the 2016 Census on the situation and living conditions of Indigenous peoples in Canada.
Another important development was the addition of the immigrant admission category to the 2016 Census database, released in October 2017 as part of the 2016 product line. Statistics Canada also prepared an analytical report on the economic situation of immigrants belonging to official language minorities in Canada, using census data. The paper will be published in 2018–19. In addition, the agency worked closely with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada on eight research projects. Topics included immigrant settlement outside gateway metropolitan areas, the wealth of immigrants, from 1984 to 2016, immigrants in business start-ups, labour market outcomes of refugees, the role of temporary foreign workers in provincial industries, and the immigration-enhanced Intergenerational Income Database. Additional research projects pertaining to health include studying hospitalizations related to tuberculosis for refugees, and the preparation of analytical files to study the mental health of refugees.
Key highlights for tourism statistics in 2017–18 include using new data sources and leading-edge methods, and collaborating and sharing with external partners. Together with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and Destination Canada, Statistics Canada acquired data from alternative sources, such as payment processor and anonymized credit card data, and integrated them with survey data to enrich spending estimates resulting in more granular information which enhances decision making. More specifically, Statistics Canada integrated new data to produce spending information on travel between Canada and other countries. Furthermore, the new National Travel Survey was conducted, taking advantage of corporate modernization efforts, such as more robust collection and processing tools. Through these efforts, Statistics Canada informs Canada's Tourism Vision by delivering timely and relevant statistics. These enhancements were funded from internal investments, as well as Budget 2017. This initiative aims to broaden tourism data collection to provide data at the provincial and territorial level for the Tourism Satellite Account, and to improve the National Travel Survey, resulting in better data at more detailed geographic levels.
Establishment of the Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform
For the first time, provincial and territorial ministries of education were provided with preliminary results on the labour market outcomes of the college and university graduates, as well as the registered apprentices, in their jurisdictions.
Statistics Canada also produces a wide range of labour statistics to inform policy and program development and decision making. To add value, the agency is exploring new methods, such as acquiring data from new sources and integrating them with existing data for more timely, accessible and responsive statistics. Several milestones were achieved in 2017–18. The Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Linkage Platform, which includes data from all jurisdictions, was established. Using data from the Postsecondary Student Information System linked with income tax data, a report on the labour market outcomes of graduates from universities in the Maritime Provinces was released. This included linkages with data from the Canada Student Loans Program for the Maritimes to further enhance the analytical potential of the Platform.
In addition, modelling and micro-simulation are being harnessed to develop more granular statistics for Canadians to support evidence-based decision making in justice. For example, a pilot project was launched to develop a specialized justice-specific micro-simulation module for contact with the Saskatchewan criminal justice system. This pilot project allows for an examination of the differential impact of Indigenous status, age, gender, geographic locality and level of education of individuals entering the Saskatchewan justice system. Preliminary results are expected in 2018. Furthermore, the Re-contact with the Justice System project provides data on why some individuals have no contact or only limited contact with the justice system, while others have repeat involvement. The initial project was undertaken with the Province of Saskatchewan. It was expanded to include data from other social domains, such as tax and health, to provide an enhanced overview of the justice system, as well as information on the characteristics of people who have repeated contact with the justice system. Statistics Canada initiated an extension of the project in April 2017 to include data from Nova Scotia. For the first time, the agency will be able to report on involvement in restorative justice processes, providing new information on populations who have re-contact with the justice system. Statistics Canada also fulfilled all the requirements of the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics program evaluation that was completed in 2017.
Budget 2017 announced the Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence and, in its analysis of data gaps, specifically mentioned the number of unfounded sexual assaults in Canada. Statistics Canada worked with the Police Information and Statistics Committee (POLIS) and police services across Canada to reinstate the collection of consistent statistics on unfounded criminal incidents. To achieve this important goal, the agency reviewed the international classification of unfounded incidents, consulted with POLIS and police services about coding approaches, and standardized coding practices. The agency obtained the endorsement of academics and independent experts on the proposed changes. Over 400 police personnel from more than 130 police services were trained on these new definitions. This significant work culminated in the release of a technical report and new data on unfounded criminal incidents, with a particular focus on sexual assaults.
Statistics Canada is also working closely with Status of Women Canada to fill critical gaps concerning gender-based violence. Three new surveys are being developed the first of which, The Survey of Safety in Private and Public Spaces, was launched this April and will provide key indicators on life-time prevalence of intimate partner, sexual and physical violence. Additionally, the survey will collect information on experiences of inappropriate behaviours that would not be classified as criminal but can negatively impact individuals. The survey will provide information on Canadians' perceptions of gender roles and gender-based violence. In 2017–18, the agency began to develop two surveys to further address data gaps: one focuses on gender-based violence experienced within the workplace, and the other on gender-based violence among post-secondary students.
Furthermore, as the focal point for gender statistics and analyses, Statistics Canada supports federal departments in finding and accessing sex-disaggregated data for the purpose of Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+). The agency also follows current and emerging data and analytical needs related to GBA+ in federal departments. In addition, the agency is raising awareness of GBA+ by offering training sessions within government departments on the availability of Statistics Canada data they can use when assessing the impacts of policies, programs, services, legislation and other initiatives on diverse groups of people.
Overall, the Socio-economic Statistics Program had significant achievements in the past year, which are also demonstrated in the performance indicators. The number of analytical products from the Program that were accessed on the Web exceeded the target. In addition, 93% of the statistical programs assessed were fully compliant in terms of the completeness, accuracy, interpretability and timeliness of their metadata; this represents a 3% increase from 90% in 2016–17, and the Program continues to work towards the target of 100%. As for the response rate for surveys conducted by the Program, it exceeded the target for 2017–18. This result can vary from year to year depending on the proportion of mandatory and optional surveys conducted during the year. Finally, the percentage of key estimates meeting expected accuracy also exceeded the target in 2017–18. The table below shows results for each year from 2015–16 to 2017–18, and where targets were exceeded.
| Expected results | Performance indicators | Target | Date to achieve target | 2017–18 Actual results | 2016–17 Actual results | 2015–16 Actual results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadians and public and private sector organizations use socio-economic statistics for policy development and for research. | Number of analytical and data products accessedProgram 2 note 1 | 8,000,000 | March 31, 2018 | 9,715,238 | 10,403,851 | Not availableProgram 2 note 2 |
| Percentage of statistical programs with up-to-date metadata in the Integrated Metadatabase | 100% of all statistical programs have a rating of “fully compliant” for all metadata elements specified in the Directive on Documenting Statistical Metadata.Program 2 note 3 | March 31, 2018 | 93% | 90% | 78% | |
| Percentage of up-to-date technical reference guides | 100% of the mandatory technical reference guides are fully compliant and 100% of newly identified technical reference guides have a roadmap | March 31, 2018 | 88% | 100% | 100% | |
| Response rate | 70% | March 31, 2018 | 76% | 80% | Not availableProgram 2 note 2 | |
| Percentage of key estimates meeting expected accuracy | 90% | March 31, 2018 | 99% | 100% | 100% | |
|
||||||
| 2017–18 Main Estimates |
2017–18 Planned spending |
2017–18 Total authorities available for use |
2017–18 Actual spending (authorities used) |
2017–18 Difference (Actual spending minus Planned spending) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99,153,760 | 99,153,760 | 101,143,836 | 101,745,964 | 2,592,204 |
| 2017–18 Planned full-time equivalents |
2017–18 Actual full-time equivalents |
2017–18 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents) |
|---|---|---|
| 1,096 | 1,107 | 11 |
The variances are mainly the result of an increase in resources related to a new initiative included in Budget 2017 to measure growth in international visitors to Canada. Funding for this initiative was approved in the Supplementary Estimates process. The increase in actual spending is also the result of wage increases following the ratification of new collective agreements.
Information on Statistics Canada's lower-level programs is available in the GC InfoBase.
Program 3: Censuses
Census of Population
The census is a critical and unique source of data at low levels of geography and for small populations. Because it is conducted every five years, it is possible to compare results to see what changes to Canada's population and society have occurred over time.
Description
Through the Censuses Program, Statistics Canada provides information on changes in the Canadian population, in demographic characteristics, and in the agricultural sector. This information serves as a basis for public and private decision making, and research and analysis in areas of concern to Canadians. The program includes the Census of Population and the Census of Agriculture both of which are mandated by the Statistics Act; additionally, the Census of Population is also mandated in the Constitution Act.
Results
Census of Population
The federal government's decision to reinstate the long-form census was followed by a 98.4% level of participation in the Census of Population. This helped Statistics Canada provide high-quality information on virtually all communities across Canada, allowing data users to make informed, evidence-based decisions.
In 2017–18, the remaining major releases for the 2016 Census were completed. Three releases provided short-form results (on age, sex and type of dwelling; families, households, marital status and language; and income), and two releases provided results from the long form (on immigration, ethnocultural diversity, housing and Aboriginal peoples; and education, labour, journey to work, language of work, mobility and migration). All of these releases attracted a lot of attention from data users and were extensively covered in the media; in addition, the social media campaign was successful. This success explains the 2017–18 results for the number of analytical and data products accessed, which exceeded the target by over 9 million. It should be noted that the program released a number of new products that were not originally planned when the target was set.
In addition to the numerous data products made available on release days, new data visualization outputs were released at other times, such as the new Census Program Data Viewer and interactive charts. These data outputs were designed to improve the interpretability of census results. Other analytical articles and data tables were also subsequently published to improve the overall relevance of the census to users.
Looking forward to the 2021 Census of Population, Statistics Canada conducted a very successful consultation process. Online public consultation was held from September 2017 to February 2018; invitations were sent to over 10,000 census users. The general public was also encouraged to participate in social media notices and other announcements. More than 2,800 online consultation submissions were received, representing over 2,300 organizations and individuals from across the country, in various sectors of society. In addition to the online public consultation, Statistics Canada had over 70 face-to-face discussions with Indigenous groups across the country and held numerous meetings with federal government stakeholders. Statistics Canada also received input regarding the content of the 2021 Census from various advisory committees and other experts.
On the innovation front, the Census of Population Program made important progress in creating statistical population and building registers. The plan for the 2021 Census and future cycles is to use these registers to supplement or replace some of the census operations, while maintaining the relevance of the outputs for data users, increasing the efficiency of the program, reducing response burden, and maintaining the confidence of Canadians in the protection of their information.
Census of Agriculture
The 2016 Census of Agriculture results were first released on May 10, 2017. A variety of dissemination products were used to share the data with a wide variety of users. These products included a release on The Daily, CANSIM tables, a series of six analytical articles prepared to explain the data to Canadians, a tour to present the key highlights to stakeholders, webinars, infographics (one specifically for the Canada 150 project), more than 300 thematic maps, and the loading of all the Census of Agriculture data on the Federal Geospatial Platform. In response to a recommendation from the Audit and Evaluation Branch, the Census of Agriculture team contacted all of its main clients several months before the official data release to find out their data needs. Custom tabulations were prepared in advance and provided to clients on the day of official release. In addition, the introduction of an optimized dissemination vehicle resulted in a significant reduction in the number of downloads required to access equivalent data compared with the previous cycle.
Efforts are well underway to prepare the next Census of Agriculture. A series of consultations was conducted with 49 government departments and agricultural organizations on the relevance of the Census of Agriculture to find out how it meets their needs and to determine the content for the next cycle. A total of 91 electronic submissions for the content of the next census were received from various groups in the industry. The first round of the new content testing took place with agriculture operations.
The 2021 Census of Agriculture Program is aligning with Statistics Canada's vision for new ways to obtain data that go beyond the traditional survey approach; new ways to integrate data from different sources; and more accessible, easy-to-use data to ensure that more Canadians can make evidence-based decisions. To achieve this, the Census of Agriculture Program has started to harmonize with the methods, concepts and processes used in the Economic Environmental Statistics Program to make analyzing and accessing integrated data easier for many more users. It has also started developing and testing an agile collection vehicle that is fully customized for each respondent based on the availability of administrative data, and acquiring and evaluating alternate sources of information to replace the collection of variables for the census.
| Expected results | Performance indicators | Target | Date to achieve target | 2017–18 Actual results | 2016–17 Actual results | 2015–16 Actual results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadians and government policy makers use Census of Population and Census of Agriculture data to make informed decisions. | Number of analytical and data products accessed for the Census of PopulationProgram 3 note 1 | 22,500,000 | March 31, 2018 | 31,606,949 | 9,392,945 | Not availableProgram 3 note 2 |
| Number of analytical and data products accessed for the Census of Agriculture | 500,000 | March 31, 2018 | 343,261 | 472,333 | Not availableProgram 3 note 2 | |
| Percentage of surveys with up-to-date metadata in the Integrated Metadatabase | 100% of all statistical programs have a rating of “fully compliant” for all metadata elements specified in the Directive on Documenting Statistical Metadata.Program 3 note 3 | March 31, 2018 | 100% | 100% | 67% | |
| Percentage of up-to-date technical reference guides | 100% of the mandatory technical reference guides are fully compliant and 100% of newly identified technical reference guides have a roadmap | March 31, 2018 | 100% | 100% | 100% | |
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| 2017–18 Main Estimates |
2017–18 Planned spending |
2017–18 Total authorities available for use |
2017–18 Actual spending (authorities used) |
2017–18 Difference (Actual spending minus Planned spending) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Expenditures | 52,610,877 | 52,610,877 | 70,433,949 | 70,173,824 | 17,562,947 |
| Respendable Revenue | -7,974,616 | -7,974,616 | -7,974,616 | -7,974,616 | 0 |
| Net Expenditures | 44,636,261 | 44,636,261 | 62,459,333 | 62,199,208 | 17,562,947 |
| 2017–18 Planned full-time equivalents | 2017–18 Actual full-time equivalents | 2017–18 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Expenditures | 497 | 659 | 162 |
| Respendable Revenue | -6 | -6 | 0 |
| Net Expenditures | 491 | 653 | 162 |
Variances in spending and FTEs are mainly the result of budget that was carried forward from 2016–17 to 2017–18 to continue investing in Census innovations. This is partially offset by budget carried forward from 2017–18 to 2018–19. As a result of the cyclical nature of the Censuses Program, its budget and spending profile may vary between years.
Information on Statistics Canada's lower-level programs is available in the GC InfoBase.
Program 4: Statistical Infrastructure
Description
Through the Statistical Infrastructure Program, Statistics Canada administers activities and services that support a strong statistical system. These activities and services include the development of sound statistical methodology, standardized concepts and classifications; the development and provision of information about the agency's surveys and statistical programs; and the development and maintenance of registers of enterprises and addresses for statistical purposes. The activities and services also include data collection for Statistics Canada's surveys, the production of Statistics Canada's catalogued publications and online databases, and dissemination through Statistics Canada's official release vehicle. In addition, they include the coordination of aspects of the agency's Integrated Strategic Planning Process, which ensures the continuity and quality maintenance of programs.
Results
The Statistical Infrastructure Program began building a strategic data management platform for Statistics Canada that will be centred on core statistical registers for people, buildings and businesses. The project included completing the first version of the Statistical Building Register, identifying potential opportunities for substituting census data with administrative data, and completing crucial steps to take advantage of the full analytical potential of the Business Register by creating a longitudinal enterprise database.
In the field of geomatics, new “map-to-data” features for geospatial visualization, research and analytics were released on Statistics Canada's website. Satellite imagery was introduced to validate the National Road Network and to confirm the existence of new structures on the dwelling and building frames that are used for census enumeration and survey sampling. This has reduced the need for field visits. Field officers are collecting GPS coordinates using handheld devices to enhance survey collection and the building register. For computer-assisted personal interviewing, interviewers are able to more precisely locate dwellings with these handheld devices.
In 2017–18, the Statistical Infrastructure Program actively maintained and expanded access to strategic data assets, such as tax data products. Furthermore, it expanded access to new alternative data sources covering 13 different themes (e.g., land registry, property valuation, vehicle registration and electricity consumption) to meet statistical programs' emerging data needs. In particular, many new data acquisitions were initiated to support the Census Program, as well as the following pathfinder projects: Towards Measuring Cannabis, the Canadian Housing Statistics Program and Measuring Growth in International Visitors to Canada.
Multiple workshops on data interpretation and analysis were offered, including the Data Interpretation Workshop, and Analysis 101: Making Sense of the Numbers. In the area of business, economic and social statistics, the Business and Economic Statistics Training, the Survey Skills Development Course, and the Survey Process Overview Course were offered. Participants included employees from Statistics Canada, as well as employees from federal departments such as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada; Shared Services Canada; and the Canada Revenue Agency. All the agency's training programs are now available to participants from other federal government departments and agencies.
The program began 110 data acquisition agreements and successfully finalized half of them within the reference period—a major accomplishment, considering that complex agreements can easily span over more than 12 months. This result was achieved in part through the program's commitment to improving its communication strategy to address data providers' concerns and through collaborative work with the data providers to reach mutually beneficial outcomes.
Emerging challenges include increasing the agency's responsiveness to address the evolving information management and information technology landscapes associated with new alternative data products. These include implementing efficient operational processes (such as data transmission, data encryption and data ingestion) that require new information technology solutions, while respecting privacy, security and confidentiality requirements. To this end, the agency implemented new protocols for the transfer of data in 2017–18.
The dissemination program at Statistics Canada is a key partner with other statistical programs. In 2017–18, the agency implemented nine new data portals that provide new ways of accessing and visualizing data to provide better, easier access to more data for Canadians. One example is the launch of the application programming interfaces, which enable direct access to Statistics Canada's aggregate data holdings. Also, the recent redesign of Statistics Canada's website has improved the navigation to its substantial data holdings and moved the agency toward a consolidated environment for data tables.
Statistics Canada continues to support an open data model by making all its statistical data available on the open data component of the Open Government Portal, as per the mandate letter of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. Statistics Canada is the main contributor of non-geospatial data files. In 2017–18, Statistics Canada worked closely with the Treasury Board of Canada to establish the transition of service management for the portal. Statistics Canada also worked closely with government departments to help them publish their statistical data and make them accessible and discoverable on the portal.
In terms of performance indicators, all programs are using the agency's methodology, statistical infrastructure and operational statistical services. All the targets were met, and results from previous years were maintained. This is important to ensure the quality and consistency of the agency's programs, and support an effective statistical system.
| Expected results | Performance indicators | Target | Date to achieve target | 2017–18 Actual results | 2016–17 Actual results | 2015–16 Actual results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| An infrastructure of statistical services and activities is administered to support an effective statistical system | Percentage of programs directly supported by methodology services | 100% | March 31, 2018 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Percentage of programs using statistical infrastructure services | 100% | March 31, 2018 | 100% | 100% | 100% | |
| Percentage of programs using operational statistical services | 100% | March 31, 2018 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 2017–18 Main Estimates |
2017–18 Planned spending |
2017–18 Total authorities available for use |
2017–18 Actual spending (authorities used) |
2017–18 Difference (Actual spending minus Planned spending) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 120,393,990 | 120,393,990 | 187,524,272 | 158,009,374 | 37,615,384 |
| 2017–18 Planned full-time equivalents | 2017–18 Actual full-time equivalents | 2017–18 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents) |
|---|---|---|
| 888 | 929 | 41 |
The difference between planned spending and actual spending is mainly the result of the following:
- retroactive pay from the ratification of new collective agreements
- budget that was carried forward from 2016–17 to 2017–18 to enable the agency to meet the needs of its cyclical programs, and to invest in the agency's strategic plans and maintain the quality of its programs (throughout the year, forecasted lapses and carry forwards from all programs are managed centrally within the Statistical Infrastructure Program to facilitate priority planning).
The increase in FTEs is also explained by the budget that was carried forward from 2016–17 to 2017–18.
Information on Statistics Canada's lower-level programs is available in the GC InfoBase.
Program 5: Cost-recovered Statistical Services
Description
Through the Cost-recovered Statistical Services Program, Statistics Canada produces on-demand, high-quality, cost-recovered statistical services that meet specific needs of federal, provincial and territorial institutions and other clients that are not met by the core statistical program.
Results
Cost-recovered statistical services play an important role in helping the agency fulfill its mandate through partnerships and meet clients' specific information needs. The Cost-recovered Statistical Services Program continued to grow and become more diversified to include data and program assessments and feasibility studies. Statistics Canada also conducts analysis and research projects for federal departments and produces reports, maps, research papers, and data integration such as record linkages and microsimulations. Projects support evidence-based policy making and are defined in collaboration with external stakeholders.
Leading-edge methods are being developed in the area of research on the built environment, where information related to individuals is integrated with other factors, including the location where they live. The main clients of the cost-recovery program are the Bank of Canada; Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada; Global Affairs Canada; Health Canada; the Public Health Agency of Canada; Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada; Employment and Social Development Canada; the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council; Status of Women Canada; Veterans Affairs Canada; and Immigration, and Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
As well, for greater responsiveness, Statistics Canada developed the Rapid Stats survey infrastructure, which was used to provide information on the opioid crisis in a timely fashion. The agency is also working with partners to position itself to report on and monitor issues related to new legislation, such as medical assistance in dying and the social, justice and health impacts of the legalization of cannabis.
In the context of GBA+, in 2017–18, Statistics Canada conducted several cost-recovery gender research projects (e.g., women in leadership positions, cyberstalking, and intra-household power and decision making) funded by Status of Women Canada.
Statistics Canada's microdata access programs have proven to be effective in promoting social science, health and economic research using Canadian data sources. The access programs include the Data Liberation Initiative, Real Time Remote Access, the Canadian Centre for Data Development and Economic Research, the research data centres, and the Federal Research Data Centre. They have increased the number of files made accessible for research by nearly 30%. The performance of the Real Time Remote Access tool was enhanced with new functionality to increase its usefulness for users.
The agency increased the availability of data by expanding the number and types of files that can be made accessible through Statistics Canada's research data centres, a partnership program with the Canadian Research Data Centres Network and jointly supported by Canada's funding councils and host universities. New types of data include administrative data from federal, provincial and territorial governments; linked datasets; and business data.
Projects of interest related to Economic and Environmental Statistics include the development of the Canadian Survey of Cyber Security and Cybercrime. The Survey of Innovation and Business Strategy was completed, and estimates will be published starting in 2018 and continuing through to 2019. Significant projects related to Socio-economic Statistics include the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey, the Aboriginal Peoples Survey, and the Canadian Survey on Disability, as well as the Nunavut Inuit Labour Force Analysis project. The agency also undertook the 2017 Public Service Employee Survey.
Several analytical projects were released or initiated in 2017–18 as part of the cost-recovery program. They covered topics such as the economic situation of immigrants of official language minorities, languages in Nunavut, languages of work in Quebec, the portrait of languages in Quebec, and characteristics of French-language workers in agriculture and agri-food industries. The projects were funded by various partners at the federal and provincial levels. In addition, over 30 record linkage projects were completed, resulting in 44 new linked analysis data files available to researchers.
Statistics Canada also supports and promotes the global development of statistical capacity. For example, the agency is collaborating with Global Affairs Canada to provide technical assistance in the Caribbean. The project involves working with 14 Caribbean countries to build a regional approach for enhancing the capacity to meet data needs in all countries. Statistics Canada also conducted a series of statistical technical assistance and capacity-building missions in Senegal to improve statistical governance; produce and communicate key, high-quality socio-economic indicators; and promote the use of statistics through inclusive, results-based policy.
In addition, the agency will continue to contribute to the Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21), which promotes the implementation of statistical legislation and internationally recognized best practices in data collection and analysis.
In terms of performance indicators, the agency exceeded its targets for the value of cost-recovery contracts, for both Statistical Surveys and Related Services, and Custom Requests and Workshops. Results for 2017–18 were higher than for 2016–17, by 17% and 23%, respectively. This increasing interest in Statistics Canada's services suggests that the agency is remaining relevant and agile to meet clients' demands. Results related to microdata files also surpassed the target; this is a new indicator for the program, so the historical results were not confirmed at the time the target was set. The table below indicates that the results progressed each year from 2015–16 to 2017–18, and targets were exceeded.
| Expected results | Performance indicators | Target | Date to achieve target | 2017–18 Actual results | 2016–17 Actual results | 2015–16 Actual results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Government policy makers, institutions and private sector clients use Statistics Canada's cost-recovery services. | Value of cost-recovery contracts conducted by Statistics Canada—Statistical Surveys and Related ServicesProgram 4 Footnote 1 | $102,891,203 | March 31, 2018 | $117,508,303 | $100,231,004 | $89,956,980 |
| Value of cost-recovery contracts conducted by Statistics Canada—Custom Requests and WorkshopsProgram 4 Footnote 1 | $3,928,570 | March 31, 2018 | $4,354,583 | $3,536,241 | $4,385,410 | |
| Government, universities, other institutions and private sector clients have access to the appropriate service providing access to microdata files that meets their needs. | Number of post-secondary institutions, and governmental and other organizations receiving access to microdata files | 110 | March 31, 2018 | 138 | 126 | 131 |
| Government, institutions and private sector clients have access to available, microdata files subject to confidentiality and privacy controls, as well as public use microdata files (PUMFs) to meet their information needs, as requested through the Research Data Centres, the Federal Research Data Centre, Real Time Remote Access, the Data Liberation Initiative and the Access to PUMFs Collection program. | Number of cycles of microdata files and public use microdata files available to Canadian post-secondary institutions, research data centres and other institutions. | 2,050 | March 31, 2018 | 3,151 | 2,431 | 2,028 |
| Government policy makers, institutions and private sector clients use the services for data capture and imaging, coding and access to Statistics Canada's microdata files, customized to meet their needs. | Percentage of Collection and Operations Services Agreement (COSA) components that are met (cost recovery) | 90% | March 31, 2018 | 96% | 97% | 93% |
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| 2017–18 Main Estimates | 2017–18 Planned spending | 2017–18 Total authorities available for use | 2017–18 Actual spending (authorities used) | 2017–18 Difference (Actual spending minus Planned spending) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Expenditures | 124,585,384 | 124,585,384 | 124,816,528 | 116,473,811 | -8,111,573 |
| Respendable Revenue | -112,025,384 | -112,025,384 | -112,025,384 | -103,682,667 | 8,342,717 |
| Net Expenditures | 12,560,000 | 12,560,000 | 12,791,144 | 12,791,144 | 231,144 |
| 2017–18 Planned full-time equivalents | 2017–18 Actual full-time equivalents | 2017–18 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Expenditures | 1,010 | 1,245 | 235 |
| Respendable Revenue | -1,010 | -1,245 | -235 |
| Net Expenditures | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The agency's statistical program is funded from two sources: direct parliamentary appropriations and cost-recovery activities. Statistics Canada has the authority to generate $120 million annually. In recent years, “respendable” cost-recovery revenues have contributed from $104 million to $111 million annually to the agency's total resources. This year, the revenues that were generated provided funds for approximately 1,250 FTEs in the Cost-recovered Statistical Services program.
In accordance with government-wide presentation standards, figures in the “Budgetary financial resources (dollars)” table are presented net of respendable revenue. As shown in the table, gross expenditures minus respendable revenue resulted in statutory funding attributed to the program.
The difference between planned and actual FTEs is the result of a larger portion of respendable revenue being related to salary. Furthermore, FTEs vary slightly as a result of differences between the average salary rates paid and the estimated average salary rates used in calculations at the planning stage.
Information on Statistics Canada's lower-level programs is available in the GC InfoBase.
Internal Services
Description
Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories 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; and Acquisition Services.
Results
To support the continual improvement of internal service delivery, Statistics Canada made efforts to ensure that the delivery of its internal services is as efficient as possible and supports the statistical programs in their delivery and objectives. The agency has improved its evidence-based capabilities compared with prior years.
The agency mainly improved through business optimization reviews and the use of data analytics; internal services also embraced data analytics. By using its own internal data (such as financial, procurement, human resources and other metrics related to internal services), Statistics Canada has embedded data analytics at the heart of its evidence-based decision making process. For example, the agency is using data analytics to analyze, prioritize and resolve issues with accounts payable, including employee pay. Human resources data analytics also support and drive evidence-based decision making. Statistics Canada created a simple user-centric visualization tool on cloud technology that allows management to quickly make sense of data that might otherwise take significant time to analyze. The tool included data from the last four cycles of the Public Service Employee Survey and allowed for trend analysis and targeted review in areas of interest, as well as a detailed breakdown by demographics.
Statistics Canada continued to collaborate closely with Shared Services Canada to address capacity requirements and minimize infrastructure capacity-related risks, such as protecting critical informatics technology from cyber threats. In alignment with the Government of Canada's Information Management and Information Technology Strategy, Statistics Canada has embraced a cloud-first strategy as the basis of a modern, secure, scalable and efficient information technology infrastructure. The agency continues, in close collaboration with Shared Services Canada, to migrate away from legacy data centres. The transition towards software-defined infrastructure has been initiated, leveraging modern deployment models and cloud delivery models such as by piloting cloud-based visualization and analytics. In addition, Statistics Canada is creating powerful data analytics services with key components like a data management hub and data ingestion services, using artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques and high-performance data processing. Statistics Canada is well positioned to play a leadership role in defining and shaping digital government, influencing digital policy, and building the Canadian digital strategy.
Another major project that progressed in 2017–18 was Statistics Canada's implementation of GCdocs, which is a government-wide initiative to manage business-related, non-statistical information. GCdocs includes and automates many information and record management tasks that are critical for supporting the agency's business and programs and are required for the agency to comply with Government of Canada information legislation and policies. The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of the fiscal year 2018–19.
Furthermore, to support Statistics Canada's modernization agenda, a new strategy for executive talent management was launched in 2017. It uses new, dynamic human resources data analytical tools to assess the many aspects of “talent,” including leadership skills, subject-matter expertise, strong operational capabilities and change management proficiency. Tools that combine traditional demographic and succession planning information with new data matrices related to leadership, talent, business skills, job satisfaction, innovation and culture were developed. They demonstrate the power of data linkages and data visualization.
Modern and flexible workplace at Statistics Canada
Creating a modern and flexible workplace at Statistics Canada means focusing on three key values:
- People: a workforce that is healthy, engaged and productive
- Space: a workplace with a variety of flexible workspaces to foster collaboration
- IT: a workplace that leverages technology to enable business objectives
Statistics Canada has put in place a modern and flexible workplace that fosters a culture of innovation and connectivity, improving how the agency leverages digital technology and encouraging government-wide collaboration, flexibility and efficiency. It aims to improve the overall health and well-being of employees, ensuring inclusivity for all, as well as empowering employees and making them accountable. This transformation is bringing about a cultural shift in line with the government-wide vision by focusing on building a networked and open workplace; taking a whole-of-government approach; and creating a capable, high-performing workforce. Statistics Canada is one of the first departments to adopt activity-based workplace principles.
To continue fostering a safe, healthy and inclusive workplace, Statistics Canada appointed the Integrity and Respect Champion, as well as integrity and respect awareness officers. Integrity and respect awareness officers are neutral and impartial points of contact for employees and managers to talk about values and ethics, the Code of Conduct, conflicts of interest, political activities, disclosure of wrongdoing, and harassment and discrimination. Integrity and respect at Statistics Canada are being promoted by organizing activities such as an awareness campaign, training for employees as well as for the officers, and an annual message to all employees.
The agency's integrated framework on workplace mental health was approved in 2017–18 and is built around three commitments: changing the culture; building capacity; and measuring, reporting and continuously improving. Along with the launch of the new internal mental health website, the second edition of the Statistics Canada Mental Health Passport was released in 2017. It provides Statistics Canada employees with information, tools and resources related to mental health and well-being and offers tools to help employees develop positive mental health habits. It covers a range of topics, including stress management, spirituality, work-life balance, resilience, strong emotions, warning signs, meditation and exercise.
Diversity is embedded in the agency and is evidenced by a governance structure that supports diversity and inclusion, prioritized by senior management. An inclusive workplace is necessary to the goals of the agency. Statistics Canada has a Positive Space initiative to promote equity and fairness for LGBTQ2+ people, as well as the Employment Equity and Diversity Section with designated employees who work on all matters related to promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
This year, specific efforts that actively involved senior management were made to increase awareness among employees. In 2017–18, several events were held with the goal of bringing awareness to different topics and reducing discrimination, including an integrity and respect workshop, Aboriginal Awareness Week, and the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
| 2017–18 Main Estimates | 2017–18 Planned spending | 2017–18 Total authorities available for use | 2017–18 Actual spending (authorities used) | 2017–18 Difference (Actual spending minus Planned spending) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64,907,612 | 64,907,612 | 72,748,592 | 72,064,636 | 7,157,024 |
| 2017–18 Planned full-time equivalents | 2017–18 Actual full-time equivalents | 2017–18 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents) |
|---|---|---|
| 591 | 607 | 16 |
The difference between planned spending and actual spending is mainly the result of the following:
- increased investments in information technology services (reimbursement to Shared Services Canada)
- additional spending related to internal information technology support
- additional pressures related to the government's pay system
- wage increases following the ratification of new collective agreements
The difference between planned and actual FTEs is mainly the result of additional spending related to internal information technology support and additional pressures related to the government's pay system.
Information on Statistics Canada's lower-level programs is available in the GC InfoBase.