Canadian Statistics Advisory Council

On December 12, 2017, the Act to amend the Statistics Act received Royal Assent, providing the authority for the Government of Canada to establish the Canadian Statistics Advisory Council.

The establishment of the Canadian Statistics Advisory Council is one of many initiatives that will support Statistics Canada's modernization to provide Canadians with high-quality, timely data and insights in an increasingly digital society. The Council will reinforce the independence and relevance of the national statistical system, and will focus on the overall quality of Canada's statistical system.

Mandate

The Council's mandate is to advise the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and the Chief Statistician of Canada in a transparent manner on any question that either of them has referred to the Council on the overall quality of the national statistical system. This could include the relevance, accuracy, accessibility and timeliness of its data.

Its mandate also includes the public release of an annual report on the state of the national statistical system. In doing so, the Council will assist Statistics Canada with achieving its primary goal of ensuring Canadians and governments continue to have access to a trusted source of statistics and data to meet their information needs while preserving privacy and confidentiality of the data.

Reports

Council members

Statistics Canada is pleased to welcome the eminent members who have agreed to serve on the Council, and looks forward to their and the Chair's advice on statistical matters. We also look forward to their annual report on the quality of Canada's statistical system and their recommendations to ensure this system remains independent, relevant, strong and responsive to the needs of Canadians.

These appointments were made under the Government of Canada's new approach to Governor in Council appointments. This approach supports open, transparent and merit-based selection processes that strive for gender parity and reflect Canada's diversity.

Council members were chosen for their expertise in various fields related to the national statistical system, including data privacy, data user perspectives, digital technology and general knowledge on statistical agencies.

The individual members are below, and demonstrate the range of perspectives necessary to help ensure that Statistics Canada remains one of the world's top statistical agencies.

Chairperson, Dr. Howard Ramos

Chairperson, Dr. Howard Ramos

Chairperson

Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology, Western University

Dr. Howard Ramos is the Chair of the Department of Sociology at Western University and Professor. He investigates issues of social justice and social change and has published five books and over 50 articles and chapters on social movements, human rights, Indigenous issues, environmental advocacy, urban change, economic and tourism development, technology, ethnicity, race, immigration, and equity, diversity and inclusion in higher education. Dr. Ramos has worked with a wide range of advocacy and community organizations and is committed to knowledge translation and evidence-based policy.

Annette Hester

Annette Hester

CSAC Member

Head of TheHesterView Inc.

Annette Hester heads TheHesterView Inc. and focuses on new approaches to working with data. She collaborates with leading experts in their field to deliver excellence in data structuring and in data visualization.

Ms. Hester was a faculty member of the University of Calgary Haskayne Global Energy EMBA, served as a senior advisor to the Deputy Minister of the Government of Alberta and was part of the policy team for the leadership campaign of Alberta's Premier, Alison Redford, Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta. Ms. Hester has extensive experience as a consultant for leading oil, gas, and energy companies in North and Latin America, and to governmental agencies in several countries of the Americas, primarily Brazil and Canada.

Ms. Hester has a master's degree in economics and has written for a variety of multilateral institutions, academic publications and think tanks.

Annette Hester

Dr. Céline Le Bourdais

Dr. Céline Le Bourdais

CSAC Member

Professor, McGill University

Céline Le Bourdais is Distinguished James McGill Professor of Sociology at McGill University. Often motivated by public policy issues, her research examines the profound demographic changes that families experience in Quebec and Canada.

Dr. Le Bourdais was the founding Academic Director of the Quebec Interuniversity Centre for Social Statistics (QICSS), which provides researchers with access to Statistics Canada micro-detailed data, and she played a key role in the development of the Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN), to which QICSS belongs. She was also a member of the National Statistics Council. Dr. Le Bourdais is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and she received the Canadian Population Society Award for her contribution to demography and the Thérèse Gouin-Décarie Award from the ‘Association francophone pour le savoir’ (ACFAS) for her contribution in social sciences. She holds a PhD in sociology from Brown University and a master’s degree in demography from Université de Montréal.

Dr. Celine le Bourdais

David Chaundy

David Chaundy

CSAC Member

President and CEO, APEC

David Chaundy was appointed President and CEO of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (APEC) in November 2018 after many years of overseeing research at APEC. Mr. Chaundy has directed research projects on a wide variety of topics, including international trade and global value chains, international investment, immigration and labour market issues, interprovincial regulatory trade barriers, and policies to promote clean growth and the expansion of clean technology firms in Atlantic Canada.

Mr. Chaundy is a member of the Canadian Statistics Advisory Council and the National Stakeholder Advisory Panel for the Labour Market Information Council. He is Vice-President of the Canadian Association for Business Economics, a Director and Past President of the Atlantic Association of Applied Economists and a Director of the Atlantic Canada Economics Association. He holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Cambridge and a M.Sc. in economics from the University of York (England).

David Chaundy

Jan Kestle

Jan Kestle

CSAC Member

President and CEO, Environics Analytics

President and CEO of Environics Analytics (EA), Jan Kestle is a leader in the marketing information industry. Over the years, she's helped hundreds of customers—in areas ranging from finance and retail to the not-for-profit sector—turn data and analytics into insight, strategy and engagement. Prior to founding EA in 2003, Ms. Kestle was president of Compusearch, a pioneer private sector distributor of Statistics Canada data.

Ms. Kestle's past experience includes being the statistical focal point for Ontario at the Ontario Statistical Centre and a member of the Federal-Provincial Statistics Council. She was a member of the National Statistics Council and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Marketing Association, the Dean's Advisory Council of the Ted Rogers School of Management, the Canadian Council of Innovators and the Advisory Board of Ryerson University School of Geography. A frequent conference speaker, she is the recipient of a Bachelor of Science degree in applied mathematics from the University of Western Ontario.

Meetings

Previous communiqués and reports

Additional information

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