Date: August 2023

Program manager: Director, Centre for Special Business Projects
Director General, Agriculture, Energy and Environment Statistics

Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB):

Information collected through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership Survey (CAPS) is described in the Agriculture Statistics Class of Records (Record Number: StatCan AGR 450).

The inclusion of sociodemographic content does not require the development of a PIB given no information about identifiable individuals is being collected, and the information will not serve to make administrative decisions about individuals. Only aggregate level sociodemographic information is collected, which renders it un-identifiable and un-retrievable.

Description of statistical activity

Under the authority of the Statistics Act^{Footnote 1}, Statistics Canada is conducting the Canadian Agricultural Partnership Survey (CAPS). The data collected through this voluntary business survey is used to produce statistical information on agricultural organizations receiving funding through the cost-shared program of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) initiative with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), as well as to demonstrate outcomes and impacts of the program on the participants, their businesses, and the overall agriculture sector.

Funded by federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) governments, the CAP aims to strengthen and grow Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector with:

• simplified and streamlined programs and services that are easier to access
• improvements to programs that help manage significant risks that threaten the viability of farms
• strategic initiatives
• federal activities and programs

AAFC will use the data to better understand the characteristics of agricultural organizations engaged in the CAP and provide a better understanding of how the CAP program and its activities serve agricultural operators in order to better serve farmers, food processors and Canadian families, such as: trade and market expansion to address emerging opportunities and needs; advancing science, innovation and sustainable growth; reflecting diversity of communities; enhancing collaboration across jurisdictions; and securing support and public trust.

The survey is to be completed by the owner or an operator of the organization (e.g., senior manager, operations manager, or anyone else in an equivalent position in the organization) who would be able to report on the organization's participation in the CAP.

Due to the need for more disaggregated data on the characteristics of employees of Canadian agricultural organizations that have participated in the CAP to address potential inequalities and disparities that may disproportionately affect underrepresented population groups, a section will be added to the 2023 CAPS requesting aggregate sociodemographic information about the organization's workers (owners and employees).

In some cases, the respondent for the organization might not have the requested information about the sociodemographic characteristics of workers; therefore, the respondent is instructed to answer these questions to the best of their knowledge.

All the questions in the sociodemographic section have the option of "Prefer not to say" or "Don't know" as a response.

Respondents will be asked to provide their best estimate of the number workers in the organization who identify as being a part of the following groups:

• Women
• Indigenous Identity (First Nations, Métis, Inuit)
• Youth (age 40 or younger)
• Persons with a disability
• LGBTQ2+
• Racialized group

The questions requesting this information have been drafted in collaboration with Statistics Canada's Harmonized Content^{Footnote 2} team to meet the needs of this business survey. These questions are designed to collect information on ownership and employee characteristics that can lead to the production of statistical information to gain better insights on the experiences of specific population groups such as women, Indigenous peoples, racialized populations, youth, and people living with disabilities. Better data, analysis and information can highlight inequities and promote fairness and inclusion in delivery of programs, services, and policy decisions.

Reason for supplement

While the Generic Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) addresses most of the privacy and security risks related to statistical activities conducted by Statistics Canada, and while the sociodemographic information being collected is aggregated, this supplement was conducted due to the potentially sensitive  nature of this information about employees of businesses, such as sexual and gender diversity, Indigenous identity, ethnicity, and disability indirectly from the business survey respondent which, when combined with other information, may have the potential to re-identify workers. As is the case with all PIAs, Statistics Canada's privacy framework ensures that elements of privacy protection and privacy controls are documented and applied.

Necessity and Proportionality

The Canadian Agricultural Partnership Survey will collect aggregate information on the characteristics of the organization's workers, such as how many employees and owners identify as women, Indigenous people, members of racialized groups, youth, LGBTQ2+, or live with disabilities. The indirect collection of aggregated characteristics of the organization's workers can be justified against Statistics Canada's Necessity and Proportionality Framework:

1. Necessity: The Canadian Agricultural Partnership is a five-year (2018-2023), investment by federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) governments to strengthen and grow Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector through streamlined programs and services that are easier to access, as well as improvements to programs that help agri-operations manage significant risks that threaten the viability of farms. The CAPS will demonstrate outcomes and impacts of the Program on participating organizations and the overall agriculture sector. A lack of this data could compromise significant program objectives; specifically, the collection of the aggregate sociodemographic information of the workers of agricultural organizations that have participated in the CAP will lead to the production and expansion of detailed statistical information that will provide insights into the experiences of specific underrepresented population groups in these settings.

   The information will also help strengthen the sector by better reflecting the diversity of its communities, enhancing collaboration across different jurisdictions, securing and supporting public trust in the sector, and improving client services. Building the capacity of the national agriculture sector will necessitate supporting diverse groups to develop their skills to take on greater leadership roles, building the entrepreneurial capacity and business skills of under-represented groups (such as Indigenous communities, youth, women, and persons with disabilities), facilitating the sharing of industry experience, best practices and knowledge to help under-represented groups manage transformation, and reinforcing the agriculture sector by incorporating the views of a more diverse set of industry players. Better data, analysis and information can highlight inequities and promote fairness and inclusion in the delivery of programs, services, and policy decisions made by AAFC and the provincial and territorial governments involved in the cost-shared envelope of the CAP.

   The aggregate sociodemographic information collected is not reflective of any requirements associated with participation in the CAP, however, it is of importance to federal, provincial and territorial stakeholders as well as the Canadian population that potential barriers to participation experienced by underrepresented groups be identified and considered to better support equitable participation across the agricultural sector.

2. Effectiveness - Working assumptions: The aggregate information collected on a voluntary basis will include the number of workers who identify as women, LGBTQ2+, Indigenous, racialized groups, youth and people living with disabilities in order to disaggregate data related to Canadian businesses whose workers belong to underrepresented groups. The effectiveness of the information to be collected is limited, as it is a proxy response (not collected directly from individuals by Statistics Canada) for which the accuracy cannot be validated. However, the aggregates do not pertain to any identifiable individuals, and to mitigate against collecting inaccurate information, the sociodemographic module of the questionnaire starts with a notice informing respondents that questions collecting personal information about the business' workers are voluntary, and respondents are given the option to select the responses "Don't know" or "Prefer not to answer" for all of the voluntary sociodemographic questions.

3. Proportionality: There are data gaps in terms of profiles of population groups that receive government funding beyond ownership of the enterprise. CAP programs are designed to serve businesses based on size, region and activity, but impact on specific population groups has not previously been assessed and is becoming an increasingly important consideration when creating programs in order to serve all Canadians. Such assessment would meet the priorities of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership for future iterations. Collecting this data allows for participation monitoring in order to create baseline metrics of participation by underrepresented groups.

   This sociodemographic information is not collected when organizations apply for the CAP and it does not impact acceptance into the program. The information will be collected only in the survey to better understand participation of underrepresented groups, allowing for the implementation of evidence-based polices in the agriculture and agri-food sector to encourage further participation of underrepresented population groups. This effort aims to address inequalities and disparities affecting underrepresented population groups, allow for a broader reach in participation across the agricultural sector to foster future generations of farmers, considering economic, training and other barriers to entry, and to support and empower producers and agri-food workers.

4. Alternatives: The following alternative modes of collecting the sociodemographic information were considered.

   Direct collection from the workers in the organization through additional screening questions. Despite potentially being more accurate, this method could limit the response rate and compromise the program's ability to produce statistics about these minority groups that comply with Statistics Canada's quality guidelines. Additionally, this method could be more burdensome and could entail the collection of information about identifiable individuals.

   Linking the sociodemographic variables from other surveys or administrative files. Statistics Canada's only linkable dataset that contains these types of variables is the Census of Population, and only a portion of Canadians were asked to respond to the long-form questionnaire where these questions were asked. As such, the linkage rate would similarly be too low to meet Statistics Canada's quality guidelines.

   The indirect voluntary collection of aggregate estimates of numbers of employees identifying as being a part of the population groups was therefore estimated as being the most efficient to meet the identified needs while remaining the least privacy intrusive as no identifiable information is being communicated to Statistics Canada. Identifiable information is not required as it will not serve to make decisions about individuals.

Mitigation factors

The overall risk of harm to the affected individuals has been deemed manageable with existing Statistics Canada safeguards that are described in Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment, with particular emphasis on the following measures:

• As the worker sociodemographic questions in the CAPS aim to collect aggregate personal information about individuals other than the respondent, respondents will be informed at the start of that questionnaire module that it is voluntary, and that they have the right to refuse to provide this information.
• Only aggregate data will be collected, making individuals unidentifiable at the respondent level without linking to other information; Statistics Canada will not attempt to re-identify any individuals from the aggregate personal information collected.
• Statistics Canada will not publish any information that could allow the identification of any individuals. Additional suppressions will be performed on outputs to ensure any risk of re-identifiability is mitigated.
• Respondents have the option to select the response "Don't know" or "Prefer not to answer" for all questions about aggregate sociodemographic characteristics of workers in their organization. As such, the respondent may choose to answer these questions to the best of their knowledge or not.
• Alternatively, while the worker sociodemographic information is provided in aggregate format, respondents are informed that they may provide the information but request that their survey responses not be shared outside of Statistics Canada by mailing a written letter of objection to the Chief Statistician of Canada specifying the organization(s) with which they do not want Statistics Canada to share their data, in which case their responses will be withheld from data sharing with the specified organization(s).^{Footnote 3}

Conclusion

This assessment concludes that the overall risk of harm to the survey respondents has been deemed manageable with the abovementioned mitigations and existing Statistics Canada safeguards described in Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment.

Resources

• Calgary-based Crescent Point Energy Corp. announced its 2024 preliminary budget, and development capital expenditures are expected to be $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion. The company said approximately 70% of its 2024 budget is expected to be allocated to its Kaybob Duvernay and Alberta Montney plays while the remaining capital budget will be allocated to its long-cycle assets in Saskatchewan.
• Calgary-based Trans Mountain Pipeline announced it had received a ruling from the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) on September 25th that approved its proposed deviation to pipeline routing within the previously agreed to right-of-way.
• Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. announced it had entered into three separate definitive agreements with Dominion Energy, Inc. of Virginia to acquire The East Ohio Gas Company, Questar Gas Company and its related Wexpro companies, and Public Service Company of North Carolina, Incorporated for an aggregate purchase price of USD $14.0 billion, including debt. Enbridge said the acquisitions are expected to close in 2024, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the receipt of certain required U.S. federal and state regulatory approvals.
• Montreal-based Domtar Corporation announced it would indefinitely idle the pulp and paper operations at its Espanola, Ontario, facility for an expected period greater than one year. Domtar said the decision would result in a curtailment of its annual pulp production by approximately 280,000 metric tons of kraft pulp and approximately 69,000 tons of specialty paper and will affect approximately 450 employees. The company also said that the pulp mill will shut down in early October and the paper machines will shut down by early November.

Manufacturing

• Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec-based Olymel L.P. announced the definitive closure of its pork boning and packaging plant in Princeville, Quebec on November 10th and that 301 employees will be affected. Olymel also announced the definitive closure of its Paris, Ontario poultry processing plant and that 93 employees will be affected. Olymel said the poultry production would be transferred to its Oakville, Ontario plant.
• Volta Energy Solutions (Volta), a subsidiary of South Korea-based Solus Advanced Materials, announced it is launching a battery copper foil factory for electric vehicles in Granby, Quebec. Volta said it expects to go into mass production in 2026 and that this initial launch will produce 25,000 tons of copper foil per year.
• Sweden-based Northvolt AB announced it will establish a fully integrated lithium-ion battery gigafactory just outside Montreal that will host 60 GWh of annual cell manufacturing capacity. The company said construction of the first 30 GWh phase of the project is due to commence before the end of 2023 and the first operations are set to begin in 2026. Northvolt also said the project is expected to require a total investment of $7 billion and employ up to 3,000 people.
• On September 24th, Unifor announced that its members had voted to ratify a new three-year collective agreement with Ford of Canada and that the agreement covers more than 5,600 workers at Ford facilities in Canada.

Other news

• On September 14th, the Government of Canada announced it had extended deadlines for Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loan repayments, providing an additional year for term loan repayment, and additional flexibilities for loan holders looking to benefit from partial loan forgiveness of up to 33%.
• On September 21st, the Government of Canada announced it had introduced Bill C-56, the Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, that would:
  • Enhance the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Rental Rebate on new rental housing, to incentivize the construction of more apartment buildings, student housing, and senior residences; and
  • Amend the Competition Act to enhance competition, particularly in the grocery sector.
• On September 26th, the Government of Canada announced that the annual limit for Canada Mortgage Bonds was being increased from $40 billion to up to $60 billion and that the new measure would help to build up to 30,000 more rental apartments per year.
• On August 31st, the Government of British Columbia announced it was extending the provincial state of emergency until September 14th due to continued fire risk in many regions and tens of thousands of people still under evacuation order and alert. On September 14th, the Government of British Columbia said the provincial state of emergency would expire at the end of the day.
• The Northwest Territories' minimum wage increased from $15.20 to $16.05 per hour on September 1st.
• The Bank of Canada held its target for the overnight rate at 5.0%. The last change in the target for the overnight rate was a 25 basis points increase in July 2023. The bank said it is also continuing its policy of quantitative tightening.
• Montreal-based Air Canada announced it had placed a firm order for 18 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner aircraft, with deliveries scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the last aircraft scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2027. Air Canada said the agreement also includes options for another 12 Boeing 787-10 aircraft.
• Seattle, Washington-based Amazon.com, inc. announced it was hiring 6,000 employees across Canada in full-time, seasonal, and part-time roles.

United States and other international news

• The U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) maintained the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25% to 5.50%. The last change in the target range was a 25 basis points increase in July 2023. The Committee also said it will continue reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities.
• The European Central Bank (ECB) raised its three key interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.50% (main refinancing operations), 4.75% (marginal lending facility), and 4.00% (deposit facility). The last change in these rates was a 25 basis points increase in July 2023.
• The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to maintain the Bank Rate at 5.25%. The last change in the Bank Rate was a 25 basis points increase in August 2023.
• The Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Committee of Norway's Norges Bank raised the policy rate by 25 basis points to 4.25%. The last change in the policy rate was a 25 basis points increase in August 2023.
• The Executive Board of Sweden's Riksbank raised its repo rate by 25 basis points to 4.0%. The last change in the repo rate was a 25 basis points increase in June 2023.
• The Bank of Japan (BoJ) announced it will apply a negative interest rate of -0.1% to the Policy-Rate Balances in current accounts held by financial institutions at the BoJ and that it will purchase a necessary amount of Japanese government bonds (JGBs) without setting an upper limit so that 10-year JGB yields will remain at around zero percent.
• The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left the target for the cash rate unchanged at 4.10%. The last change in the target for the cash rate was a 25 basis points increase in June 2023.
• On September 15th, the United Auto Workers (UAW) announced that members at the GM Wentzville Assembly, Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex, and Ford Michigan Assembly plant had walked off the job and begun strike action. On September 22nd, the UAW announced it was expanding its strike against General Motors and Stellantis at 38 locations across 20 states and that approximately 5,600 workers would join the approximately 13,000 who were already on strike.
• California based Cisco Systems Inc. and Splunk Inc., a provider of cybersecurity, announced a definitive agreement under which Cisco intends to acquire Splunk for approximately USD $28 billion in equity value. The companies said the transaction is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2024, subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions including approval by Splunk shareholders.

Financial market news

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed at USD $90.79 per barrel on September 29th, up from a closing value of USD $83.63 at the end of August. Western Canadian Select crude oil traded in the USD $61 to $75 per barrel range throughout September. The Canadian dollar closed at 73.96 cents U.S. on September 29th, up from 73.90 cents U.S. at the end of August. The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 19,541.27 on September 29th, down from 20,292.62 at the end of August.

At Statistics Canada, we are always at the forefront, implementing leading-edge tools, technology and methods in what we do. And the collection, handling, processing and tabulation of massive amounts of data from numerous sources has always depended on the responsible use of those latest technologies and developments in software.

The agency continuously incorporates the use of the latest advances in ways that protect the privacy, confidentiality and quality of the outputs that bring greater value and efficiency to our operations and processes. Because being responsive to what Canadians need, also means being responsive to how we use these new technologies.

As artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) continue to evolve and provide organizations around the world exciting opportunities to improve services, Statistics Canada has also begun exploring the potential benefits. But ensuring we use this technology responsibly and ethically is of paramount importance.

Adopting new technologies like AI and ML offers unique advantages when used with robust frameworks and good governance and does not come at the expense of how we safeguard your data. We are attentive to any risks associated with new processes and our experts continue to evaluate the benefits offered by any new technology with the necessary controls to ensure responsible application.

Whether we collect administrative, alternative or survey data, one thing remains certain—Statistics Canada continues to operate in accordance with governing instruments and frameworks, while ensuring your information remains private, secure and confidential. Visit our Protecting your privacy page for additional information, and check out Collecting your data to learn about the many ways Statistics Canada collects data and how it benefits you.

Visit our website to learn more about Statistics Canada's Framework for Responsible Machine Learning Processes. To read more on the Government of Canada's guiding principles around AI, please see Responsible use of artificial intelligence in government.

Artificial intelligence for data processing

There are many ways in which AI facilitates data processing. Modernization efforts underway at Statistics Canada will reduce response burden on farmers responding to agriculture surveys with innovative data processing methods, such as computer vision.

For example, the Agriculture Statistics Program has been using supervised ML for the following projects:

• In 2019, the agency implemented a model-based method for Manitoba to produce crop yield predictions using longitudinal satellite observations of vegetation levels as well as regional meteorological measures. See: Use of Machine Learning for Crop Yield Prediction.
• During the 2021 Census of Agriculture, Statistics Canada carried out a ML project to determine the total surface area of greenhouses in Canada using satellite imagery. See: Greenhouse Detection with Remote Sensing and Machine Learning.
• An agency project used existing satellite imagery from 2018, 2019 and 2020 to determine which crops were growing in agricultural land. The results were 95% conclusive. See: Extracting Temporal Trends from Satellite Images.

Artificial intelligence for service delivery, automation and data analysis

Statistics Canada is using AI techniques in the following ways to provide services and to analyze, categorize and group data:

• 2026 Census Chatbot: Statistics Canada is currently developing a new chatbot for the 2026 Census to improve communications and support services provided to Canadians. This tool is being developed using a combination of open source and SaaS (software as a service) ML solutions. The service will provide Canadians with timely, accurate, and automatic responses to frequently asked questions and will provide a pathway to a live agent, if needed. This chatbot will only use responses that have been written and reviewed by subject-matter experts from Statistics Canada to ensure accuracy.
• Canadian Coroner and Medical Examiner Database: Statistics Canada works with provinces and territories to collect data for the Canadian Coroner and Medical Examiner Database. Since each province and territory has its own method for classifying data, ML is used to organize the collected data into coherent datasets. Analysts then assess the datasets for patterns of death over time. Detecting trends in mortality allows medical examiners and coroners to understand growing hazards. These hazards are reviewed and validated by experts within the agency to ensure the mitigation of biases and preserve the quality of our outputs before being flagged as public health threats to Canadians.

Governance frameworks for using artificial intelligence

Statistics Canada is committed to using AI in a responsible and ethical manner. Our processes are constantly evolving to adapt to the opportunities and challenges associated with new technologies. We respect our commitment to Canadians, and we operate in accordance with governing instruments and frameworks that guide the responsible use of AI, including the following:

• Protection of confidentiality in accordance with the Statistics Act: The Statistics Act ensures that the information provided to us is kept confidential. Maintaining the trust of Canadians and protecting their personal information is always a priority for the agency. See: Privacy and confidentiality for more information.
• Cybersecurity assessments: Every new project that uses AI undergoes a cybersecurity risk assessment of all the applications, systems and software that will be used to process sensitive and personal information. This assessment identifies and manages any potential threats, vulnerabilities and risks associated with processes, technologies (software vulnerabilities), people and documents.
• Governance instruments: We comply with all Government of Canada directives on the Responsible use of artificial intelligence, including the Directive on Automated Decision-Making.
• Governance committees: Statistics Canada works with many governance mechanisms that approve data-collection projects. The Advisory Council on Ethics and Modernization of Microdata Access complements the guiding role played by the Canadian Statistics Advisory Council. For more information on ethical reviews, watch the Data ethics: An introduction and Data ethics part 2: Ethical reviews videos.
• Principles of necessity and proportionality: Privacy and confidentiality are central principles in every step of a project involving data collection. The Necessity and Proportionality Framework was developed in partnership with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, in full accordance with the Statistics Act and the Privacy Act, to balance society's need for official statistics, with the need to reduce response burden on Canadians, all while protecting their privacy.
• Six guiding principles for ethical consideration: These principles ensure privacy protection optimization and production of information when designing a data-gathering approach. They include benefits for Canadians, privacy and security, transparency and accountability, trust and sustainability, data quality, as well as fairness and do no harm. To learn more, see: Leading with integrity.
• Framework for responsible machine learning: To guide the ethical use of data processed using ML techniques, Statistics Canada has developed the Responsible use of machine learning at Statistics Canada framework for statistical programs and projects that use ML algorithms.

Visit Data science projects to learn more about the use of AI at Statistics Canada in areas such as natural language processing and image classification. Statistics Canada continues to explore the use of AI and ML as a solution to facilitate data collection, to categorize and make safe and effective predictions about data, and to enhance the value of the projects within the agency.

Learn more about the basic concepts of ML and AI with Machine learning: An introduction.

Purpose

This monthly survey collects data on the activities of all Canadian refineries, terminals and upgraders involved in the production and distribution of refined petroleum products. This data is required for integration into the input-output sector of the Canadian System of National Accounts. Data is made available under the authority of the Statistics Act to other federal departments and provincial authorities through data sharing agreements subject to embodied principles of data confidentiality. Data is intended for use by survey respondents, industry associations, industry analysts, the press and the general public to assess trends in the Canadian petroleum sector.

Who must Submit

To be completed by the operators of all petroleum refineries, upgraders and terminals located in Canada.

When to Submit

The survey must be received by Statistics Canada 10 calendar days following the month in review.

How to Submit

An email invitation is sent to respondents to download an Excel spreadsheet based questionnaire for completion and to provide access to a secure portal to upload the data to Statistic Canada.

• Login to the survey link.
• Download, complete, and save the questionnaire.
• Return to the survey link and follow the instructions to attach the completed questionnaire.

General Instructions

Respondent Identification Data

• Confirm the legal name of the reporting company.
• Confirm the operating name if appropriate.
• Confirm the establishment name.
• Confirm the physical address of the establishment.
• Confirm the mailing address of the Contact. (Note: If the physical address and mailing address are the same, provide the information only for the physical address.)
• Confirm the name, telephone number, facsimile number, and e-mail address of the person to contact concerning information shown on the report. The person listed should be the person most knowledgeable of the specific data reported.

Operations

Quantities: Report using the following criteria.

Report all quantities to the nearest whole number in Cubic Metres.

Report for each product, beginning and end-of-month stocks, receipts, inputs, production, shipments, and fuel use and losses and adjustments during the month.

All values should be positive except for Losses and Adjustments, which can be negative.

Products should balance: Stocks Beginning of Month + Receipts + Production = Inputs + Shipments + Fuel Uses + Losses and Adjustments + Stocks End of Month.

Report data for only those lines which are applicable to your operation. If there are no data for a specific line, leave the entire line blank.

Stocks (Beginning and End of Month)

Report beginning stocks on the 1st day of the reporting month (start of day). Report ending stocks on the last day of the reporting month (end of day). All stocks should be corrected to 15oC less basic sediment and water (BS&W).

Report all stocks in the custody of the establishment regardless of ownership. Reported stock quantities should represent actual measured inventories.

Report stocks of mixed liquefied gases (including unfractionated streams) by the individual components (i.e., ethane, propane, normal butane, and isobutane) as determined by chemical analysis.

Report ending stocks of all liquefied gases on their individual product lines as well as totals on the line hydrocarbon gas liquids, Total.

Report all domestic and foreign stocks held at the refinery, terminal and upgrader.

Report end-of-month stocks of unfinished oils by degree Celsius end-point. The following are the degree end-point categories: Naphthas and Lighter, less than 205oC; Kerosene and Light Gas Oils, 205oC to 343oC; Heavy Gas Oils, 344oC to 538oC; and Residuum, greater than 538oC.

Receipts During the Month

Report all receipts at the refinery, terminal and upgrader after the products are actually received at the establishment.

Report receipts of Natural Gas Plant Liquids and Liquefied Refinery Gases (including olefins and derivatives). Include both fuel use and petrochemical feedstock use.

Exclude natural gas used as a feedstock to produce hydrogen from refinery receipts. Also exclude natural gas received at the refinery for use as a fuel.

Inputs During Month

Report the volume of crude oil, unfinished oils, natural gas plant liquids, other hydrocarbons, hydrogen, oxygenates, and liquefied refinery gases input to refinery processing units for the purpose of producing finished petroleum products.

Report gross refinery input for each item identified on the survey form.

Note: Gross inputs are typically greater than crude oil inputs since gross inputs include materials other than crude oil as well as any re-runs of the same cubic metres through the atmospheric crude oil distillation unit.

Exclude from input of Crude Oil any oils that have undergone prior refinery processing. Such oils should be reported as inputs of intermediate product (typically, unfinished oils or motor gasoline blending components) or finished product. An "Input" of a finished product, such as a finished motor gasoline or distillate fuel oil, represents a reclassification of a finished product.

Exclude inputs of product used to manufacture finished petrochemicals. Input of natural gas to produce hydrogen should be excluded. Input of feedstock to manufacture oxygenates should be excluded. Inputs of finished petroleum products are explained under "Reclassification of Inventory".

Report as input any finished product, blending component, oxygenate, or other material blended or reclassified to a different product. Examples of quantities to report as input include Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending (BOB) and Fuel Ethanol blended to produce finished motor gasoline, and kerosene blended with distillate fuel oil.

Report input whether blending or product reclassification takes place due to transfers of products between tanks, through in-line blending systems, or by splash blending in trucks or rail cars.

Report as input any Distillate Fuel Oil to be reclassified to a different distillate category (i.e. diesel being reclassified as light fuel oil) as well as any Distillate Fuel Oil, Kerosene, or Kerosene-Type Jet Fuel being reclassified to a different product (see Reclassification of Inventory discussed later in these instructions).

Report gross input for each item listed on the survey form.

Report inputs of selected natural gas plant liquids and liquefied refinery gases (i.e. normal butane, butylene, isobutane, isobutylene, and pentanes plus) on their individual product lines as well as totals on the line for Hydrocarbon gas liquids, TOTAL.

Production During the Month

Report gross refinery production during the month for each item identified on the survey.

Report the volume of petroleum products produced from processing of crude oil, unfinished oils, liquefied petroleum gases, other hydrocarbons, hydrogen, and oxygenates.

Report the volume of petroleum products produced from blending operations of motor gasoline and aviation blending components.

Report the production of olefins (Ethylene, propylene, butylene) to include only that portion of liquefied refinery gases that are shipped from the refinery as a finished refinery product (e.g., olefins shipped to petrochemical facilities).

Report the production of aromatics (e.g., benzene, toluene, and xylene) based upon intended use. Aromatics to be used for blending or compounding into finished aviation or motor gasoline should be reported as production of aviation or motor gasoline blending components. If aromatics are used as petrochemical feedstock then report their production as Naphtha less than 205oC.

Coprocessing (Refineries only)

Report receipts and inputs of biogenic feedstocks (plant or animal products) used for co-processing as other renewable fuels and intermediate products.

Report as production any finished product or blending component blended or reclassified from inputs. Examples of production to report include Finished Motor Gasoline blended from input of BOB and Fuel Ethanol, and the increase in distillate fuel oil volume resulting from blending kerosene.

Report gross production for each item listed on the survey form.

Report production whether blending or product reclassification took place due to transfers of products between tanks, through in-line blending systems, or by splash blending in trucks or rail cars.

Report as production any Distillate Fuel Oil, Kerosene, or Kerosene-Type Jet Fuel reclassified from a different product (see Reclassification of Inventory discussed later in these instructions).

Total Input and Total Production

When the report is completed correctly, every input cubic metre should have a corresponding production cubic metre. Therefore, total input should equal total production. Small variances may exist due to rounding, measurement, gains, and losses. These variances are reported using total line, quantities reported for the total line balance total input and total production.

Shipments During the Month

Report all shipments, including intracompany shipments to other storage facilities, refineries, chemical plants, or fractionating facilities. Inputs to onsite petrochemical plants should be reported as shipments from your establishment.

Fuel Use During the Month

Report petroleum products used as fuel at your establishment.

Exclude fuel use at petrochemical facilities located at the same site as the refinery.

Losses and Adjustments During Month

Report all non-processing losses (e.g., spills, fire losses, contamination, etc.) by product. Include refinery processing gains and losses and stock discrepancies caused by gauging problems.

Note: Losses and adjustments should represent less than 10% of Stocks Beginning of Month + Receipts + Production + Inputs + Shipments + Fuel Uses + Losses and Adjustments + Stocks End of Month.

Reclassification of Inventory

Report a finished product that is reclassified as a different finished product or as an unfinished oil as follows: the quantity of the original product is reported in the "Input" column and the reclassified product is reported in the "Production" column.

For example, if you produce 10,000 cubic metres of kerosene during January and have it in storage at the end of the month, this quantity is to be reported as "Production" of Kerosene on the January report. If during February the intended use of the 10,000 cubic metres of kerosene is changed to Kerosene-Type Jet Fuel, report this reclassification by reporting the 10,000 cubic metres as "Input" of Kerosene and as "Production" of Kerosene-Type Jet Fuel.

Hydrogen

Report receipts, inputs, and fuel use and loss of hydrogen. Include hydrogen produced from hydrogen plants located at refineries (and upgraders) and hydrogen purchased from third-party suppliers.

Note: Report hydrogen in fuel oil equivalent cubic metres.

Exclude hydrogen produced from catalytic reformers from quantities reported for to avoid double counting inputs. Hydrogen input from reformer units is counted indirectly as input of crude oil and unfinished oils.

Exclude feedstock inputs for hydrogen production.

Report Still gas, Special Naphtha, and Unfinished oils, naphtha, and lighter as shipments to a hydrogen plant when these products are used as hydrogen feedstock. Report any feedstock return streams from a hydrogen plant as receipts from the hydrogen plant and inputs at the establishment. Report receipts of return streams using the same product as were used when reporting feedstock shipments to the hydrogen plant.

Oxygenates

Report oxygenates on an individual basis. All other oxygenates includes other aliphatic alcohols and ethers intended for motor gasoline blending.

Report stocks held at oxygenate production facilities, located within or adjacent to the establishment.

Report gross inputs of oxygenates. Do not "net out" oxygenate inputs by reporting the difference between oxygenate inputs and production.

Exclude oxygenates as motor gasoline blending components unless they have been commingled with motor gasoline blending components.

Liquefied Gases

Report all mixes of natural gas plant liquids (including unfractionated streams) and liquefied refinery gases by individual components as determined by chemical analysis, (e.g., ethane, propane, normal butane, isobutane, pentanes plus for gas plant liquids, and ethane/ethylene, propane/propylene, normal butane/butylene, and isobutane/isobutylene for liquefied refinery gases).

Report Liquefied Gases extracted from natural gas liquids streams originating at natural gas processing plants (NGPLs), and received by the establishment for processing into finished products.

Report Liquefied Gases that are fractionated from crude oil or produced from downstream processes, such as catalytic cracking, and result in finished liquefied gases.

Report production of polymer grade or chemical grade propylene as propylene. Production volumes reported as propylene will include propylene and up to 8% propane. This is based on a definition of chemical grade propylene made up of at least 92% propylene and up to 8% propane.

Report production of mixed propane and propylene streams that do not meet the specification for polymer grade or chemical grade propylene (including refinery grade propylene) separately as propane and propylene, as determined by chemical analysis, except in cases when you are reasonably certain the mixed propane and propylene stream will be sold as fuel, in which case report the entire mixed stream as propane.

Finished Motor Gasoline

Report finished motor gasoline, blended with fuel ethanol or other finished motor gasoline.

Gasoline Blending Components

Report naphtha-range hydrocarbons as one of the products broadly classified as motor gasoline blending components in cases where the intended end use is for blending or compounding into finished motor gasoline. Products classified as motor gasoline blending components include blendstock for oxygenate blending (BOB), gasoline treated as blendstock (GTAB) and all "other" motor gasoline blending components.

Report naphtha-range hydrocarbons intended for blending or compounding into finished aviation gasoline in product.

Exclude any naphtha-range hydrocarbons from gasoline blending components if the intended end use is other than blending or compounding into finished motor gasoline or finished aviation gasoline (e.g. naphtha intended for use in solvents or as petrochemical feedstocks).

Exclude the following products from motor gasoline blending components.

• normal butane,
• butylene
• isobutane
• isobutylene
• pentanes plus
• fuel ethanol, and
• ETBE.

While these products may be blended into finished motor gasoline, they are reported under separate product. This applies only to unblended products. After blending, butanes, pentanes plus, fuel ethanol, ETBE, and other materials become part of the volume of gasoline blending components or finished motor gasoline.

Note: Certain gasoline blending components may be received as return streams from chemical plants. In this case, it is very important to maintain consistent classification of product produced and shipped from the refinery and received and input at the refinery. For example, a refinery may ship naphtha-range petrochemical feedstocks to a chemical plant and then receive a return stream from the chemical plant that will be used for motor gasoline blending. In this case, the return stream reported must be classified as receipt and input of petrochemical feedstock and then production of gasoline blending components or finished gasoline.

Distillate Fuel Oil

Report refinery input and production during the month and end-of-month stocks of distillate fuel oil by sulphur content.

Diesel Fuel Oil: ≤ 15ppm sulphur

Light Fuel Oil: > 15ppm sulphur

Distillate fuel oil 15ppm sulphur and under plus distillate fuel oil greater than 15ppm sulphur must sum to the total for Distillate Fuel Oil.

Residual Fuel Oil by Percent of Sulphur Content

Report refinery input and production during the month and end-of-month stocks of residual fuel oil by sulphur content (under 1.00% sulphur and over 1.00% sulphur) must sum to the total for Residual Fuel Oil.

Lubricants

Report only lubricant base oils produced at the refinery. Exclude finished lubricants produced at lube plants. Exclude by-products of lubricating oil refining such as aromatic extracts derived from solvent extraction or tars derived from deasphalting. Reporting categories include:

Paraffinic. Includes all grades of bright stock and neutrals with a Viscosity Index >75.

Naphthenic. Includes all lubricating oil base stocks with a Viscosity Index <75.

Note: The criterion for categorizing lubricants is based solely on the Viscosity Index of the stocks and is independent of crude sources and type of processing used to produce the oils.

Exceptions: Lubricating oil base stocks that have been historically classified as naphthenic or paraffinic by a refiner may continue to be so categorized irrespective of the Viscosity Index criterion (e.g., Unextracted paraffinic oils that would not meet the Viscosity Index test).

Report beginning and ending stocks, receipts and shipments of lubricant base oils. Shipments include lubricant base oils blended to produce finished lubricants as well as lubricant base oils shipped out during the month.

Asphalt

Report beginning and ending stocks, receipts and shipments of base asphalt. Shipments include any base asphalt blended to produce finished asphalt and any base asphalt that is sold or shipped out during the month. Do not report water or emulsifiers that are added to base asphalt to produce finished asphalt.

Petrochemical Feedstocks

Report petrochemical feedstock. Exclude finished petrochemicals.

Report deliveries of feedstock to petrochemical units within your refinery, chemical or rubber manufacturing plants as shipments.

Report return streams of petrochemical feedstocks as a receipt and input of petrochemical feedstocks and as a production in the product category of intended use.

Exclude liquefied gases as petrochemical feedstock. These products are reported by component as ethane, ethylene, propane, propylene, normal butane, butylene, isobutane, isobutylene, and pentanes plus.

Petroleum Coke

Report marketable petroleum coke in cubic metres.

Report catalyst coke in fuel oil equivalent cubic metres.

Still Gas

Report still gas shipped to petrochemical facilities as a shipment, less the amount of such streams returned to the producing refinery. Still gas used as a fuel at the refinery should be reported as a fuel use/loss.

Note: Report still gas in fuel oil equivalent cubic metres.

Provisions Regarding Confidentiality of Information and Data Sharing

Confidentiality

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Statistics Canada will use the information from this study for statistical and research purposes.

Data-sharing agreements

To reduce respondent burden, Statistics Canada has entered into data-sharing agreements with provincial and territorial statistical agencies and other government organizations, which have agreed to keep the data confidential and use them only for statistical purposes. Statistics Canada will only share data from this study with those organizations that have demonstrated a requirement to use the data.

Product Definitions

Asphalt. A dark-brown-to-black cement-like material containing bitumens as the predominant constituent obtained by petroleum processing; used primarily for road construction. It includes crude asphalt as well as the following finished products: cements, fluxes, the asphalt content of emulsions (exclusive of water), and petroleum distillates blended with asphalt to make cutback asphalts

Aviation Gasoline (Finished). A complex mixture of relatively volatile hydrocarbons with or without small quantities of additives, blended to form a fuel suitable for use in aviation reciprocating engines. Note: Data on blending components are not counted in data on finished aviation gasoline.

Aviation Gasoline Blending Components. Naphthas which will be used for blending or compounding into finished aviation gasoline (e.g., straight-run gasoline, alkylate, reformate, benzene, and xylene).

Biodiesel Fuel (FAME). It is a liquid fuel that is comprised of at least one mono-alkyl ester produced from one or more renewable fuel feedstocks in reaction with an alcohol reactant and is suitable for use in a diesel engine. It is also known as fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) and is made from renewable fuel feedstocks.

Blended with Fuel Ethanol. See Motor Gasoline (Finished).

Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending (BOB). See Motor Gasoline Blending Components.

Butane (C4H10). A normally gaseous straight-chain or branch-chain hydrocarbon extracted from natural gas or refinery gas streams. It includes normal butane and isobutane.

Normal Butane (C4H10). A normally gaseous straight-chain hydrocarbon that is a colorless paraffinic gas which boils at a temperature of -0.5 degrees Celsius and is extracted from natural gas or refinery gas streams.

Isobutane (C4H10). A normally gaseous branch-chain hydrocarbon. It is a colorless paraffinic gas that boils at a temperature of -12 degrees Celsius. It is extracted from natural gas or refinery gas streams.

Butylene (C4H8). An olefinic hydrocarbon recovered from refinery processes.

Conventional crude oil - heavy. See Crude Oil.

Conventional crude oil - light. See Crude Oil.

Crude bitumen. See Crude Oil.

Crude Oil. A mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid phase in natural underground reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric pressure after passing through surface separating facilities. Depending upon the characteristics of the crude stream, it may also include: Small amounts of hydrocarbons that exist in gaseous phase in natural underground reservoirs but are liquid at atmospheric pressure after being recovered from oil well (casinghead) gas in lease separators and are subsequently commingled with the crude stream without being separately measured. Lease condensate recovered as a liquid from natural gas wells in lease or field separation facilities and later mixed into the crude stream is also included; Small amounts of nonhydrocarbons produced from oil, such as sulphur and various metals;

Drip gases, and liquid hydrocarbons produced from oil sands, gilsonite, and oil shale. Liquids produced at natural gas processing plants are excluded. Crude oil is refined to produce a wide array of petroleum products, including heating oils; gasoline, diesel and jet fuels; lubricants; asphalt; ethane, propane, and butane; and many other products used for their energy or chemical content.

Conventional crude oil - light. A mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid phase in natural underground reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric pressure after passing through surface separating facilities. Crude oil is deemed to be "light" if it has a density less than 900 kg/m3.

Conventional crude oil - heavy. A mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid phase in natural underground reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric pressure after passing through surface separating facilities. Crude oil is deemed to be "heavy" if it has a density equal to 900 or greater.

Crude bitumen. A naturally occurring viscous mixture, mainly of hydrocarbon heavier than pentane, that may contain sulphur compounds and that, in its naturally occurring viscous state, will not flow to a well.

Lease condensate. A mixture consisting primarily of pentanes and heavier hydrocarbons which is recovered as a liquid from natural gas in lease separation facilities. This category excludes natural gas liquids, such as butane and propane, which are recovered at downstream natural gas processing plants or facilities. See Natural Gas Liquids.

Synthetic crude oil. Synthetic crude oil obtained by the upgrading of crude bitumen or heavy crude oil.

Diesel Fuel. See Distillate Fuel Oil.

Distillate Fuel Oil. A general classification for one of the petroleum fractions produced in conventional distillation operations. It includes diesel fuels and light fuel oils.

Diesel Fuel. Products known as No. 2 and No. 3 diesel fuel are used in on-highway diesel engines, such as those in trucks and automobiles, as well as off- highway engines, such as those in railroad locomotives and agricultural machinery.

Light Fuel Oil. Products known as No. 2 and No. 3 fuel oils are used primarily for space heating.

Ethane (C2H6). A normally gaseous straight-chain hydrocarbon. It is a colorless paraffinic gas that boils at a temperature of – 88.6 degrees Celsius. It is extracted from natural gas and refinery gas streams.

Ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE). See Oxygenates.

Ethylene (C2H4). An olefinic hydrocarbon recovered from refinery processes or petrochemical processes. Ethylene is used as a petrochemical feedstock for numerous chemical applications and the production of consumer goods.

Finished Aviation Gasoline. See Aviation Gasoline (Finished).

Finished Motor Gasoline. See Motor Gasoline (Finished).

Fuel Ethanol An anhydrous alcohol (ethanol with less than 1% water) intended for gasoline blending that is produced from one or more renewable fuel feedstocks.

Gasoline Treated as Blendstock (GTAB). See Motor Gasoline Blending Components.

Heavy Gas Oils. See Unfinished Oils.

Hydrocarbon Gas Liquids. A group of hydrocarbons including ethane, propane, normal butane, isobutane, and natural gasoline and their associated olefins, including ethylene, propylene, butylene, and isobutylene. Excludes liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Hydrogen. The lightest of all gases, occurring chiefly in combination with oxygen in water; exists also in acids, bases, alcohols, petroleum, and other hydrocarbons.

Isobutane. See Butane. See Crude Oil.

Isobutylene (C4H8). An olefinic hydrocarbon recovered from refinery processes or petrochemical processes.

Kerosene. A light petroleum distillate that is used in space heaters, cook stoves, and water heaters and is suitable for use as a light source when burned in wick-fed lamps. Included are other grades of kerosene called range or stove oil, which have properties similar to those of No. 1 fuel oil.

Kerosene and Light Gas Oils. See Unfinished Oils.

Kerosene-Type Jet Fuel. A kerosene-based product having a maximum distillation temperature of 204 degrees Celsius at the 10-percent recovery point and a final maximum boiling point of 300 degrees Celsius. It is used for commercial and military turbojet and turboprop aircraft engines.

Lease Condensate. See Crude Oil.

Light Fuel Oil. See Distillate Fuel Oil.

Lubricants. Substances used to reduce friction between bearing surfaces or as process materials either incorporated into other materials used as processing aids in the manufacture of other products, or used as carriers of other materials. Petroleum lubricants may be produced either from distillates or residues. Lubricants include all grades of lubricating oils from spindle oil to cylinder oil and those used in greases. Lubricants include: Naphthenic. Lubricants that contain cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbons; Parafinic. Lubricants that contain alkanes.

Miscellaneous Products. Includes all finished products not classified elsewhere (e.g., petrolatum, lube refining by-products (aromatic extracts and tars), absorption oils, ram-jet fuel, petroleum rocket fuels, synthetic natural gas feedstocks, and specialty oils).

Motor Gasoline (Finished). A complex mixture of relatively volatile hydrocarbons with or without small quantities of additives, blended to form a fuel suitable for use in spark-ignition engines. Finished motor gasoline is essentially ready for use by the end consumer without any further processing or blending required (with the exception of small quantities of additives). Finished motor gasoline includes:

Blended with Fuel Ethanol. Finished motor gasoline that has been blended with fuel ethanol.

Other Finished Motor Gasoline. Finished motor gasoline that will not be blended with fuel ethanol. Possible reasons that motor gasoline would not be blended with fuel ethanol include gasoline that is exported, used in competition vehicles, used in scientific research, used in military equipment, used in Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest territories, Yukon, Nunavut and part of Quebec north of latitude 600N. Motor gasoline that will be blended with fuel ethanol further down the distribution stream should be categorized as Motor Gasoline Blending Components.

Motor Gasoline Blending Components. Naphthas (e.g., straightrun gasoline, alkylate, reformate, benzene, toluene, xylene) used for blending or compounding into finished motor gasoline. Motor gasoline blending components include:

Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending (BOB). Gasoline blendstock intended for blending with oxygenates (fuel ethanol for example) downstream of the refinery where it was produced.

Gasoline Treated as Blendstock (GTAB). Foreign refinery gasoline to be blended with fuel ethanol downstream of the refinery where it was produced.

Other Motor Gasoline Blending Components. Naphthas used for blending or compounding into finished motor gasoline.

Naphthas and Lighter. See Unfinished Oils.

Naphtha Less Than 2050C (4010F) end-point. See Petrochemical Feedstocks.

Naphthenic Lubricants. See Lubricants.

Normal Butane. See Butane.

Other Finished Motor Gasoline. See Motor Gasoline (Finished).

Other Hydrocarbons. Materials received by a refinery and consumed as a raw material. Includes hydrogen, coal tar derivatives and gilsonite. Excludes natural gas used for fuel or hydrogen feedstock.

Other Motor Gasoline Blending Components. See Motor Gasoline Blending Components.

Other Oils Greater Than or equal to 205oC (4010F) end-point. See Petrochemical Feedstocks.

Other Renewable Fuels and Intermediate Products. See Renewable Fuels and Intermediate Products (Other).Oxygenates. Substances which, when added to gasoline, increase the amount of oxygen in that gasoline blend. Fuel Ethanol, Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE), Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (ETBE), and methanol are common oxygenates.

 

Ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) (CH3) 3COC2H5. An oxygenate blend stock formed by the catalytic etherification of isobutylene with ethanol.

Other Oxygenates. Other aliphatic alcohols and aliphatic ethers intended for motor gasoline blending (e.g., isopropyl ether (IPE) or n-propanol).

Parafinic Lubricants. See Lubricants.

Pentanes Plus. A mixture of hydrocarbons, mostly pentanes and heavier, extracted from natural gas. Includes isopentane, natural gasoline, and plant condensate.

Petrochemical Feedstocks. Chemical feedstocks derived from petroleum principally for the manufacture of chemicals, synthetic rubber, and a variety of plastics. Categories of petrochemical feedstocks include:

Naphtha Less Than 2050C (4010F) end-point. A naphtha with a boiling range of less than 205 degrees Celsius that is intended for use as a petrochemical feedstock.

Other Oils Greater Than or equal to 205oC (4010F) end-point. Oils with a boiling range equal to or greater than 205 degrees Celsius that are intended for use as a petrochemical feedstock.

Petroleum Coke. A residue high in carbon content and low in hydrogen that is the final product of thermal decomposition in the condensation process in cracking. This product is reported as marketable coke or catalyst coke.

Propane (C3H8). A normally gaseous straight-chain hydrocarbon. It is a colorless paraffinic gas that boils at a temperature of -42 degrees Celsius. It is extracted from natural gas or refinery gas streams.

Propylene (C3H6). An olefinic hydrocarbon recovered from refinery processes or petrochemical processes.

Renewable Diesel Fuel (HDRD/HVO). Hydrogenation-derived renewable diesel (HDRD) or hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) is a diesel substitute that can be derived from renewable fuel feedstocks. Exclude renewable diesel fuel coprocessed with petroleum feedstocks.

Renewable Fuels and Intermediate Products (Other). Fuels and fuel blending components, except biomass-based diesel fuel, renewable diesel fuel, and fuel ethanol, produced from renewable biomass. Include biogenic feedstocks (plant and animal products) used for co-processing, such as vegetable oil, animal fat and biocrude/bio-oil produced from renewable biomass.

Residual Fuel Oil. A general classification for the heavier oils, known as No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 fuel oils, that remain after the distillate fuel oils and lighter hydrocarbons are distilled away in refinery operations. NOTE: No. 6 fuel oil includes Bunker C fuel oil.

Residuum. See Unfinished Oils.

Special Naphthas (solvents). All finished products within the naphtha boiling range that are used as paint thinners, cleaners, or solvents. These products are refined to a specified flash point.

Still Gas (Refinery Gas). Any form or mixture of gases produced in refineries by distillation, cracking, reforming, and other processes. The principal constituents are methane, ethane, ethylene, normal butane, butylene, propane, propylene, etc. Still gas is used as a refinery fuel and a petrochemical feedstock.

Synthetic crude oil. See Crude Oil.

Unfinished Oils (excluding synthetic crude oil). All oils requiring further processing. Unfinished oils are produced by partial refining of crude oil and include naphthas and lighter oils, kerosene and light gas oils, heavy gas oils, and residuum.

Heavy Gas Oil. Petroleum distillates with an approximate boiling range from 334 degrees Celsius to 538 degrees Celsius.

Residuum. Residue from crude oil after distilling off all but the heaviest components, with a boiling range greater than 538 degrees Celsius.

Wax. A solid or semi-solid material at 25 degrees Celsius consisting of a mixture of hydrocarbons obtained or derived from petroleum fractions, or through a Fischer-Tropsch type process, in which the straight-chained paraffin series predominates. This includes all marketable wax, whether crude or refined, with a congealing point between 27 (or 29) and 121 degrees Celsius and a maximum oil content of 50 weight percent.

Addendum to the Supplement to Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment related to the Survey on Mental Health and Stressful Events, Cycle 2

Date: August 2023

Program manager: Director, Centre for Population Health Data
Director General, Health Statistics

Original Supplement to the Generic Privacy Impact Assessment:
Supplement to Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment related to the Survey on Mental Health and Stressful Events (SMHSE) (statcan.gc.ca)

Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB):

No modifications to original SPIA.

Description of changes to the statistical activity:

Statistics Canada is conducting the second cycle of the Survey on Mental Health and Stressful Events, under the authority of the Statistics Act^{Footnote 1}, on behalf of the Public Health Agency of Canada. The first cycle collected information to better understand how stressful events can impact the mental health of Canadians, and covered mental health status and well-being, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social support and healthy behaviours, and access to and use of mental health services and supports. In addition, sociodemographic information such as age, gender, occupation, marital status, postal code, Indigenous identity, population group, immigration and citizenship, education and income were included. Email addresses were also collected from respondents who expressed interest in participating in follow-up surveys.

For the second cycle of the survey, content from cycle 1 will be repeated with new questions added to assess a wider range of potential risk factors for experiencing stressful events and to better characterize potential consequences of stressful events on mental health and participation in the labour force. This includes additional questions about disability, sex at birth, sexual orientation, long-term health conditions, suicide, characteristics of stressful events, and labour market activities. The series of questions about occupation used for the first cycle was modified to better capture current and past history with specific high-risk occupations. Email addresses will no longer be collected as part of the questionnaire for cycle 2 as no follow-up surveys are planned.

This voluntary household survey collects information from individuals aged 18 years and older who live in Canadian provinces. The same sample size and methodology used for cycle 1 of the survey (35,000 respondents) will be used for cycle 2.

Reason for addendum:

While the Supplement to the Generic Privacy Impact Assessment for the Survey on Mental Health and Stressful Events addresses the privacy and security risks for cycle 1, this addendum addresses the new collection of sensitive personal information for cycle 2.

Necessity and Proportionality

The collection and use of personal information for cycle 2 of the Survey on Mental Health and Stressful Events can be justified against Statistics Canada's Necessity and Proportionality Framework:

1. Necessity: As with the first cycle, a quick and timely assessment of the mental health and well‐being of Canadians, including vulnerable groups, will help inform government decision‐making in order to support Canadians and their families dealing with mental health issues. In addition, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the survey sponsor, has a reporting requirement under the Federal Framework on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Act, and will use the information to assess the prevalence and impacts of PTSD and other mental health conditions, as well as to inform and develop policies and programs to support the planning of mental health resources.

   The new questions in cycle 2 will be used to characterize social costs^{Footnote 2} associated with PTSD and vulnerable groups in which exposure to stressful life events and prevalence of PTSD may be elevated. Specifically,

   • Social costs related to labour force participation. Many people with PTSD report that their symptoms affect their ability to work or attend school, but the extent of these impacts is largely unknown; the new survey content about impacts of chronic health conditions on labour market activities aims to fill this data gap.
   • Mental health outcomes. The survey will also fill gaps in data on suicide planning and attempts; whereas the first cycle only asked questions about having seriously contemplated suicide, the second cycle will ask additional questions about having made a plan to attempt suicide and about having attempted suicide.
   • Characterizing vulnerable groups. The additional sociodemographic data collected (sex at birth, sexual orientation, disability status, long-term health conditions, occupational history) is needed for disaggregated analysis of subgroups of the affected population. Treatment of PTSD tends to be highly individualized, and many factors need to be taken into consideration for treatments to be effective. Understanding which groups or subgroups are at higher risk for PTSD will help guide decisions about where awareness and treatment programs are most needed.
   • Improved assessment of PTSD. Additional questions about the nature of specific experiences with stressful events were added to enhance the assessment of the diagnostic criteria for PTSD.

2. Effectiveness - Working assumptions: Some groups or subgroups are more likely to experience PTSD and its mental health and social impacts than others. Disaggregating results by sex at birth and gender, sexual orientation, long-term health conditions and disability to highlight the experiences of specific subgroups can yield new insights and provide more nuanced information on vulnerable population groups for policymakers to use.

   Data on mental health and its impacts, in particular PTSD, and data on other aspects related to the access and use of mental-health resources are highly sensitive. Additional questions used to identify vulnerable groups, for example, disability status and sexual identity, are also sensitive. For these reasons, experts at Statistics Canada and PHAC have been consulted on the most effective scope and methodology of the survey; wherever possible, questions from existing surveys have been used (e.g., questions about suicide were adapted from those used on Statistics Canada's Canadian Community Health Survey ^{Footnote 3})^{Footnote 4}. Other questions added about stressful events, occupation and impacts on labour market activities have been carefully reviewed by experts at Statistics Canada and Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and have gone through qualitative testing.

3. Proportionality: As with the first cycle, and all surveys at Statistics Canada, all directives and policies with respect to data collection and publication will be followed to ensure the confidentiality of the data. Individual responses will be grouped with those of others when reporting results. As with all Statistics Canada statistical programs, strict disclosure controls will apply, ensuring that individual responses and results for small groups will not be published. This approach reduces any potential impact on vulnerable populations or subsets of populations, as the grouping of results will protect the confidentiality of individuals within a particular subset of the population. As permitted by the Statistics Act, with consent of individual respondents, survey responses may be shared with PHAC, Health Canada, and provincial or territorial ministries of health, and the Institut de la statistique du Québec (for Quebec residents only) strictly for statistical and research purposes, for example, to aid in future policy decisions. The findings will similarly support decision-making at all levels of government and improve knowledge and understanding of the mental health and well‐being of Canadians and will help inform government policymaking in order to support vulnerable Canadians and their families dealing with mental health issues.

   While the new questions about disability, sex at birth, sexual orientation, long-term health conditions, and occupation are sensitive, research suggests that members of these groups are more likely to experience certain types of stressful events and can also be at increased risk for mental health impacts of stressful events. These questions will be used to determine which groups have the highest needs for support and may guide program decisions related to mental illness prevention and treatment.  New questions about impacts on labour market activities and suicide are also sensitive but will provide greater insights into the effects of stressful events among those affected, potentially leading to more successful mitigations and interventions through resulting policy changes. There are no recent studies with the comprehensive combination of indicators that will be included on the second cycle questionnaire to validate or expand upon. Furthermore, the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health present a need for timely data on this topic. Therefore, this new collection of cross-sectional data on these combined indicators is needed for experts and policymakers to better understand the underlying trends and dynamics with the aim of better supporting affected individuals and communities. All new questions and response categories were also carefully considered with input from experts at Statistics Canada and PHAC to ensure they accurately capture the data needed to help inform and develop policies and programs related to mental health (including PTSD) and its impacts.

4. Alternatives: Measures of sexual orientation, disability status, suicide planning and attempts, and work productivity are or have been included on other Statistics Canada surveys (e.g., the Canadian Community Health Survey, the Survey on COVID-19 and Mental Health). However, these surveys do not include comprehensive measures of PTSD and the associated mental health and social impacts.

   Administrative data sources for the new required information were considered, but Statistics Canada's existing and potential options do not provide the ability to identify people with diagnosed or undiagnosed PTSD.

   The possibility of using crowdsourcing or web‐panel survey methodologies was also explored. However, based on discussions between health and methodology experts within Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, it was determined that a cross-sectional survey with at least 35,000 units was again necessary to produce reliable and accurate results by province that meet Statistics Canada's Quality Guidelines.

   As a result, it was determined that a new survey cycle to collect this information was required.

Mitigation factors:

As with the first cycle, some questions contained in the second cycle of the Survey on Mental Health and Stressful Events are considered sensitive as they relate to an individual's mental health and well-being. The overall risk of harm to the survey respondents is deemed manageable with existing Statistics Canada safeguards that are described in Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment and in the Supplement for the Survey on Mental Health and Stressful Events, including the following measures:

• Mental-Health Resources
  As with other mental health surveys conducted by Statistics Canada, mental-health resources and contact information will be mailed to respondents along with the survey invitation and will be provided to respondents at the beginning of the survey and as a help button within the electronic questionnaire. In addition, in the case of telephone follow-up for non-response, interviewers will be trained and equipped to offer mental health resources and contact information to survey respondents.
• Transparency
  Prior to collection, individuals selected to participate in the survey will again be clearly informed that the survey is voluntary. They will also be informed of the survey's purpose and topics, so that they can make an informed decision about whether they want to participate. This notification to all potential participants will be done in writing on the questionnaire, or verbally by the interviewer before any questions are asked. Respondents will be informed that the survey will include behaviours and symptoms associated with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); suicide risk; substance use; social impacts of PTSD; general mental health; and access to and use of mental health care services and supports. This information will be provided through invitation and reminder letters and will be repeated at the beginning of the questionnaire. Information about the survey, as well as the survey questionnaire, will also be available on Statistics Canada's website.
• Confidentiality
  Individual responses will be grouped with those of others when reporting results. Individual responses and results for very small groups will never be published. Following careful analysis of the data, consideration will be given prior to the release of aggregate data to ensure that marginalized and vulnerable communities are not disproportionally impacted. As permitted by the Statistics Act, and only with the consent of the respondent, survey responses may be shared with PHAC, Health Canada and provincial and territorial ministries of health, strictly for statistical and research purposes, and in accordance with Statistics Canada's security and confidentiality requirements.

Conclusion:

This assessment concludes that, with the existing Statistics Canada safeguards and additional mitigation strategies developed for this survey, any remaining risks are such that Statistics Canada is prepared to accept and manage the risk.