For the fiscal year ending in 2014

I. Introduction

The main objective of this survey is to obtain detailed revenue and expenditure data on each college and vocational school in Canada. Coupled with what is already available for the university sector, this gathering of data will provide a complete picture of the financial statistics of postsecondary education as well as vocational training in Canada.

The following notes provide the principles, definitions and guidelines necessary for the completion of the data form. Since it is desirable to obtain figures as comparable as possible from one institution to another, each respondent is requested to:

• provide accompanying notes of explanation in the observations and comments section of the submission for figures that do not follow the guidelines;
• provide comments on items which are excluded from the data, such as cases where provinces are making contributions to repay debt on behalf of an institution or material gifts received as donated service along with their estimated market value;
• estimates should be made whenever possible if income and expenditure figures are not readily available in the required format from the financial records of the institution. When estimates are made they should be indicated with an asterisk (*).

II. Submission

The final deadline for the submission is indicated in the covering letter. The completed questionnaire(s) should be returned in the self-addressed envelope provided.

A copy of the institution's Audited Financial Statements is also requested with your submission. If a copy is not available, please advise Statistics Canada as to the date on which they will be forwarded.

III. Coverage

With the exception of private institutions that only offer courses at the trade and vocational level, the survey covers all private and public non-degree granting institutions that offer educational programs at the postsecondary level and/or at the trade and vocational level. For statistical purposes, institutions are classified as follows:

1. Colleges/Institutes/Polytechnics
   
   Included in this classification are the colleges of applied arts and technology (CAAT's) in Ontario, general and vocational colleges (CEGEP's) in Quebec, institutes of technology and any other institutions providing education in fields such as paramedical technologies, nursing, agriculture, forestry, nautical sciences, etc.. These institutions offer programs at the postsecondary level, and may offer trade-vocational level programs.
2. Vocational Schools
   
   This classification includes Community Colleges in Saskatchewan and Vocational Centres in Alberta, government training schools, vocational training centres and any other institution offering programs at the trade-vocational level only.
3. Training in hospitals
   
   Included in this classification are educational centres located in hospitals, which offer educational or training programs, independently of the community college system, in nursing, radiotherapy, radiography, medical technology, etc..
   
   To ensure full coverage, it is important that each reporting officer indicates on section 2 of the questionnaire the affiliated campuses included in and/or excluded from the submission.

IV. 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.

V. Authorization to Release

In order for Statistics Canada to release the information provided an 'Authorization to release' form must be signed. The form provided includes two options for release:

Option A: Authorizes Statistics Canada to release the information at the institution level,

Option B: Authorizes Statistics Canada to release the information in aggregation to the provincial/territorial level.

VI. Principles of Reporting

1. Accrual Concept

For the purpose of this survey, the revenue and expenditure data should be reported on an accrual basis. That is, all revenues and expenditures should be reflected in the period in which they are considered to have been earned and incurred respectively. For example, major adjustments, such as retroactive salary and their related benefit costs, should be reported on that basis.

2. Total Income and Expenditures

All income and expenditures of the institution are to be reported. In this regard particular attention should be paid to the following:

• when an institution is provincially governed or consists of a branch of a department, all costs related to the operation, maintenance and administration of the institution are to be reported; the actual funds used to finance those expenditures should be shown as a provincial source of funds;
• consultations may be required with the institution's research department to obtain detailed breakdowns of income sources and expenses related to sponsored research;
• capital expenditures, as well as related revenues, that are financed by a government Department or Ministry other than the one responsible for the institution must be included in this report; the reporting officer is responsible for obtaining and providing this information;
• the figures reported should not include income or expenditures for the purpose of creating or eliminating an appropriation; however, any actual income or expenditure transaction recorded directly in reserve accounts should be included in the figures reported; this also applies to other assets and liability accounts; provisions for replacement of assets are considered to be transfers to reserve or appropriation accounts and should not be reported as expenses;
• receipts and expenses relating to special purpose, trust and other funds of the institution should, as well, be included in the report.

3. Ancillary Enterprises

An ancillary enterprise is an entity that exists to furnish goods and services to students, staff or others, and that charges a fee directly related to, although not necessarily equal to, the cost of the goods or services. To reflect properly the full cost of these enterprises, you should report their total gross revenues and total gross expenditures in the appropriate cells in the Schedule 1 and Schedule 2A. In addition, a breakdown by type of ancillary enterprises (bookstores, food services, residences, parking) must be completed on the Supporting Schedule A.

4. Reporting of Income

When reporting the sources of funds in the operating, sponsored research and capital income in Schedule 1, it is important to show the revenues under the headings that correspond to the immediate source of funds for the institution. For example, if an institution offers training courses for which Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) purchases seats, then the amount of money paid by ESDC should be shown under "Federal" only if the money is received directly by the institution. If the money is received by a third party (provincial government) and then transferred to the institution, then the direct source of funds is the "Provincial Government".

VII. Definitions

1. Program Cost Groups

This section defines the program cost groups to be used in the reporting of direct instruction expenditures on Schedule 2B of the questionnaire.

The criteria used to define the various program cost groups originates from those used in other surveys conducted by Statistics Canada and also from analysis of different educational systems across Canada. Note that these statistical definitions may not correspond identically to other existing definitions used by other organizations or governments.

a) Postsecondary Programs

This program cost group includes all direct expenditures incurred in providing instruction to students enrolled FULL-TIME or PART-TIME in postsecondary programs offered by Colleges/Institutes (see Section III). These programs are of two kinds: university transfer programs and semi-professional career programs.

• i) University transfer programs: University transfer programs require secondary school completion to enter and provide a student with standing equivalent to the first or second year of a university degree program with which one can apply for admission to subsequent senior years at a degree granting institution.
• ii) Career programs: These programs usually require high school graduation for admission and have a duration of at least one year. More commonly these programs last two, three or four years. Career programs lead to a certificate or a diploma in technology, business, applied arts, nursing, agriculture, etc., and they prepare a student to enter a career directly upon completion of the program, at a level between that of the university trained professional and the skilled tradesperson.

b) Trade and Vocational Programs

This program cost group includes all direct expenditures incurred in providing instruction (or training) to students (or trainees) enrolled FULL-TIME in vocational programs at the trade level for credit towards a recognized standing of proficiency or certification. Also included are direct expenditures related to students enrolled in academic upgrading programs for entry into a vocational program. Such students normally attend regular day classes in provincial trade schools, trade or industrial divisions of community colleges, adult vocational centres and other similar schools. These programs or courses prepare the student (trainee) for an occupational role below the professional or semi-professional level. A period of less than one year is normally sufficient to complete courses at this level. For less complex occupations, a program may last only a matter of weeks. Completion of grade 9 or 10 is usually required for entrance to these courses.

Included are, for example, pre-employment programs, language, skill or academic upgrading programs, refresher courses, apprenticeship programs, training on the job or training in-industry programs associated with educational institution, nursing assistant, etc..

c) Continuing Education Programs

This program cost group includes all direct expenditures incurred in providing instruction to students enrolled PART-TIME in courses, mostly in the evening, offered under the auspices of subsidiary divisions of schools designated by various names such as Division of Continuing Education, Adult Education Division and so on. Excluded are activities which have no sustained instruction or educational purpose such as recreational activities, presentations in the performing arts, art exhibitions and displays, debates fairs, conferences or conventions of clubs or associations.

Included are, for example, courses such as pre-employment programs, language, skill or academic upgrading programs, refresher, professional development, general interest, etc., which are offered on a PART-TIME basis.

2. Funds

a) Operating

This fund accounts for the cost of credit and non-credit instruction, non-sponsored research, academic support services, administration, plant maintenance and other operating expenses of the institution financed by fees, grants and other operating income. This fund will normally include all revenues and expenses regarding materials, supplies or services that are consumed within the year and which the institution considers to be operating, within the functional operating areas referred to in Section 3 below.

b) Sponsored Research

Sponsored Research is a restricted fund that accounts for income and expenditures for all sponsored research as well as Research and Development (R&D). For an activity to qualify as R&D, there must be an appreciable element of novelty. Income is to be reported following the funds flow approach.

Sponsored Research covers the following activities:

Basic Research is any experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundation of phenomena and observed facts, without any particular application or use in view;

Applied Research is the original investigation undertaken to acquire new knowledge, and directed primarily towards a specific practical objective;

Experimental Development is systematic work drawing on existing knowledge gained from research and/or practical experience that is directed to producing new materials, products or devices, installing new processes, systems and services, or improving those already installed.

The following activities should not be counted as R&D:

• all education and training of personnel; however, research by graduates and postgraduate students should be counted;
• scientific and technical information services such as collecting, coding, recording, classifying, analyzing, disseminating, translating, and evaluating, except where conducted solely or primarily for R&D support;
• routine testing of materials, components, products, processes, soils, etc.;
• maintenance of national standards;
• administrative and legal work connected with patents and licenses;
• investigations of proposed engineering projects using existing techniques; however feasibility studies on research projects are part of R&D;
• policy-related studies at the national, regional and local levels, as well as those of business enterprises in pursuit of economic activity;
• routine software development, computer maintenance, quality assurance, routine data collection, and market research;
• the many steps other than R&D necessary for the development and marketing of a manufactured product;
• the raising, management, and distribution of R&D funds; and
• routine investigation and normal application of specialized medical knowledge.

Sponsored Research accounts for the institution's income paid in the form of a contract (legally enforceable arrangements under which the institution, or an individual within the institution, agrees to undertake a research project, using the institution's facilities and/or personnel, for a sponsor that provide funds to meet all or part of the costs of the project) or a grant (unconditional payment for which service is not necessarily expected) from a source external to the institution.

Income sources include government, private industry and donors. Income may also include investment income, if the corresponding expenditures are reported in Sponsored Research.

Expenditures include activity funded from Sponsored Research income and exclude activity funded from the General Operating fund. It also includes the purchase of capital assets, if the corresponding income is reported as Sponsored Research.

c) Capital

The uniform reporting practice in the annual return for capital expenditures is to follow the funds flow approach, rather than to capitalize and amortize. Funds received to acquire capital assets are reported as income in the period in which the funds are received or receivable. Funds used to acquire capital assets are reported as expenditures in the year they take place.

For reporting purposes, capital expenditures are to be reported in the same fund as the corresponding income. Specifically, capital expenditures are only reported in the Capital fund when the corresponding income is reported in the Capital fund.

It is a restricted fund that accounts for resources provided to the institution for capital purposes and not reported in any other fund. Fund income includes grants and related investment income, donations and other resources made available to the institution by external funding sources, such as government and donors, specifically for capital purposes. Fund expenditures include building programs, acquisitions of major equipment and furniture, major renovations and alterations, space rental and buildings, land and land improvements.

Capital expenditures, as well as related revenues, being financed by a Government Department or Ministry other than the one responsible for the institution must be included in this report. The reporting officer should be responsible for obtaining and providing this information.

3. Functions (Schedule 2A)

a) Instruction and non-sponsored research

This includes all direct costs related to credit and non-credit courses, summer courses, extension programs and all other academic functions related to instruction and non-sponsored research such as offices of academic department heads, audio-visual services, laboratories, etc..

b) Library

This includes all the operating costs of the main library as well as the campus libraries, if there are any. All costs of library acquisitions from the Operating fund should be shown under this function.

c) General Administration

This includes costs for activities whose primary function is to provide administrative support for the operation of the institution. It includes the activities of the president's office, vice president, registrar, finance, personnel, public relations, secretariats, etc.. It also includes expenditures on convocations, ceremonies, legal and audit fees, long distance phone calls, the internal portion of debt repayments and costs for computing facilities.

d) Physical Plant

This includes the costs related to physical facilities, such as physical plant offices, maintenance of buildings and grounds, fire insurance, telephone service, security, repairs and furnishing, renovations and alterations, mail delivery service.

e) Student Services

This includes costs for activities whose primary purpose is to assist students in their educational or employment pursuits and which are outside of, but supplemental to, the instruction of academic programs. It includes the costs of: counselling, placement, health services, athletics (not physical education), student accommodation services (not residences), student transportation services, bursaries, scholarships and prizes, student financial aid office, cultural activities, etc..

4. Types of Income

a) Government Grants and Contracts

Lines 1 to 10 include grants from, and contracts with, federal government departments and agencies, provincial/territorial government departments and agencies, and municipal governments.

Government grants provide financial support to institutions and the grants may or may not be restricted.

Government contracts provide financial support to institutions under certain stipulations and conditions, including the provision of a deliverable product, such as a piece of equipment, a service or a report. A contract normally includes provisions for institutions to recover certain indirect or overhead costs, with the contract specifying or documenting the basis for the calculation of the recoverable costs.

Federal

Lines 1 to 6 include all research grants, research contracts, grants and contributions from the Government of Canada and its departments and agencies. Income received from the five major federal government agencies is reported on lines 1 to 5 as applicable.

The line items under "Federal" are as follows:

Line 1: Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)
Line 2: Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)
CFI income is reported under the Sponsored Research fund.
Line 3: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Line 4: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
Line 5: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
Line 6: Other federal
Income from all other federal government departments and agencies is reported on this line.

Provincial/Territorial

Lines 7 to 9 include income from provincial government departments and agencies. For example, Provincial/Territorial CFI matching grants, Provincial/Territorial CFI matching income (line 8) from the Ministry responsible for the institution is reported under the Sponsored Research fund.

In the case of a provincially/territorially administered institution, direct provincial funding is to be included here.

Municipal

Examples of income to be reported on this line include grants from urban transit, communication and parking authorities.

b) Fees

This includes all mandatory student fees for credit and non-credit courses (with the exception of residence fees, parking fees and other similar fees which should be reported under 'ancillary enterprises - gross') paid by, or on behalf of all FULL-TIME and PART-TIME students.

All other fees charged to students such as laboratory fees, transcript, late registration, application, athletic fees, etc., are to be reported under the heading 'other'.

Normally, whenever revenues from fees are reported in Schedule 1 under specific program(s), related expenditures should be reported for the corresponding program(s) in Schedule 2B.

Note: Fees that are "flow through", such as student activity fees collected for the students' council, etc., are not to be reported as college revenue.

c) Bequests, Donations, Non-Government Grants

This includes receipts from business, industry, foundations, individuals and religious organizations, as well as the value of services donated by various organizations.

d) Investment Income

This includes income from all investments such as dividends, bonds, mortgages, short-term notes and bank interest. Realized gains (or losses) should also be included if they are treated as income in the operating and/or capital funds.

e) Ancillary Enterprises (gross)

This includes total revenues from all ancillary enterprises such as residence or parking fees, and sales of services and products from bookstores, food services (dining hall, cafeterias and vending machines), publishing, laundry services, etc..

It should also be noted that the reporting officer is asked to report, on Supporting Schedule A, a breakdown of total income for the institution's ancillary enterprises.

f) Borrowings

This includes only those borrowings which are used to finance expenditures when repayment is to be made by the institution. Note that borrowings should be reported on an accrual basis.

g) Miscellaneous

This includes net income from rentals (other than ancillary enterprises), library fines and fines for other similar charges, and any income not reported elsewhere.

h) Interfund Transfers

When income from one fund is used to finance expenditures in another fund, report the amount as an interfund transfer.  Total interfund transfers must net to zero.

5. Types of Expenditures

a) Salaries and Wages

Salaries and wages (excluding fringe benefits) as well as payments for leave of absence, shown under the appropriate functions and programs, are to be broken down into the following two categories:

• (i) Teachers
  Included in this category are salaries and wages paid to full-time and part-time teaching staff.
• (ii) Other
  This category includes all salaries not reported in part (i) above. Specifically, it includes salaries and wages paid to tutors, monitors, demonstrators, markers, laboratory technicians, maintenance personnel, office and technical staff, research and teaching assistants, etc..

b) Fringe Benefits

This includes the institution's contribution (in respect of all salaries and wages) to pensions, group life insurance, workmen's compensation, unemployment insurance, Canada pension, salary contribution insurance, long term disability insurance and other similar benefits. Also include staff development costs paid for by the institution.

c) Library Acquisitions

This includes all purchases of books, periodicals, audio/visual material and other reference material for the library.  Costs of binding may also be included if normally considered part of the acquisition costs.

d) Operational Supplies and Expenses

This includes all expenditures for supplies which are normally consumed in the fiscal year, including postage, teaching supplies, photocopying, publications, long distance telephone charges, repair materials, all supplies to operate laboratories, etc..

e) Utilities

This includes all expenditures for fuel, electricity, water, gas, telephone equipment rental, etc..

f) Furniture and Equipment

This includes all expenses for furniture and equipment, such as laboratory equipment (other than consumables), administrative equipment and furnishings, copying and duplicating equipment, computing equipment maintenance equipment, etc.. Rental and maintenance costs as well as other related operating expenses should be shown under the appropriate operational function. Costs for replacing or acquiring new furniture and equipment should be reported under the capital fund.

g) Scholarships and Other Related Students Support

This includes all payments to students including scholarships, bursaries, prizes, fee remissions, gifts, etc..

h) Fees and Contracted Services

This includes all expenses for services contracted to external agencies (except for renovations, alterations and major repairs). Examples would be cleaning contracts, security services, snow removal, etc.. Also included are fees paid to legal counsellors (including retainers for negotiations of collective contracts), auditors' fees, consultant's fees, etc..

i) Debt Services

This includes all payments made to service debts of the institution such as bank interest, mortgage or debenture interest payments, and related charges. Principal payments on loans, mortgages, debentures or repayable grants should be excluded.

j) Buildings

This includes all capital expenditures which are normally considered part of construction costs, except for furniture and equipment as well as land and site services which are to be reported under their respective item. Costs for space rental, building insurances, taxes, minor renovations and alterations on buildings, and all other related operating expenses should be shown under the Physical Plant operational function. Depreciation is not to be included as an expenditure.

k) Land and Site Services

This includes capital expenditures on acquisitions of and improvements to land such as landscaping, sewers, tunnels, roads, etc.. Capitalized professional fees and planning costs related to this category are also to be included. Rental, maintenance and insurance costs as well as other related operating expenses for this item should be shown under the Physical Plant operational function.

l) Miscellaneous

This is to be used when the institution has an operating or capital expenditure not classified in the other categories.

m) Transfers To/From

This item is used for internal transfers of costs between funds or functions whenever it is not feasible to directly adjust the appropriate expenditure items.

The total internal transfers of costs should net to zero.

n) Ancillary Enterprises (gross)

Includes all gross expenditures incurred in the operating of ancillary enterprises (see section 4 (e) above).

It should be noted that the reporting officer is asked to report, on the Supporting Schedule A, a breakdown of total expenditures for the institution's ancillary enterprises.

VIII. Supporting Schedule A

Additional information is to be provided in this section for the total revenue and expenditures of institutional ancillary enterprises (bookstores, residences, food services and parking).

IX. Suggestions

Statistics Canada would welcome any suggestions made to improve this survey.

Canadian Classification of Institutional Units and Sectors, 2012 is developed based on the international version published in the System of National Account, 2008 (2008 SNA). The 2008 SNA is the latest international standard for compiling national accounts statistics.

Canada

Canadian Classification of Institutional Units and Sectors (CCIUS)

• CCIUS 2012
• CIUS 2008

International links

• System of National Accounts, 2008 (2008 SNA) (PDF) (United Nations Statistics Division)

Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP)

Reporting Guide

This guide is designed to assist you as you complete the 2014 Annual Survey of Research and Development in Canadian Industry. If you need more information, please call the Statistics Canada Help Line at the number below.

Help Line: 1-800-972-9692

Your answers are confidential.

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 information from this survey for statistical purposes.

NOTE:

1. If this business performs in-house research and development (R&D) and outsources R&D, complete all questions.
2. If this business performs in-house research and development (R&D) and does not outsource R&D, complete question 1-5, 8-19.
3. If this business outsources research and development (R&D) and does not perform in-house R&D, complete questions 1-3, 5-7, 12, 16-19.
4. If this business does not perform in-house research and development (R&D) and does not outsource R&D, complete questions 1-3, 5, 12, 16, 17 and 19.

Difference between Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax incentive program and this survey

Include the following in this survey:

• capital R&D expenditures
• R&D expenditures in the social sciences and humanities
• payments for R&D performed by organizations outside Canada

For this survey

‘In-house R&D’ refers to

Expenditures within Canada for R&D performed within this business by:

• employees (permanent, temporary or casual)
• self-employed individuals or contractors who are working on-site on this business's R&D projects

‘Outsourced R&D’ refers to

Payments made within or outside Canada to other organizations, companies or individuals to fund R&D performance:

 

• contracts
• grants
• fellowships

Reporting period information

Here are some examples of common fiscal periods that fall within the targeted dates:

• May 1, 2013 to April 30, 2014
• June 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014
• August 1, 2013 to July 31, 2014
• October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014
• December 1, 2013 to November 30, 2014
• January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014
• February 1, 2014 to January 31, 2015
• March 1, 2014 to February 28, 2015
• April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015

Here are other examples of fiscal periods that fall within the required dates:

• September 18, 2013 to September 15, 2014 (e.g., floating year-end)
• June 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014 (e.g., a newly opened business)

Definitions and Concepts

Research and development (R&D) comprise creative and systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge – including knowledge of humankind, culture and society – and to devise new applications of available knowledge

Research is original investigation undertaken on a systematic basis to gain new knowledge.

Development is systematic work, drawing on existing knowledge gained from research and/or practical experience, which is directed to producing new materials, products or devices, to installing new processes, systems and services, or to improving substantially those already produced or installed.

Activities included and excluded from R&D

Inclusions

Prototypes    

Include design, construction and operation of prototypes provided that the primary objective is to make further improvements or to undertake technical testing. Exclude if the prototype is for commercial purposes.

Pilot plants   

Include construction and operation of pilot plants provided that the primary objective is to make further improvement or to undertake technical testing. Exclude if the pilot plant is intended to be operated for commercial purposes.

New computer software or significant improvements/modifications to existing computer software

Includes technological or scientific advances in theoretical computer sciences; operating systems e.g. improvement in interface management, developing new operating system of converting an existing operating system to a significantly different hardware environment; programming languages; and applications if a significant technological change occurs.

Contracts      

Include all contracts which require R&D. For contracts which include other work, report only the R&D costs.

Research work in the social sciences       

Include if projects are employing new or significantly different modelling techniques or developing new formulae, analyzing data not previously available or applying new research techniques.

Exclusions

Routine analysis in the social sciences including policy-related studies, management studies and efficiency studies          

Exclude analytical projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies, principles and models of the related social sciences to bear on a particular problem (e.g. commentary on the probable economic effects of a change in the tax structure, using existing economic data; use of standard techniques in applied psychology to select and classify industrial and military personnel, students, etc., and to test children with reading or other disabilities), are not R&D.

Consumer surveys, advertising, market research          

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended for commercialization of the results of R&D are excluded.

Routine quality control and testing           

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies not intended to create new knowledge are not R&D and are excluded even if carried out by personnel normally engaged in R&D.

Pre-production activities such as demonstration of commercial viability, tooling up, trial production, trouble shooting      

Exclude although R&D may be required as a result of these steps, these activities are excluded from R&D.

Prospecting, exploratory drilling, development of mines, oil or gas wells

Include only if for R&D projects concerned with new equipment or techniques in these activities, such as in-situ and tertiary recovery research.

Engineering  

Exclude engineering unless it is in direct support of R&D.

Design and drawing

Exclude design and drawing unless it is in direct support of R&D.

Patent and license work     

Exclude all administrative and legal work connected with patents and licenses.

Cosmetic modifications or style changes to existing products

Exclude where no significant technical improvement or modification to the existing products.

General purpose or routine data collection         

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended for on-going monitoring of an activity. 

Routine computer programming, systems maintenance or software application

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended to support on-going operations.

Routine mathematical or statistical analysis or operations analysis    

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended for on-going monitoring of an activity.

Activities associated with standards compliance           

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended to support standards compliance.

Specialized routine medical care such as routine pathology services 

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended for on-going monitoring of an activity.

In-house R&D expenditures within Canada (Q4)

In-house research and development expenditures are composed of current in-house research and development (R&D) expenditures and capital in-house R&D expenditures.

Current in house R&D expenditures

1. Wages and salaries of permanent, temporary and casual R&D employees
   Include: fringe benefits
   
   Fringe benefits of employees engaged in R&D activities. Fringe benefits include bonus payments, holiday or vacation pay, pension fund contributions, other social security payments, payroll taxes, etc.
    
2. Services to support R&D
   Include: services of self-employed individuals or contractors who are working on-site on this business’s R&D projects.
   Exclude: contracted out or granted expenditures to other organizations to perform R&D.
   
   Payments to on-site R&D consultants and contractors working under the direct control of your business; indirect services purchased to support in-house R&D such as security, storage, repair, maintenance and use of buildings and equipment; computer services, software licensing fees and dissemination of R&D findings
    
3. R&D materials
   
   Utilities: water, fuel, gas and electricity; materials for creation of prototypes, reference materials (books, journals, etc.); subscriptions to libraries and data bases, memberships to scientific societies, etc.; cost of outsourced small R&D prototypes or R&D models; materials for laboratories (chemicals, animals, etc.); all other R&D-related materials
    
4. All other current costs
   
   Administrative and overhead costs (e.g., office, post and telecommunications, internet, insurance), prorated if necessary to allow for non-R&D activities within the business

Capital in-house R&D expenditures

Capital in-house R&D expenditures are the annual gross amount paid for the acquisition of fixed assets that are used repeatedly, or continuously in the performance of research and development (R&D) for more than one year. They should be reported in full for the period when they occurred. Exclude capital depreciation.

5. Software
   Exclude: capital depreciation
   
   Applications and systems software (original, custom and off-the-shelf software), supporting documentation and other software-related acquisitions
6. Land
   Exclude: capital depreciation
   
   Land acquired for R&D including testing grounds, sites for laboratories and pilot plants
    
7. Buildings and structures
   Exclude: capital depreciation
   
   Buildings and structures (constructed or purchased) for research and development (R&D) activities or that have undergone major leasehold improvements (modifications, renovations and repairs) for R&D activities
    
8. Equipment, machinery and all other
   Exclude: capital depreciation
   
   Major equipment, machinery and instruments, including embedded software, acquired for research and development (R&D) activities

Outsourced (contracted out or granted) R&D expenditures (Q6)

Payments made through contracts, grants and fellowships to another organization, company or individual to purchase R&D activities.

Include: contracted out expenditures for research and development (R&D), funding or grants provided to other organizations to perform R&D.

Exclude: expenditures for services of self-employed individuals or contractors who are working on-site on this business's R&D.

1. Companies
   
   All incorporated for profit businesses and government business enterprises providing products in the market at market rates.
    
2. Private non-profit organizations
   Voluntary health organizations, private philanthropic foundations, associations and societies and research institutes; they are not for profit organizations that serve the public interest by supporting activities related to public welfare (such as health, education, the environment).
    
3. Industrial research institutes or associations
   
   Non-profit organizations that serve the business enterprise sector frequently consisting of their membership. Industrial non-profit organizations include non-profit industrial research institutes.
    
4. Hospitals
    
5. Universities
    
6. Federal government departments and agencies
   
   All federal government ministries, departments and agencies. It excludes federal government business enterprises providing products in the market.
    
7. Provincial government departments and agencies
   
   All provincial government ministries, departments and agencies. It excludes provincial government business enterprises providing products in the market.
    
8. Provincial research organizations
   
   Organizations created under provincial or territorial law which conduct or facilitate research on behalf of the province or territory.
    
9. Other
   
   Individuals, non-university educational institutions, foreign governments

Sources of funds for in-house R&D expenditures in 2014 (Q9)

Include: Canadian and foreign sources

Exclude: payments for outsourced (contracted out or granted) R&D which should be reported in question 6 on Outsourced (contracted out or granted) R&D; capital depreciation.

1. Funds from this business
   
   Amount contributed by this unit to R&D performed within Canada (include interest payments and other income, land, buildings and structures, equipment and machinery (capital expenditures) purchased for R&D). Include amounts eligible for income tax purposes, e.g., Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program, other amounts spent for projects not claimed through SR&ED, and funds for land, buildings, machinery and equipment (capital expenditures) purchased for R&D.
    
2. Funds from parent, affiliated and subsidiary companies
   
   Amount received from parent, affiliated and subsidiary businesses used to perform R&D within Canada (include amounts eligible for income tax purposes, e.g., Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program, other amounts spent for projects not claimed through SR&ED, and funds for land, buildings, machinery and equipment (capital expenditures) purchased for R&D).
    
3. Federal grants
   
   Include: R&D grants or R&D portion only of other grants
   
   Funds from the federal government in support of R&D activities not connected to a specific contractual deliverable.
    
4. Federal contracts
   
   Include: R&D contracts or R&D portion only of other contracts
   
   Funds from the federal government in support of R&D activities connected to a specific contractual deliverable.
    
5. R&D contract work for other companies
   
   Funds received from other companies to perform R&D on their behalf.
    
6. Other sources
   
   Funds received from all other sources not previously classified.

In-house R&D expenditures by fields of research and development in 2014 (Q10)

Exclude: capital depreciation and payments for outsourced (contracted out or granted) R&D which should be reported in question 6 on Outsourced (contracted out or granted) R&D.

Natural and formal sciences

Mathematics, physical sciences, chemical sciences, earth and related environmental sciences, biological sciences, other natural sciences.

Exclude: computer sciences, information sciences and bioinformatics (to be reported at lines s and t)

1. Mathematics
   
   Pure mathematics, applied mathematics, statistics and probability.
    
2. Physical Sciences
   
   Atomic, molecular and chemical physics, interaction with radiation, magnetic resonances, condensed matter physics, solid state physics and superconductivity, particles and fields physics, nuclear physics, fluids and plasma physics (including surface physics), optics (including laser optics and quantum optics), acoustics, astronomy (including astrophysics, space science).
    
3. Chemical sciences
   
   Organic chemistry, inorganic and nuclear chemistry, physical chemistry, polymer science and plastics, electrochemistry (dry cells, batteries, fuel cells, metal corrosion, electrolysis), colloid chemistry, analytical chemistry.
    
4. Earth and related environmental sciences
   
   Geosciences, geophysics, mineralogy and palaeontology, geochemistry and geophysics, physical geography, geology and volcanology, environmental sciences, meteorology, atmospheric sciences and climatic research, oceanography, hydrology and water resources.
    
5. Biological sciences
   
   Cell biology, microbiology and virology, biochemistry, molecular biology and biochemical research, mycology, biophysics, genetics and heredity (medical genetics under medical biotechnology), reproductive biology (medical aspects under medical biotechnology), developmental biology, plant sciences and botany, zoology, ornithology, entomology and behavioural sciences biology, marine biology, freshwater biology and limnology, ecology and biodiversity conservation, biology (theoretical, thermal, cryobiology, biological rhythm), evolutionary biology.
    
6. Other natural sciences

Engineering and Technology

Civil engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering and communications technology, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, materials engineering, medical engineering, environmental engineering, environmental biotechnology, industrial biotechnology, nanotechnology, other engineering and technologies.

Exclude: software engineering and technology (to be reported at line r)

7. Civil engineering
   
   Civil engineering, architecture engineering, municipal and structural engineering, transport engineering.
    
8. Electrical engineering, electronic engineering and communications technology
   
   Electrical and electronic engineering, robotics and automatic control, micro-electronics, semiconductors, automation and control systems, communication engineering and systems, telecommunications, computer hardware and architecture.
    
9. Mechanical engineering
   
   Mechanical engineering, applied mechanics, thermodynamics, aerospace engineering, nuclear-related engineering (nuclear physics under Physical sciences), acoustical engineering, reliability analysis and non-destructive testing, automotive and transportation engineering and manufacturing, tooling, machinery and equipment engineering and manufacturing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning engineering and manufacturing.
    
10. Chemical engineering
    
    Chemical engineering (plants, products), chemical process engineering.
     
11. Materials engineering
    
    Materials engineering and metallurgy, ceramics, coating and films (including packaging and printing), plastics, rubber and composites (including laminates and reinforced plastics), paper and wood and textiles, construction materials (organic and inorganic).
     
12. Medical Engineering
    
    Medical and biomedical engineering, medical laboratory technology (excluding biomaterials which should be reported under industrial biotechnology).
     
13. Environmental engineering
    
    Environmental and geological engineering, petroleum engineering (fuel, oils), energy and fuels, remote sensing, mining and mineral processing, marine engineering, sea vessels and ocean engineering.
     
14. Environmental biotechnology
    
    Environmental biotechnology, bioremediation, diagnostic biotechnologies in environmental management (DNA chips and bio-sensing devices).
     
15. Industrial biotechnology
    
    Industrial biotechnology, bioprocessing technologies, biocatalysis and fermentation bioproducts (products that are manufactured using biological material as feedstock), biomaterials (bioplastics, biofuels, bioderived bulk and fine chemicals, bio-derived materials).
     
16. Nanotechnology
    
    Nano-materials (production and properties), nano-processes (applications on nano-scale).
     
17. Other engineering and technologies
    
    Food and beverages, oenology, other engineering and technologies.

Software-related sciences and technology

Software engineering and technology, computer sciences, information technology and bioinformatics.

18. Software engineering and technology
    
    Computer software engineering, computer software technology, and other related computer software engineering and technologies.
     
19. Computer sciences
    
    Computer science, artificial intelligence, cryptography, and other related computer sciences.
     
20. Information technology and bioinformatics
    
    Information technology, informatics, bioinformatics, biomathematics, and other related information technologies.

Medical and health sciences

Basic medicine, clinical medicine, health sciences, medical biotechnology, other medical sciences.

21. Basic medicine
    
    Anatomy and morphology (plant science under biological science), human genetics, immunology, neurosciences, pharmacology and pharmacy and medicinal chemistry, toxicology, physiology and cytology, pathology.
     
22. Clinical medicine
    
    Andrology, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, cardiac and cardiovascular systems, haematology, anaesthesiology, orthopaedics, radiology and nuclear medicine, dentistry, oral surgery and medicine, dermatology, venereal diseases and allergy, rheumatology, endocrinology and metabolism and gastroenterology, urology and nephrology, and oncology.
     
23. Health sciences
    
    Health care sciences and nursing, nutrition and dietetics, parasitology, infectious diseases and epidemiology, occupational health.
     
24. Medical biotechnology
    
    Health-related biotechnology, technologies involving the manipulation of cells, tissues, organs or the whole organism, technologies involving identifying the functioning of DNA, proteins and enzymes, pharmacogenomics, gene-based therapeutics, biomaterials (related to medical implants, devices, sensors).
     
25. Other medical sciences
    
    Forensic science, other medical sciences.

Agricultural Sciences

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries sciences, animal and dairy sciences, veterinary sciences, agricultural biotechnology, other agricultural sciences.

26. Agriculture, forestry and fisheries sciences
    
    Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, soil science, horticulture, viticulture, agronomy, plant breeding and plant protection.
     
27. Animal and dairy sciences
    
    Animal and dairy science, animal husbandry.
     
28. Veterinary sciences
    
    Veterinary science (all).
     
29. Agricultural biotechnology
    
    Agricultural biotechnology and food biotechnology, genetically modified (GM) organism technology and livestock cloning, diagnostics (DNA chips and biosensing devices), biomass feedstock production technologies and biopharming.
     
30. Other agricultural sciences

Social sciences and humanities

Psychology, educational sciences, economics and business, other social sciences, humanities.

31. Psychology
    
    Cognitive psychology and psycholinguistics, experimental psychology, psychometrics and quantitative psychology, and other fields of psychology.
     
32. Educational sciences
    
    Education, training and other related educational sciences.
     
33. Economics and business
    
    Micro-economics, macro-economics, econometrics, labour economics, financial economics and all other related fields of economics and business.
     
34. Other social sciences
    
    Anthropology (social and cultural) and ethnology, demography, geography (human, economic and social), planning (town, city and country), management, organization and methods (excluding market research unless new methods/techniques are developed), law, linguistics, political sciences, sociology, miscellaneous social sciences and interdisciplinary, and methodological and historical science and technology activities relating to subjects in this group.
     
35. Humanities
    
    History (history, prehistory and history, together with auxiliary historical disciplines such as archaeology, numismatics, palaeography, genealogy, etc.), languages and literature (ancient and modern), other humanities (philosophy (including the history of science and technology)), arts (history of art, art criticism, painting, sculpture, musicology, dramatic art excluding artistic “research” of any kind), religion, theology, other fields and subjects pertaining to the humanities, and methodological, historical and other science and technology activities relating to the subjects in this group.

In house R&D expenditures by nature of R&D activity in 2014 (Q11)

R&D is performed in the natural sciences, engineering, social sciences and humanities. There are three types of R&D activities: basic research, applied research and experimental development.

1. Basic research
   
   Experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundation of phenomena and observable facts, without any particular application or use in view.
    
2. Applied research
   
   Also original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge. It is, however, directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective.
    
3. Experimental development
   
   Systematic work, drawing on existing knowledge gained from research and/or practical experience, which is directed to producing new materials, products or devices, to installing new processes, systems and services, or to improving substantially those already produced or installed.

In-house R&D personnel in 2014 (Q13 to Q15)

Include:

• permanent, temporary and casual R&D employees
• independent on-site R&D consultants and contractors working in your organization’s offices, laboratories, or other facilities
• employees engaged in R&D-related support activities

Researchers and research managers

1. Scientists, social scientists, engineers and researchers
   Include: software developers and programmers
   
   Create new knowledge, products, processes, methods and systems. They include software developers and programmers. They may be certified by provincial educational authorities, provincial or national scientific or engineering associations (Include software developers and programmers).
    
2. Senior research managers
   
   Plan or manage R&D projects and programs. They may be certified by provincial educational authorities, provincial or national scientific or engineering associations.

R&D technical, administrative and support staff

3. Technicians, technologists and research assistants
   Include: software technicians
   
   Assist scientists, engineers and researchers in R&D activities, e.g., laboratory technicians, chemical technicians, draftspersons, research assistants and software technicians. They may be certified by provincial educational authorities, provincial or national scientific or engineering associations.
    
4. Other R&D technical, administrative and support staff
   
   Include administrative assistants, accountants, bookkeepers, equipment storage, maintenance managers and facilities operators engaged in administration, clerical or other activities in support of R&D activities. Also included are machinists and electricians engaged in the construction of prototypes.

Other R&D occupations

5. On-site R&D consultants and contractors
   
   Are individuals hired 1) to perform project-based work or to provide goods at a fixed or ascertained price or within a certain time or 2) to provide advice or services in a specialized field for a fee and, in both cases, work at the location specified and controlled by the contracting organization.

Full-time equivalent (FTE)

R&D may be carried out by persons who work solely on R&D projects or by persons who devote only part of their time to R&D, and the balance to other activities such as testing, quality control and production engineering. To arrive at the total effort devoted to R&D in terms of personnel, it is necessary to estimate the full-time equivalent of these persons working only part-time in R&D.

FTE (full-time equivalent) = Number of persons who work solely on R&D projects + the time of persons working only part of their time on R&D.

Example calculation: If out of four scientists engaged in R&D work, one works solely on R&D projects and the remaining three devote only one quarter of their working time to R&D, then: FTE = 1 + 1/4 + 1/4 + 1/4 = 1.75 scientists.

Technology or technical assistant payments in 2014 (Q16 and Q17)

Definitions (equivalent to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr00143.html)

1. Patents
   
   Government grant giving the right to exclude others from making, using or selling an invention.
    
2. Copyright
   
   Provides protection for literary, artistic, dramatic or musical works (including computer programs), and three other subject matter known as: performance, sound recording, and communication signal.
    
3. Trademark
   
   Word, symbol or design (or any combination of these features) used to distinguish the wares and services of one person or organization from those of others in the marketplace.
    
4. Industrial design
   
   Visual features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament (or any combination of these features), applied to a finished article of manufacture.
    
5. Integrated circuit topography
   
   Three-dimensional arrangement of the electronic circuits in integrated circuit products or layout designs.
    
6. Original software
   
   Consist of computer programs and descriptive materials for both systems and applications. Original software can be created in-house or outsourced and includes packaged software with customization.
    
7. Packaged or off-the-shelf software
   
   Purchased for use by your organization and excludes customized software.
    
8. Databases
   
   Consist of files of data organized to permit effective access and use of the data.
    
9. Other
   
   Technical assistance, industrial processes and know-how.

Energy-related R&D by area of technology (Q18)

1. Fossil Fuels

Crude oils and natural gas exploration, crude oils and natural gas production, oil sands and heavy crude oils surface and sub-surface production and separation of the bitumen, tailings management, refining, processing and upgrading, coal production, separation and processing, transportation of fossil fuels.

1. Crude oils and natural gas exploration
   
   Development of advanced exploration methods (geophysical, geochemical, seismic, magnetic) for on-shore and off-shore prospecting.
    
2. Crude oil and natural gas production (including enhanced recovery) and storage
   
   On-shore and off-shore deep drilling equipment and techniques for conventional oil and gas, secondary and tertiary recovery of oil and gas, hydro fracturing techniques, processing and cleaning of raw product, storage on remote platforms (e.g., Arctic, off-shore), safety aspects of offshore platforms.
    
3. Oil sands and heavy crude oils surface and sub-surface production and separation of the bitumen, tailings management
   
   Surface and in-situ production (e.g., SAGD); tailings management.
    
4. Refining, processing and upgrading
   
   Processing of natural gas to pipeline specifications, and refining of conventional crude oils to refined petroleum products (RPPs), and the upgrading of bitumen and heavy oils either to synthetic crude oil or to RPPs. Upgrading may be done at an oil sands plant, regional merchant upgraders or integrated into a refinery producing RPPs.
    
5. Coal production, separation and processing
   
   Coal, lignite and peat exploration, deposit evaluation techniques, mining techniques, separation techniques, coking and blending, other processing such as coal to liquids, underground (in-situ) gasification.
    
6. Transportation of fossil fuels
   
   Transport of gaseous, liquid and solid hydrocarbons via pipelines (land and submarine) and their network evaluation; safety aspects of LNG transport and storage.
    

2. Renewable energy resources

Solar photovoltaics (PV), solar thermal-power and high-temperature applications, solar heating and cooling, wind energy, bio-energy – biomass production, bio-energy – biomass conversion to fuels, bio-energy – biomass conversion to heat and electricity, and other bio-energy, small hydro (less than 10 MW), large hydro (greater than or equal to 10 MW), other renewable energy.

1. Solar photovoltaics (PV)
   
   Solar cell development, PV-module development, PV-inverter development, building-integrated PV-modules, PV-system development, other.
    
2. Solar thermal-power and high-temperature applications
   
   Solar chemistry, concentrating collector development, solar thermal power plants, high-temperature applications for heat and power.
    
3. Solar heating and cooling
   
   Daylighting, passive and active solar heating and cooling, collector development, hot water preparation, combined-space heating, solar architecture, solar drying, solar-assisted ventilation, swimming pool heating, low-temperature process heating, other.
    
4. Wind energy
   
   Technology development, such as blades, turbines, converters structures, system integration, other.
    
5. Bio-energy – Biomass production/supply and transport
   
   Improvement of energy crops, research on bio-energy production potential and associated land-use effects, supply and transport of bio-solids, bio-liquids, biogas and bio-derived energy products (e.g., ethanol, biodiesel), compacting and baling, other.
    
6. Bio-energy – Biomass conversion to fuels
   
   Conventional bio-fuels, cellulosic-derived alcohols, biomass gas-to-liquids, other energy-related products and by-products.
    
7. Bio-energy – Biomass conversion to heat and electricity
   
   Bio-based heat, electricity and combined heat and power (CHP), exclude multi-firing with fossil fuels.
    
8. Other bio-energy
   
   Recycling and the use of municipal, industrial and agricultural waste as energy not covered elsewhere.
    
9. Small-Hydro – (less than 10 MW)
   
   Plants with capacity below 10 MW.
    
10. Large-Hydro – (greater than or equal to 10 MW)
    
    Plants with capacity of 10 MW and above.
     
11. Other renewable energy
    
    Hot dry rock, hydro-thermal, geothermal heat applications (including agriculture), tidal power, wave energy, ocean current power, ocean thermal power, other.
     

3. Nuclear fission and fusion

Materials exploration, mining and preparation, tailings management, nuclear reactors, other fission, fusion.

1. Nuclear materials exploration, mining and preparation, tailings management
   
   Development of advanced exploration methods (geophysical, geochemical) for prospecting, ore surface and in-situ production, uranium and thorium extraction and conversion, enrichment, handling of tailings and remediation.
    
2. Nuclear reactors
   
   Nuclear reactors of all types and related system components.
    
3. Other fission
   
   Nuclear safety, environmental protection (emission reduction or avoidance), radiation protection and decommissioning of power plants and related nuclear fuel cycle installations, nuclear waste treatment, disposal and storage, fissile material recycling, fissile materials control, transport of radioactive materials.
    
4. Fusion
   
   All types (e.g., magnetic confinement, laser applications).

4. Electric Power

Generation in utility sector, combined heat and power in industry and in buildings, electricity transmission, distribution and storage of electricity.

1. Electric power generation in utility sector
   
   Conventional and non-conventional technology (e.g., pulverised coal, fluidised bed, gasification-combined cycle, supercritical), re-powering, retrofitting, life extensions and upgrading of power plants, generators and components, super-conductivity, magneto hydrodynamic, dry cooling towers, co-firing (e.g., with biomass), air and thermal pollution reduction or avoidance, flue gas cleanup (excluding CO2 removal), CHP (combined heat and power) not covered elsewhere.
    
2. Electric power - combined heat and power in industry, buildings
   
   Industrial applications, small scale applications for buildings.
    
3. Electricity transmission, distribution and storage
   
   Solid state power electronics, load management and control systems, network problems, super-conducting cables, AC and DC high voltage cables, HVDC transmission, other transmission and distribution related to integrating distributed and intermittent generating sources into networks, all storage (e.g., batteries, hydro reservoirs, fly wheels), other.

5. Hydrogen and fuel cells

Hydrogen production for process applications, hydrogen production for transportation applications, hydrogen transport and storage, other hydrogen, fuel cells, both stationary and mobile.

1. Hydrogen production for process applications
2. Hydrogen production for transportation applications
3. Hydrogen transport and storage
4. Other hydrogen
   
   End uses (e.g., combustion), other infrastructure and systems R&D (refuelling stations).
    
5. Stationary fuel cells
   
   Electricity generation, other stationary end-use.
    
6. Mobile fuel cells
   
   Portable applications.

6. Energy efficiency

Industry, residential and commercial, transportation, other energy efficiency.

1. Energy efficiency applications for industry
   
   Reduction of energy consumption through improved use of energy and/or reduction or avoidance of air and other emissions related to the use of energy in industrial systems and processes (excluding bio-energy-related) through the development of new techniques, new processes and new equipment, other.
    
2. Energy efficiency for residential, institutional and commercial sectors
   
   Space heating and cooling, ventilation and lighting control systems other than solar technologies, low energy housing design and performance other than solar technologies, new insulation and building materials, thermal performance of buildings, domestic appliances, other.
    
3. Energy efficiency for transportation
   
   Analysis and optimisation of energy consumption in the transport sector, efficiency improvements in light-duty vehicles, heavy-duty vehicles, non-road vehicles, public transport systems, engine-fuel optimisation, use of alternative fuels (liquid and gaseous, other than hydrogen), fuel additives, diesel engines, Stirling motors, electric cars, hybrid cars, includes air emission reduction, other.
    
4. Other energy efficiency
   
   Waste heat utilisation (heat maps, process integration, total energy systems, low temperature thermodynamic cycles), district heating, heat pump development, reduction of energy consumption in the agricultural sector.

7. Other energy-related technologies

Carbon capture, transportation and storage for fossil fuel production and processing, electric power generation, industry in end-use sector, energy systems analysis, all other energy-related technologies.

1. Carbon capture, transportation and storage related to fossil fuel production and processing
    
2. Carbon capture, transportation and storage related to electric power production
    
3. Carbon capture, transportation and storage related to industry in end use sector
   
   Include: Industry in the end use sector, such as steel production, manufacturing, etc.
   Exclude Fossil fuel production and processing and electric power production
    
4. Energy system analysis System analysis related to energy R&D not covered elsewhere, sociological, economical and environmental impact of energy which are not specifically related to one technology area listed in the sections above.
    
5. All other energy-related technologies
   
   Energy technology information dissemination, studies not related to a specific technology area listed above.

Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP)

Reporting Guide

This guide is designed to assist you as you complete the 2014 Annual Survey of Research and Development in Canadian Industry – Industrial Non-profit Organizations. If you need more information, please call the Statistics Canada Help Line at the number below.

Help Line: 1-800-972-9692

Your answers are confidential.

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 information from this survey for statistical purposes.

NOTE:

1. If this organization performs in-house research and development (R&D) and outsources R&D, complete all questions.
2. If this organization performs in-house research and development (R&D) and does not outsource R&D, complete question 1-6, 9-20.
3. If this organization outsources research and development (R&D) and does not perform in-house R&D, complete questions 1-4,6-8, 13, 17-20.
4. If this organization does not perform in-house research and development (R&D) and does not outsource R&D, complete questions 1-4, 6, 13, 17-18 and 20.

For this survey

‘In-house R&D’ refers to
Expenditures within Canada for R&D performed within this organization by:

• employees (permanent, temporary or casual)
• self-employed individuals or contractors who are working on-site on this organization's R&D projects

’Outsourced R&D’ refers to
Payments made within or outside Canada to other organizations, companies or individuals to fund R&D performance:

• contracts
• grants
• fellowships

Reporting period information

Here are some examples of common fiscal periods that fall within the targeted dates:

• May 1, 2013 to April 30, 2014
• June 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014
• August 1, 2013 to July 31, 2014
• October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014
• December 1, 2013 to November 30, 2014
• January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014
• February 1, 2014 to January 31, 2015
• March 1, 2014 to February 28, 2015
• April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015

Here are other examples of fiscal periods that fall within the required dates:

• September 18, 2013 to September 15, 2014 (e.g., floating year-end)
• June 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014 (e.g., a newly opened business)

Definitions and Concepts

Research and development (R&D) comprise creative and systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge – including knowledge of humankind, culture and society – and to devise new applications of available knowledge

Research is original investigation undertaken on a systematic basis to gain new knowledge.

Development is systematic work, drawing on existing knowledge gained from research and/or practical experience, which is directed to producing new materials, products or devices, to installing new processes, systems and services, or to improving substantially those already produced or installed.

Activities included and excluded from R&D

Inclusions

Prototypes    

Include design, construction and operation of prototypes provided that the primary objective is to make further improvements or to undertake technical testing. Exclude if the prototype is for commercial purposes.

Pilot plants   

Include construction and operation of pilot plants provided that the primary objective is to make further improvement or to undertake technical testing. Exclude if the pilot plant is intended to be operated for commercial purposes.

New computer software or significant improvements/modifications to existing computer software         

Includes technological or scientific advances in theoretical computer sciences; operating systems e.g. improvement in interface management, developing new operating system of converting an existing operating system to a significantly different hardware environment; programming languages; and applications if a significant technological change occurs.

Contracts      

Include all contracts which require R&D. For contracts which include other work, report only the R&D costs.

Research work in the social sciences       

Include if projects are employing new or significantly different modelling techniques or developing new formulae, analyzing data not previously available or applying new research techniques.

Exclusions

Routine analysis in the social sciences including policy-related studies, management studies and efficiency studies          

Exclude analytical projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies, principles and models of the related social sciences to bear on a particular problem (e.g. commentary on the probable economic effects of a change in the tax structure, using existing economic data; use of standard techniques in applied psychology to select and classify industrial and military personnel, students, etc., and to test children with reading or other disabilities), are not R&D.

Consumer surveys, advertising, market research          

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended for commercialization of the results of R&D are excluded.

Routine quality control and testing           

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies not intended to create new knowledge are not R&D and are excluded even if carried out by personnel normally engaged in R&D.

Pre-production activities such as demonstration of commercial viability, tooling up, trial production, trouble shooting      

Exclude although R&D may be required as a result of these steps, these activities are excluded from R&D.

Prospecting, exploratory drilling, development of mines, oil or gas wells

Include only for R&D projects concerned with new equipment or techniques in these activities, such as in-situ and tertiary recovery research.

Engineering  

Exclude engineering unless it is in direct support of R&D.

Design and drawing

Exclude design and drawing unless it is in direct support of R&D.

Patent and license work     

Exclude all administrative and legal work connected with patents and licenses.

Cosmetic modifications or style changes to existing products

Exclude where no significant technical improvement or modification to the existing products.

General purpose or routine data collection         

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended for on-going monitoring of an activity. 

Routine computer programming, systems maintenance or software application

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended to support on-going operations.

Routine mathematical or statistical analysis or operations analysis    

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended for on-going monitoring of an activity.

Activities associated with standards compliance           

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended to support standards compliance.

Specialized routine medical care such as routine pathology services 

Exclude projects of a routine nature, with established methodologies intended for on-going monitoring of an activity.

In-house R&D expenditures within Canada (Q5)

In-house research and development expenditures are composed of current in-house research and development (R&D) expenditures and capital in-house R&D expenditures.

Current in house R&D expenditures

1. Wages and salaries of permanent, temporary and casual R&D employees Include: fringe benefits
   
   Fringe benefits of employees engaged in R&D activities. Fringe benefits include bonus payments, holiday or vacation pay, pension fund contributions, other social security payments, payroll taxes, etc.
    
2. Services to support R&D
   
   Include: services of self-employed individuals or contractors who are working on-site on this organizations R&D projects.
   Exclude: contracted out or granted expenditures to other organizations to perform R&D.
   
   Payments to on-site R&D consultants and contractors working under the direct control of your organization; indirect services purchased to support in-house R&D such as security, storage, repair, maintenance and use of buildings and equipment; computer services, software licensing fees and dissemination of R&D findings
    
3. R&D materials
   
   Utilities: water, fuel, gas and electricity; materials for creation of prototypes, reference materials (books, journals, etc.); subscriptions to libraries and data bases, memberships to scientific societies, etc.; cost of outsourced small R&D prototypes or R&D models; materials for laboratories (chemicals, animals, etc.); all other R&D-related materials
    
4. All other current costs
   
   Administrative and overhead costs (e.g., office, post and telecommunications, internet, insurance), prorated if necessary to allow for non-R&D activities within the company or organization

Capital in-house R&D expenditures

Capital in-house R&D expenditures are the annual gross amount paid for the acquisition of fixed assets that are used repeatedly, or continuously in the performance of research and development (R&D) for more than one year. They should be reported in full for the period when they occurred. Exclude capital depreciation.

5. Software
   Exclude: capital depreciationApplications and systems software (original, custom and off-the-shelf software), supporting documentation and other software-related acquisitions
    
6. Land
   Exclude: capital depreciationLand acquired for R&D including testing grounds, sites for laboratories and pilot plants
    
7. Buildings and structures
   Exclude: capital depreciationBuildings and structures (constructed or purchased) for research and development (R&D) activities or that have undergone major leasehold improvements (modifications, renovations and repairs) for R&D activities
    
8. Equipment, machinery and all other
   Exclude: capital depreciation
   
   Major equipment, machinery and instruments, including embedded software, acquired for research and development (R&D) activities

Outsourced (contracted out or granted) R&D expenditures (Q7)

Payments made through contracts, grants and fellowships to another organization, company or individual to purchase R&D activities.

Include: contracted out expenditures for research and development (R&D), funding or grants provided to other organizations to perform R&D.

Exclude: expenditures for services of self-employed individuals or contractors who are working on-site on this organization’s R&D.

1. Companies
   
   All incorporated for profit businesses and government business enterprises providing products in the market at market rates.
    
2. Private non-profit organizations
   
   Voluntary health organizations, private philanthropic foundations, associations and societies and research institutes; they are not for profit organizations that serve the public interest by supporting activities related to public welfare (such as health, education, the environment).
3. Industrial research institutes or associations
   
   Non-profit organizations that serve the business enterprise sector frequently consisting of their membership. Industrial non-profit organizations include non-profit industrial research institutes.
    
4. Hospitals
    
5. Universities
    
6. Federal government departments and agencies
   
   All federal government ministries, departments and agencies. It excludes federal government business enterprises providing products in the market.
    
7. Provincial government departments and agencies
   
   All provincial government ministries, departments and agencies. It excludes provincial government business enterprises providing products in the market.
    
8. Provincial research organizations
   
   Organizations created under provincial or territorial law which conduct or facilitate research on behalf of the province or territory.
    
9. Other
   
   Individuals, non-university educational institutions, foreign governments

Sources of funds for in-house R&D expenditures in 2014 (Q10)

Include: Canadian and foreign sources

Exclude: payments for outsourced (contracted out or granted) R&D which should be reported in question 7 on Outsourced (contracted out or granted) R&D; capital depreciation.

1. Funds from this organization
   
   Amount contributed by this unit to R&D performed within Canada (include interest payments and other income, land, buildings and structures, equipment and machinery (capital expenditures) purchased for R&D).
2. Funds from member companies or affiliates
   
   Amount received from member organizations and affiliated organizations used to perform R&D within Canada (include annual fees and sustaining grants, land, buildings and structures, equipment and machinery (capital expenditures) purchased for R&D).
    
3. Federal grants
   
   Include: R&D grants or R&D portion only of other grants
   
   Funds from the federal government in support of R&D activities not connected to a specific contractual deliverable.
    
4. Federal contracts
   
   Include: R&D contracts or R&D portion only of other contracts
   
   Funds from the federal government in support of R&D activities connected to a specific contractual deliverable.
    
5. R&D contract work for other companies
   
   Funds received from other companies to perform R&D on their behalf.
    
6. Other sources
   
   Funds received from all other sources not previously classified.

In-house R&D expenditures by fields of research and development in 2014 (Q11)

Exclude: payments for outsourced (contracted out or granted) R&D which should be reported in question 7 on Outsourced (contracted out or granted) R&D; capital depreciation.

Natural and formal sciences

Mathematics, physical sciences, chemical sciences, earth and related environmental sciences, biological sciences, other natural sciences.

Exclude: computer sciences, information sciences and bioinformatics (to be reported at line r, s and t)

1. Mathematics
   
   Pure mathematics, applied mathematics, statistics and probability.
    
2. Physical Sciences
   
   Atomic, molecular and chemical physics, interaction with radiation, magnetic resonances, condensed matter physics, solid state physics and superconductivity, particles and fields physics, nuclear physics, fluids and plasma physics (including surface physics), optics (including laser optics and quantum optics), acoustics, astronomy (including astrophysics, space science).
    
3. Chemical sciences
   
   Organic chemistry, inorganic and nuclear chemistry, physical chemistry, polymer science and plastics, electrochemistry (dry cells, batteries, fuel cells, metal corrosion, electrolysis), colloid chemistry, analytical chemistry.
    
4. Earth and related environmental sciences
   
   Geosciences, geophysics, mineralogy and  palaeontology, geochemistry and geophysics, physical geography, geology and volcanology, environmental sciences, meteorology, atmospheric sciences and climatic research, oceanography, hydrology and water resources.
    
5. Biological sciences
   
   Cell biology, microbiology and virology, biochemistry, molecular biology and biochemical research, mycology, biophysics, genetics and heredity (medical genetics under medical biotechnology), reproductive biology (medical aspects under medical biotechnology), developmental biology, plant sciences and botany, zoology, ornithology, entomology and behavioural sciences biology, marine biology, freshwater biology and limnology, ecology and biodiversity conservation, biology (theoretical, thermal, cryobiology, biological rhythm), evolutionary biology.
    
6. Other natural sciences

Engineering and Technology

Civil engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering and communications technology, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, materials engineering, medical engineering, environmental engineering, environmental biotechnology, industrial biotechnology, nanotechnology, other engineering and technologies.

Exclude: software engineering and technology (to be reported at line r)

7. Civil engineering
   
   Civil engineering, architecture engineering, municipal and structural engineering, transport engineering.
    
8. Electrical engineering, electronic engineering and communications technology
   
   Electrical and electronic engineering, robotics and automatic control, micro-electronics, semiconductors, automation and control systems, communication engineering and systems, telecommunications, computer hardware and architecture.
    
9. Mechanical engineering
   
   Mechanical engineering, Applied mechanics, Thermodynamics, Aerospace engineering, Nuclear-related engineering (nuclear physics under Physical sciences), Acoustical engineering, Reliability analysis and non-destructive testing, Automotive and transportation engineering and manufacturing, Tooling, machinery and equipment engineering and manufacturing, Heating, ventilation and air conditioning engineering and manufacturing.
    
10. Chemical engineering
    
    Chemical engineering (plants, products), chemical process engineering.
     
11. Materials engineering
    
    Materials engineering and metallurgy, ceramics, coating and films (including packaging and printing), plastics, rubber and composites (including laminates and reinforced plastics), paper and wood and textiles, construction materials (organic and inorganic).
     
12. Medical Engineering
    
    Medical and biomedical engineering, medical laboratory technology (excluding biomaterials which should be reported under industrial biotechnology).
     
13. Environmental engineering
    
    Environmental and geological engineering, petroleum engineering (fuel, oils), energy and fuels, remote sensing, mining and mineral processing, marine engineering, sea vessels and ocean engineering.
     
14. Environmental biotechnology
    
    Environmental biotechnology, bioremediation, diagnostic biotechnologies in environmental management (DNA chips and bio-sensing devices).
     
15. Industrial biotechnology
    
    Industrial biotechnology, bioprocessing technologies, biocatalysis and fermentation bioproducts (products that are manufactured using biological material as feedstock), biomaterials (bioplastics, biofuels, bioderived bulk and fine chemicals, bio-derived materials).
     
16. Nanotechnology
    
    Nano-materials (production and properties), nano-processes (applications on nano-scale).
     
17. Other engineering and technologies
    
    Food and beverages, oenology, other engineering and technologies.

Software-related sciences and technology

Software engineering and technology, computer sciences, information technology and bioinformatics.

18. Software engineering and technology
    
    Computer software engineering, computer software technology, and other related computer software engineering and technologies.
     
19. Computer sciences
    
    Computer science, artificial intelligence, cryptography, and other related computer sciences
     
20. Information technology and bioinformatics
    
    Information technology, informatics, bioinformatics, biomathematics, and other related information technologies.

Medical and health sciences

Basic medicine, clinical medicine, health sciences, medical biotechnology, other medical sciences.

21. Basic medicine
    
    Anatomy and morphology (plant science under biological science), human genetics, immunology, neurosciences, pharmacology and pharmacy and medicinal chemistry, toxicology, physiology and cytology, pathology.
     
22. Clinical medicine
    
    Andrology, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, cardiac and cardiovascular systems, haematology, anaesthesiology, orthopaedics, radiology and nuclear medicine, dentistry, oral surgery and medicine, dermatology, venereal diseases and allergy, rheumatology, endocrinology and metabolism and gastroenterology, urology and nephrology, and oncology.
     
23. Health sciences
    
    Health care sciences and nursing, nutrition and dietetics, parasitology, infectious diseases and epidemiology, occupational health.
     
24. Medical biotechnology
    
    Health-related biotechnology, technologies involving the manipulation of cells, tissues, organs or the whole organism, technologies involving identifying the functioning of DNA, proteins and enzymes, pharmacogenomics, gene-based therapeutics, biomaterials (related to medical implants, devices, sensors).
     
25. Other medical sciences
    
    Forensic science, other medical sciences.

Agricultural Sciences

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries sciences, animal and dairy sciences, veterinary sciences, agricultural biotechnology, other agricultural sciences.

26. Agriculture, forestry and fisheries sciences
    
    Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, soil science, horticulture, viticulture, agronomy, plant breeding and plant protection.
     
27. Animal and dairy sciences
    
    Animal and dairy science, animal husbandry.
     
28. Veterinary sciences
    
    Veterinary science (all).
     
29. Agricultural biotechnology
    
    Agricultural biotechnology and food biotechnology, genetically modified (GM) organism technology and livestock cloning, diagnostics (DNA chips and biosensing devices), biomass feedstock production technologies and biopharming.
     
30. Other agricultural sciences

Social sciences and humanities

Psychology, educational sciences, economics and business, other social sciences, humanities.

31. Psychology
    
    Cognitive psychology and psycholinguistics, experimental psychology, psychometrics and quantitative psychology, and other fields of psychology.
     
32. Educational sciences
    
    Education, training and other related educational sciences.
     
33. Economics and business
    
    Micro-economics, macro-economics, econometrics, labour economics, financial economics and all other related fields of economics and business.
     
34. Other social sciences
    
    Anthropology (social and cultural) and ethnology, demography, geography (human, economic and social), planning (town, city and country), management, organisation and methods (excluding market research unless new methods/techniques are developed), law, linguistics, political sciences, sociology, miscellaneous social sciences and interdisciplinary, and methodological and historical science and technology activities relating to subjects in this group.
     
35. Humanities
    
    History (history, prehistory and history, together with auxiliary historical disciplines such as archaeology, numismatics, palaeography, genealogy, etc.), languages and literature (ancient and modern), other humanities (philosophy (including the history of science and technology)), arts (history of art, art criticism, painting, sculpture, musicology, dramatic art excluding artistic “research” of any kind), religion, theology, other fields and subjects pertaining to the humanities, and methodological, historical and other science and technology activities relating to the subjects in this group.

In house R&D expenditures by nature of R&D activity in 2014 (Q12)

R&D is performed in the natural sciences, engineering, social sciences and humanities. There are three types of R&D activities: basic research, applied research and experimental development.

1. Basic research
   
   Experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundation of phenomena and observable facts, without any particular application or use in view.
    
2. Applied research
   
   Also original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge. It is, however, directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective.
    
3. Experimental development
   
   Systematic work, drawing on existing knowledge gained from research and/or practical experience, which is directed to producing new materials, products or devices, to installing new processes, systems and services, or to improving substantially those already produced or installed.

In-house R&D personnel in 2014 (Q14)

Include:

• permanent, temporary and casual R&D employees
• independent on-site R&D consultants and contractors working in your organization’s offices, laboratories, or other facilities
• employees engaged in R&D-related support activities.

Researchers and research managers

1. Scientists, social scientists, engineers and researchers
   Include: software developers and programmers
   
   Create new knowledge, products, processes, methods and systems. They include software developers and programmers. They may be certified by provincial educational authorities, provincial or national scientific or engineering associations (Include software developers and programmers).
    
2. Senior research managers
   
   Plan or manage R&D projects and programs. They may be certified by provincial educational authorities, provincial or national scientific or engineering associations.

R&D technical, administrative and support staff

3. Technicians, technologists and research assistants
   Include: software technicians
   
   Assist scientists, engineers and researchers in R&D activities, e.g., laboratory technicians, chemical technicians, draftspersons, research assistants and software technicians. They may be certified by provincial educational authorities, provincial or national scientific or engineering associations.
    
4. Other R&D technical, administrative and support staff
   
   Include administrative assistants, accountants, bookkeepers, equipment storage, maintenance managers and facilities operators engaged in administration, clerical or other activities in support of R&D activities. Also included are machinists and electricians engaged in the construction of prototypes.

Other R&D occupations

5. On-site R&D consultants and contractors
   
   Are individuals hired 1) to perform project-based work or to provide goods at a fixed or ascertained price or within a certain time or 2) to provide advice or services in a specialized field for a fee and, in both cases, work at the location specified and controlled by the contracting organization.

Full-time equivalent (FTE)

R&D may be carried out by persons who work solely on R&D projects or by persons who devote only part of their time to R&D, and the balance to other activities such as testing, quality control and production engineering. To arrive at the total effort devoted to R&D in terms of personnel, it is necessary to estimate the full-time equivalent of these persons working only part-time in R&D.

FTE (full-time equivalent) = Number of persons who work solely on R&D projects + the time of persons working only part of their time on R&D.

Example calculation: If out of four scientists engaged in R&D work, one works solely on R&D projects and the remaining three devote only one quarter of their working time to R&D, then: FTE = 1 + 1/4 + 1/4 + 1/4 = 1.75 scientists.

Technology or technical assistant payments in 2014 (Q17 and Q18)

Definitions (equivalent to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr00143.html)

1. Patents
   
   Government grant giving the right to exclude others from making, using or selling an invention.
    
2. Copyright
   
   Provides protection for literary, artistic, dramatic or musical works (including computer programs), and three other subject matter known as: performance, sound recording, and communication signal.
    
3. Trademark
   
   Word, symbol or design (or any combination of these features) used to distinguish the wares and services of one person or organization from those of others in the marketplace.
4. Industrial design
   
   Visual features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament (or any combination of these features), applied to a finished article of manufacture.
    
5. Integrated circuit topography
   
   Three-dimensional arrangement of the electronic circuits in integrated circuit products or layout designs.
    
6. Original software
   
   Consist of computer programs and descriptive materials for both systems and applications. Original software can be created in-house or outsourced and includes packaged software with customization.
    
7. Packaged or off-the-shelf software
   
   Purchased for use by your organization and excludes customized software.
    
8. Databases
   
   Consist of files of data organized to permit effective access and use of the data.
    
9. Other
   
   Technical assistance, industrial processes and know-how.

Energy-related R&D by area of technology (Q19)

1. Fossil Fuels

Crude oils and natural gas exploration, crude oils and natural gas production, oil sands and heavy crude oils surface and sub-surface production and separation of the bitumen, tailings management, refining, processing and upgrading, coal production, separation and processing, transportation of fossil fuels.

1. Crude oils and natural gas exploration
   
   Development of advanced exploration methods (geophysical, geochemical, seismic, magnetic) for on-shore and off-shore prospecting.
    
2. Crude oil and natural gas production (including enhanced recovery) and storage
   
   On-shore and off-shore deep drilling equipment and techniques for conventional oil and gas, secondary and tertiary recovery of oil and gas, hydro fracturing techniques, processing and cleaning of raw product, storage on remote platforms (e.g., Arctic, off-shore), safety aspects of offshore platforms.
    
3. Oil sands and heavy crude oils surface and sub-surface production and separation of the bitumen, tailings management
   
   Surface and in-situ production (e.g., SAGD); tailings management.
    
4. Refining, processing and upgrading
   
   Processing of natural gas to pipeline specifications, and refining of conventional crude oils to refined petroleum products (RPPs), and the upgrading of bitumen and heavy oils either to synthetic crude oil or to RPPs. Upgrading may be done at an oil sands plant, regional merchant upgraders or integrated into a refinery producing RPPs.
    
5. Coal production, separation and processing
   
   Coal, lignite and peat exploration, deposit evaluation techniques, mining techniques, separation techniques, coking and blending, other processing such as coal to liquids, underground (in-situ) gasification.
    
6. Transportation of fossil fuels
   
   Transport of gaseous, liquid and solid hydrocarbons via pipelines (land and submarine) and their network evaluation; safety aspects of LNG transport and storage.

2. Renewable energy resources

Solar photovoltaics (PV), solar thermal-power and high-temperature applications, solar heating and cooling, wind energy, bio-energy – biomass production, bio-energy – biomass conversion to fuels, bio-energy – biomass conversion to heat and electricity, and other bio-energy, small hydro (less than 10 MW), large hydro (greater than or equal to 10 MW), other renewable energy.

1. Solar photovoltaics (PV)
   
   Solar cell development, PV-module development, PV-inverter development, building-integrated PV-modules, PV-system development, other.
    
2. Solar thermal-power and high-temperature applications
   
   Solar chemistry, concentrating collector development, solar thermal power plants, high-temperature applications for heat and power.
    
3. Solar heating and cooling
   
   Daylighting, passive and active solar heating and cooling, collector development, hot water preparation, combined-space heating, solar architecture, solar drying, solar-assisted ventilation, swimming pool heating, low-temperature process heating, other.
    
4. Wind energy
   
   Technology development, such as blades, turbines, converters structures, system integration, other.
    
5. Bio-energy – Biomass production/supply and transport
   
   Improvement of energy crops, research on bio-energy production potential and associated land-use effects, supply and transport of bio-solids, bio-liquids, biogas and bio-derived energy products (e.g., ethanol, biodiesel), compacting and baling, other.
    
6. Bio-energy – Biomass conversion to fuels
   
   Conventional bio-fuels, cellulosic-derived alcohols, biomass gas-to-liquids, other energy-related products and by-products.
    
7. Bio-energy – Biomass conversion to heat and electricity
   
   Bio-based heat, electricity and combined heat and power (CHP), exclude multi-firing with fossil fuels.
    
8. Other bio-energy
   
   Recycling and the use of municipal, industrial and agricultural waste as energy not covered elsewhere.
    
9. Small-Hydro – (less than 10 MW)
   
   Plants with capacity below 10 MW.
    
10. Large-Hydro – (greater than or equal to 10 MW)
    
    Plants with capacity of 10 MW and above.
     
11. Other renewable energy
    
    Hot dry rock, hydro-thermal, geothermal heat applications (including agriculture), tidal power, wave energy, ocean current power, ocean thermal power, other.

3. Nuclear fission and fusion

Materials exploration, mining and preparation, tailings management, nuclear reactors, other fission, fusion.

1. Nuclear materials exploration, mining and preparation, tailings management
   
   Development of advanced exploration methods (geophysical, geochemical) for prospecting, ore surface and in-situ production, uranium and thorium extraction and conversion, enrichment, handling of tailings and remediation.
    
2. Nuclear reactors
   
   Nuclear reactors of all types and related system components.
    
3. Other fission
   
   Nuclear safety, environmental protection (emission reduction or avoidance), radiation protection and decommissioning of power plants and related nuclear fuel cycle installations, nuclear waste treatment, disposal and storage, fissile material recycling, fissile materials control, transport of radioactive materials.
    
4. Fusion
   
   All types (e.g., magnetic confinement, laser applications).

4. Electric Power

Generation in utility sector, combined heat and power in industry and in buildings, electricity transmission, distribution and storage of electricity.

1. Electric power generation in utility sector
   
   Conventional and non-conventional technology (e.g., pulverised coal, fluidised bed, gasification-combined cycle, supercritical), re-powering, retrofitting, life extensions and upgrading of power plants, generators and components, super-conductivity, magneto hydrodynamic, dry cooling towers, co-firing (e.g., with biomass), air and thermal pollution reduction or avoidance, flue gas cleanup (excluding CO2 removal), CHP (combined heat and power) not covered elsewhere.
    
2. Electric power - combined heat and power in industry, buildings
   
   Industrial applications, small scale applications for buildings.
    
3. Electricity transmission, distribution and storage
   
   Solid state power electronics, load management and control systems, network problems, super-conducting cables, AC and DC high voltage cables, HVDC transmission, other transmission and distribution related to integrating distributed and intermittent generating sources into networks, all storage (e.g., batteries, hydro reservoirs, fly wheels), other.

Hydrogen and fuel cells

Hydrogen production for process applications, hydrogen production for transportation applications, hydrogen transport and storage, other hydrogen, fuel cells, both stationary and mobile.

1. Hydrogen production for process applications
2. Hydrogen production for transportation applications
3. Hydrogen transport and storage
4. Other hydrogen
   End uses (e.g., combustion), other infrastructure and systems R&D (refuelling stations).
5. Stationary fuel cells
   Electricity generation, other stationary end-use.
6. Mobile fuel cellsPortable applications.

6. Energy efficiency

Industry, residential and commercial, transportation, other energy efficiency.

1. Energy efficiency applications for industry
   
   Reduction of energy consumption through improved use of energy and/or reduction or avoidance of air and other emissions related to the use of energy in industrial systems and processes (excluding bio-energy-related) through the development of new techniques, new processes and new equipment, other.
    
2. Energy efficiency for residential, institutional and commercial sectors
   
   Space heating and cooling, ventilation and lighting control systems other than solar technologies, low energy housing design and performance other than solar technologies, new insulation and building materials, thermal performance of buildings, domestic appliances, other.
    
3. Energy efficiency for transportation
   
   Analysis and optimisation of energy consumption in the transport sector, efficiency improvements in light-duty vehicles, heavy-duty vehicles, non-road vehicles, public transport systems, engine-fuel optimisation, use of alternative fuels (liquid and gaseous, other than hydrogen), fuel additives, diesel engines, Stirling motors, electric cars, hybrid cars, includes air emission reduction, other.
    
4. Other energy efficiency
   
   Waste heat utilisation (heat maps, process integration, total energy systems, low temperature thermodynamic cycles), district heating, heat pump development, reduction of energy consumption in the agricultural sector.

7. Other energy-related technologies

Carbon capture, transportation and storage for fossil fuel production and processing, electric power generation, industry in end-use sector, energy systems analysis, all other energy-related technologies.

1. Carbon capture, transportation and storage related to fossil fuel production and processing
    
2. Carbon capture, transportation and storage related to electric power production
    
3. Carbon capture, transportation and storage related to industry in end use sector
   Include: Industry in the end use sector, such as steel production, manufacturing, etc.
   
   Exclude Fossil fuel production and processing and electric power production
    
4. Energy system analysis
   
   System analysis related to energy R&D not covered elsewhere, sociological, economical and environmental impact of energy which are not specifically related to one technology area listed in the sections above.
    
5. All other energy-related technologies
   
   Energy technology information dissemination, studies not related to a specific technology area listed above.
    

1. Introduction

This report provides the background, general methods and results of a project undertaken to investigate the use of remote sensing, agroclimatic and survey data to model reliable crop yield estimates as a preliminary estimate to the November Farm Survey estimates, an occasion of the Crop Reporting Series at Statistics Canada. These estimates are made available before the September Farm Survey estimates are released. The work was completed by the Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis Section, Agriculture Division, and by the Business Survey Methods Division at Statistics Canada in collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC).

2. General methodology for crop yield modelling

A methodology for modelling crop yield was developed and tested on the crops that are typically published at the provincial and national levels by the September Farm Survey, as shown in Table 1. The five provinces listed account for approximately 98% of the agricultural land in Canada, across a diverse range of climate zones and soil types. The crops that account for approximately 85% of the revenue for the 19 crops listed are referred to as the seven major crops.

Table 1. Crops typically published in the results of the September Farm Survey, by province
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 1. Crops typically published in the results of the September Farm Survey. The information is grouped by Crop type (appearing as row headers), Province (appearing as column headers).

Crop type	Province
	Quebec	Ontario	Manitoba	Saskatchewan	Alberta
7 major crops
Barley	X	X	X	X	X
Canola	X	X	X	X	X
Corn for grain	X	X	X
Durum wheat				X	X
Oats	X	X	X	X	X
Soybeans	X	X	X
Spring wheat	X	X	X	X	X
12 additional crops
Canary seed				X
Chickpeas				X	X
Coloured beans		X	X
Fall rye		X	X	X	X
Field peas			X	X	X
Flaxseed			X	X	X
Lentils				X
Mixed grains	X	X	X	X	X
Mustard seed				X	X
Sunflower seed			X
White beans		X	X
Winter wheat	X	X	X	X	X
Note: Fodder corn is typically published in the September Farm survey. However, it was not modelled due to a lack of July Farm Survey yield estimates.

The goal of the model was to produce a preliminary estimate of the expected harvest yield of the crops in late summer using information from existing data sources.

3. Data sources used in the model

The modelling methodology used three data sources: 1) the coarse resolution satellite data used as part of Statistics Canada's Crop Condition Assessment Program; 2) Statistics Canada's Crop Reporting Series data, and 3) agroclimatic data for the agricultural regions of Canada.

3.1 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

Since 1987, Statistics Canada has monitored crop conditions across Canada and the northern United States using the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensor aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) series of satellites. This series of satellites produces a daily image of the entire Earth's surface at a spatial resolution of one kilometre. A spectral vegetation index, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), was used as a surrogate for photosynthetic potential. NDVI is the normalized ratio of the Near-Infrared (NIR) to Red (R) reflectance (NDVI = (ρNIR − ρR)/(ρNIR + ρR)) and varies from −1 to 1, with values close to one indicating high vegetation content and values close to zero indicating no vegetation over bare ground. Materials such as water which absorb more radiation in the NIR than visible wavelengths, have a negative NDVI.

The NDVI data were processed on a continuous basis throughout the agricultural growing season (April to October) for the entire land mass of Canada. Statistics Canada has a time series of NDVI data from 1987 to present, which includes years of severe drought and record production. The daily NDVI images were processed into seven-day composites as described by Latifovic et al. (2005) and the methodology was further refined by Statistics Canada to minimize or eliminate NDVI errors introduced by the presence of clouds (Bédard 2010).

Cropland NDVI statistics by census agricultural region (CAR) were computed and stored in a relational database for each weekly NDVI composite. Only NDVI picture elements, or pixels, that geographically coincide with an agriculture land cover database produced by AAFC as part of an annual crop inventory were extracted to generate the mean NDVI value for cropland within each of the CARs. The agriculture land cover file and the associated metadata file produced by AAFC were accessible at www.geobase.ca/geobase/en/data/landcover/index.html.

After the mean NDVI values were computed they were imported as one of the input variable databases to the crop models as three-week moving averages from week 18 to 36 (May to August).

3.2 Survey area and yield data

Statistics Canada's Field Crop Reporting Series surveys were another dataset used in the model. These surveys obtain information on grains and other field crops stored on farms (March, July, September and December Farm Surveys), seeded area (March, June, July, September and November Farm Surveys), harvested area, expected yield and production of field crops (July, September and November Farm Surveys). These data provide accurate and timely estimates of seeding intentions, seeded and harvested area, production, yield and farm stocks of the principal field crops in Canada at the provincial level.

The survey produces results only when the crop is relatively abundant. If the crop is abundant in a province, the yields are available at a lower geographic level (usually corresponding to the CARs). If there is a crop but it is not abundant, survey data are available at the province level only. Some crops are absent or largely absent in a province and do not have survey data available.

For abundant crops, CAR level crop yield estimates from the July and November Farm Surveys from 1987 to present were used as input variables for the models while yield estimates from the September Farm Survey and the November Farm Survey were used to verify the accuracy of the yield model results. For less abundant crops, the survey data were compiled at the provincial level.

3.3 Agroclimatic indexes

The climate data collected during the growing season were the third data source used for modelling crop yields. The station-based daily temperature and precipitation data provided by Environment Canada and other partner institutions were used to generate the climate-based predictors (Chipanshi et. al. 2015).

Average values of the indexes at all stations within the cropland extent of a specific CAR were used to represent the mean agroclimate of that CAR. If a CAR lacked input climate data, stations from neighbouring CARs were used.

To form a manageable array of potential crop yield predictors, AAFC aggregated the daily agroclimatic indexes into monthly sums and means for the months of May to August. Their standard deviations (Std) over the month were also calculated and included in the modelling methodology (Newlands et al. 2014; Chipanshi et al. 2015). The Std value shows how the daily index varies over the one-month period. The larger the Std, the higher the variability of the parameter in that month.

4. Modelling survey yields

The model was selected by first reviewing the existing models, then by assessing the models available in SAS. Modelling was done at the smallest geographic level for which historical survey data were available. Only the five main crop-producing provinces (Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta) were modelled.

4.1 Review of existing models

A model must be created for each CAR (or for each province in the case of less abundant crops). Each region has 28 years of data (1987 to 2014) and 80 explanatory variables. For its preliminary evaluation, Statistics Canada used a stepwise multiple linear regression, and showed that the optimal number of explanatory variables to be selected for modelling was five (Bédard and Reichert 2013).

An approach used by AAFC is based on the Bayesian and non-Bayesian methods at different steps (Chipanshi et al. 2015). The variable selection step uses a non-Bayesian approach by the least-angle robust regression algorithm, while cross-validating and keeping the variables that minimize the median of absolute errors. Yields are then estimated using a Bayesian approach.

The Bayesian approach is used to estimate yields at the beginning of the season, when data for the current year are not all available, which will not be the case at Statistics Canada, where estimates are done near the end of the growing season. As shown in Section 5, the methodology used by Statistics Canada generates results that are similar to the AAFC approach (identified as the least-angle robust model).

4.2 An alternative approach to SAS stepwise modelling

It is important to take outliers into account when selecting the explanatory variables (Khan et al. 2007) and performing estimation, and therefore to use robust modelling methods when possible. The objective was to find a robust alternative for both selecting the variables and estimating the yields. It was found that there was no robust selection procedure in the SAS software used at StatCan. An alternative was to use non-robust algorithms at the selection step and then to estimate the model in a robust way. The LASSO (Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator) method was selected from the five variable selection algorithms available in SAS. The MM method was chosen from the robust regression methods available in SAS, since it processes outliers at both the model and explanatory variable levels (Copt et al. 2006).

In the rest of the document the method retained by StatCan will be referred to as the LASSO robust model and the method used by StatCan for preliminary evaluations will be referred to as the stepwise non-robust model.

4.3 Aggregating model yield estimates to the provincial and national levels

The yield model estimates are created at the CAR level for the majority of crops. The CAR level estimates are weighted based on seeded area and aggregated to produce a provincial estimate. For certain crops that are less common in a province, the model estimates are only created at the provincial level. A similar weighting approach was used to produce a national estimate from provincial estimates.

4.4 Model evaluation method

The November Farm Survey estimates are considered the most accurate estimate of yield for a given year, due to the fact that the data are collected after the majority of harvesting is completed and the sample size is the largest of all six of the survey occasions. The results of the September Farm Survey can be considered a preliminary estimate of the November results. Therefore, the goal of the modelled yield is not to replicate the results of the September Farm Survey but rather to obtain a sufficiently accurate yield estimate in advance of the November survey results. Unless otherwise indicated, the analysis in the following sections was based on the November yield estimate as the benchmark for comparison.

The relative difference (presented as a percentage) between the yield estimate of a given method (i.e., September Farm Survey or the model) and the November survey yield estimate was the measure of quality. A negative relative difference indicated that the given yield estimate was smaller than the November survey estimate, while a positive relative difference indicated that the given yield estimate was larger than the November survey estimate.

$\mathrm{Relative difference}=100*\frac{\mathrm{Given estimate}-\mathrm{November survey estimate}}{\mathrm{November survey estimate}}$

Many of the summary tables were shown in terms of the absolute relative difference to demonstrate the magnitude of the difference between two estimates and did not take into account the direction of the difference. These absolute relative differences were summarized in terms of the median, 75th percentile, 90th percentile and maximum value calculated over the range of years for which estimates were compared.

5. Results of the model evaluations

Two studies were undertaken to evaluate the quality of the models. The first compared the LASSO robust model with the stepwise non-robust model while the second compared the LASSO robust model approach to the least-angle robust model.

5.1 Comparing results between the LASSO robust model and stepwise non-robust model

The LASSO robust model results were compared with results from the stepwise non-robust model by comparing the relative differences with the November survey yields. Results were generated for the seven major crops from 1987 to 2014 inclusive at the national level.

In general, the LASSO robust model, when compared with the November survey yields, produced results with smaller absolute relative differences than the stepwise non-robust model (Table 2). It was retained for the second study.

Table 2. Median, 75th and 90th percentiles of absolute relative difference of the LASSO robust and the stepwise non-robust models with November survey yields at the national level for 1987 to 2014 for seven major crops
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 2. Median. The information is grouped by Crop (appearing as row headers), Median, 75 percentile and 90 percentile (appearing as column headers).

Crop	Median		75th percentile		90th percentile
	LASSO robust (%)	Stepwise non-robust (%)	LASSO robust (%)	Stepwise non-robust (%)	LASSO robust (%)	Stepwise non-robust (%)
Barley	3.9	3.3	5.0	6.0	7.7	8.2
Canola	6.4	5.0	10.7	8.0	14.6	15.0
Corn for grain	4.3	6.6	6.2	8.5	8.8	11.6
Durum wheat	3.8	4.9	6.6	8.0	10.3	10.2
Oats	3.8	7.0	5.8	12.5	8.3	18.6
Soybeans	4.3	7.2	10.0	12.4	16.9	19.0
Spring wheat	3.1	4.0	7.0	6.2	9.1	8.8

5.2 Comparing results of the LASSO robust model with the least-angle robust models

For the yield model estimates, the LASSO robust model using SAS was compared with the least-angle robust model using R statistical language software. Statistics Canada, in collaboration with AAFC, determined that the LASSO robust model produced comparable results to those produced by the least-angle robust model. Table 3 indicates that the median absolute differences in yield over 28 years at the national level between the two models were all close to 1% for six of the seven major crops analyzed, and at 2.4% for soybeans.

Table 3. Median absolute difference between yields from the LASSO robust model and the least-angle robust model, national level, for seven major crops
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 3. Median absolute difference between yields from the LASSO robust model and the least-angle robust model. The information is grouped by Crop (appearing as row headers), Median absolute difference (%) (appearing as column headers).

Crop	Median absolute difference (%)
Barley	0.9
Canola	1.0
Corn for grain	1.4
Durum wheat	1.3
Oats	0.9
Soybeans	2.4
Spring wheat	0.9

Statistics Canada made the decision to adopt the SAS LASSO robust model not only because it produced similar results to the least-angle robust model, but also because SAS is the standard programming tool used at the agency.

6. Comparisons of modelled yields with September survey yield results

The yield estimates produced by the SAS LASSO robust model were compared with the September survey yield in terms of relative differences from the November survey yields. Multiple comparisons were completed to evaluate how the modelled and survey yields performed at national and provincial levels over the long term (1987 to 2014), in a year with normal conditions (2014), and in a year of record production (2013).

6.1 Comparing absolute relative differences with November survey yields at the national level (1987 to 2014)

The series of graphs in Figure 2 show the relative difference of both the September survey estimates and the LASSO robust modelled estimates with the November survey yields, at the national level, for the seven major crops separately from 1987 to 2014.

As can be seen by comparing these seven graphs, there is no consistent pattern when the estimates of the two methods are compared. Neither method is consistently closer to the November survey estimates for any crop. For soybeans and corn for grain, the two methods follow a similar pattern of estimates over the 28 years with regard to how the estimates change from year to year. However, this pattern is not present for the other crops. Additionally, for any given year one method does not consistently perform better for all crops. In general, both methods have comparable relative differences from the November survey estimates. However, the modelled estimates tend to have larger relative differences in cases where an extreme relative difference is observed (e.g., the maximum and minimum relative differences are larger).

One pattern that can be seen is that the September survey results tend to be low when compared with the November survey results (below the x-axis) more often than the model results.

Figure 1. Relative difference from November survey yields at the national level, 1987 to 2014, seven major crops.

Table 4 summarizes the graphical information. At the national level, the median absolute relative differences from the November Farm Survey yields for the seven major crops modelled (barley, canola, corn for grain, durum wheat, oats, soybean, and spring wheat) were very similar to those from the September Farm Survey for the period from 1987 to 2014. In both cases, the median absolute relative difference was 4.1%. The median absolute relative difference results were comparable for some of the 12 additional crops, although larger relative differences were seen for crops that have a limited amount of historical data available. For the 12 additional crops, the overall median absolute relative difference of the modelled estimates (4.4%) was similar to the modelled median of the seven major crops but the overall median absolute relative difference of the September survey for the 12 crops (3.0%) was much lower than its median for the seven major crops.

In general, when larger relative differences were observed, the model's relative differences tended to be larger than those of the September survey. The maximum national absolute relative difference from the November Farm Survey yields for the 19 crops modelled was 39.4%, compared with 31.5% for the September Farm Survey.

Table 4. Median, 75th and 90th percentile and maximum of the absolute relative difference between the September survey yields and the LASSO robust modelled yields and the November survey yields at the national level for 19 crops
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 4. Median. The information is grouped by  Crop (appearing as row headers), Median, 75th percentile, 90th percentile, Maximum and Years of Nov historical data (appearing as column headers).

Crop	Median		75th percentile		90th percentile		Maximum		Years of November historical data
	LASSO robust (%)	Sept. survey (%)	LASSO robust (%)	Sept. survey (%)	LASSO robust (%)	Sept. survey (%)	LASSO robust (%)	Sept. survey (%)
Barley	3.9	2.4	5.0	3.5	7.7	5.4	17.8	8.4	28
Canola	6.4	5.5	10.7	8.6	14.6	11.5	26.1	17.4	28
Corn for grain	4.3	6.4	6.2	8.4	8.8	10.7	22.6	16.1	28
Durum wheat	3.8	4.7	6.6	6.1	10.3	7.2	15.9	13.0	28
Oats	3.8	3.6	5.8	4.6	8.3	9.1	14.2	14.8	28
Soybeans	4.3	4.3	10.0	6.9	16.9	14.0	39.4	31.5	28
Spring wheat	3.1	4.0	7.0	5.3	9.1	7.3	16.8	12.6	28
Canary seed	7.2	5.6	14.3	13.3	19.2	19.9	20.6	27.6	16
Chickpeas	5.4	8.3	12.9	13.7	22.0	17.3	22.8	23.9	10
Coloured beans	7.9	5.4	11.9	6.8	13.5	11.2	13.9	16.9	7
Fall rye	4.5	2.6	7.6	4.4	10.0	8.3	27.7	10.4	27
Field peas	4.0	2.3	6.1	5.1	11.6	7.2	21.7	19.7	28
Flax	6.0	4.1	10.6	6.8	14.4	9.0	29.6	12.3	28
Lentils	2.8	3.2	6.9	5.0	12.3	6.6	15.4	11.7	22
Mixed grains	2.4	1.7	4.0	2.8	5.9	5.5	11.4	9.7	28
Mustard seed	3.4	4.6	8.8	8.3	13.6	11.4	21.3	13.5	11
Sunflower	15.9	7.7	25.5	16.7	29.9	22.6	35.5	31.1	10
White beans	11.9	5.0	12.9	6.1	15.4	7.3	19.1	8.8	7
Winter wheat	2.2	1.0	4.3	2.1	7.6	3.7	16.1	12.2	28
Overall (7 major crops)	4.1	4.1	6.9	6.4	13.1	10.3	39.4	31.5
Overall (12 additional crops)	4.4	3.0	8.3	6.0	14.2	11.0	35.5	31.1
Overall (all crops)	4.2	3.6	7.6	6.2	13.7	10.5	39.4	31.5

6.2 Comparing absolute relative differences with November survey yields at the provincial level (1987 to 2014)

Similar comparisons were done at the provincial level. For each crop, only provinces that had at least 10% of the national total area for the crop were included in the summary statistics. The median absolute relative difference from the November Farm Survey yields for the seven major crops modelled was 5.1%, compared with 4.4% for the September Farm Survey; the maximum absolute relative differences were 44.5% and 35.5%, respectively (Table 5). For the 12 additional crops the median absolute relative difference at the provincial level for the modelled estimates was 5.6%, compared with 3.7% for the September Farm Survey. Significantly larger overall maximums of 112.2% for the model and 79.3% for the September survey were observed.

Table 5. Median, 75th and 90th percentile and maximum of the absolute relative difference between the September survey yields and the LASSO robust modelled yields and the November survey yields at the provincial level for 19 crops
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 5. Median. The information is grouped by  Crop (appearing as row headers), Median, 75th percentile, 90th percentile and Maximum (appearing as column headers).

Crop	Median		75th percentile		90th percentile		Maximum
	LASSO robust (%)	Sept. survey (%)	LASSO robust (%)	Sept. survey (%)	LASSO robust (%)	Sept. survey (%)	LASSO robust (%)	Sept. survey (%)
Barley	3.6	3.0	7.5	5.0	10.8	8.0	26.4	12.3
Canola	6.0	6.2	13.4	9.9	18.3	12.6	38.7	21.8
Corn for grain	5.5	5.8	7.7	8.9	9.7	12.5	33.1	26.1
Durum wheat	4.6	4.6	7.6	6.3	10.2	8.2	24.5	14.7
Oats	5.0	3.5	8.4	6.9	13.5	10.4	27.8	22.4
Soybeans	7.1	4.6	10.3	8.9	19.5	14.5	43.1	35.5
Spring wheat	5.0	4.2	8.7	6.5	14.0	9.7	44.5	15.9
Canary seed	7.2	5.6	14.3	13.3	19.2	19.9	20.6	27.6
Chickpeas	5.4	8.3	12.9	13.7	22.0	17.3	22.8	23.9
Coloured beans	8.8	7.3	17.2	13.7	24.0	17.8	112.2	21.1
Fall rye	5.9	4.3	13.2	10.5	21.8	14.5	74.8	79.3
Field peas	5.5	3.6	7.6	7.6	13.6	9.9	34.3	42.3
Flax	7.1	5.2	9.7	8.0	14.3	10.1	40.6	15.4
Lentils	2.8	3.2	6.9	5.0	12.3	6.6	15.4	11.7
Mixed grains	2.9	0.5	5.1	3.5	7.5	6.0	11.2	10.6
Mustard seed	8.1	4.7	14.5	11.4	20.8	17.0	33.8	23.5
Sunflower	15.9	7.7	25.5	16.7	29.9	22.6	35.5	31.1
White beans	12.6	5.9	18.8	8.9	21.0	12.3	31.9	18.6
Winter wheat	4.6	1.8	11.7	5.5	17.7	13.9	43.9	39.9
Overall (7 major crops)	5.1	4.4	8.9	7.4	14.7	11.5	44.5	35.5
Overall (12 additional crops)	5.6	3.7	11.6	8.1	18.5	14.1	112.2	79.3
Overall (All crops)	5.3	4.1	9.8	7.7	16.4	12.4	112.2	79.3

6.3 Comparing relative differences with November survey yields at the national level, 2014

There is nothing unique about the year 2014 in terms of the growing conditions throughout the year or the amount of each crop harvested. It is presented as a "typical" year. In 2014, at the national level, four of the seven major crops modelled and four of the 12 additional crops had smaller relative differences than the September Farm Survey when compared with the November Farm Survey results (Table 6).

Table 6. 2014 national yield estimates for the LASSO robust model and survey (September and November), with relative differences with the November survey estimates for 19 crops
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 6. 2014 national yield estimates for the LASSO robust model and survey (September and November). The information is grouped by Crop (appearing as row headers), November survey, LASSO robust and September survey (appearing as column headers).

Crop	November survey	LASSO robust		September survey
	YieldTable 6 note 1Table 6 note 2	YieldTable 6 note 1Table 6 note 2	Relative difference (%)	YieldTable 6 note 1Table 6 note 2	Relative difference (%)
Barley	62.4Table 6 note 1	61.8Table 6 note 1	-1.0	62.1Table 6 note 1	-0.5
Canola	34.4Table 6 note 1	34.1Table 6 note 1	-0.9	32.2Table 6 note 1	-6.4
Corn for grain	149.2Table 6 note 1	156.9Table 6 note 1	5.2	147.4Table 6 note 1	-1.2
Durum wheat	41.0Table 6 note 1	42.3Table 6 note 1	3.2	37.9Table 6 note 1	-7.6
Oats	84.1Table 6 note 1	80.9Table 6 note 1	-3.8	80.1Table 6 note 1	-4.8
Soybeans	41.2Table 6 note 1	43.8Table 6 note 1	6.3	41.0Table 6 note 1	-0.5
Spring wheat	45.8Table 6 note 1	44.3Table 6 note 1	-3.1	43.5Table 6 note 1	-5.0
Canary seed	1038.8Table 6 note 2	1034.8Table 6 note 2	-0.4	1074.0Table 6 note 2	3.4
Chickpeas	1770.6Table 6 note 2	1833.1Table 6 note 2	3.5	1780.0Table 6 note 2	0.5
Coloured beans	20.3Table 6 note 1	17.6Table 6 note 1	-13.3	19.3Table 6 note 1	-5.0
Fall rye	38.2Table 6 note 1	38.0Table 6 note 1	-0.5	36.2Table 6 note 1	-5.2
Field peas	34.9Table 6 note 1	36.8Table 6 note 1	5.4	35.0Table 6 note 1	0.4
Flax	22.1Table 6 note 1	24.0Table 6 note 1	8.6	24.1Table 6 note 1	9.0
Lentils	1373.1Table 6 note 2	1421.5Table 6 note 2	3.5	1324.0Table 6 note 2	-3.6
Mixed grains	66.4Table 6 note 1	58.8Table 6 note 1	-11.4	64.8Table 6 note 1	-2.5
Mustard Seed	908.7Table 6 note 2	954.9Table 6 note 2	5.1	883.0Table 6 note 2	-2.8
Sunflower	1775.2Table 6 note 2	1330.0Table 6 note 2	-25.1	1737.0Table 6 note 2	-2.2
White beans	20.4Table 6 note 1	16.5Table 6 note 1	-19.1	19.4Table 6 note 1	-5.0
Winter wheat	64.5Table 6 note 1	67.2Table 6 note 1	4.2	63.1Table 6 note 1	-2.2
Table 6 note 1 Bushels per acre Return to the first table 6 note 1 referrer Table 6 note 2 Pounds per acre Return to the first table 6 note 2 referrer

6.4 Comparing relative differences with November survey yields at the national level, 2013 (a year of record production)

In 2013 —a year of record production for most crops— the model had smaller relative differences than the September Farm Survey compared with the November Farm Survey for two of the seven major crops analyzed and three of the nine additional crops for which comparable 2013 data were available (Table 7).

Table 7. 2013 national yield estimates for the model and survey (September and November), with relative differences with the November survey estimates for 19 crops
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 7. 2013 national yield estimates for the model and survey (September and November). The information is grouped by Crop (appearing as row headers), November survey, LASSO robust and September survey (appearing as column headers).

Crop	November survey	LASSO robust		September survey
	YieldTable 7 note 1Table 7 note 2	YieldTable 7 note 1Table 7 note 2	Relative difference (%)	YieldTable 7 note 1Table 7 note 2	Relative difference (%)
Barley	72.0Table 7 note 1	64.0Table 7 note 1	-11.0	68.4Table 7 note 1	-5.0
Canola	40.0Table 7 note 1	35.9Table 7 note 1	-10.4	36.9Table 7 note 1	-7.7
Corn for grain	146.9Table 7 note 1	154.9Table 7 note 1	5.5	137.7Table 7 note 1	-6.2
Durum wheat	48.4Table 7 note 1	41.6Table 7 note 1	-14.1	42.1Table 7 note 1	-13.0
Oats	92.8Table 7 note 1	79.6Table 7 note 1	-14.2	82.7Table 7 note 1	-10.8
Soybeans	43.2Table 7 note 1	43.0Table 7 note 1	-0.4	40.7Table 7 note 1	-5.6
Spring wheat	52.9Table 7 note 1	44.0Table 7 note 1	-16.8	47.5Table 7 note 1	-10.3
Canary seed	1395.1Table 7 note 2	1108.3Table 7 note 2	-20.6	1103.0Table 7 note 2	-20.9
Chickpeas	2093.1Table 7 note 2	1616.5Table 7 note 2	-22.8	1799.0Table 7 note 2	-14.1
Coloured beans	--	--	--	--	--
Fall rye	--	--	--	--	--
Field peas	43.7Table 7 note 1	38.3Table 7 note 1	-12.4	43.0Table 7 note 1	-1.6
Flax	27.6Table 7 note 1	23.7Table 7 note 1	-14.1	26.5Table 7 note 1	-3.8
Lentils	1816.4Table 7 note 2	1536.7Table 7 note 2	-15.4	1604.0Table 7 note 2	-11.7
Mixed grains	61.7Table 7 note 1	58.6Table 7 note 1	-5.0	62.2Table 7 note 1	0.8
Mustard seed	950.1Table 7 note 2	934.2Table 7 note 2	-1.7	1013.0Table 7 note 2	6.6
Sunflower	1660.5Table 7 note 2	1368.0Table 7 note 2	-17.6	1619.0Table 7 note 2	-2.5
White beans	--	--	--	--	--
Winter wheat	63.1Table 7 note 1	58.1Table 7 note 1	-7.9	55.4Table 7 note 1	-12.2
Table 7 note 1 Bushels per acre Return to the first table 7 note 1 referrer Table 7 note 2 Pounds per acre Return to the first table 7 note 2 referrer

7. Publishing provincial and national yield estimates

Modelled yield estimates are produced for crops at the provincial and national levels. A set of rules were established to determine which modelled yields are of an acceptable level of quality to publish. These rules are based both on data availability and the coefficient of variation (CV) calculated for each estimate at the provincial level. These rules are applied to each crop.

7.1 Publication rules for modelled yields

A minimum of 12 years of historical survey yield data for both November and July must be available as well as June survey area estimates and July survey yield estimates for the current year. If these conditions are not met, then a modelled yield estimate will not be produced for that region.

A second rule was established: the provincial estimate for a crop will not be published if the total cultivated area from suppressed regions (based on the previous set of conditions) exceeds 10% of the provincial area for the crop. Similarly, if provincial estimates for a crop were not published, the national-level estimate (of the five provinces considered) will not be published if the total cultivated area for the suppressed provinces exceeds 10% of the national area.

In cases where the estimates for certain provinces were suppressed due to quality, but a national level estimate was still produced, only provincial estimates that were of an acceptable level of quality were used.

Finally, if the CV of the provincial or national estimate from the model was greater than 10%, the estimate was not published at that level. Model based CVs are calculated differently than those for survey estimates, and different thresholds are used to determine quality than those used in the Field Crop Reporting Series.

7.2 Publication simulation for 2014

The rules listed in the preceding subsection were applied during a simulation of the production of modelled yields for 2014. Table 8 shows which crops produced publishable results for each province and at the national level, as well as the percentage of the crop area from regions that were suppressed. The results for 2015 and the years to come may be different from this simulation, given that the application of the publication rules will be repeated each year.

Table 8. Crops with publishable yields during the 2014 simulation at the provincial and national levels
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 8. Crops with publishable yields during the 2014 simulation at the provincial and national levels. The information is grouped by Region Crop (appearing as row headers), Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and National (appearing as column headers).

Region Crop	Quebec		Ontario		Manitoba		Saskatchewan		Alberta		National
	Published	Supp. (%)	Published	Supp. (%)	Published	Supp. (%)	Published	Supp. (%)	Published	Supp. (%)	Published	Supp. (%)
Barley	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0
Canola	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0
Canary seed	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	Yes	0.8	Absent	N/A	Yes	0
Chickpeas	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	No	100	Absent	N/A	No	100
Dry coloured beans	Absent	N/A	No	100	No	100	Absent	N/A	No	100	No	100
Corn for grain	Yes	0.5	Yes	0	Yes	0	Absent	N/A	No	100	Yes	1.1
Durum wheat	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	Yes	0	Yes	0.5	Yes	0
Fall rye	Absent	N/A	Yes	0	Yes	6.3	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0
Dry peas	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0
Flaxseed	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	5	Yes	0
Lentils	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	Yes	0	Absent	N/A	0	0
Mustard seed	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	Yes	0	No	100	No	27.1
Mixed grains	Yes	0	Yes	0	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	No	100	Yes	8.2
Oats	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0
Soybeans	Yes	1.3	Yes	0	Yes	0	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	Yes	0
Spring wheat	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0
Sunflower seeds	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	No	100	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	No	100
Dry white beans	Absent	N/A	No	100	No	100	Absent	N/A	Absent	N/A	No	100
Winter wheat	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	2.9	Yes	0	Yes	0	Yes	0
Number of crops published	8	N/A	9	N/A	10	N/A	12	N/A	9	N/A	13	N/A
Note: Supp (%): Percentage of the area for which modelled yields were suppressed. Absent: indicates that the crop is absent or largely absent in this province. N/A: means Not Applicable.

8. Summary

The estimates produced by the SAS LASSO robust model were comparable to those produced by the September survey in terms of relative difference from the November survey estimates for the seven major crops and many of the 12 additional crops published in September. On rare occasions, both the model and the September survey produced extreme relative differences from the November survey estimates, but not necessarily for the same crops/years. These extreme relative differences tended to be larger for the model than for the September survey.

Larger relative differences were observed in the model estimates for crops that have a limited amount of historical data available. Estimates derived from models that were constructed with only a limited number of data points were at risk of being statistically unreliable. Statistics Canada has established three criteria based on the availability of the input data, as well as quality indicators that must be met to ensure the statistical integrity of the estimates and to determine which of the modelled crop yields were of acceptable quality to be published at provincial and national levels. For each year, the yield model estimates for each crop would be evaluated to determine whether their quality is sufficient for publication.

In 2015, modelled yield estimates for crops deemed to have a sufficient level of quality were published as a preliminary estimate to the September Farm Survey estimates. In the longer term, survey managers must determine what is an acceptable level of risk for the published September estimates, and whether the risk of the larger relative differences produced by the model estimates in extreme cases is worth the benefits of eventually replacing the September survey occasion.

9. References

AAFC (circa 2000). http://www.geobase.ca/geobase/en/data/landcover/index.html

Baier, W., Boisvert, J.B., Dyer, J.A., 2000. The versatile soil moisture budget (VSMB) reference manual [computer software], ECORC contribution no. 1553. In:Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada, pp. A1–D4.

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Chipanshi, A., Zhang, Y., Kouadio, L., Newlands, N., Davidson, A., Hill, H., Warren, R., Qian, B., Daneshfar, B., Bedard, F. and Reichert, G., 2015. Evaluation of the Integrated Canadian Crop Yield Forecaster (ICCYF) Model for In-season Prediction of Crop Yield across the Canadian Agricultural Landscape. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 206:137-150. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2015.03.007

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*Reference documents are available in English only