The objectives set out at the beginning of this review were to determine whether a quinquennial CEAG is necessary, and if so, how it could be made more efficient. The review also sought to determine what efficiencies could be gained in the delivery of the agriculture statistics program as a whole. The driving concerns behind these objectives are the need to reduce costs and response burden overall.

The research and consultations conducted by the Agriculture Division led to a clear enumeration and recognition of the requirements for agriculture statistics and for a quinquennial CEAG. The evaluation of various options, along with the current program, is presented in this report.

The Agriculture Division recognizes the importance of continuing to cultivate partnerships with potential administrative data providers. The Division also recognizes that continued communication, consultation and collaboration with major data users, key stakeholders and Agriculture Division staff are key elements to the successful implementation of any changes to the current program.

Regardless of the option chosen, four activities have been identified that will render the Canadian agriculture statistics program more efficient:

1. increasing the incorporation of administrative data to replace survey questions where possible
2. replacing detailed revenue and expenses questions on the CEAG and the FFS with taxation data
3. determining the impact of revising the survey sample populations
4. increasing the utilization of remote sensing applications with a view to replacing survey questions or entire surveys over the longer term.

Timeline

A framework would need to be developed for the continual assessment, testing and incorporation of administrative data into the statistical program to realize ongoing reductions to burden and costs. The detailed expenses questions could be replaced with tax data beginning with the 2016 CEAG.

In the road map, there are four main phases for the integration of administrative data into the agriculture statistics program:

1. assess, conceptualize, develop, establish and access
2. test
3. implement and use
4. on-going operationalization.

The length of each phase will vary with the specific administrative data source in question, and sometimes a phase may have to be repeated. It is worth noting that the steps may have to be conducted separately for several jurisdictions (provinces), as often the holders of the agriculture administrative data are decentralized. This also means that the phases, including implementation and ongoing operationalization, may differ in time and duration for the same data variables by jurisdiction (e.g., administrative data for livestock variables could be implemented for one province before others).

Table 4 illustrates a possible timeline for the incorporation of tax data and other administrative data sources into the CEAG, while Table 5 presents possible timelines within the agriculture survey program. It is important to note that the elements of access, coverage, matching, timeliness and data concepts all need to be evaluated and tested as part of the process.

Census years are 2011, 2016, 2021, 2026 and 2031.

Table 4: Possible timeline for administrative data replacement in the Census of Agriculture

For incorporation of administrative data into the survey program, the same four phases apply. A minimum of five years would be expected before implementation could be completed. The timing of each phase is highly dependent on the success and duration of preceding phases.