Consultative engagement objectives
In Statistics Canada, the Centre for Health Data Integration and Direct Measures (CHDIDM) is responsible for the production of statistics on health indicators that require direct measurements of physical health at the population level across several areas, such as chronic conditions, oral health, infectious disease, and environmental contaminants. As the CHDIDM envisions the future of their programs, they will, for instance, review and update survey designs, collection infrastructures, survey content, and analytical plans.
Statistics Canada (StatCan) is committed to the provision of quality data. As part of the Direct Health Measures Programs, the CHDIDM launched a series of engagement sessions with key stakeholders, such as government health entities, pan-Canadian organizations, provincial and territorial Statistical Focal Points, academic researchers, and non-government organizations.
These perspectives will help StatCan to plan the development of existing programs such as the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS), as well as to design and implement new programs to meet stakeholder needs. The goal was to identify data needs and gaps, raise awareness of StatCan data holdings, learn from stakeholder’s subject matter expertise and explore potential collaboration.
Consultative engagement methods
Consultations on the Direct Health Measures Program were conducted virtually through information sessions that included group discussions with stakeholders from the broader Direct Health Measures community. Input was received from 58 different organisations including non-government organisations (NGOs), government organisations, and academic organisations. These sessions occurred during February 2025 and were publicized on Statistics Canada’s Consulting Canadians web page. Individual stakeholders were sent email invitations to participate and encouraged to circulate within their networks. In addition to the virtual sessions, interested individuals were invited to provide feedback through electronic forms or submit written responses. Overall, Statistics Canada moderated 16 sessions in both official languages and received feedback from 98 individuals representing 58 organisations from both the public and private sector.
What we heard from stakeholders
Our consultations revealed a desire on behalf of the participants to establish formal collaboration agreements with Statistics Canada, with clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and expectations.
Participants expressed the importance of Statistics Canada’s data in their work but identified easier access to the data and more timeliness in its dissemination as potential areas of improvement. Participants identified that the most-used direct measures data sources were accelerometry (physical activity data), anthropometry, biomarkers, disease and health condition, sociodemographic information, drug toxicity and substance use, and chemical exposure data. They also identified needs for additional data on environmental health, nutrition, biomarkers, covariates, and specialized health topics and physical measures. Consultations confirmed that cross-sectional population-based surveys with national representation is sufficient to meet most current data needs. However, participants also confirmed the need for, additional geographic and variable data disaggregation. Current data gaps include data on the three territories, and longitudinal data as there are no sources of longitudinal direct health measure data within Statistics Canada’s data repository.
Statistics Canada thanks all participants for their participation and feedback in this consultative engagement initiative. We will continue to engage with specific stakeholders on specific surveys and topics to collaboratively work to address some of the feedback provided throughout the sessions.