Residential and Non-residential Property Assessment Values at Current Prices 2019

Investment, Science, and Technology Division

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Key definitions
    1. Price base date
    2. Volume state date
    3. Residential property
    4. Non-residential property
    5. Properties subject to municipal, provincial, territorial and federal payment-in-lieu
  3. Input data
    1. Data sources
    2. Unit reported
  4. Auxiliary Data
    1. Multiple Listing Service data
    2. Building permit and investment in construction data
    3. Census of Population
    4. Census of Agriculture
    5. List of CSDs from the Data Integration Infrastructure Division
  5. Classification
    1. Geography
    2. Property type
  6. Imputation for missing data
    1. Imputation of residential values
    2. Imputation of non-residential values
  7. Price adjustments
    1. Choice of Source Data Vintage
    2. Residential Price adjustment
      1. Overview of price adjustment methodology
      2. Calculating weighted monthly average resale price
      3. Residential price index for Nunavut
      4. Price adjustments when the following tax year's values are known
    3. Non-residential price adjustment
  8. Volume adjustments
    1. Residential volume adjustments
    2. Non-residential volume adjustments
  9. Removals and adjustments in accordance with typical property assessment and taxation practices
    1. Removal of CSDs on account of First Nations and other Aboriginal Groups
    2. Exclusion of exempt residential property
    3. Exclusions of schools, churches and hospitals
    4. Removal of properties subject to provincial-territorial and municipal payments-in-lieu of taxes
    5. Adjustments in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut
    6. Removal of machinery and equipment values in Alberta, Northwest Territories and Nunavut
    7. Removal of personal property values in Manitoba
    8. Mixed-use properties
  10. Quality control
    Annex 1. List of CSD types representing First Nations and other Aboriginal Groups

1. Introduction

The Property Values Program produces annual estimates of assessment values of properties at current prices across Canada. Finance Canada uses these estimates to determine fiscal capacity with respect to property taxes for the Equalization program and the Territorial Formula Financing (TFF) program. Footnote 1 In order to ensure comparability of the data, a number of adjustments are made, including: coding property categories to a common classification; adjusting to a common price base date and volume state (or stock) date; and imputation of missing property values in some areas. Additionally, other removals and adjustments are carried out in order to produce estimates of assessment values at current price that meet the requirements to determine fiscal capacity.

This document presents these adjustments in more detail.

2. Key definitions

a. Price base date Footnote 2

The price base date (also called the valuation date) corresponds to a fixed point in time as of when a property is valued.

b. Volume state date

The volume state date is the fixed point in time as of when the stock of properties is recorded, which also corresponds to the date where all properties are represented in an assessment roll data file.

c. Residential property

Defined as all types of property categorized as residential for assessment purposes in the majority of provinces and territories. It includes single and multi-unit properties, farm residences, cottages and vacation homes, mobile homes, and vacant lands which are lawfully usable for residential purposes.

d. Non-residential property

Defined as all types of property categorized as non-residential for assessment purposes in the majority of provinces and territories. It includes industrial, commercial and institutional properties, engineering construction and mining properties, and vacant lands which are lawfully usable for non-residential purposes.

Agricultural properties Footnote 3 (not including farm residences, which are part of residential property) as well as machinery and equipment properties are excluded from final estimates.

e. Properties subject to municipal, provincial, territorial and federal payment-in-lieu

Defined as municipal, provincial, territorial and federal government-owned property for which owners remit payment-in-lieu of tax to municipal governments or local taxation authorities for receiving municipal services. A payment-in-lieu of taxes is made to compensate a local government for some or all of the tax revenue that it loses because of the nature of the ownership or use of a particular piece of real property. Usually, no property tax is collected for buildings owned by government.

3. Input data

a. Data sources

Assessment data are collected from provincial, territorial and municipal assessment entities and are based on municipal assessment rolls. Data providers agree to provide the data on a regular basis either through formal agreements or responding per data request.

Starting in January 2018, assessment roll microdata is gradually being received from every jurisdiction, to replace the use of assessment roll aggregate data. The objective is to receive microdata from each province and territory within two years.

For the estimates released on November 20th 2020, microdata data were used to generate estimates for the following provinces and territories:

  • Nova Scotia
  • Ontario
  • British Columbia
  • Yukon Territory

b. Unit reported

Data are reported either at the municipality level, or at property or sub-property level.

4. Auxiliary Data

a. Multiple Listing Service data

Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data are produced by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). The data are obtained via Haver Analytics, a company that is the sole distributer of CREA MLS data. MLS data are for resale homes and are comprised of dollar volume sales and number of units sold by real estate board. Data are available for all provinces and territories with the exception of Québec and Nunavut.

b. Building permit and investment in construction data

Data on the number of residential and non-residential building permits issued, investment in construction completion, by type of work (e.g., new unit, conversion, etc.), is obtained from Statistics Canada's Building and Demolition Permits (BDP) and Investment programs. The data are produced monthly, by jurisdiction.

c. Census of Population

Data from Census of population are available every five years. Between census years, yearly values, referred to as "Intercensal" values, are derived using linear interpolation. Footnote 4 These values are used at various stages of the production cycle such as for the imputation of missing values and for the estimation of farm residences.

d. Census of Agriculture

Similar to the Census of population, data from Census of Agriculture are available every five years. Yearly values ("Intercensal" values) are also derived using linear interpolation and used during the production cycle. Census of Agriculture values are used to estimate the values of farm residences in Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, provinces where such values are embedded in totals or are missing.

e. List of CSDs from the Data Integration Infrastructure Division

The list of Census Subdivisions (CSD) is produced, maintained and updated annually by the Data Integration Infrastructure Division at Statistics Canada.

5. Classification

a. Geography

The municipalities covered by the collected data are assigned to Census Subdivisions (CSDs) updated annually by Statistics Canada's Data Integration Infrastructure Division, using the Standard Geographical Classification system. The assignment of CSDs is revised yearly to reflect changes (municipal amalgamations, legal status changes, etc.) that occur during the year.

CSDs containing First Nations or other autonomous or self-governing areas are out of scope for Fiscal Arrangements purposes (see Annex 1); consequently, estimates are not produced for these CSDs.

b. Property type

Property type concordance tables are developed at the provincial and territorial level to classify properties according to property attributes found on the input data. With the arrival of assessment roll microdata, the classification of properties is more precise using new property attributes now present on the source files. New types of properties are introduced in the classification to better represent the data sources.

6. Imputation for missing data

There exist municipalities or regions that are not assessed by provincial or territorial assessment bodies, and therefore no property taxes are levied. As a result, assessment values are missing for some jurisdictions, mostly in unorganized areas. Footnote 5 Additionally, on occasion, some municipalities submit their assessment values to assessment bodies later than when the data are required. Missing property assessment values for these municipalities are imputed.

For taxation year 2019, there were 149 jurisdictions with missing data that were imputed, 139 of which were in Newfoundland-and-Labrador, 8 were in Northwest Territories and 2 were in Saskatchewan.

a. Imputation of residential values

The imputed residential value for a CSD is calculated by multiplying the number of private dwellings by the average value of owner-occupied dwellings for the CSD from the intercensal Census of Population file.

In order to produce an imputed value that best reflects the desired price base and volume state dates:

  • the number of private dwellings value is taken from the yearly intercensal file of the same year as the volume state date of the raw file; and
  • the average value of owner-occupied dwellings is taken from the yearly intercensal file or derived from assessed values of the same year as the price base date of the raw file.

The resulting imputed values are then processed and adjusted Footnote 6 using the same methodology as for raw values.

b. Imputation of non-residential values

Unlike the imputation for residential property values where dwelling values from intercensal files can be used to estimate the value of residential properties, no similar direct indicator is available for non-residential properties. Therefore, non-residential values are imputed using data of CSDs with similar Census population counts within the same province or territory.

Ratios of the total non-residential values over the total population are calculated using data from CSDs for each population class (see table 1 below) for each province and territory. These ratios Footnote 7 are then applied to the population count of the missing CSD to derive the imputed non-residential value. Most of the missing CSDs are from rural areas.

Table 1 – Population class used for imputation on non-residential values Footnote 8
Population Class Description
1 Rural
2 Small Sized Municipalities
3 Medium Sized Municipalities
4 Large Sized Municipalities

7. Price adjustments

Due to differences in assessment practices and frequency of revaluation practices, data received do not always align with the target price base date of July 1 of the year preceding the taxation year.

a. Choice of Source Data Vintage

In order to minimize price adjustments, the data from the file whose price base date most closely aligns with the target price base date is used to produce the estimates of a given taxation year. In the event that two input files have the same time interval between their price base date and the target price base date, the file with the closest volume state date is selected.

b. Residential Price adjustment

Price adjustments for residential properties are derived using monthly sales data for the resale housing market from MLS and FCIQ. Nunavut is the only region for which resale housing data does not exist; therefore, a residential price index is constructed for this territory.

i. Overview of price adjustment methodology

For a given province or territory, the price adjustment calculations are done at two geographic levels:

  • CSDs within a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA)
  • CSDs outside CMAs (or rest of the province)

For Newfoundland and Labrador, Footnote 9 Prince Edward Island, Yukon and Northwest Territories, there are no data available at the CMA level; therefore, the price adjustment calculations are performed on the provincial and territorial totals.

ii. Calculating weighted monthly average resale price

In order to smooth seasonal fluctuations that can exist in monthly data, weighted monthly average prices are used in the calculation of the residential price adjustment. For a given month, twelve consecutive months of data (period beginning six months before and ending five months after the month) are used.

For a given month k, the formula for calculating the weighted monthly average is as follows:

Weighted_Monthly_Averagek=k-6k+5ResDollarVolkk-6k+5ResUnitSoldk

Where ResDollarVol is the total dollar value of the monthly residential sales and ResUnitSold is the monthly total number of residential units sold.

The residential price adjustments are performed at the CSD level. To arrive at the price adjusted assessment value, the ratio of the weighted monthly average for the month of the target price date over the weighted monthly average for the month of the price base date is calculated. The ratio that is applied to the assessment value of a given CSD is dependent on if the CSD is located in a CMA, and is dependent on the province or territory that it is located in.

iii. Residential price index for Nunavut

As resale data do not exist for Nunavut, Statistics Canada uses data for the region of northern Quebec (NQC) Footnote 10 as a proxy for this territory. Footnote 11 The property assessment data are provided by the provincial Government of Quebec.

The Nunavut residential index is calculated using an unweighted average of residential and non-residential property values reported. Footnote 12

An annual series is generated and converted into a monthly series by adding one twelfth of the dollar difference between two observations to each successive month between observed values (linear interpolation), creating a monthly index. Residential price-adjustments are then applied to Nunavut property values using the same algorithm (for ratios) designed for resale data.

iv. Price adjustments when the following tax year's values are known

In certain provinces and territories such as Prince-Edward-Island and New-Brunswick, assessment roll values are received yearly. In both these cases, the price base date is January 1st of the tax year. Recall that the target price base date is 6 month earlier, i.e. July 1st of the year preceding the tax year. Assessment values are therefore known for January 1st of the tax year and January 1st of the year preceding the tax year. In order to make better use of the assessment data available, a price index is developed using true assessment values on their price base date, which excludes the effect due to yearly changes in volume (new construction and demolition). This index is used to price adjust assessment values in Price-Edward-Island and New-Brunswick.

c. Non-residential price adjustment

Unlike residential properties, non-residential properties (more specifically industrial, commercial, and industrial (ICI)) are not often for sale. It is therefore comparatively more difficult to find appropriate market indicators to use for non-residential price adjustment. To overcome this, the correlation between residential and non-residential price changes was analysed.

A regression analysis was performed and a model was constructed using aggregate raw data from four provinces: Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec and British Columbia. The reasons for using these specific four provinces are twofold: (1) these provinces evaluate their property stock on an annual basis, Footnote 13 and (2) they report data for both assessment values and numbers of properties. This level of detail allowed the derivation of the annual non-residential price movements.

Based on the regression analysis using data from the four provinces mentioned above, the conclusion was to use the model coefficient of 0.73336 as a discount factor to the residential series and also to the residential price index in Nunavut. Footnote 14 The resulting series, generated by applying the discount factor to the residential series, is used for the price adjustment of non-residential values for all provinces and territories.

8. Volume adjustments

Volume adjustments ensure that properties reflect a common volume state date of January 1st of the taxation year. For assessment data that reflects a volume state date earlier or later than the target volume state date, the value of all completed construction that occurred in the period between the two dates is estimated using Statistics Canada's monthly Building and Demolition Permits (BDP) Program or from the Investment Program and then added or subtracted, as the case may be, from the total property values. This methodology is used for both residential and non-residential property values.

a. Residential volume adjustments

For residential properties, the volume adjustment is calculated by estimating the construction that was completed in between the volume state date and the target volume state date using the number of permits from the BDP survey and monthly resale values, or from using the investment in construction completion values.

Based on an analysis of residential construction data, the assumption is made that a residential property being newly built can be considered to be a substantially finished (assessable) unit approximately three months after a building permit is issued. Therefore, for a given month, the BDP data used for the volume adjustment is that of the given month minus three (so for example for June we would use the March BDP data).

For each month falling in the period between the volume state date and target volume state date, the number of permits is multiplied by the average monthly resale value from MLS (for all provinces and territories other than Nunavut), to obtain a monthly volume adjustment value. The monthly volume adjustment values are summed for each month to arrive at the total volume adjustment for the period. For Nunavut, the average assessment value for Northern Québec is used.

Similarly, construction completion values represent the total investment in construction available upon completion of construction. Monthly values that fall between the volume state date and the target volume state date are summed for an estimated total volume adjustment for the period.

Although the two methods are comparable, volume adjustments calculated using investment in construction completion values are slightly more accurate than those calculated using building permit values. When investment in construction completion values are available, they are used in the calculations over the use of building permit values. Residential volume adjustments account for approximately 2% of total values.

Volume adjustments calculated using investment in construction completion values were used to produce residential estimates.

b. Non-residential volume adjustments

For non-residential construction, the assumption is that a property undergoing construction can be considered to be a substantially finished (assessable) unit approximately eight months after a building permit is issued. As non-residential construction projects vary significantly in scope, size, and values, using an average value is not recommended; therefore, the volume adjustment methodology for residential properties cannot be applied to the non-residential.

Instead of using the number of permits, the total value of all permits issued, by month, is used. Consequently, "total values of the non-residential permits" that were issued during the period (using an 8-months lag to allow for construction to be completed) is used to obtain the volume adjustment value. This estimate of new property construction value is used to adjust the total estimates.

As for residential volume adjustments, when non-residential investment in construction completion values are available, these used in the calculations of volume adjustments over the use of building permit values. Non-residential volume adjustments account for approximately 2% of total values.

Volume adjustments calculated using investment in construction completion values were used to produce non-residential estimates.

9. Removals and adjustments in accordance with typical property assessment and taxation practices

a. Removal of CSDs on account of First Nations and other Aboriginal Groups

Census subdivisions containing First Nations reserves, and autonomous or self-governing areas are removed as they are deemed out of scope. Such CSDs are identified based on their CSD type. Footnote 15 For taxation year 2019 estimates there were 14 CSDs that were classified as out of scope and removed from final estimates.

b. Exclusion of exempt residential property

In some provinces, certain properties are identified as exempt from property taxes as presented in the input files received from the assessment bodies. Any value associated with these properties are excluded from estimates for the purposes of fiscal arrangements.

c. Exclusions of schools, churches and hospitals

The most important non-residential properties which are generally exempt from property taxes are schools, churches and hospitals (S/C/H).

Some provinces and territories provide detailed breakdowns of S/C/H in their assessment data. For these provinces and territories, the exact proportion of S/C/H is removed from the final estimates.

For provinces and territories where the S/C/H breakdowns are not available, the proportion of the S/C/H assessment values relative to total assessment values for non-residential properties is estimated by calculating and applying the proportion of S/C/H property values from a similar reporting province or territory. It should be noted that values for engineering and mining properties are excluded from the total assessment value for non-residential properties used in the calculation of the S/C/H proportions.

The list of provinces and territories used in the calculation of estimated S/C/H proportion depends on data availability and can change from one year to the next as microdata is received.

d. Removal of properties subject to provincial-territorial and municipal payments-in-lieu of taxes

Instead of regular property taxes, federal, provincial or municipal government usually remit a payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) for their exempt properties. However, only federal PILT property represents fiscal capacity for the consolidated provincial-territorial-municipal-local sector; provincial, territorial and municipal (PTM) PILT properties are excluded.

When breakdowns of values of PILT properties are not available, as is the case for a number of provinces and territories, these values are estimated. The estimation of PM-PILT values takes into account the S/C/H values, some of which are also PTM-PILT properties, which have already been removed. Only the "remaining" PILT values are estimated and removed.

Although the estimation methodology using aggregate assessment roll data is successful in estimating the remaining proportion to remove, the arrival of assessment roll microdata allows for a more precise estimation of remaining PILT proportions to remove.

e. Adjustments in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut

Unlike in provinces and the Yukon, property assessments in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut do not consistently follow market value standards.

Land values within the municipal taxation areas (Iqaluit in Nunavut; Yellowknife, Fort Simpson, Fort Smith, Hay River, Norman Wells and Inuvik in NWT), reflect full market value, while land values in the remainder of the two territories (i.e. in the General Taxation Areas) are, according to the data provider, based on average regional development costs.

Improvements (i.e. buildings) in both territories are assessed based on depreciated Edmonton construction costs, using Alberta's depreciation schedule. The value so determined for Yellowknife is then multiplied by a factor of 1.35, which is set out in regulations. According to the assessment data provider, this was done to reflect Yellowknife's actual construction costs relative to Edmonton's. Yellowknife's assessed building values therefore approximately reflect market value. Footnote 16

Outside of Yellowknife, in the two territories, a discount factor of 0.666 has been applied to building values initially assessed at depreciated Edmonton construction costs. This factor is also set out in regulations and, according to the assessment data provider, was introduced to encourage development. Upon data entry, this embedded 0.666 scaling factor is removed from the building values in the Northwest Territories outside of Yellowknife and Nunavut.

f. Removal of machinery and equipment values in Alberta, Northwest Territories and Nunavut

Property values for machinery and equipment (M&E) components in the non-residential category are deemed to be out of scope.

The data received from Northwest Territories and Nunavut contain a sizeable share of M&E components in the non-residential total. They are mainly embedded in the following three non-residential classes: mineral, transmission and hydrocarbon. The M&E components are removed by multiplying the reported improvement values by a deflationary factor for each of the previously mentioned three non-residential classes. These factors are provided yearly by the respondents. This treatment ensures that only real property values are included in final estimates, and that the M&E components are excluded.

In Alberta, property values for the M&E components are reported separately by the data providers and are excluded from the final estimates.

g. Removal of personal property values in Manitoba

The assessment roll in Manitoba includes personal property such goods and chattels, which are not considered real property. Such property values are excluded from the estimate.

h. Mixed-use properties

Some properties are used for both residential and non-residential purposes. In cases where no further breakdowns are available, the values of mixed-use properties are redistributed between residential and non-residential property types according to the existing distribution of total residential and non-residential property values by CSD. In cases where further breakdowns are available, mostly in jurisdictions where microdata was received, the values are assigned according to the exact breakdown. The mixed-use properties represent 0.16% of the total valuation of properties in Canada.

One of the most common cases of mixed-use type properties are of a building consisting of ground level commercial with one or more floors of residential units above.

10. Quality control

Statistics Canada's quality assurance framework requires an assessment of data relevance, accuracy, timeliness, accessibility, interpretability and coherence. The quality of the raw input data collected from provincial, territorial and municipal assessment departments and agencies cannot be evaluated in this framework. However, confrontational analysis is performed to compare the source data to existing statistical programs and public information such as annual reports obtained from Provincial websites. Any irregularities identified are carefully reviewed and analyzed before the official release of the data.

Total adjusted residential estimates, for both taxable and exempt properties, are compared to Statistics Canada's Census of Population. The coherence of the values is examined by census coverage analysis, which compares the source data to private dwelling counts and values found in Statistics Canada's Census of Population.

Annex 1. List of CSD types representing First Nations and other Aboriginal Groups Footnote 17

The following are the list of CSD types representing First Nations and other Aboriginal groups presented by province and territory.

Annex 1. List of CSD types representing First Nations and other Aboriginal Groups
Province / Territory CSD Type CSD Type description Legal Code Legal Code description Number of CSDs
NS IRI Indian reserve FL Federally legislated 2
NB IRI Indian reserve FL Federally legislated 1
ON IRI Indian reserve FL Federally legislated 1
MB IRI Indian reserve FL Federally legislated 1
SK IRI Indian reserve FL Federally legislated 3
SK S-É Indian settlement U Not legal municipality - aboriginal geography 1
AB IRI Indian reserve FL Federally legislated 1
BC IGD Indian government district PL Provincially legislated - legal municipality 2
BC IRI Indian reserve FL Federally legislated 5
BC NL Nisga'a land FL Federally legislated 1

CVs for operating revenue - Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services - 2019

CVs for operating revenue - Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services - 2019
Table summary
This table displays the results of CVs fo operating revenue - Accounting. The information is grouped by Regions (appearing as row headers), CVs for operating revenue, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Geography CVs for operating revenue
percent
Canada 0.01
Newfoundland and Labrador 0.00
Prince Edward Island 0.00
Nova Scotia 0.01
New Brunswick 0.01
Quebec 0.02
Ontario 0.01
Manitoba 0.02
Saskatchewan 0.02
Alberta 0.03
British Columbia 0.02
Yukon 0.02
Northwest Territories 0.11
Nunavut 0.00

Protected workloads on public cloud

By: Reginald Maltais, Statistics Canada

This summer saw an increased need for flexible services that could be accessed outside of traditional networks and scale rapidly, all while maintaining the security of information entrusted to the public service. The opportunity for data science to provide timely insights to help decision makers and the public alike has never been so great, but at the same time data scientists need to be able to ensure data and workflows operate in secure environments. The use of cloud computing has obvious benefits to data scientists, and recent developments in Government of Canada (GC) policy and cloud services made available through Shared Services Canada have made it possible to provide even greater benefits through the use of cloud services for protected workloads.

New cloud policy directives

The GC initiated the adoption of public cloud infrastructure as early as 2014. At the time, the policy on the use of cloud was unclear. It was considered a high-risk proposition to put any protected information on the cloud, so only data science projects using unclassified data could be performed.

In response to the lack of clear direction on the use of public cloud, the Cloud Adoption Strategy was developed in 2016. Along with the Direction on the Secure Use of Commercial Cloud Services and the Direction for Electronic Data Residency, both released in 2017, it became clear how to make use of public cloud infrastructure for unclassified workloads in a way that aligned with GC policy. Starting in 2018, the GC adopted a cloud-first policy stance, and began to put the groundwork in place for the adoption of public cloud services for protected workloads. The Cloud Services Framework Agreements from Shared Services Canada and the newly released Directive on Service and Digital provide the final pieces of policy direction for departments to move workloads up to Protected B, Medium Integrity, Medium Availability (PBMM).

At this point, not using cloud infrastructure requires an exception at the GC Enterprise Architecture Review Board. The roadblocks to the use of cloud infrastructure and highly-distributed data processing have been removed at the policy level, and data science teams can work with their IT services to leverage cloud to effectively support their workloads.

Data residency vs. data sovereignty

Description - Map of data paths A map showing two potential paths for data. One that keeps data domestically, and one that crosses an international border.

The residency of data refers to the physical or geographical location of an organization’s digital information while at rest. It is the responsibility of the departmental Chief Information Officer (CIO) to ensure that Protected B data has geographic residency in Canada, thus ensuring the data are subject to the protections afforded by Canadian laws. It does not apply to data while they are in transit.

Data sovereignty relates to other nations wishing to apply their laws to Canadian data, irrespective of where the data are residing geographically. This covers access to the data both while in transit and at rest. The question of sovereignty is one of risk, and for this reason the whitepaper on Data Sovereignty and Public Cloud was produced.

While there is an expectation that the vast majority of protected data would stay in Canada, there are provisions for considering options when this may not be possible. CIOs are responsible for evaluating options against a set of criteria, the minimum of which are:

  • reputation of the department and GC
  • legal aspects and agreements
  • business value provided by the service
  • market availability
  • technical capabilities

The distinction between data at rest and data in transit is important for data science workloads, as some aspects of the cloud providers’ services may run outside your preferred data storage region. Allowing data to be transmitted securely across geographic regions may be the difference between using a pre-built machine learning service and having to build your own. Whether or not using these types of services is beneficial to the project needs to be assessed on a case by case basis with the business owner. Understanding the data flows and risks associated with using different platforms and tools is an important step to get projects deployed into production.

Building on a secure, compliant foundation

Under the traditional IT infrastructure deployment, meeting organizational compliance requirements can take a significant amount of time. This often resulted in delays to the delivery of systems, slowing down the pace of business units. Making matters more difficult for data scientists, compliance requirements vary and evolve over time. It takes a dedicated professional to keep up with them. Developing and maintaining a controlled environment requires an ongoing investment at multiple levels of the IT stack. The adoption of public cloud infrastructure allows the GC to inherit from the provider’s implementation of global security and compliance controls, helping to ensure high standards of privacy and data security.

Public cloud providers also often have integrated security services, allowing aspects of monitoring and security to be automated by the appropriate unit in your organization. This not only reduces the effort required to configure aspects of the security infrastructure, but supports the organization in a timely response to events that reduces overall risk. By adopting multiple independent layers of security the momentum and effectiveness of an attack is decreased, and the effort required to mount a successful attack becomes difficult and costly. Setting up infrastructure in this way also allows data scientists to work closely with IT and security partners while allowing everyone to focus on their specialty, and helps reduce the overall time required to put products into production.

The shared security model

Using public cloud infrastructure introduces the concept of a shared security model, in which the cloud provider is responsible for security of the cloud, and the department is responsible for security in the cloud. This means that the cloud provider will ensure that their facilities and services are secure up to the point when the departments start using and configuring the services provided. Exactly which aspects of the services are the responsibility of which group depends on how the department uses the services.

Description - Data science A cloud behind held up by two hands representing a cloud vendor and departmental IT support teams.

A preliminary set of baseline controls is provided through the GC Cloud Guardrails, which help to ensure that cloud-based environments are protected upon receipt of an enrollment under the GC Cloud Services Framework Agreement. Work is also actively underway to help automate the implementation of the guardrails across multiple cloud providers, helping to ensure consistency and successful implementation in a rapid service delivery window. With the baseline set of controls in place and the deployment of new infrastructure configured automatically, data scientists can work with their IT partners to leverage common configurations which help deploy their workloads quicker while assuring the client their data are secure.

Similar to how the responsible use of cloud infrastructure requires a shift in how application architecture is implemented, a shift in security control implementation is required as well. The basic set of requirements are the same, but cloud providers can show who made what change from where. This allows data scientists to focus on deploying high-performing models, while security personnel can detect misconfigurations and noncompliance, and respond quickly to prevent risks from materializing.

Cloud security vision for the Canadian public sector

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS) provides a means to watch all cloud operations across multiple vendors, helping to catch distributed attacks. They act as a support mechanism to the Security Operations Centre, helping to catch events before they escalate to large-scale issues. Through the use of vendor evaluations, security documentation and the use of cloud-based sensors, the CCCS provides another security mechanism, and helps security practitioners and data scientists show their departments that they are managing the risks associated with the use of public cloud infrastructure.

A whole of government approach

The CCCS can act as an enabler of cyber security not only for the GC, but for all Canadian organizations. Similarly, the GC Cloud Guardrails are a set of best practices for anyone deploying workloads in public cloud infrastructure. These work hand in hand with the work by Shared Services Canada as part of the GC Cloud Brokering Service to get public cloud vendors certified for PBMM workloads. The set of policies, practices and protections outlined represent the solid foundations on which departments, or any Canadian organization interested in protecting the privacy of Canadians, can build secure and reliable services. Taken together, they allow the deployment of data science workloads focusing on providing services using protected data within a manageable risk level.

With the recent advances in cloud policy, this is an exciting time to be doing data science work in the GC. The opportunities to derive new insights and provide benefits to Canadians are at an all-time high right now. You can start to get your workloads into public cloud by reaching out to your IT partners and finding out how you can best leverage your Cloud Services Framework Agreement. If your department is not ready to leverage cloud services, reach out to the Data Analytics as a Service (DAaaS) team at Statistics Canada to see if the DAaaS platform is right for you.

Date modified:

Using data science and cloud-based tools to assess the economic impact of COVID-19

By: Razieh Pourhasan, Statistics Canada

As COVID-19 continues to impact the economy at a rapid pace, it is more important than ever for Canadians and businesses to have reliable information to understand these changes. A team of data scientists and analysts at Statistics Canada are working hard to meet this information need by automating the extraction and near real-time analysis of text data from a variety of sources. These sources include Government of Canada (GoC) NewsDesk, corporate websites, and potentially corporate Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. However, the inclusion of social media is subject to obtaining required permissions. The project focuses on the economic impacts of significant social or political events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, on the lives of Canadians.

The rapid spread of the virus and the impact of the pandemic created the need for timely, high-quality data at an unprecedented pace to inform Canadians and support decision-making. The COVID-19 events completely changed the way work is conducted and have set different expectations in a new digital reality. Timeliness is more important than ever and Statistics Canada is using data science tools to respond quickly to the changing situation and better understand the impacts on our country and economy.

To produce different types of analytical products for decision makers and Canadians, analysts are interested in different types of information. For instance, those who are carrying out COVID-19 analyses look to detect relevant news such as:

  • which companies are most involved in or affected by the pandemic?
  • did these companies have a branch closure?
  • are these companies involved in the production of personal protective equipment?
  • how many job losses have been reported?

The project has two phases based on the extraction source and the available permission for web scraping. In phase one, the extraction is limited to the GoC NewsDesk and a handful of companies’ news websites. In phase two, the extraction will potentially include more Canadian companies, as well as Twitter and LinkedIn data—conditional on obtaining the approvals to access and use these data sources.

Meeting the needs of analysts

To better meet the varying needs of analysts in their effort to provide timely information to Canadians, the data science team optimizes the extraction procedure and real-time analyses to include as much information as possible from different sources. The team establishes their workflow using a robust infrastructure that is accessible through the designated Statistics Canada platform on the Microsoft Azure Cloud. Next, Kubeflow is used to create python-based Jupyter notebooks, Elasticsearch (ES) is used for data ingestion and integration and Kibana dashboards are used to build dashboards and visualizations to present the results to the analysts.

Description - Azure cloud

Chart showing icons for Azure cloud, Kubeflow, Elasticsearch and Kibana.

  • The Kubeflow steps are: web scraping, Selenium and Python; text processing, Pandas, Re et NLTK; machine learning, topic modelling and feature selection.
  • The Elasticsearch steps are: data ingestion; keyword search, Elasticsearch engine; data analysis.
  • The Kibana steps are: dashboard; custom visualization, Vega.

The next step is to develop a Kubeflow pipeline to automatically extract text data by scraping companies’ news website using Selenium and Python modules, pre-process and clean the data with Pandas, Regular Expression and Natural Language Toolkit, and finally, ingest the extracted data into ES for further analysis. The data scientists then perform the exploratory data analysis, which can be as simple as word count or keyword search using an ES search engine, or as sophisticated as a machine learning algorithm such as topic modelling for document clustering applied through integrated python code.

The results of analyses are then visualized on Kibana dashboard using bar or pie charts, word clouds, scatter plots or customized combinatory graphs using Vega interface on Kibana. These dashboards are the final products which are delivered to analysts, either by providing them with a URL link that they can access through their cloud account or by setting an email notification so that they receive the desired products in their inbox.

Looking ahead

Currently the project is focused on corporate data, however, it could be scaled up to include other web-based information sources. It could also be adapted to include different units of analysis such as products, employment, financial data, health and social behaviours, sentiments, etc.

An analyst usually allocates 5 to 30 hours per month to search the web, find useful information, extract and compile it. This project can potentially reduce this time by a factor of three or even more, making it a very efficient option for analysts.

With the automated data extraction, the application of machine learning algorithms and the cloud-delivery model, it is easier to perform real-time analyses in a broader sense and to provide results to decision-makers in a timely manner. Both businesses and individual Canadians benefit from this timely information as our society seeks to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on our economy and our society.

Team members

Data scientists: Chatana Mandava, Razieh Pourhasan, Christian Ritter

Analysts: Tracey Capuano, Lisa Fleury, David Glanville, Francois Lavoie, Joanne Moreau, Anthony Peluso

Date modified:

Guidelines – Financial Information of Community Colleges and Vocational Schools (FINCOL)
For the fiscal year ending in 2020

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 authorizes Statistics Canada to release the information in aggregation to the provincial/territorial level only.

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.) should not 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.

Questionnaire – Financial Information of Community Colleges and Vocational Schools
For the fiscal year ending in 2020

Canadian Centre for Education Statistics

This information is collected under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, Chapter S19.

Confidential when completed
(Le français est disponible)

Voluntary survey

Although your participation in this survey is voluntary, your cooperation is important so that the information collected will be as accurate and complete as possible.

Survey purpose

Results from this survey allow users a better understanding of the financial position (income and expenditures) of all community colleges and public vocational schools in Canada. Your information may also be used by Statistics Canada for other statistical and research purposes.

Confidentiality

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

Financial Year Ending: Day, Month, Year (2020)

Identification of the institution

  • Name of institution
  • Address (number and street)
  • City
  • Province
  • Postal code
  • Check the appropriate boxes
    • Type
      • Public
      • Private
    • Governing authority
      • Province or territory
      • Board

Identification of the reporting officer

  • Name and title of reporting officer
  • Address (number and street)
  • City
  • Province
  • Postal code
  • Email address
  • Telephone number
  • Fax number
  • Signature of the reporting officer
  • Day, Month, Year

Does your institution offer courses at the elementary-secondary level, other than those academic upgrading courses such as Adult Basic Education which should be reported in this questionnaire?

  • Yes
  • No

If yes, please exclude revenues and expenditures relating to that level of education.

Instructions

  1. Please read the guidelines carefully.
  2. All amounts should be expressed in thousands of dollars ($'000).
  3. Indicate estimated amounts with an asterisk (*).

Affiliated institutions or campuses included in this report

Affiliated institutions or campuses partially included in this report

Affiliated institutions or campuses excluded from this report

Schedule 1 – Operating, Sponsored Research and Capital Income
Table summary
This is an empty data table used by respondents to provide data to Statistics Canada. This table contains no data.
Types Funds
Operating
($'000)
Sponsored Research
($'000)
Capital
($'000)
Total
($'000)
Government Grants and Contracts        
FederalSchedule 1 footnote *        
1. Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)
       
2. Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)
       
3. Canadian Institutes of Health Research
       
4. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
       
5. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
       
6. Other federal
       
Provincial        
7. Regular Grants
       
8. CFI Matching Fund
       
9. Other
       
10. Municipal
       
Fees        
11. Postsecondary Programs
       
12. Trade Vocational Programs
       
13. Continuing Education Programs
       
14. Other
       
Bequests, Donations, Non-Government Grants        
15. Business Enterprises and Individuals
       
16. Non-profit Organizations and Foundations
       
17. Sub-total
       
18. Investment Income        
19. Ancillary Enterprises (Gross)Schedule 1 footnote **        
20. Borrowings        
21. Miscellaneous        
22. Interfund TransfersSchedule 1 footnote ***        
23. Total Income        
Schedule 1 footnote *

As highlighted in Section VI.4 in the Guidelines, amounts reported here should relate only to payments received directly by the institution.

Return to Schedule 1 footnote * referrer

Schedule 1 footnote **

Total should correspond with figures reported in the supporting schedule A.

Return to Schedule 1 footnote ** referrer

Schedule 1 footnote ***

Total interfund transfers must equal to zero.

Return to Schedule 1 footnote *** referrer

Schedule 2A – Operating, Sponsored Research and Capital Expenditures by Function and by Type
Table Summary
This is an empty data table used by respondents to provide data to Statistics Canada. This table contains no data.
Types of Expenditures Functions
Operating Sponsored Research
($'000)
Capital
($'000)
Total
($'000)
Instruction and non-sponsored researchSchedule 2A footnote * ($'000) Library
($'000)
General Administration
($'000)
Physical Plant
($'000)
Student Services
($'000)
Total Operating
($'000)
Salaries and Wages                  
1. Teachers
                 
2. Other
                 
3. Fringe Benefits                  
4. Library Acquisitions                  
5. Operational Supplies and Expenses                  
6. Utilities                  
7. Furniture and Equipment                  
8. Scholarships and Other Related Students Support                  
9. Fees and Contracted Services                  
10. Debt Services                  
11. Buildings                  
12. Land and Site Services                  
13. Miscellaneous                  
14. Transfers to/from                  
15. Ancillary Enterprises (Gross)Schedule 2 footnote **                  
16. Total Expenditures                  
Schedule 2A footnote *

The figures in this column should be identical to the appropriate ones in column 5 (column total), schedule 2B.

Return to Schedule 2A footnote * referrer

Schedule 2A footnote **

Total should correspond with figures reported in the supporting schedule A.

Return to Schedule 2A footnote ** referrer

Schedule 2B – Direct Instruction Expenditures by Program Cost Groups
Table Summary
This is an empty data table used by respondents to provide data to Statistics Canada. This table contains no data.
Types of Expenditures Programs
Postsecondary Programs Trade and Vocational Programs
($'000)
Continuing Education Programs
($'000)
TotalSchedule 2B footnote * ($'000)
University Transfer
($'000)
Career
($'000)
Salaries and Wages          
1. Teachers
         
2. Other
         
3. Fringe Benefits          
4. Operational Supplies and Expenses          
5. Furniture and Equipment          
6. Fees and Contracted Services          
7. Miscellaneous          
8. Transfers to/from          
9. Total Instruction Expenditures          
Schedule 2B footnote *

The figures in this column should be identical to the appropriate ones in column 1 (column instruction and non-sponsored research), schedule 2A.

Return to Schedule 2B footnote * referrer

Supporting Schedule A – Ancillary Enterprises
Table Summary
This is an empty data table used by respondents to provide data to Statistics Canada. This table contains no data.
  Total Income Total Expenditures
Operating
($'000)
Capital
($'000)
Operating
($'000)
Capital
($'000)
Bookstores        
Food Services        
Residences        
Parking        
Other        
TotalSchedule A footnote *        
Schedule A footnote *

Total should correspond with figures reported in schedules 1 and 2A.

Return to Schedule A footnote * referrer

Observations and Comments
Table Summary
This is an empty data table used by respondents to give their observations and comments. This table contains no data.
Description
(Fund, Function, Type of Income, Expenditure)
Comments
   
   
   
   
   
   

Retail Trade Survey (Monthly): CVs for Total sales by geography - September 2020

CVs for Total sales by geography - September 2020
Table summary
This table displays the results of Annual Retail Trade Survey: CVs for Total sales by geography - September 2020. The information is grouped by Geography (appearing as row headers), Month and Percent (appearing as column headers).
Geography Month
202009
%
Canada 0.6
Newfoundland and Labrador 1.1
Prince Edward Island 1.0
Nova Scotia 1.5
New Brunswick 2.2
Quebec 1.4
Ontario 1.1
Manitoba 1.6
Saskatchewan 2.5
Alberta 0.9
British Columbia 1.3
Yukon Territory 1.3
Northwest Territories 0.4
Nunavut 1.1

Evaluation of the Census of Agriculture and Innovation in the Agriculture Statistics Program - Information Sheet

PDF version (PDF, 493.42 KB)
Evaluation of the Census of Agriculture and Innovation in the Agriculture Statistics Program
Description - Evaluation of the Census of Agriculture and Innovation in the Agriculture Statistics Program

Evaluation of the Census of Agriculture and Innovation in the Agriculture Statistics Program

About the evaluation

Statistics Canada evaluates programs like the Agriculture Statistics Program (ASP) to ensure that products align with user needs and that related internal processes are effective and efficient. The evaluation was conducted in accordance with the Treasury Board Secretariat’s Policy on Results (2016).

The main objective of the evaluation was to provide a neutral, evidence-based assessment of the 2016 Census of Agriculture (CEAG) dissemination strategy, the design and delivery of the CEAG migration to the Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP), and ASP projects supporting Statistics Canada’s modernization initiative.

A magnifying glass appears with the text: 85% of informants said the CEAG covered the issues important to their organization.

About the ASP

The mandate of the ASP is to provide economic and social statistics pertaining to the characteristics and performance of the Canadian agriculture sector and its people.

Areas covered:

  • Crop and livestock surveys
  • Farm economic statistics
  • Agri-environmental statistics
  • Taxes and other admin data
  • Research and analysis
  • Remote Sensing
  • Census of Agriculture

What we learned

  • The majority of users considered the 2016 CEAG dissemination an improvement compared to the 2011 CEAG and were satisfied with the overall approach taken.
  • CEAG data were used for multiple purposes with data tables being the product of choice.
  • CEAG migration to the IBSP is expected to improve efficiency and has been well managed to date. However, unresolved issues pose a risk.
  • ASP projects were aligned with the modernization pillars and expected results.
  • Overall, governance structures were in place for the ASP projects reviewed, however, some elements of project management and the sharing of best practices could be strengthened.

How can we improve the CEAG and ASP innovation projects?

  • For the 2021 CEAG, the Agriculture Division explore ways to improve the timeliness of the last two sets of data tables (historical data, and socio-economic data) and increase cross-analysis with non-agricultural sectors.
  • Web tools include guidance on how to use them and how to interpret data from them. A proactive approach to launching new tools should be taken.
  • Unresolved issues for the migration to the IBSP, including incompatibilities between the IBSP and the CMP as well as the IBSP processing capacity, are addressed prior to the production phase.
  • Significant risks during the production phase, particularly with regard to data quality assessments and the exercising of roles and responsibilities, are monitored and mitigated.
  • Planning processes for future projects falling outside the scope of the Departmental Project Management Framework include an initial assessment that takes into account elements such as risk, materiality, public visibility and interdependencies. The assessment should then be used to determine the appropriate level of oversight and project management.
  • Processes and tools for documenting and sharing of best practices are implemented and lessons learned from other organizations (internal and external) are leveraged.

User satisfaction

How satisfied are CEAG users with:
How satisfied are CEAG users with: Satisfied Somewhat satisfied Not satisfied Unsure
Types and formats of products and publications 19 3 0 2
Time lapse between Census Day and first release 15 5 3 1
Types of agricultural operations covered 15 9 0 0
Number of topics or themes covered in each release 15 5 0 4
Time lapse between each release 13 5 2 4
Level of detail of products and publications 10 12 1 1
Cross-analysis with other topics and agricultural surveys 10 7 2 5
Time lapse between Census Day and release of all data 6 11 4 3

Structure of Canadian companies in the reporting enterprise, 2020 (BP-STRUC)

Introduction

Additional information

Data are used to prepare statements on Canada's Balance of International Payments and International Investment Position. Such statements are used as a major input in the conduct of monetary and exchange rate policies by the Government of Canada.

Authority

This information is collected under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, Chapter S-19. Completion of this questionnaire is a legal requirement under this act..

Confidentiality

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

Record linkage

To enhance the data from this survey and to minimize the reporting burden, Statistics Canada may combine it with information from other surveys or from administrative sources.

Security of emails and faxes

If you choose to transmit the questionnaire to Statistics Canada by facsimile or other electronic transmission, please be advised that there could be a risk of disclosure during the communication. However, upon receipt of your information, Statistics Canada will provide the guaranteed level of protection afforded all information collected under the authority of the Statistics Act.

Note: There is no risk of disclosure if you are completing a web-based questionnaire online.

Return procedures

A completed copy of this questionnaire should be returned within four weeks of receipt to:

Statistics Canada, 150 Tunney's Pasture Driveway
Distribution Centre SC-0505
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0T6

If you need any clarification about reporting, please call toll free at 1-800-565-1685. Fax 1-888-883-7999. Email: infostats@statcan.gc.ca

Reporting instructions

Reporting period:
Please report for the calendar year ending December 31, 20XX. If not possible, please report for this company's most recent fiscal year that ended at any time between April 1, 20XX and March 31, 20XX, and enter the period covered below:

Specify company's fiscal year:
Start: 20XX MM DD
End: 20XX MM DD

The Canadian reporting enterprise should report on this form all its Canadian subsidiaries and associates, according to the accounting practice used to report questionnaire: BP-FIC "Foreign investment in Canada".

Subsidiary:
A company in which the reporting company owns (directly and/or indirectly through other subsidiaries) a majority of shares carrying the right to elect at least a majority of the members of the board of directors.

Associate:
A company in which the Canadian reporting enterprise and/or its consolidated subsidiaries owns between 10% and 50% of the voting equity.

Enterprise structure:
Please provide information regarding your company's Canadian subsidiaries and associates. Indent the subsidiaries of each company. Rank companies according to their level in the enterprise structure. Continue on a separate sheet if necessary. The enterprise level locates each company within the enterprise structure (eg. 1 - the first primary subsidiary of the parent company, 1.1 - the first secondary subsidiary of the parent company, etc.).

Business or Organization and Contact Information

Please verify or provide the business or organization's legal and operating name and correct where needed.

Legal name modifications should only be done to correct a spelling error or typo.

Please verify or provide the contact information of the designated business or organization contact person for this questionnaire and correct where needed.

The designated contact person is the person who should receive this questionnaire. The designated contact person may not always be the one who actually completes the questionnaire.

Please verify or provide the current operational status of the business or organization identified by the legal
and operating name.

Why is this business or organization not currently operational?

When did this business or organization close for the season?

When does this business or organization expect to resume operations?

Go to question 4 once you have answered this question.

When did this business or organization cease operations?

Why did this business or organization cease operations?

Go to question 4 once you have answered this question.

When was this business or organization sold?

What is the legal name of the buyer?

Go to question 4 once you have answered this question.

When did this business or organization amalgamate?

What is the legal name of the resulting or continuing business or organization?

What is (are) the legal name(s) of the other amalgamated business(es) or organization(s)?

Go to question 4 once you have answered this question.

When did this business or organization become temporarily inactive?

When does this business or organization expect to resume operations?

Go to question 4 once you have answered this question.

Why is this business or organization temporarily inactive?

Go to question 4 once you have answered this question.

When did this business or organization cease operations?

Why did this business or organization cease operations?

Go to question 4 once you have answered this question.

Please provide the current main activity of the business or organization identified by the legal and operating name.

Part 1 - Canadian subsidiaries fully consolidated in the balance of payments questionnaire, bp-fic (foreign investment in Canada)

Please add additional sheets if more space is required.

Please report the following items as indicated:

  • (1): Enterprise level
  • (2): Name of Canadian Subsidiary
  • (3): Percentage of capital stock owned by your company and/or its consolidated subsidiaries - Common Stock
  • (4): Percentage of capital stock owned by your company and/or its consolidated subsidiaries - Preferred Stock

Part 2 - Canadian subsidiaries and associates not fully consolidated in balance of payments questionnaire, bp-fic (foreign investment in Canada)

Please add additional sheets if more space is required.

Please report the following items as indicated:

  • (1): Enterprise level
  • (2): Name of Canadian Subsidiary or Canadian Associate
  • (3): Percentage of capital stock owned by your company and/or its consolidated subsidiaries - Common Stock
  • (4): Percentage of capital stock owned by your company and/or its consolidated subsidiaries - Preferred Stock
  • (5): Total value of investment in subsidiary or associates as reflected in the books of the Canadian reporting enterprise in thousands of Canadian dollars (CAN$ '000) - Equity
  • (6): Total value of investment in subsidiary or associates as reflected in the books of the Canadian reporting enterprise in thousands of Canadian dollars (CAN$ '000) - Other securities or advances

Certification

Person primarily responsible for completing this questionnaire:
Last Name:
First Name:
Title:
Telephone number:
Extension:
E-mail address:
Fax number:
Signature:
Date: YYYY MM DD

Feedback

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Include the time spent gathering the necessary information.

We invite your comments about this questionnaire.

Thank you for completing this questionnaire.
Please retain a copy for your records.