2007 submissions
Registered Apprenticeship Training–Classes of 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995
Linkage Between the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) and Federal Child Tax Benefit Programs
Canadian Pension Plans and Funds – Quality Assurance and Expanding Analytical Potential
Research Initiative on the Effectiveness of Government Support to Canadian Exporters
Understanding the Individual and Socio-environmental Health Risks of Obesity – The Canada Heart Health Surveys Follow-up Study
Expansion of the Material and Energy Flow Accounts: Industrial Pollution Data
2006 Post-censal Survey – Participation and Activity Limitation Survey
2006 Post-censal Survey – Aboriginal Peoples Survey
2006 Post-censal Survey – Aboriginal Children’s Survey
2006 Post-censal Survey – Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities
Research and Development in Canadian Industry Survey (RDCI)
Outsourcing, Offshoring and Productivity Performance: Plant-level Evidence from Canadian Manufacturing
Adding Marital Status and Census Metropolitan Area to the Worker Longitudinal File
Alternate Fetal Growth Standards: Part 1 – Linkage Pilot Study
Update to Dofasco Workers Mortality (1974-2005) and Cancer Incidence (1969-2005) Study
The Burden of Obesity, Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis in Ontario
Registered Apprenticeship Training–Classes of 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995
Purpose: To shed light on the effectiveness of apprenticeship training in Canada in producing skilled workers with trade certification. The country is experiencing a shortage of highly skilled workers in some trades and in some jurisdictions, while completion rates for registered apprenticeship programs have been low for at least a decade. This study will examine the learning paths over a period of 11 years of individuals from the classes of 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995 involved in apprenticeship training. A pilot study carried out in three provinces on the class of 1992 showed that about half of apprentices completed their trade; most certifications occurred four to six years after registration; and that 5% to 12% were still continuing their program after 11 years. Analysis of the next three cohorts will expand the number of provinces for which these statistics are measured as well as expanding the points of the economic cycle (bust to boom) covered by the studies. In addition, these analyses will help in the improvement of data quality and reduction of gaps in current administrative data available to measure completion rates. Findings will inform decisions taken by Human Resources and Social Development Canada and provincial and territorial authorities involved in funding apprenticeship training programs. Resources may be reallocated towards trades and occupations that are more problematic in terms of completion, thus benefiting the public and business community by introducing into the work force, in larger numbers at a faster rate, highly skilled individuals with needed occupational and trade certification.
Description: The Registered Apprenticeship Information System (RAIS) will be linked for an 11-year period within each province and territory, through the use of the unique registered apprenticeship number for a total of four cohorts of new registered apprentices, that is, the classes of 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995. Once linked, the files will be stripped of the apprenticeship number. Linkage of the 1992 cohort has already taken place and the results have been published.
Output: Only aggregate data and analysis conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. The data will be published in research papers and released in The Daily. The linked files for all four cohorts, stripped of identifiers, will be retained by Statistics Canada until March 31, 2011, at which time the linked data will be destroyed.
Linkage Between the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) and Federal Child Tax Benefit Programs
Purpose:The Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) is designed to measure changes in the economic well-being of individuals and uncover the factors that influence those changes. The SLID is the main source of information on individual and family income. That information is widely used in developing the various federal and provincial programs and policies, particularly with regard to assistance for families and individuals.
SLID respondents have the option of giving Statistics Canada permission to access their income tax returns and extract the data required by the income questions in the SLID. Each year, about 80% of respondents choose that option. It reduces the response burden and improves data quality. Personal income data from administrative files are generally of higher quality than data obtained directly from survey respondents. To date, Statistics Canada has been using T1 Income Tax and Benefit Returns. This linkage will provide access to new information: Child Tax Benefit (CTB) data held by the Canada Revenue Agency. Respondents have given Statistics Canada permission to access the data.
Description: SLID respondents take part in the survey for up to six years. In the first year, the data supplied by respondents who have agreed to the linkage are statistically matched with the T1 file using six key variables: last name, first name, postal code of residence, date of birth, marital status and spouse’s first name. When there is a match, the respondent’s income data and social insurance number (SIN) are saved. In subsequent years, the SIN is used for matching with the T1 file. Linkage with the CTB file is based on the SIN. Since the Canada Revenue Agency produces two CTB files per year, linkage will be performed twice a year for every year the respondents participate.
The data extracted from the tax files will be combined with the other information provided by respondents in the survey, and then stored in the SLID database. Personal identifiers, including the SIN, will be destroyed two years after the respondents’ participation in the survey ends.
Product: Only statistical data that are in compliance with the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be disseminated outside Statistics Canada. In particular, they will be included in the publication entitled Income Trends in Canada (Catalogue No.13F0022XIE).
Canadian Pension Plans and Funds – Quality Assurance and Expanding Analytical Potential
Purpose: An aging population has placed the Canadian retirement income system under intense scrutiny of late. The evolution of the employer pension system is key to the economic security of families, and has important impacts on the functioning of the Canadian economy and the stability of the financial system. Pension reform has emerged as a topic of heightened interest on the public policy agenda, both in Canada and elsewhere in the world. Key questions in the recent pension reform debate focus on the potential erosion of the Canadian defined-benefit pension system in favour of defined-contribution arrangements and the measures required to prevent it. Statistics on pension plan terms and conditions are critical to shed light on the debate as is an understanding of how pension fund assets are invested.
Statistics on registered pension plans and their associated funds are currently reported from independent sources. This data linkage combines regulatory information on pension plan characteristics with financial data from surveys of pension fund trustees. Combining information on pension plans and funds into a common database will enable research that is currently not possible. Among the key policy questions that can be addressed with the linked database are: Are the assets of defined-contribution pension plans invested differently than those of defined-benefit plans? What are the implications of the erosion of the defined-benefit system for the financial security of future retirees? What is the likely impact on the Canadian financial system if this erosion continues as many anticipate? How do province-specific policies (such as the Ontario pension benefit guarantee) affect the asset distribution of pension funds?
In addition to addressing these and other key research questions, the linkage will improve the quality of statistics on the Canadian employer pension system by allowing the coherence of independently reported statistics to be assured.
Description: On an ongoing, annual basis, the Registered Pension Plans Database will be linked to two Trusteed Pension Fund Databases: the quarterly Trusteed Pension Fund survey; and the Trusteed Pension Fund survey biennial census using a match on the Canada Revenue Agency Pension Plan Number, the provincial pension plan registration number, or the name of the pension plan. These identifiers will be maintained on the linked database and can be used for longitudinal analysis.
Output: Only aggregate data and analysis conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. Research using the linked information will be submitted for publication in professional journals. The linked file will be retained for an indefinite period to permit additional analyses.
Research Initiative on the Effectiveness of Government Support to Canadian Exporters
Purpose: This project will assess the effectiveness (and economic impact) of Canada’s trade promotion strategy and trade commissioner services. This, in turn, may result in changes to the strategy, with more cost-effective targeting of services. In 2007-08, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) plans to invest over $700 million in trade promotion and commissioner services. By evaluating the export performance of particular exporter groups before and after receiving assistance from DFAIT (by type of service received and volume of service received), the analysis will assess the effectiveness of the current trade promotion strategy.
Description: Linkage for the years 1999 to 2005 of approximately 18,000 DFAIT client business names and addresses to the Exporter Register longitudinal database held by Statistics Canada. Multiple instances of the same establishment will be identified and only the latest information kept for the analysis.
The linkage and analysis will be conducted in Statistics Canada’s offices. The linked files will not be available outside Statistics Canada.
Output: Only aggregate data conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. DFAIT will prepare a report which will contain selected analytical tables and an article highlighting the key findings will be published in Statistics Canada’s Canadian Trade Review. The linked files will be retained until March 31, 2012, at which time they will be destroyed.
Understanding the Individual and Socio-environmental Health Risks of Obesity – The Canada Heart Health Surveys Follow-up Study
Purpose: By learning more about the links between obesity on the one hand, and cancer and mortality on the other, the results produced by the study will guide policies and recommend practices aimed at reducing obesity among Canadians. Compared with similar studies, this one will examine whether other chronic disease risk factors such as smoking and cholesterol levels, an individual’s income and education, and community-level measures have any effects on the impact of obesity.
Findings from the study will provide information for possible strategies designed to create environments that bolster healthy weights for Canadians. The findings from this study will provide support for organizations, such as the Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada, to reduce overweight and obesity rates in Canada by informing current guidelines on obesity screening, prevention and management and the development of targeted healthy lifestyle strategies and policies.
To date, much of the current information available on the relationships between obesity, other chronic disease risk factors, cancer and mortality has been generated by studies conducted in Europe and the United States which may not apply to the Canadian context given its unique characteristics such as universal access to health care, very high ethnic diversity and a comparatively high prevalence of obesity and related metabolic disorders.
Given the current magnitude of obesity prevalence in Canada and the toll it places on public health, there is a need for cohesive multi-disciplinary groups dedicated to the study of obesity at the population level. The data from this study will be used to provide interdisciplinary training to graduate students and post-doctoral fellows to help build the Canadian capacity to undertake obesity studies of a complex nature.
Description: The cohort for this study originates from six provinces that took part in the Canadian Heart Health Surveys from 1982 to 1995. These surveys have provided for the creation of a national cross-sectional database with detailed information on heart health awareness, lifestyle, risk factors, demographic and anthropometric information such as height and weight. The cohort will be linked to the 1986 to 2006 Canadian Mortality Database and to the 1969-2006 Canadian Cancer Database to ascertain health outcomes. Summary tax file records (1986-2006) will assist in the mortality linkage and to verify the total number of individuals who are lost to the study.
Output: A copy of the linked cancer and mortality analysis files, without names or personal identifiers, will be released to members of the Canadian Heart Health Surveys Follow-up team, with the consent of the provincial and territorial vital statistics and cancer registrars. The data will be securely held at the following universities: Queen’s University, University of Saskatchewan, McMaster University, University of Alberta, and Simon Fraser University. All members of the team who receive a copy of the file will sign an agreement with Statistics Canada that they will undertake the necessary steps to protect the confidentiality of the individual data. The study findings will be published in reports and scholarly journals and will be shared with national associations concerned with the study’s health issues. Presentations will also be made at national and international conferences.
The linked file, stripped of identifiers, will be retained by Statistics Canada for a period of seven years, that is, until June 2014, at which time it will be destroyed. Similarly, the Canadian Heart Health Surveys Follow-up team will destroy the analysis file after seven years.
Expansion of the Material and Energy Flow Accounts: Industrial Pollution Data
Purpose: To improve Canadians’ understanding of the relationship between the economy and the environment, and thereby permit more effective environmental policy-making by collecting and analyzing industrial pollution emissions data in a more comprehensive way. Canadians have been expressing increased concern over the effects of industrial pollution on the country’s natural environment, that is to say, the quality of air, water, fertile land, wildlife and ecosystems generally. Addressing problems of industrial pollution requires a better understanding of how pollution flows of various kinds relate to corresponding flows of production of goods and services and to the production and pollution mitigation technologies utilized. The proposal is to link available data on pollution flows, collected by Environment Canada, to available data on production flows, collected by Statistics Canada, thereby permitting the calculation of pollution intensities by industry.
Description: The National Pollution Release Inventory (NPRI) will be linked to Statistics Canada’s Business Register and the following business surveys, on an annual basis for reference years 2002 to 2007: the Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging and the associated monthly production surveys, the Survey of Electric Power Generators, the annual Wholesale and Retail Trade Survey; the Industrial Consumption of Energy Survey, the surveys comprised in the Report on Energy Supply and Demand, and the Survey of Environmental Protection Expenditures. The files will be linked by establishment name, addresses and other identifiers available on the NPRI, the Business Register and the selected business surveys.
The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) requires all industrial establishments that meet specified criteria and release thresholds to report emissions for over 300 substances; Environment Canada maintains this information in the National Pollution Release Inventory (NPRI). The linkage of the inventory to Statistics Canada’s Business Register and selected business surveys will allow for a more in-depth analysis of NPRI data, namely of emissions as they relate to industrial production inputs, processes and outputs. This linkage is the first step in the goal to produce temporally consistent and comprehensive accounts of pollutant emissions from all industrial sources in Canada. This is not currently possible using the information on the NPRI, as it contains information only for those establishments that meet certain criteria. The linkage will allow Statistics Canada to investigate the use of the NPRI data for the purpose of expanding its Environmental and Resource Accounts to include more pollutant emissions data, more specifically, to expand the Material and Energy Flow Accounts (MEFA). The MEFA are designed to detail the flows of resources and wastes between the economy and the environment, but are currently limited to water use, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, findings will allow Statistics Canada to launch new collection and analysis activities to bridge current gaps in estimating total industrial pollution emissions required for these accounts. Findings may also result in improvements in the coverage and quality of the NPRI data.
Output: Aggregate results conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be published by Statistics Canada. The linked files and identifiers will be kept indeterminately by Statistics Canada.
2006 Post-censal Survey–Participation and Activity Limitation Survey
Purpose: Good information on the nature and severity of activity limitations and on the needs for assistive technology, social support and accommodation in all spheres of life is essential for developing policies and programs to support persons with disabilities. Such information can only be provided by merging information obtained on census questionnaires with information obtained in the Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS). These data are used by disability and social policy analysts at all levels of government, as well as by associations for persons with disabilities and researchers working in the field of disability policy and programs.
Description: PALS was conducted in the fall 2006/winter 2007 as a post-censal survey. Two questions on activity limitations on the 2006 Census of Population (questions 7 and 8) served to identify the target population and to draw a sample for the survey. PALS respondents were advised at the time of collection that information they provided to the survey would be linked to information already provided to the 2006 Census.
Three different types of data linkages are required. The first involves linking the survey respondent’s own census data to the PALS master file to add information on the respondent’s socio-economic characteristics, eliminating the need to collect this information from the respondent during the PALS interview. The second type of data linkage involves deriving variables from data pertaining to the respondent’s family or household members. This linkage activity selects data from the census records of household members, derives household and family level variables and places this information on the respondent’s record on the PALS file. No census data from other individual household members will be on the PALS file, only the derived variables. The final linkage activity is to add to the PALS file a stratified random sample of approximately 130,000 records of individuals who did not report any activity limitation to census questions 7 and 8. These records do not have any identifiers. The same census variables being linked to the PALS respondents are included for these records of non-disabled individuals. Having records of non-disabled individuals on the PALS file permits comparisons between the disabled and non-disabled populations.
Output: This is a one-time linkage. Only aggregate data that conforms to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act would be released outside Statistics Canada. It is proposed to release a public use microdata file from the survey. After the linkages have been completed, all of the identifiers are removed from the linked composite file. The resulting analytical file without identifiers will be retained indefinitely.
2006 Post-censal Survey–Aboriginal Peoples Survey
Purpose: Good information on employment, education, language, tradition, technology, health, social issues and housing is essential to plan needed improvements to the living conditions of Aboriginal peoples. Such information can only be provided by merging information obtained on census questionnaires with information obtained in the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS). The survey provides a profile of the lifestyles and living conditions of the Aboriginal populations, for both adults and children aged six and over. Special components provide further insight into the situation of the Métis people and of the Aboriginal peoples living in the four Arctic regions of Canada. Results from the survey will provide information relevant to the needs of key Aboriginal data users, that is, Aboriginal governments and organizations and the federal and provincial/territorial governments.
Description: The APS was conducted in the fall 2006/winter 2007. Four questions on the 2006 Census of Population (questions 17, 18, 20 and 21) served to identify the target population and to draw a sample of the survey. Survey respondents were advised at the time of collection that information they provided to the APS would be linked to information relating to their household already provided to the 2006 Census.
There are two different types of data linkages. The first involves linking the survey respondent’s own census data to the APS master file. This activity adds information on the respondent’s socio-economic characteristics to the APS file eliminating the need to collect this information from the respondent during the APS interview. The second type of data linkage involves deriving variables from data pertaining to the respondent’s family or household members. This linkage activity selects data from the census records of household members, derives household and family level variables and places this information on the respondent’s record on the APS file. No census data from other individual household members will be on the APS file.
Output: This is a one-time linkage activity. Only aggregate data that conforms to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act would be released outside Statistics Canada. It is proposed to release a public use microdata file from the survey which will contain both APS and census data. After the linkages have been completed, all of the identifiers are removed from the linked composite file. The resulting analytical file without identifiers will be retained indefinitely.
2006 Post-censal Survey–Aboriginal Children’s Survey
Purpose: Good information on early childhood development of First Nations/North American Indian, Inuit and Métis children is essential to develop policies and programs to meet the needs of young Aboriginal children. Such information can only be provided by merging information obtained on census questionnaires with information obtained in the Aboriginal Children’s Survey (ACS). The survey provides a picture of Aboriginal children across Canada under the age of six years, collecting information on a wide range of topics, including child’s health, sleep, nutrition, development, nurturing, child care, school, language, behaviour, and activities. Since the child’s environment is important to their development and well-being, some information is collected on the child’s parent(s) or guardian(s) and their neighbourhood or community. Results from the survey will offer needed information that will be relevant to the needs of the main users, that is, parents, service providers, Aboriginal governments and organizations, and federal and provincial/ territorial governments.
Description: The Aboriginal Children’s Survey was conducted in the fall 2006/winter 2007. Four questions on the 2006 Census of Population (questions 17, 18, 20 and 21) served to identify the target population and to draw a sample for the survey. Information about a selected child was provided by a parent or guardian. Whoever responded on behalf of the selected child was advised at the time of collection that information they provided to the ACS would be linked to information relating to their household already provided to the 2006 Census.
There are two different types of data linkages. The first involves linking the child’s own census data to the ACS master file. This activity adds information on the child’s characteristics to the ACS database, eliminating the need to collect this information during the ACS interview.
The second type of data linkage involves deriving variables from data pertaining to the child’s family or household members. This linkage activity selects data from the census records of household members, derives household and family level variables and places this information on the child’s record on the ACS file. No census data from other individual household members will be on the ACS file.
Output: This is a one-time linkage. Only aggregate data that conforms to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act would be released outside Statistics Canada. It is proposed to release a public use microdata file from the survey. After the linkages have been completed, all of the identifiers are removed from the linked composite file. The resulting analytical file without identifiers will be retained indefinitely.
2006 Post-censal Survey–Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities
Purpose: Good information on the current situation of Canada's official-language minorities, namely anglophones in Quebec and francophones outside of Quebec, is essential to assess the goals of the federal Action Plan for Official Languages and for policy development and program implementation. Such information can only be provided by merging information obtained on census questionnaires with information obtained in the Survey on the Vitality of Official-Language Minorities (SVOLM). The survey provides a more in-depth understanding on subjects as diverse as instruction in the language of the minority or access to different services in the language of the minority, as well as language practices both inside and outside the home. Results will be used by federal and provincial governments as well as minority language communities.
Description: The SVOLM was conducted in the fall of 2006 as a post-censal survey. Three questions on the 2006 Census of Population (questions 13, 15 and 16) served to identify the target population and to draw a sample of the survey. Survey respondents were advised at the time of collection that information they provided to the SVOLM would be linked to information already provided to the 2006 Census.
There are two different types of data linkage. The first involves linking the survey respondent’s own census data to the SVOLM master file. This activity adds information on the respondent’s socio-economic characteristics to the SVOLM file, eliminating the need to collect this information during the SVOLM interview. The second type of data linkage involves deriving variables from data pertaining to the respondent’s family or household members. This linkage activity selects data from the census records of household members, derives household or family level variables and places this information on the respondent’s record on the SVOLM file. No census data from other individual household members will be on the SVOLM file.
Output: This is a one-time linkage. Only aggregate data that conforms to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act would be released outside Statistics Canada. It is proposed to release a public use microdata file from the survey. After the linkages have been completed, all of the identifiers are removed from the linked composite file. The resulting analytical file without identifiers will be retained indefinitely.
Research and Development in Canadian Industry Survey (RDCI)
Purpose: The RDCI is used to analyze the relationship between the size of the firm and the proportion of expenditures spent on R&D; whether foreign-controlled business enterprises are most likely to perform R&D in Canada or to fund it outside Canada and whether this varies by employment size, and; whether R&D objectives, such as pollution abatement or other environmental purposes, can be characterized by firm size. The RDCI is the sole source of information about the characteristics of the R&D performers and provides essential information for evidence-based policy development on R&D activity within the Canadian business sector.
Some of the important analytical variables are no longer available to the RDCI. To reduce response burden, linkage to employers’ tax files and other survey data will allow RDCI to continue to include important employment data. The quality of the data obtained through linkage will be higher than if they were obtained directly from the firms. In turn, the ability will continue to analyse the R&D expenditures of Canadian and foreign-controlled firms operating in Canada in conjunction with employment characteristics of the firm.
Description: Starting with reference year 1997, the annual RDCI survey file will be linked to the Employer Payroll Deduction Tax File (PD7) and to the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) data to obtain the following variables: total employment; salaried employees paid a fixed salary; employees paid by the hour, and; average weekly earnings. The information will be linked using the Business Number and the Legal/Operating Name.
Output: Findings conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be published in the annual publications Industrial Research and Development (88-202-XIE) and Science Statistics (88-001-XIE). Annual survey microdata for Québec will be shared with the Institut de la statistique du Québec. The linked data will be retained for an indeterminate period.
Outsourcing, Offshoring and Productivity Performance: Plant-level Evidence from Canadian Manufacturing
Purpose: Outsourcing affects jobs, but it might increase competitiveness and the standard of living of Canadians. This study is the first to directly determine whether the location of outsourcing affects the productivity of firms in Canada. Outsourcing has become increasingly important for Canadian businesses, especially Canadian manufacturing firms, as it can directly affect jobs. Businesses believe that outsourcing allows them to better compete in increasingly competitive domestic and international markets, improving the quality of life and well-being of Canadians. Little empirical information exists on how offshore outsourcing affects productivity and the proposed research will bridge the gap. The research will evaluate the hypothesis that offshoring is positively associated with productivity performance. Focusing on manufacturing plants and logging operations, it examines geographical locations of outsourcing and distinguishes between outsourcing of research and development and outsourcing of raw materials and components. The study will provide evidence as to what extent the link between productivity and domestic outsourcing differs from that with offshore outsourcing and whether the link with offshoring to the United States differs from that to Asia-Pacific and other regions such as Europe.
Description: Responses from the Survey of Innovation (2005) will be linked to the Annual Survey of Manufactures (2004 and 2002). Respondents to the Survey of Innovation were notified that their individual survey responses would be combined with other Statistics Canada records.
Output: Only aggregate data and analysis conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. Findings will be published in Statistics Canada’s Innovation Analysis Bulletin, submitted to academic journals and reported in conference presentations. The linked file will be retained until March 31, 2011, at which time it will be destroyed.
Adding Marital Status and Census Metropolitan Area to the Worker Longitudinal File
Purpose: The objective is to assess whether the earnings losses that displaced workers suffer as a result of firm closures and mass layoffs differ between unattached individuals and married individuals. Given the growing proportion of unattached individuals in Canada and the fact that these individuals cannot rely on a second earner to mitigate the negative financial impact of job loss, this question is of high interest for social policy. Furthermore, whether mass layoffs and firm closures differ from city to city will be examined. For example, while the high-tech meltdown in 2001/2002 appears to have affected Ottawa the most, there is no statistical evidence on the number of high-tech workers who were laid-off in that city and on the degree to which former high-tech workers in Ottawa found gainful employment following the meltdown. Gathering such information is crucial for the design of policies, if any, aimed at compensating financially displaced workers.
Description: The Worker Longitudinal File is a linked file containing 10% of employees, built from four data sources. The T-4 supplementary Tax file contains the Social Insurance Number (SIN) of every employee, by business. This file provides employment counts in each company each year, as well as the ability to track workers longitudinally and assess annual earnings changes. The Record of Employment (ROE) file provides data on separations, by reason. The Longitudinal Employment Analysis Program (LEAP) file provides data on the size and industry of the company for which the employee works, and allows workers to be tracked longitudinally from company to company. This allows permanent separations to be distinguished from temporary separations. Finally, age, sex, marital status, and Census Metropolitan Area are gathered from the T1 Tax files. The ROE, T4, and T1 files are linked deterministically by the Social Insurance Number (SIN), on an ongoing basis, for each year from 1983 onwards. The resulting file is then linked to LEAP by a company identifier (i.e. the payrolls deduction account number prior to 1997, and the business number from 1997 onwards), which is available on the ROE, the T4, and LEAP. A 10% random sample of all employees in the linked file is selected, based on the last digit of the SIN, and retained in the final file.
Output: Only aggregate data conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. Papers will be published in Statistics Canada’s Analytical Studies Research Paper Series as well as in academic journals with an accompanying Daily release. Papers will also be presented at professional conferences. The linked file, stripped of all identifiers, will be retained on an ongoing basis.
Alternate Fetal Growth Standards: Part 1 – Linkage Pilot Study
Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of a new methodology to produce more accurate Fetal Growth Standards. Physicians use Fetal Growth Standards to identify fetuses with greater health risks in later stages of pregnancy and children with greater health risks in the first month after birth.
More accurate standards could result in more effective medical intervention and treatment, resulting in better birth and infant health outcomes such as improved diagnosis of poor fetal growth, refinements in the recommended timing for medical intervention (both prior to and after birth), improved surveillance of hospital morbidity of newborns. Improved standards would also serve as input to health programs and policies, the evaluation of, and changes in, medical procedures, and would be used in education campaigns to reduce risk factors.
The current national Fetal Growth Standards were created by examining the live birth weight distribution. Birth weights in the lowest and highest percentiles are considered to be “abnormal”. The distribution includes all live births, however, regardless of mortality or morbidity of the newborns. This pilot study considers an alternative approach that makes use of information on mortality and hospital morbidity to refine the standards. The new methodology improves upon some of the acknowledged weaknesses of the current one. If the pilot study is successful, a larger study is planned to develop new standards.
Description: A file will be created from the1996/97-1999/2000 Hospital Morbidity Database with information about mothers and their newborns along with neonatal morbidity histories; morbidity information for newborns up to the end of the neonatal stage will be added to a previously created Birth/Mortality linked file for the years 1997-1999/2000. All provinces except Ontario and Quebec are included in the pilot study due to current data gaps.
Output: Analysis of the linked file will be carried out at Statistics Canada. Aggregate analysis tables conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act may also be produced, if feasible, to allow for the development of preliminary alternate growth curves. The linked analysis file and the linking keys, kept separately, will be retained until March 2012, after which they will be destroyed.
Update to Dofasco Workers Mortality (1974-2005) and Cancer Incidence (1969-2005) Study
Purpose: To help determine better ways of protecting workers in certain industrial environments. This study plans to establish whether exposure to chemicals and processes used in the production of steel in the Dofasco workplace has adversely affected the health of workers. Results from the initial study (1974-1990) have shown increased death rates relative to the Canadian and Ontario populations. The updated linkage will provide an additional 15 years of follow-up, thereby increasing the statistical power of the study. The updated research will more clearly define the magnitude of excess mortality due to lung cancer by making adjustments for smoking. It will investigate further the carcinogenic effects experienced by workers exposed to Polyclinic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) in respirable silica particulate and examine the dose levels at which the higher risk of cancer occurs; and examine further the unexpected associations found in the previous research, such as the excess deaths related to the circulatory system experienced by some workers. Findings will be shared with Dofasco management and employees as well as with the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). Results will also be available for review by provincial, federal and international agencies responsible for risk assessment and regulatory actions.
Description: The cohort of approximately 8,800 male workers who were employees of Dofasco for at least six months prior to January 1, 1974, will be linked to the 1984-2006 historic summary tax file. This file does not contain income data. The linkage is carried out to assist in the evaluation of the death search by determining the status of the individuals (dead, alive or emigrated) at the end of the study period. The next stages of the linkage process will add mortality data from the 1974-2005 Canadian Mortality Data Base and cancer incidence data from the 1969-2005 Canadian Cancer Data Base, through probabilistic methods using the Generalized Record Linkage System (GRLS).
Output: Linked mortality, cancer and work history files provided by the employer will be released to McMaster University without names and identifiers, with the consent of the provincial and territorial Vital Statistics and Cancer Registrars. All information and reports presented by McMaster University to Dofasco management and employees, to the Ontario WSIB as well as findings disseminated through publications, peer-reviewed journals and in presentations and conferences will be in the form of aggregate data and will not identify individual study subjects. The internal linked file, stripped of identifiers, will be retained by Statistics Canada until March 31, 2014, after which it will be destroyed.
The Burden of Obesity, Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis in Ontario
Purpose: To improve treatment strategies for people suffering from obesity, osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to reduce the costs of treating them. The study will remedy the fact that little is known about the socio-demographic characteristics of the Ontario population with such health condition/illnesses, their quality of life, satisfaction with healthcare, healthcare resource utilization, and ensuing medical costs. The study will establish a cost per patient; identify the determinants of healthcare utilization and medical costs and, for obesity, provide a breakdown of health care utilization/medical costs per body mass index (BMI) levels. In determining utilization and costs, the study will take into account differences in individuals’ characteristics and lifestyle.
In many cases of illnesses, physicians and health care policy makers are unaware of the true burden on the health care system and on sufferers. Burden of illness studies, such as this one, can provide a method for demonstrating the importance of a specific disease to society; provide a baseline against which treatment interventions can be assessed; help determine priorities for future medical research, and; help identify the cost drivers of the condition/disease. Additionally, burden of illness studies can further our understanding of the impact the condition/disease has on patients’ quality of life and productivity. Findings may assist in the development of obesity, OA and RA policy models to evaluate different treatment and management strategies in Ontario. As well, the evidence generated in the area of obesity may be used by the new Canadian Obesity Network, whose objective is to bring together researchers, health professionals, industry, policy makers and others across Canada to become the primary network focusing on preventing and reducing the consequences of excess body weight.
Description: The 2000-2001 Canadian Community Health Survey will be linked to the Medical Services files and the Discharge Abstract Database In-patient and Day Procedures files for the years 1999-2000, 2000-2001 and 2001-2002, using a deterministic match on an encrypted health number. A validation procedure, carried out by Ministry of Health and Long-term Health Care, will ensure that only valid health card numbers are found on the cohort file and are encrypted. A probabilistic matching based on birth date, sex, and postal code will be used to resolve incomplete linkage results. Only cases where informed consent was received from the survey respondents will be linked.
Output: Only aggregate data and analyses conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada, in the form of a Daily release, articles in peer-reviewed journals, and through presentations at local, national and international conferences. The linked file will be retained until March 31, 2012, at which time it will be destroyed.