Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP)

This guide is designed to provide additional information as you work through your questionnaire. If further assistance is required, please call us. A Statistics Canada employee will be happy to assist you.

Help Line: 1-800-858-7921

Table of contents

General information

What is the Annual Survey of Manufacturing Industries and why is it important?

The Annual Survey of Manufacturing Industries is conducted every year by Statistics Canada to obtain important information on the manufacturing sector (including logging operations) of the Canadian economy. Manufacturing establishments in Canada are required to provide information on such aspects of their operations as sales, costs/expenses, salaries and wages. Results from the Annual Survey of Manufacturing Industries help Statistics Canada in compiling key data on the Canadian economy, such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The total value of sales is used along with inventories to calculate production statistics. Total sales of individual products, and external trade data, are used to estimate the size of the Canadian market for particular goods.

The data are also published and are used by the business community, trade associations, municipal, provincial/territorial, and federal governments, international organizations and private citizens.

Businesses and governments depend on official statistics to make vital economic decisions. For example:

  • the Bank of Canada relies on the GDP to make decisions that influence interest and exchange rates, which in turn affect the costs of doing business
  • businesses and associations use the survey results to:
    • track their performance against industry averages
    • evaluate expansion plans
    • prepare business plans for investors
    • adjust inflation-indexed contracts
    • plan marketing strategies.

Why was I chosen to receive the Annual Survey of Manufacturing Industries?

For most surveys, businesses are selected through random sampling to represent other businesses of the same type in their regions, with similar revenue or number of employees. Some businesses must be included every year as they contribute substantially to their particular industry or region. Smaller businesses must also be sampled if an industry only includes a limited number of businesses in a province or territory, to provide an accurate picture of an industry.

Whenever possible, Statistics Canada does use administrative data already filed with government, such as income tax returns or customs records. However, these sources do not contain all the information required to produce a complete industry profile. This is especially true for large businesses operating in a number of different industries, and in more than one province/territory. Tax records usually provide data for the legal entity but not for the different business units (establishments) that operate in different industries and/or provinces/territories. We need data from these specific business units to produce statistics by industry and by province/territory. Note: Although Statistics Canada can obtain records from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to create statistics, CRA cannot access any individual survey records from Statistics Canada.

To protect the confidentiality of data provided by respondents, only data in aggregate form are available for use.

Your assistance in completing the enclosed survey is vital to the production of timely and accurate manufacturing statistics. If you experience difficulties in completing this survey, please do not hesitate to call us at 1-800-858-7921.

Guidelines

General remarks

This guide provides details to help you complete the survey with more exact responses in the following sections.

  • introduction
  • revenue
  • e-Commerce
  • expenses
  • sales of goods manufactured
  • purchases of raw materials and components to be used in manufacturing process
  • details on business locations
  • detailed information on energy and water costs or expenses

The data requested can generally be obtained from:

  • the accounting records and financial statements (for profit centers) for your business unit
  • your production and cost reports (for cost centers)
  • your employment and payroll records
  • other sources (e.g., your plant or production manager).

Introduction

Coverage

Please report the data for your establishment (referred to as a business unit) in this questionnaire. Each of the locations included in your business unit should be pre-printed in Details on this business's locations section. If you have acquired or disposed of a location, please indicate this change in the space provided.

Note: A business unit is the smallest operating unit in your business that can report the following items:

  • the value of sales
  • the cost of materials and supplies purchased
  • the cost of energy and water utility purchased
  • the opening and closing inventories
  • the number of employees and their salaries and wages.

Generally a business unit corresponds to a plant, mill or factory. However, it may comprise more than one plant or location when your accounting records do not permit separate reporting of the items listed above. A business unit may also include ancillary or support units, such as sales offices or warehouses.

If your business has more than one business unit, a separate questionnaire should be completed for each unit. Each questionnaire should cover all the activities of the relevant business unit.

If your firm has a separate administrative unit or head office located in a municipality other than the one in which the plant is located, then you should also fill out a separate questionnaire for the Head Office Survey. The activities of ancillary or support units which serve more than one of your business units should also be reported on a head office questionnaire (even if there is no separate head office as such).

If you are in doubt about the best way to report, or you are not sure what questionnaires are being completed by other units of your firm, please call 1-800-858-7921 for assistance. Please quote the reference number on the front page of the questionnaire in all communications.

Reporting instructions

When precise figures are not available please provide your best estimates. Report all monetary values in Canadian funds, rounded to the nearest thousand dollars (e.g., $55,417.40 should be reported as 55). Percentages should be rounded (e.g., report 37.3% as 37 and 75.8% as 76).

The contact person sections (one at the beginning of the questionnaire and one at the end) ask for the name of the designated business or organization contact as well as the person who was primarily responsible for completing this questionnaire. Sometimes this is not the same person. Please answer both questions accurately.

Business or organization and contact information

This section verifies or requests basic identifying information of the business or organization such as legal name, operating name (if applicable), contact information of the designated contact person, current operational status, and main activity(ies).

1. Legal name and Operating name

Legal Name
The legal name is one recognized by law, thus it is the name liable for pursuit or for debts incurred by the business or organization. In the case of a corporation, it is the legal name as fixed by its charter or the statute by which the corporation was created.

Modifications to the legal name should only be done to correct a spelling error or typo.

To indicate a legal name of another legal entity you should instead indicate it in question 3 by selecting 'Not currently operational' and then choosing the applicable reason and providing the legal name of this other entity along with any other requested information.

Operating Name
The operating name is a name the business or organization is commonly known as if different from its legal name. The operating name is synonymous with trade name.

2. Designated contact person

Verify or provide the requested contact information of the designated business or organization contact person. 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. If different than the designated contact person, the contact information of the person completing the questionnaire can be indicated later in the questionnaire.

3. Current operational status

Verify or provide the current operational status of the business or organization identified by the legal and operating name in question 1. If indicating the operational status of the business or organization is 'Not currently operational' then indicate an applicable reason and provide the requested information.

4. Main activity

This question verifies the business or organization's current main activity as classified by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is an industry classification system developed by the statistical agencies of Canada, Mexico and the United States. Created against the background of the North American Free Trade Agreement, it is designed to provide common definitions of the industrial structure of the three countries and a common statistical framework to facilitate the analysis of the three economies. NAICS is based on supply-side or production-oriented principles, to ensure that industrial data, classified to NAICS, are suitable for the analysis of production-related issues such as industrial performance.

The target entity for which NAICS is designed are businesses and other organizations engaged in the production of goods and services. They include farms, incorporated and unincorporated businesses and government business enterprises. They also include government institutions and agencies engaged in the production of marketed and non-marketed services, as well as organizations such as professional associations and unions and charitable or non-profit organizations and the employees of households.

The associated NAICS should reflect those activities conducted by the business or organizational unit(s) targeted by this questionnaire only, as identified in the 'Answering this questionnaire' section and which can be identified by the specified legal and operating name. The main activity is the activity which most defines the targeted business or organization's main purpose or reason for existence. For a business or organization that is for-profit, it is normally the activity that generates the majority of the revenue for the entity.

The NAICS classification contains a limited number of activity classifications; the associated classification might be applicable for this business or organization even if it is not exactly how you would describe this business or organization's main activity.

Please note that any modifications to the main activity through your response to this question might not necessarily be reflected prior to the transmitting of subsequent questionnaires and as a result they may not contain this updated information.

If the current NAICS associated with this business or organizations is not correct, please provide a brief description of the main activity and provide any additional information as requested.

Reporting period information

  • May 1, 2018 to April 30, 2019
  • June 1, 2018 to May 31, 2019
  • July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019
  • August 1, 2018 to July 31, 2019
  • September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2019
  • October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019
  • November 1, 2018 to October 31, 2019
  • December 1, 2018 to November 30, 2019
  • January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019
  • February 1, 2019 to January 31, 2020
  • March 1, 2019 to February 28, 2020
  • April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020

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

  • September 18, 2018 to September 15, 2019 (e.g., floating year-end)
  • June 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 (e.g., a newly opened business)

Revenue

1. Sales of goods and services

Sales of goods and services are defined as amounts derived from the sale of goods and services (cash or credit), falling within a business's ordinary activities.

For Manufacturing and Logging Industries

Report all sales (domestic and exports) of goods and services from Canadian locations at final selling price. Sales should be reported 'Free On Board' (FOB) factory gate: net of excise and provincial or territorial sales taxes, HST/GST, trade discounts, returns and allowances, and charges for outward transportation by common or contract carriers. (Note: FOB factory gate means truck gate if manufacturer is using own truck and driver).

Sales denominated in foreign currency should be converted into Canadian dollars at the exchange rate on the day of transaction.

Note: Goods reported as sold should not be included in inventory and goods held on consignment should be reported as inventory until actually sold.

Include:

  • sales of goods manufactured from own materials whether at this business unit or at any other subcontracted manufacturing plants located within Canada
  • sales out of warehouses at locations other than your business unit if storage warehouses are owned or rented by your business unit
  • sales of logs and wood residue, regardless of the source of these materials (for logging operations only)
  • sales of goods purchased for resale, as is (purchased from another company or another business unit of your firm not covered by this questionnaire)
  • amounts received from progress billings
  • revenue from repair work (labour costs only as materials and products are owned by client)
  • charges for installation of manufactured goods where installation is part of sales
  • book value of goods sold for rental
  • transfers to other business units or a head office of your firm. Note that these should be reported at the value shown on your books of account (i.e. book transfer value).

Exclude:

  • transfers into inventory and consignment sales
  • federal, provincial and territorial sales taxes, and excise duties and taxes
  • shipping charges by common carrier or contract carriers
  • discounts and returns.

2. Rental and leasing

Rental and leasing revenue from assets owned by your business unit should be reported here. This revenue should be reported before deduction of expenses such as property taxes and repairs and maintenance excluding the goods and services tax (GST). Rental expenses should not be subtracted from rental revenues.

Include:

  • revenue from rental or leasing of manufactured products made by your business unit
  • revenue from long and short term rental or leasing of vehicles, machinery and equipment owned by your business unit (including operating leases)
  • revenue from rental or leasing of apartments, commercial buildings, land, office space, residential housing, investments in co-tenancies and co-ownerships.

Exclude:

  • finance charges from financing and sales leases
  • revenue from intellectual property (e.g., patents, trademarks, copyrights).

3. Commissions

Include commissions earned on the sale of products or services by businesses such as advertising agencies, brokers, insurance agents, lottery ticket sales, sales representatives, and travel agencies – Compensation could also be reported under this item (for example, compensation for collecting sales tax).

4. Subsidies (including grants, donations and fundraising)

Include:

  • non-repayable grants, contributions and subsidies from all levels of government
  • revenue from private sector (corporate and individual) sponsorships, donations and fundraising.

5. Royalties, rights, licensing and franchise fees

A royalty is defined as a payment received by the holder of a copyright, trademark or patent. Royalties paid by your business unit should not be subtracted from royalty revenues.

Include:

  • revenue received from the sale or use of all intellectual property rights of copyrighted materials such as musical, literary, artistic or dramatic works, sound recordings or the broadcasting of communication signals. Examples are: motion pictures, computer programs, etc
  • revenues from franchise fees
  • revenues from licensing agreements.

6. Dividends

Dividend expenses should not be subtracted from dividend revenues.

Include:

  • dividend income
  • dividends from Canadian sources
  • dividends from foreign sources
  • patronage dividends.

Exclude:

  • dividend from capital investment from affiliates

7. Interest

Interest expenses should not be subtracted from interest revenues.

Include:

  • investment revenue
  • interest from foreign sources
  • interest from Canadian bonds and debentures
  • interest from Canadian mortgage loans
  • interest from other Canadian sources.

Exclude equity income from investments in subsidiaries or affiliates.

8. Other revenue (please specify)

Include all amounts not included in questions 1 to 7 above such as:

  • revenue from warranties
  • placement fees for displaying items on websites, store windows, catalogues
  • revenue from shipping and handling charges that are not included in the price of the merchandise
  • deposit service income, credit service income and card service income
  • lodging and boarding revenue in the logging industry
  • revenue from secondary activities (e.g. cafeterias and lunch counters
  • revenue from outside installation or construction work not related to your own products.

9. Total Revenue

(sum of lines 1 to 8)

E-commerce

Mobile app

Include sales through any app, or application, that is downloaded and designed to run on a handheld device such as a smartphone or tablet (for example, places where a user may download these apps include Apple's App Store, Google Play or Blackberry App World).

Company website

Include sales through a browser-based website where your organization maintains control of the content.

Third-party website

Include sales through a browser-based website where a third-party maintains the structure of the website and control of the look and feel while your company only provides the product to be sold (for example, Amazon, Expedia, Etsy).

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

A standard format for exchanging business data. EDI is based on the use of message standards, ensuring that all participants use a common language.

Expenses

1. Purchases

For Manufacturing and Logging Industries

Please report the laid-down cost FOB, plant gate, but excluding GST, for purchases / cost of materials.

Include:

  • purchases of raw materials and components for manufacturing
  • purchases of non-returnable containers and other shipping and packaging materials (boxes, cartons, barrels, kegs, bottles, pallets)
  • purchases of goods purchased for resale in the same condition as purchased (without further manufacturing or processing)
  • shipping charges by common carrier or contract carriers
  • freight in and duty
  • fuel purchased to be used as an input into the manufacturing process as a feedstock or processing material (e.g., crude oil processed into gasoline).

Exclude:

  • federal, provincial and territorial sales taxes, and excise duties and taxes
  • change in inventories

2. Employment costs and expenses

a. salaries, wages and commissions

Please report all salaries and wages (including taxable allowances and employment commissions as defined on the T4 – Statement of Remuneration Paid) for this reporting period. Amounts reported should be gross, before any deductions at source.

Include:

  • indirect labour costs (e.g., food service staff, repair staff)
  • overtime payments
  • vacation pay
  • payments to casual labour
  • directors' pay
  • bonuses (including profit sharing)
  • commissions paid to regular employees such as your manufacturer's agents
  • taxable allowances (e.g., room and board, gifts such as air tickets for holidays)
  • retroactive wage payments
  • stock options awarded to employees (the amount for which you have entered a "code 38" on the employees' T4 and which is included in box 14 – value according to CRA rules)
  • any other allowance forming part of the employee's earnings
  • payments to individuals working on their own premises using equipment and materials provided by your business unit since such persons should be treated as employees
  • severance pay.

Exclude:

  • deferred stock options awarded to employees that meet relevant CRA rules (the amount for which you have entered a "code 53" on the employee's T4 and which is excluded from box 14)
  • amounts paid out to other business units for employment costs only
  • monies withdrawn by working owners and partners of unincorporated business units
  • director's fees or distribution of profits to shareholders of incorporated business units
  • cost/expenses for outside subcontracted employees (report the amount at question 3-Subcontracts)
  • cost/expenses for temporary workers paid through an agency, as well as charges for personnel search services (report these amounts at question 21 - All other costs and expenses)

b. employee benefits

Report expenses related to the employer portion of employee benefits.

Include:

  • payments for employee life and extended health care insurance plans (e.g., medical, dental, drug and vision care plans)
  • employer portion of Canada Pension Plan/Québec Pension Plan contributions
  • employer pension contributions
  • contributions to provincial and territorial health and education payroll taxes (applicable to your business unit)
  • workers' compensation (provincial or territorial) applicable to your business unit
  • employer portion of EI premiums
  • association dues paid by the employer
  • all other employee benefits such as childcare and supplementary unemployment benefit (SUB) plans.

Exclude employee portions of employee benefits (i.e., deductions from pay).

3. Subcontracts

Subcontract expense refers to the purchasing of services from outside of the company rather than providing them in-house. In such cases, business units provide materials to other business units or individuals for the production of outputs on a so-called "custom basis". Subcontract expense only refers to work hired out for production towards the company's outputs.

Include:

  • commissions paid to non-employees
  • any amount you pay to any other business units, firms, or individuals for work done on materials you own
  • custom work and contract work
  • subcontract and outside labour
  • hired labour.

Exclude:

  • research and development subcontracts (report these amounts at question 4 - Research and development fees)
  • salaries and wages paid to employees
  • payments to individuals working on their own premises using machinery, equipment and materials provided by your firm (such persons should be treated as employees)
  • cost of materials
  • cost/expenses for temporary workers paid through an agency, as well as charges for personnel search services (report these amounts at question 21 – All other costs and expenses)
  • repairs and maintenance services (report these amounts at question 13 - Repair and maintenance).

4. Research and development fees

Paid activities (purchased or subcontracted) conducted with the intention of making a discovery that could either lead to the development of new products or procedures, or to the improvement of existing products or procedures.

Exclude own labour costs (included at line 2. a. - Salaries, wages and commissions)

5. Professional and business fees

Please report only the total cost of purchased professional or business service fees here (a detailed breakdown may be required in a subsequent section).

Include:

  • legal services
  • accounting and auditing fees
  • education and training fees
  • appraisal fees
  • management and administration fees
  • property management fees
  • information technology (IT) consulting and service fees (purchased)
  • data processing services fees
  • architectural fees
  • engineering fees
  • scientific and technical service fees
  • other consulting fees (management, technical and scientific)
  • veterinary fees
  • fees for human health services
  • payroll preparation fees
  • all other professional and business service fees.

Exclude:

  • service fees paid to Head Office and other business units not included in this questionnaire (report these at question 21 - All other costs and expenses)
  • the cost of in-house activities undertaken by your own staff.

6. Energy and water expenses

Report the cost/expense of purchased utilities attributed to operations in the current reporting period such as water, electricity, gas and heating.

Include:

  • diesel, fuel wood, natural gas, oil and propane
  • sewage.

Exclude:

  • energy expenses covered in your rental and leasing contracts
  • telephone, Internet and other telecommunications
  • vehicle fuel (report these at question 21 - All other costs and expenses)
  • raw materials i.e. any fuel purchased as input to the manufacturing process as a feed stock or processing material (e.g. crude oil to be refined into gasoline) or for any other non-energy purpose (report these at question 1 - Purchases).

7. Office and computer related expenses

Please report all office supplies purchased and used by your business unit for both manufacturing and non-manufacturing operations.

Include:

  • office stationery and supplies, paper and other supplies for photocopiers, printers and fax machines
  • postage and courier fees (used in the day-to-day office business activity)
  • memory storage devices and computer upgrade expenses
  • data processing expense (equipment, software and software licenses).

Exclude telephone, Internet and other telecommunication expenses (report this amount at question 8 - Telephone, Internet and other telecommunication).

8. Telephone, Internet and other telecommunication

Include:

  • telephone, fax, cellular phone, or pager services for transmission of voice, data or image
  • internet access charges
  • purchased cable and satellite transmission of television, radio and music programs
  • wired telecommunication services
  • wireless telecommunication services
  • satellite telecommunication services
  • large bandwidth services to send/receive digital works
  • online access services
  • online information provision services.

9. Business taxes, licenses and permits

This item comprises the cost of various licenses and permits, and some indirect taxes (taxes levied on your business unit that are not corporate income or logging taxes, sales or excise taxes, or insurance premium taxes).

Include:

  • property taxes paid directly and land transfer taxes
  • business taxes
  • vehicle license and/or registration fees
  • beverage license fees
  • trade license fees
  • professional license fees
  • all other license fees
  • lot levies
  • building permits and development charges
  • other property/business licenses or permits not specified above.

Exclude:

  • property taxes covered in your rental and leasing expenses
  • corporate income taxes
  • stumpage fees (report these amounts at question 11 –Crown charges).

10. Royalties (other than Crown royalties), franchise fees and memberships

Include:

  • amounts paid to holders of patents, copyrights, performing rights and trademarks
  • gross overriding royalty expenses and direct royalty costs
  • resident and non-resident royalty expenses
  • membership fees
  • franchise fees.

Exclude stumpage fees (report these amounts at question 11 – Crown charges).

11. Crown charges (for logging, mining and energy industries only)

Include:

  • crown royalties, Crown leases and rentals, oil sand leases and stumpage fees
  • federal or provincial royalty, tax, lease or rental payments made in relation to the acquisition, development or ownership of Canadian resource properties.

12. Rental and leasing (land, buildings, equipment, vehicles, etc.)

Include:

  • lease/rental expenses, real estate rental expenses, condominium fees and equipment rental expenses
  • only operating leases (as opposed to leases that can be capitalized)
  • motor vehicle rental and leasing expenses (without driver)
  • furniture and fixtures
  • computer, machinery and equipment rental expenses (without operator)
  • storage expense
  • studio lighting and scaffolding; Road and construction equipment rental
  • road and construction equipment rental
  • fuel and other utility costs covered in your rental and leasing contracts.

Exclude rental and leasing of vehicles (with driver), machinery and equipment (with driver or operator) (report these costs at question 21 - All other costs and expenses).

13. Repair and maintenance

This item comprises repair and maintenance costs related to the replacement of parts or other restoration of plant and machinery to keep your properties in efficient working condition.

Include:

  • waste removal services, hazardous and non-hazardous
  • janitorial and cleaning services
  • sweeping and snow removal services
  • costs related to materials, parts and external labour associated with the following expenses: buildings and structures, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, security equipment and other goods (except fabricated metal products or furniture repair services).

Exclude:

  • salaries (report at question 2 – Employment costs and expenses
  • property management fees (report these at question 5 – Professional and business fees)
  • repair and maintenance expenses that are included in any payment to a head office.

14. Amortization and depreciation

Report the amortization/depreciation (the systematic allocation of the cost of assets to current operations over their useful life) related only to the current reporting period.

Include:

  • direct cost depreciation of tangible assets and amortization of leasehold improvements
  • amortization of rental equipment (for operating leases: by lessor; for capital leases: by lessee)
  • amortization of intangible assets (e.g., amortization of goodwill, patents, franchises, copyrights, trademarks, deferred charges, deferred gains and losses on investments, organizational costs).

15. Insurance

Insurance recovery income should be deducted from insurance expenses.

Include:

  • accident and health insurance services
  • life insurance and individual pension services
  • asset insurance services, including property and motor vehicle
  • general liability insurance services
  • executive life insurance
  • bonding, business interruption insurance and fire insurance
  • all other insurance services not elsewhere specified.

Exclude:

  • payments on behalf of employees which are considered to be taxable benefits (report these at question 2(b) – Employee benefits)
  • premiums paid directly to your head office (report these at question 21).

16. Advertising, marketing, promotion, meals and entertainment

Include:

  • advertising planning and creating services
  • newspaper advertising and media expenses
  • catalogues, presentations and displays
  • trade fairs and exhibition organization services
  • tickets for theatre, concerts and sporting events for business promotion
  • fundraising expenses
  • meals, entertainment and hospitality purchases for clients
  • other advertising services.

17. Travel, meetings and conventions

Include:

  • travel expenses
  • rental services of passenger cars, buses and coaches with operator
  • meeting and convention expenses, seminars
  • passenger transportation (airfare, bus, train, etc.)
  • accommodations (hotel and motel lodging)
  • travel allowance and meals while travelling
  • travel agency services
  • taxi services
  • meal and beverage services for consumption on the premises
  • other travel expenses.

18. Financial services (bank charges, transaction fees, etc.)

Include:

  • explicit service charges for financial services
  • credit and debit card commissions and charges
  • collection expenses and transfer fees
  • registrar and transfer agent fees
  • security and exchange commission fees
  • other financial service fees.

Exclude interest expenses (report these at question 19 - Interest expense).

19. Interest expense

Please report the cost of servicing your company's debt such as interest and bank charges, finance charges, interest payments on capital leases, amortization of bond discounts.

Include (interest on):

  • short-term and long-term debt
  • bonds and debentures
  • mortgages.

Exclude:

  • dividends paid to term and retractable preferred shares
  • debt issue expenses, including their amortization.

20. Bad debt, loan losses, donations, political contributions and inventory writedown

Include:

  • charitable donations and political contributions
  • bad debt expense
  • loan losses
  • provisions for loan losses (minus bad debt recoveries)
  • inventory adjustments.

21. All other expenses (including intracompany expenses)

Include intracompany expenses.

Include:

  • log yard expense, forestry costs, logging road costs
  • production costs
  • vehicle fuel expenses
  • pipeline operations, drilling, site restoration costs
  • gross overriding royalty
  • other producing property rental costs
  • well operating, fuel and equipment costs
  • other lease rental costs
  • other direct costs
  • equipment hire and operation costs
  • overhead expenses allocated to costs of sales
  • cash over/short (negative expense)
  • reimbursement of parent company expenses
  • warranty expenses
  • recruiting expenses
  • general and administrative expenses
  • interdivisional expenses
  • interfund transfers (minus expense recoveries)
  • exploration and development costs (include: geological prospecting, well abandonment and dry holes, exploration expenses, development expenses)
  • safety supplies
  • cafeteria supplies
  • materials, components and supplies for installation and construction that is not related to own product
  • all other supplies, material and components not elsewhere specified
  • variance
  • all other expenses not reported elsewhere.

Exclude items related to expenditures in prior periods.

22. Total expenses

(sum of lines 1 to 21)

Industry Characteristics

Sales

1. Cost Center

A cost center is a department or section of a company where managers are directly responsible for costs. For example, consider a company that has a manufacturing department, a research and development department, and a payroll department. Each department could be a cost center. Cost centers do not directly report revenues as these are reported by another part of the company such as a head office.

2. Valuation of sales

Please indicate whether you will report at final selling price or any alternate valuation.

  • if you are a single business unit firm, sales must be reported at your final selling price.
  • if you are part of a multi-business unit firm:
    a) sales to your firm's non-logging or non-manufacturing business units must be reported at your final selling price.
    b) sales to your firm's logging or manufacturing business units, sales branches, selling warehouses or head offices should be reported at the value shown on your books of account (i.e., book transfer value)

Report all sales (domestic and exports) goods and services from Canadian locations at final selling price. Sales should be reported FOB factory gate: net of excise and provincial or territorial sales taxes, HST/GST, trade discounts, returns and allowances, and charges for outward transportation by common or contract carriers. (Note: FOB factory gate means truck gate if manufacturer is using own truck and driver).

Sales denominated in foreign currency should be converted into Canadian dollars at the exchange rate on the day of transaction.

Note: Goods reported as sold should not be included in inventory and goods held on consignment should be reported as inventory until actually sold.

Please note that the questionnaires for the manufacturing industries and the logging industries are slightly different. Depending on which one you have received, the questions might be worded slightly differently and some categories of revenue might not be part of your questionnaire.

Sales for selected items

3. a. Sales of goods manufactured

Include:

  • sales of goods manufactured from own materials whether at this business unit or at any other subcontracted manufacturing plants located within Canada
  • sales out of warehouses at locations other than your business unit if storage warehouses are owned or rented by your business unit
  • amounts received from progress billings
  • charges for installation of manufactured goods where installation is part of sales
  • book value of goods sold for rental
  • transfers to other business units or a head office of your firm. Note that these should be reported at the value shown on your books of account (i.e., book transfer value).

Exclude:

  • transfers into inventory and consignment sales
  • shipping charges by common or contract carriers
  • discounts and returns
  • federal provincial and territorial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes
  • sales of goods purchased for resale, as is
  • revenue from repair work
  • revenue from manufacturing and logging service fees and/or custom work.

b. sales of goods purchased for resale, as is

Report sales of goods that have not been processed or altered in your business unit and that have been purchased and resold in the same condition.

Include sales of products transferred to you from other business units of your firm and sold in the same condition as transferred.

Exclude:

  • transfers into inventory and consignment sales
  • shipping charges by common or contract carriers
  • discounts and returns
  • federal provincial and territorial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes.

c. revenue from repair work

Repair work comprises fixing/repairing products that have already been installed or delivered to a client (or other business unit). This work could be done at the client's facilities or at your business unit (where the products were uninstalled and shipped for repair). Repair work also includes warranty repairs where your business unit charges a fee to either an external business or another business unit within your firm. In all of these cases, your business unit has only provided labour to a client but this client owns the product(s) and materials involved.

Exclude:

  • shipping charges by common or contract carriers
  • discounts
  • federal provincial and territorial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes.

d. revenue from manufacturing service fees or and/or custom work

Custom work, manufacturing service, comprise manufacturing work undertaken to the specifications of a client (or other business unit of your firm) prior to installation or initial delivery. Your business unit has only provided labour to a client but this client owns the product(s) and materials involved.

Exclude:

  • shipping charges by common or contract carriers
  • discounts
  • federal provincial and territorial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes.

f. other sales - specify:

Include sales of goods and services not specified elsewhere.

Exclude:

  • revenue from rental and leasing
  • commissions
  • revenue from royalties, franchise and licensing fees
  • revenue from interest and dividends
  • subsidies /grants.

Total sales of goods and services

(sum of lines a. to f.)

Selected expense information

Please note that the questionnaires for the manufacturing industries and the logging industries are slightly different. Depending on which one you have received, the questions might be worded slightly differently and some categories of expense might not be part of your questionnaire.

4. a. purchases of raw materials and components

Report the laid-down cost 'Free On Board' (FOB) factory gate, but excluding GST for all raw materials and components purchased for your manufacturing or logging process.

Include:

  • shipping charges by common carrier or contract carriers
  • freight in and duty
  • fuel purchased to be used as an input into the manufacturing process as a feedstock or processing material (e.g., crude oil processed into gasoline).

Exclude:

  • federal provincial and territorial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes
  • purchases of goods purchased for resale in the same condition as purchased (without further manufacturing or processing)
  • purchases of non-returnable containers and other shipping and packaging materials (boxes, cartons, barrels, kegs, bottles, pallets, etc.)
  • change in inventories.

b. purchases of non-returnable containers and other shipping and packaging materials

Report the laid-down cost for all shipping and packaging materials purchased FOB plant gate, but excluding GST.

Include:

  • boxes, cartons, barrels, kegs, bottles, pallets, etc.
  • shipping charges by common carrier or contract carriers
  • freight in and duty.

Exclude:

  • federal provincial and territorial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes.

c. purchases of goods for resale, as is

Report the laid-down cost of goods purchased for resale in the same condition as purchased ('Free On Board' (FOB) factory gate, but excluding GST), i.e., without further manufacturing or processing.

Include:

  • shipping charges by common carrier or contract carriers
  • freight in and duty.

Exclude:

  • federal provincial and territorial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes
  • change in inventories.

d. vehicle fuel expense

Report any vehicle fuel expenses incurred during your manufacturing or logging process.

Include purchases of gasoline, diesel fuel, propane, natural gas and other fuel used to operate any type of vehicle at the location or otherwise, such as sales representatives' cars, delivery trucks, lift trucks, etc.

Exclude any fuel purchased for power/heat generation.

Salaries, wages and commissions

Details on salaries, wages and commissions

This section requests a breakdown of total salaries, wages and commissions for this business unit. Amounts reported for salaries and wages should be gross, before any deductions from employees for income tax and employee contributions to health, accident, pension, insurance, or other benefits, all of which should be included. Please do this calculation separately for direct and indirect labour. Do not include benefit contributions by the employer.

Details on average number of people employed

To calculate the average number employed, add the number of employees in the last pay period of each month of the reporting period and divide this sum by the number of months (usually 12). Please do this calculation separately for direct and indirect labour.

The section is designed to account for all personnel on the payroll of your business unit.

Direct labour (manufacturing or logging)

Please report gross salaries and average number of workers.

Include employees engaged in:

  • manufacturing (processing and/or assembling)
  • logging and forestry support
  • packing, handling, warehousing
  • repair and maintenance, janitorial
  • watchmen
  • foremen doing work similar to their employees
  • erection/installation by own business unit when an extension of your manufacturing operations.

Indirect labour (administrative and selling/operating)

Please report gross salaries and average number of workers. Do not include workers that are not on your payroll.

Include:

  • executives, administrators and office staff
  • sales staff
  • food service staff
  • building construction and major renovation staff (when work is chargeable to fixed asset accounts)
  • machinery and equipment repair staff (when work is chargeable to fixed asset accounts).

Opening and closing inventories

Inventories are to be reported at the value maintained in your accounting records (book value). If your accounting records do not distinguish between goods of own manufacturing or logging process and goods purchased for resale, please provide your best estimate of the distribution between the two inventory types.

Include:

  • inventory at the manufacturing plant or at any warehouse or selling outlet which is treated as part of this business unit
  • inventory in transit in Canada
  • inventory held on consignment for Canada.

Exclude:

  • goods owned and held in inventory abroad
  • any goods held on consignment from others.

a. raw materials and components

Include:

  • materials and components to be used in the manufacturing process
  • fuel purchased to be used as an input into the manufacturing process as a feedstock or processing material (e.g., crude oil processed into gasoline)
  • non-returnable containers and other shipping and packaging materials.

Exclude any raw material intended for resale in the same condition as purchased.

b. goods and work in process

Include:

  • partially completed goods
  • the value of work done on goods accounted for under progress billing for which no payment has been received.

c. finished goods manufactured

Include:

  • goods of own manufacture from your business unit
  • logs, wood residues and manufactured products.

d. goods purchased for resale, as is

Include all goods which are purchased for resale without further processing by your business unit.

Exclude components manufactured by another business unit/firm that are purchased or transferred by this business and used as inputs for the assembly and manufacturing system (report these under question 11 – Raw material and components).

e. other inventories - specify

Include all other inventory of materials used in your logging or manufacturing process but not included in the above categories.

Total inventories

(sum of lines a. to e.)

Sales of goods manufactured

This section represents a breakdown, by product for the total reported at question 3.a. Sales of goods manufactured in the Industry characteristics section. Please report the value of sales (in thousands of Canadian dollars) for each product produced by your manufacturing operations for the products listed in this section.

For each product, report sales net of:

  • shipping charges by common or contract carriers
  • discounts
  • sales allowances
  • return sales
  • sales taxes
  • excise duties and taxes.

Exclude shipping charges by contract or common carrier if possible for each product class. If your accounting records do not allow you to provide sales of your reported commodities net of shipping charges, you will be prompted to report your total shipping charges at a later time.

If you manufacture products that are not listed in this section, please enter the product description and relevant amounts at question 2 – All other products of own manufacture sold – please specify below. This question is about the different products sold by this business. For example: If, in addition to the products listed in the previous screens, this business also sold motor vehicle steering components, motor vehicle transmission components and motor vehicle brake systems, report 3 additional products.

Purchases of raw materials and components to be used in the manufacturing process

This section requests a breakdown, by product, of the total reported at 4a. 'Purchases of raw materials and components' of the Industry characteristics section. Please report the cost of raw materials for each individual product used in manufacturing operations.

In reporting the cost of the various items purchased, give the laid-down value at your business unit, (i.e., the amounts after discounts actually paid or payable).

Where quantity information is requested, please provide this information from your records or, if not recorded, provide your best estimate.

Note: If you are involved in contract logging, manufacturing services or custom work, the raw materials and components used in these processes that are owned by the business to which you are providing a service should not be reported here.

Include:

  • semi-processed goods, if you are part of a multi-business unit firm and receive semi-processed goods as transfers from the other business units of your firm for further processing. The cost of such goods should be equivalent to the transfer value reported by the shipping unit plus any transportation and handling charges paid by your business unit to common or contract carriers
  • any fuel purchased as an input into the manufacturing process, as a feedstock or processing material (e.g., crude oil processed into gasoline), or for any other non-energy purpose.

Exclude fuel used for energy purposes (e.g., for office or plant heating) – These energy items should be reported in the "Detailed information on energy and water costs or expenses" section.

If you purchased raw materials that are not displayed in this section, please enter the raw material name and relevant amounts at question 2 – All other raw materials and components purchased – please specify below. This question is about the different raw materials or components used in the manufacturing or logging process by this business. For example: If, in addition to the products listed in the previous screens, this business also used iron ore, copper ore, and fibrous glass materials, report 3 additional products.

Details on this business's locations

General guidelines

This section requests a breakdown of total operating revenues, salaries, wages and commissions for all locations included in this survey. Please report separately for each location (covered by your business unit).

The section is designed to account for all personnel on the payroll of your business unit, including those working in ancillary units which form part of your business unit. Ancillary units are those not directly engaged in the manufacturing process but that offer support activities to your business unit (e.g., warehouses, sales offices).

Please indicate if any locations are no longer part of your business unit and should be deleted from the list.

If there are any locations not listed, please provide information on these. Include any additional ancillary units, such as warehouses and sales offices, that are not directly engaged in manufacturing activities.

Operating revenues represent the revenue generated from the course of normal business operations (e.g., sales and commissions).

Labour expenses

Amounts reported for salaries and wages should be gross, before any deductions from employees for income tax and employee contributions to health, accident, pension, insurance, or other benefits, all of which should be included. Please do this calculation separately for direct and indirect labour at each location. Do not include benefit contributions by the employer.

Direct labour (manufacturing or logging)

Please report gross salaries. Include wages for employees engaged in:

  • manufacturing (processing and/or assembling)
  • logging and forestry support
  • packing, handling, warehousing
  • repair and maintenance, janitorial
  • watchmen
  • foremen doing work similar to their employees
  • erection/installation by own business unit when an extension of your manufacturing operations.

Indirect labour (administrative and selling/operating)

Please report gross salaries. Do not include workers that are not on your payroll.

Include salaries for:

  • executives, administrators and office staff
  • sales staff
  • food service staff
  • building construction and major renovation staff (when work is chargeable to fixed asset accounts)
  • machinery and equipment repair staff (when work is chargeable to fixed asset accounts).

Please indicate whether each specific location operated for the full reporting period or part of it. If a location did not operate for the full year, please provide an explanation in the space provided (e.g., seasonal operations, strike, plant closure).

Detailed information on energy and water costs or expenses

Please report information on all purchased energy, water utility expenses and electricity purchased by your business unit for energy purposes only. Answers to the detailed questions should cover amounts used by your business unit in all plant and office operations and any support units which are part of your business unit. Do not report fuel consumed as fuel purchased unless the amounts are substantially the same (or unless you can only report consumption)

Include transportation costs, duties, etc. which form part of the laid-down cost at your business unit.

Exclude any fuel purchased to be used as an input into the manufacturing process as a feedstock or processing material or for any other non-energy purposes (e.g., a raw material for products such as chemicals, synthetic rubber and a variety of plastics).

1. Electricity

Please report the delivered cost of purchased electricity.

2. Gasoline

The cost of purchased gasoline includes that used for all plant operations.

Exclude fuel for motor vehicle use

3. Light fuel oil

Please report the total value of purchased light fuel oil for this reporting period.

Include:

  • light fuel oil includes all distillate type fuels for power burners
  • fuel oil no.2 (heating oil no. 2)
  • fuel oil no.3 (heating oil no. 3)
  • furnace fuel oil
  • gas oils
  • light industrial fuel.

4. Heavy fuel oil

Please report the total value of purchased heavy fuel oil for this reporting period.

Include all grades of residual type fuels for steam or diesel engines (non-vehicle use);

  • all grades of residual type fuels for steam or diesel engines (non-vehicle use)
  • bunker B and Bunker C
  • fuel oils no. 4, 5 and 6
  • residual fuel oil.

5. Diesel fuel

Please report the total value of purchased diesel fuel for the current reporting period

Exclude fuel for motor vehicle use.

6. Liquefied petroleum gas (e.g., propane, butane)

Please report the total value of purchased liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) for this reporting period. LPG's comprise normally gaseous paraffinic compounds extracted from refinery gases.

Exclude fuel for motor vehicle use

7. Natural gas

Please report the total value of purchased natural gas, which comprises a mix of hydrocarbon compounds and small quantities of various non-hydrocarbons existing in a gaseous phase.

Exclude fuel for motor vehicle use

8. Coal

Please report the total value of purchased coal for this reporting period.

9. Water Utilities

Please report the total value of water utility costs. Note that in some municipalities, water utilities are included in the municipal tax bill. If this case applies to you, please enter the amount if it is itemized on your tax bill.

10. Other energy and water expenses - specify:

Please report the total value of all other purchased energy types not specified elsewhere (e.g., steam, oxygen or hydrogen).

11. Total energy and water expenses

(sum of lines 1 to 10)

How can I obtain data from Statistics Canada?

Inquiry service

Ask about our most recent data by:

Data from the Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging

Dissemination Solutions Section

Telephone: 613-951-9497
Toll Free: 1-866-873-8789
E-mail address: statcan.csbpdisseminationsolutions-cpsesolutionsdediffusion.statcan@statcan.gc.ca

Please remember to sign your name at the end of the questionnaire

For further information and assistance

Remember, if you are experiencing difficulty in completing the survey or if you are not sure about how to respond to a specific question, please call us at1-800-858-7921 and someone will be happy to assist you.

Please keep a copy of this questionnaire accessible in case you receive an enquiry from our staff. It could also serve as a guide to completing next year's survey, if necessary.

Intergrated Business Survey Program (IBSP)

Thank you for your cooperation.
Remember, all data provided are kept confidential.
Please retain a copy for your records.

Notification of intent to extract web data

Statistics Canada is piloting a web data extraction initiative, also known as web scraping, which uses software to search and compile publicly available data from organization websites. As a result, we may visit the website for this organization to search for, and compile, additional information. This initiative should allow us to reduce the reporting burden on organization, as well as produce additional statistical indicators to ensure that our data remain accurate and relevant.

We will do our utmost to ensure the data are collected in a manner that will not affect the functionality of the website. Any data collected will be used by Statistics Canada for statistical and research purposes only, in accordance with the agency's mandate.

For more information regarding Statistics Canada's web scraping initiative, please visit About us.

To learn more about Statistics Canada's transparency and accountability, please visit Transparency and accountability.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Statistics Canada Client Services, toll-free at 1-877-949-9492 (TTY: 1-800-363-7629) or by email at infostats@statcan.gc.ca. Additional information about this survey can be found by selecting the following link:

Consult the reporting guide at Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP) for further information.

Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP)

This guide is designed to provide additional information as you work through your questionnaire. If further assistance is required, please call us. A Statistics Canada employee will be happy to assist you.

Help Line: 1-800-858-7921

Table of contents

General information

What is the Annual Survey of Logging Industries and why is it important?

The Annual Survey of Logging Industries is conducted every year by Statistics Canada to obtain important information on the manufacturing sector (including logging operations) of the Canadian economy. Manufacturing establishments in Canada are required to provide information on such aspects of their operations as sales, costs/expenses, salaries and wages. Results from the Annual Survey of Logging Industries help Statistics Canada in compiling key data on the Canadian economy, such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The total value of sales is used along with inventories to calculate production statistics. Total sales of individual products, and external trade data, are used to estimate the size of the Canadian market for particular goods.

The data are also published and are used by the business community, trade associations, municipal, provincial/territorial, and federal governments, international organizations and private citizens.

Businesses and governments depend on official statistics to make vital economic decisions. For example:

  • the Bank of Canada relies on the GDP to make decisions that influence interest and exchange rates, which in turn affect the costs of doing business
  • businesses and associations use the survey results to:
    • track their performance against industry averages
    • evaluate expansion plans
    • prepare business plans for investors
    • adjust inflation-indexed contracts
    • plan marketing strategies.

Why was I chosen to receive the Annual Survey of Logging Industries?

For most surveys, businesses are selected through random sampling to represent other businesses of the same type in their regions, with similar revenue or number of employees. Some businesses must be included every year as they contribute substantially to their particular industry or region. Smaller businesses must also be sampled if an industry only includes a limited number of businesses in a province or territory, to provide an accurate picture of an industry.

Whenever possible, Statistics Canada does use administrative data already filed with government, such as income tax returns or customs records. However, these sources do not contain all the information required to produce a complete industry profile. This is especially true for large businesses operating in a number of different industries, and in more than one province/territory. Tax records usually provide data for the legal entity but not for the different business units (establishments) that operate in different industries and/or provinces/territories. We need data from these specific business units to produce statistics by industry and by province/territory. Note: Although Statistics Canada can obtain records from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to create statistics, CRA cannot access any individual survey records from Statistics Canada.

To protect the confidentiality of data provided by respondents, only data in aggregate form are available for use.

Your assistance in completing the enclosed survey is vital to the production of timely and accurate manufacturing statistics. If you experience difficulties in completing this survey, please do not hesitate to call us at 1-800-858-7921.

Guidelines

General remarks

This guide provides details to help you complete the survey with more exact responses in the following sections.

  • introduction
  • revenue
  • e-Commerce
  • expenses
  • sales of goods manufactured
  • purchases of raw materials and components to be used in manufacturing process
  • details on business locations
  • detailed information on energy and water costs or expenses

The data requested can generally be obtained from:

  • the accounting records and financial statements (for profit centres) for your business unit
  • your production and cost reports (for cost centres)
  • your employment and payroll records
  • other sources (e.g., your plant or production manager).

Introduction

Coverage

Please report the data for your establishment (referred to as a business unit) in this questionnaire. Each of the locations included in your business unit should be pre-printed in Details on this business's locations section. If you have acquired or disposed of a location, please indicate this change in the space provided.

Note: A business unit is the smallest operating unit in your business that can report the following items:

  • the value of sales
  • the cost of materials and supplies purchased
  • the cost of energy and water utility purchased
  • the opening and closing inventories
  • the number of employees and their salaries and wages.

Generally a business unit corresponds to a plant, mill or factory. However, it may comprise more than one plant or location when your accounting records do not permit separate reporting of the items listed above. A business unit may also include ancillary or support units, such as sales offices or warehouses.

If your business has more than one business unit, a separate questionnaire should be completed for each unit. Each questionnaire should cover all the activities of the relevant business unit.

If your firm has a separate administrative unit or head office located in a municipality other than the one in which the plant is located, then you should also fill out a separate questionnaire for the Head Office Survey. The activities of ancillary or support units which serve more than one of your business units should also be reported on a head office questionnaire (even if there is no separate head office as such).

If you are in doubt about the best way to report, or you are not sure what questionnaires are being completed by other units of your firm, please call 1-800-858-7921 for assistance. Please quote the reference number on the front page of the questionnaire in all communications.

Reporting instructions

When precise figures are not available please provide your best estimates. Report all monetary values in Canadian funds, rounded to the nearest thousand dollars (e.g., $55,417.40 should be reported as 55). Percentages should be rounded (e.g., report 37.3% as 37 and 75.8% as 76).

Contact person section asks for the name of contact as well as the person primarily responsible for completing this questionnaire. Sometimes this is not the same person. Please answer both questions accurately.

Business or organization and contact information

This section verifies or requests basic identifying information of the business or organization such as legal name, operating name (if applicable), contact information of the designated contact person, current operational status, and main activity(ies).

1. Legal name and Operating name

Legal Name
The legal name is one recognized by law, thus it is the name liable for pursuit or for debts incurred by the business or organization. In the case of a corporation, it is the legal name as fixed by its charter or the statute by which the corporation was created.

Modifications to the legal name should only be done to correct a spelling error or typo.

To indicate a legal name of another legal entity you should instead indicate it in question 3 by selecting 'Not currently operational' and then choosing the applicable reason and providing the legal name of this other entity along with any other requested information.

Operating Name
The operating name is a name the business or organization is commonly known as if different from its legal name. The operating name is synonymous with trade name.

2. Designated contact person

Verify or provide the requested contact information of the designated business or organization contact person. 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. If different than the designated contact person, the contact information of the person completing the questionnaire can be indicated later in the questionnaire.

3. Current operational status

Verify or provide the current operational status of the business or organization identified by the legal and operating name in question 1. If indicating the operational status of the business or organization is 'Not currently operational' then indicate an applicable reason and provide the requested information.

4. Main activity

This question verifies the business or organization's current main activity as classified by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is an industry classification system developed by the statistical agencies of Canada, Mexico and the United States. Created against the background of the North American Free Trade Agreement, it is designed to provide common definitions of the industrial structure of the three countries and a common statistical framework to facilitate the analysis of the three economies. NAICS is based on supply-side or production-oriented principles, to ensure that industrial data, classified to NAICS, are suitable for the analysis of production-related issues such as industrial performance.

The target entity for which NAICS is designed are businesses and other organizations engaged in the production of goods and services. They include farms, incorporated and unincorporated businesses and government business enterprises. They also include government institutions and agencies engaged in the production of marketed and non-marketed services, as well as organizations such as professional associations and unions and charitable or non-profit organizations and the employees of households.

The associated NAICS should reflect those activities conducted by the business or organizational unit(s) targeted by this questionnaire only, as identified in the 'Answering this questionnaire' section and which can be identified by the specified legal and operating name. The main activity is the activity which most defines the targeted business or organization's main purpose or reason for existence. For a business or organization that is for-profit, it is normally the activity that generates the majority of the revenue for the entity.

The NAICS classification contains a limited number of activity classifications; the associated classification might be applicable for this business or organization even if it is not exactly how you would describe this business or organization's main activity.

Please note that any modifications to the main activity through your response to this question might not necessarily be reflected prior to the transmitting of subsequent questionnaires and as a result they may not contain this updated information.

If the current NAICS associated with this business or organizations is not correct, please provide a brief description of the main activity and provide any additional information as requested.

Reporting period information

  • May 1, 2018 to April 30, 2019
  • June 1, 2018 to May 31, 2019
  • July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019
  • August 1, 2018 to July 31, 2019
  • September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2019
  • October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019
  • November 1, 2018 to October 31, 2019
  • December 1, 2018 to November 30, 2019
  • January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019
  • February 1, 2019 to January 31, 2020
  • March 1, 2019 to February 28, 2020
  • April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020

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

  • September 18, 2018 to September 15, 2019 (e.g., floating year-end)
  • June 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 (e.g., a newly opened business)

Revenue

1. Sales of goods and services

Sales of goods and services are defined as amounts derived from the sale of goods and services (cash or credit), falling within a business's ordinary activities.

Report all sales (domestic and exports) of goods and services from Canadian locations at final selling price. Sales should be reported 'Free On Board' (FOB) factory gate: net of excise and provincial or territorial sales taxes, HST/GST, trade discounts, returns and allowances, and charges for outward transportation by common or contract carriers. (Note: FOB factory gate means truck gate if manufacturer is using own truck and driver).

Sales denominated in foreign currency should be converted into Canadian dollars at the exchange rate on the day of transaction.

Note: Goods reported as sold should not be included in inventory and goods held on consignment should be reported as inventory until actually sold. If you are classified as a contract logger, the sales of logs and wood residue that result from logging services performed for another business unit that owns the stumpage rights should not be reported by you but by the business unit that owns the stumpage rights. You should only report the revenues from the logging service provided.

Include:

  • sales of goods manufactured from own materials whether at this business unit or at any other subcontracted manufacturing plants located within Canada
  • sales out of warehouses at locations other than your business unit if storage warehouses are owned or rented by your business unit
  • sales of logs and wood residue, regardless of the source of these materials (for logging operations only)
  • sales of goods purchased for resale, as is (purchased from another company or another business unit of your firm not covered by this questionnaire)
  • amounts received from progress billings
  • revenue from repair work (labour costs only as materials and products are owned by client)
  • revenue from logging service fees and/or custom work (labour costs only as materials and products are owned by client)
  • charges for installation of manufactured goods where installation is part of sales
  • book value of goods sold for rental
  • revenue from stumpage sales
  • transfers to other business units or a head office of your firm. Note that these should be reported at the value shown on your books of account (e.g., book transfer value).

Exclude:

  • transfers into inventory and consignment sales
  • federal, provincial and territorial sales taxes, and excise duties and taxes
  • shipping charges by common carrier or contract carriers
  • discounts and returns.

2. Rental and leasing

Rental and leasing revenue from assets owned by your business unit should be reported here. This revenue should be reported before deduction of expenses such as property taxes and repairs and maintenance excluding the goods and services tax (GST). Rental expenses should not be subtracted from rental revenues.

Include:

  • revenue from rental or leasing of manufactured products made by your business unit
  • revenue from long and short term rental or leasing of vehicles, machinery and equipment owned by your business unit (including operating leases)
  • revenue from rental or leasing of apartments, commercial buildings, land, office space, residential housing, investments in co-tenancies and co-ownerships.

Exclude:

  • finance charges from financing and sales leases
  • revenue from intellectual property (e.g., patents, trademarks, copyrights).

3. Commissions

Include commissions earned on the sale of products or services by businesses such as advertising agencies, brokers, insurance agents, lottery ticket sales, sales representatives, and travel agencies – Compensation could also be reported under this item (e.g., compensation for collecting sales tax).

4. Subsidies (including grants, donations and fundraising)

Include:

  • non-repayable grants, contributions and subsidies from all levels of government
  • revenue from private sector (corporate and individual) sponsorships, donations and fundraising.

5. Royalties, rights, licensing and franchise fees

A royalty is defined as a payment received by the holder of a copyright, trademark or patent. Royalties paid by your business unit should not be subtracted from royalty revenues.

Include:

  • revenue received from the sale or use of all intellectual property rights of copyrighted materials such as musical, literary, artistic or dramatic works, sound recordings or the broadcasting of communication signals. Examples are: motion pictures, computer programs, etc
  • revenues from franchise fees
  • revenues from licensing agreements.

6. Dividends

Dividend expenses should not be subtracted from dividend revenues.

Include:

  • dividend income
  • dividends from Canadian sources
  • dividends from foreign sources
  • patronage dividends.

Exclude:

  • dividend from capital investment from affiliates

7. Interest

Interest expenses should not be subtracted from interest revenues.

Include:

  • investment revenue
  • interest from foreign sources
  • interest from Canadian bonds and debentures
  • interest from Canadian mortgage loans
  • interest from other Canadian sources.

Exclude equity income from investments in subsidiaries or affiliates.

8. Other revenue - please specify

Include all amounts not included in questions 1 to 7 above such as:

  • revenue from warranties
  • placement fees for displaying items on websites, store windows, catalogues
  • revenue from shipping and handling charges that are not included in the price of the merchandise
  • deposit service income, credit service income and card service income
  • lodging and boarding revenue in the logging industry
  • revenue from secondary activities (e.g. cafeterias and lunch counters
  • revenue from outside installation or construction work not related to your own products.

9. Total Revenue

(sum of lines 1 to 8)

E-commerce

Mobile app

Include sales through any app, or application, that is downloaded and designed to run on a handheld device such as a smartphone or tablet (for example, places where a user may download these apps include Apple's App Store, Google Play or Blackberry App World).

Company website

Include sales through a browser-based website where your organization maintains control of the content.

Third-party website

Include sales through a browser-based website where a third-party maintains the structure of the website and control of the look and feel while your company only provides the product to be sold (for example, Amazon, Expedia, Etsy).

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

A standard format for exchanging business data. EDI is based on the use of message standards, ensuring that all participants use a common language.

Expenses

1. Purchases

Please report the laid-down cost FOB, plant gate, but excluding GST, for purchases / cost of materials.

Include:

  • purchases of raw materials and components for manufacturing
  • purchases of non-returnable containers and other shipping and packaging materials (boxes, cartons, barrels, kegs, bottles, pallets)
  • purchases of goods purchased for resale in the same condition as purchased (without further manufacturing or processing)
  • shipping charges by common carrier or contract carriers
  • freight in and duty
  • fuel purchased to be used as an input into the manufacturing process as a feedstock or processing material (e.g., crude oil processed into gasoline).

Exclude:

  • federal, provincial and territorial sales taxes, and excise duties and taxes
  • change in inventories

2. Employment costs and expenses

a. Salaries, wages and commissions

Please report all salaries and wages (including taxable allowances and employment commissions as defined on the T4 – Statement of Remuneration Paid) for this reporting period. Amounts reported should be gross, before any deductions at source.

Include:

  • indirect labour costs (e.g., food service staff, repair staff)
  • overtime payments
  • vacation pay
  • payments to casual labour
  • directors' pay
  • bonuses (including profit sharing)
  • commissions paid to regular employees such as your manufacturer's agents
  • taxable allowances (e.g., room and board, gifts such as air tickets for holidays)
  • retroactive wage payments
  • stock options awarded to employees (the amount for which you have entered a "code 38" on the employees' T4 and which is included in box 14 – value according to CRA rules)
  • any other allowance forming part of the employee's earnings
  • payments to individuals working on their own premises using equipment and materials provided by your business unit since such persons should be treated as employees
  • severance pay.

Exclude:

  • deferred stock options awarded to employees that meet relevant CRA rules (the amount for which you have entered a "code 53" on the employee's T4 and which is excluded from box 14)
  • amounts paid out to other business units for employment costs only
  • monies withdrawn by working owners and partners of unincorporated business units
  • director's fees or distribution of profits to shareholders of incorporated business units
  • cost/expenses for outside subcontracted employees (report the amount at question 3-Subcontracts)
  • cost/expenses for temporary workers paid through an agency, as well as charges for personnel search services (report these amounts at question 21 – All other costs and expenses).

b. Employee benefits

Report expenses related to the employer portion of employee benefits.

Include:

  • payments for employee life and extended health care insurance plans (e.g., medical, dental, drug and vision care plans)
  • employer portion of Canada Pension Plan/Quebec Pension Plan (CPP/QPP) contributions
  • employer pension contributions
  • contributions to provincial and territorial health and education payroll taxes (applicable to your business unit)
  • workers' compensation (provincial or territorial) applicable to your business unit
  • employer portion of employment insurance premiums (EI)
  • association dues paid by the employer
  • all other employee benefits such as childcare and supplementary unemployment benefit (SUB) plans.

Exclude employee portions of employee benefits (i.e., deductions from pay).

3. Subcontracts

Subcontract expense refers to the purchasing of services from outside of the company rather than providing them in-house. In such cases, business units provide materials to other business units or individuals for the production of outputs on a so-called 'custom basis.' Subcontract expense only refers to work hired out for production towards the company's outputs.

Include:

  • commissions paid to non-employees
  • any amount you pay to any other business units, firms, or individuals for work done on materials you own
  • custom work and contract work
  • subcontract and outside labour
  • hired labour.

Exclude:

  • research and development subcontracts (report these amounts at question 4 – Research and development fees)
  • salaries and wages paid to employees
  • payments to individuals working on their own premises using machinery, equipment and materials provided by your firm (such persons should be treated as employees)
  • cost of materials
  • cost/expenses for temporary workers paid through an agency, as well as charges for personnel search services (report these amounts at question 21 – All other costs and expenses)
  • repairs and maintenance services (report these amounts at question 13 - Repair and maintenance).

4. Research and development fees

Paid activities (purchased or subcontracted) conducted with the intention of making a discovery that could either lead to the development of new products or procedures, or to the improvement of existing products or procedures.

Exclude own labour costs (included at line 2. a. - Salaries, wages and commissions)

5. Professional and business fees

Please report only the total cost of purchased professional or business service fees here (a detailed breakdown may be required in a subsequent section).

Include:

  • legal services
  • accounting and auditing fees
  • education and training fees
  • appraisal fees
  • management and administration fees
  • property management fees
  • information technology (IT) consulting and service fees (purchased)
  • data processing services fees
  • architectural fees
  • engineering fees
  • scientific and technical service fees
  • other consulting fees (management, technical and scientific)
  • veterinary fees
  • fees for human health services
  • payroll preparation fees
  • all other professional and business service fees.

Exclude:

  • service fees paid to Head Office and other business units not included in this questionnaire (report these at question 21- All other costs and expenses)
  • the cost of in-house activities undertaken by your own staff.

6. Energy and water expenses

Report the cost/expense of purchased utilities attributed to operations in the current reporting period such as water, electricity, gas and heating.

Include:

  • diesel, fuel wood, natural gas, oil and propane
  • sewage.

Exclude:

  • energy expenses covered in your rental and leasing contracts
  • telephone, Internet and other telecommunications
  • vehicle fuel (report these at question 21- All other costs and expenses)
  • raw materials i.e. any fuel purchased as input to the manufacturing process as a feed stock or processing material (e.g. crude oil to be refined into gasoline) or for any other non-energy purpose (report these at question 1 - Purchases).

7. Office and computer related expenses

Please report all office supplies purchased and used by your business unit for both manufacturing and non-manufacturing operations.

Include:

  • office stationery and supplies, paper and other supplies for photocopiers, printers and fax machines
  • postage and courier fees (used in the day-to-day office business activity)
  • memory storage devices and computer upgrade expenses
  • data processing expense (equipment, software and software licenses).

Exclude telephone, Internet and other telecommunication expenses (report this amount at question 8 -Telephone, Internet and other telecommunication).

8. Telephone, Internet and other telecommunication

Include:

  • telephone, fax, cellular phone, or pager services for transmission of voice, data or image
  • internet access charges
  • purchased cable and satellite transmission of television, radio and music programs
  • wired telecommunication services
  • wireless telecommunication services
  • satellite telecommunication services
  • large bandwidth services to send/receive digital works
  • online access services
  • online information provision services.

9. Business taxes, licenses and permits

This item comprises the cost of various licenses and permits, and some indirect taxes (taxes levied on your business unit that are not corporate income or logging taxes, sales or excise taxes, or insurance premium taxes).

Include:

  • property taxes paid directly and land transfer taxes
  • business taxes
  • vehicle license and/or registration fees
  • beverage license fees
  • trade license fees
  • professional license fees
  • all other license fees
  • lot levies
  • building permits and development charges
  • other property/business licenses or permits not specified above.

Exclude:

  • property taxes covered in your rental and leasing expenses
  • corporate income taxes
  • stumpage fees (report these at 11 – Crown charges).

10. Royalties (other than Crown royalties), franchise fees and memberships

Include:

  • amounts paid to holders of patents, copyrights, performing rights and trademarks
  • gross overriding royalty expenses and direct royalty costs
  • resident and non-resident royalty expenses
  • membership fees
  • franchise fees.

Exclude stumpage fees (report these at 11 – Crown charges).

11. Crown charges (for logging, mining and energy industries only)

Include:

  • crown royalties, Crown leases and rentals, oil sand leases and stumpage fees
  • federal or provincial royalty, tax, lease or rental payments made in relation to the acquisition, development or ownership of Canadian resource properties.

12. Rental and leasing (land, buildings, equipment, vehicles, etc.)

Include:

  • lease/rental expenses, real estate rental expenses, condominium fees and equipment rental expenses
  • only operating leases (as opposed to leases that can be capitalized)
  • motor vehicle rental and leasing expenses (without driver)
  • furniture and fixtures
  • computer, machinery and equipment rental expenses (without operator)
  • storage expense
  • studio lighting and scaffolding
  • road and construction equipment rental
  • fuel and other utility costs covered in your rental and leasing contracts.

Exclude rental and leasing of vehicles (with driver), machinery and equipment (with driver or operator) (report these costs at question 21 - All other costs and expenses).

13. Repair and maintenance

This item comprises repair and maintenance costs related to the replacement of parts or other restoration of plant and machinery to keep your properties in efficient working condition.

Include:

  • waste removal services, hazardous and non-hazardous
  • janitorial and cleaning services
  • sweeping and snow removal services
  • costs related to materials, parts and external labour associated with the following expenses: buildings and structures, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, security equipment and other goods (except fabricated metal products or furniture repair services).

Exclude:

  • salaries (report at question 2 – Employment costs and expenses
  • property management fees (report these at question 5 - Professional and business fees)
  • repair and maintenance expenses that are included in any payment to a head office.

14. Amortization and depreciation

Report the amortization/depreciation (the systematic allocation of the cost of assets to current operations over their useful life) related only to the current reporting period.

Include:

  • direct cost depreciation of tangible assets and amortization of leasehold improvements
  • amortization of rental equipment (for operating leases: by lessor; for capital leases: by lessee)
  • amortization of intangible assets (e.g., amortization of goodwill, patents, franchises, copyrights, trademarks, deferred charges, deferred gains and losses on investments, organizational costs).

15. Insurance

Insurance recovery income should be deducted from insurance expenses.

Include:

  • accident and health insurance services
  • life insurance and individual pension services
  • asset insurance services, including property and motor vehicle
  • general liability insurance services
  • executive life insurance
  • bonding, business interruption insurance and fire insurance
  • all other insurance services not elsewhere specified.

Exclude:

  • payments on behalf of employees which are considered to be taxable benefits (report these at question 2(b) – Employee benefits)
  • premiums paid directly to your head office (report these at question 21 – All other costs and expenses).

16. Advertising, marketing, promotion, meals and entertainment

Include:

  • advertising planning and creating services
  • newspaper advertising and media expenses
  • catalogues, presentations and displays
  • trade fairs and exhibition organization services
  • tickets for theatre, concerts and sporting events for business promotion
  • fundraising expenses
  • meals, entertainment and hospitality purchases for clients
  • other advertising services.

17. Travel, meetings and conventions

Include:

  • travel expenses
  • rental services of passenger cars, buses and coaches with operator
  • meeting and convention expenses, seminars
  • passenger transportation (airfare, bus, train, etc.)
  • accommodations (hotel and motel lodging)
  • travel allowance and meals while travelling
  • travel agency services
  • taxi services
  • meal and beverage services for consumption on the premises
  • other travel expenses.

18. Financial services (bank charges, transaction fees, etc.)

Include:

  • explicit service charges for financial services
  • credit and debit card commissions and charges
  • collection expenses and transfer fees
  • registrar and transfer agent fees
  • security and exchange commission fees
  • other financial service fees.

Exclude interest expenses (report these at question 19 – Interest expense).

19. Interest expense

Please report the cost of servicing your company's debt such as interest and bank charges, finance charges, interest payments on capital leases, amortization of bond discounts.

Include (interest on):

  • short-term and long-term debt
  • bonds and debentures
  • mortgages.

Exclude:

  • dividends paid to term and retractable preferred shares
  • debt issue expenses, including their amortization.

20. Bad dept, loan losses, donations, political contributions and inventory writedown

Include:

  • charitable donations and political contributions
  • bad debt expense
  • loan losses
  • provisions for loan losses (minus bad debt recoveries)
  • inventory adjustments.

21. All other costs and expenses (including intracompany expenses)

Include intracompany expenses.

Include:

  • production costs
  • vehicle fuel expenses
  • pipeline operations, drilling, site restoration costs
  • gross overriding royalty
  • other producing property rental costs
  • well operating, fuel and equipment costs
  • other lease rental costs
  • other direct costs
  • equipment hire and operation costs
  • overhead expenses allocated to costs of sales
  • cash over/short (negative expense)
  • reimbursement of parent company expenses
  • warranty expenses
  • recruiting expenses
  • general and administrative expenses
  • interdivisional expenses
  • interfund transfers (minus expense recoveries)
  • exploration and development costs (include: geological prospecting, well abandonment and dry holes, exploration expenses, development expenses)
  • safety supplies
  • cafeteria supplies
  • materials, components and supplies for installation and construction that is not related to own product
  • all other supplies, material and components not elsewhere specified
  • variance
  • all other expenses not reported elsewhere.

Exclude items related to expenditures in prior periods.

22. Total expenses

(sum of lines 1 to 21)

Industry Characteristics

Sales

1. Cost Center

A cost center is a department or section of a company where managers are directly responsible for costs. For example, consider a company that has a manufacturing department, a research and development department, and a payroll department. Each department could be a cost center. Cost centers do not directly report revenues as these are reported by another part of the company such as a head office.

2. Valuation of sales

Please indicate whether you will report at final selling price or any alternate valuation.

  • If you are a single business unit firm, sales must be reported at your final selling price.
  • If you are part of a multi-business unit firm:
    1. sales to your firm's non-logging or non-manufacturing business units must be reported at your final selling price.
    2. sales to your firm's logging or manufacturing business units, sales branches, selling warehouses or head offices should be reported at the value shown on your books of account (i.e., book transfer value)

Report all sales (domestic and exports) of goods and services from Canadian locations at final selling price. Sales should be reported 'Free On Board' (FOB) factory gate: net of excise and provincial or territorial sales taxes, HST/GST, trade discounts, returns and allowances, and charges for outward transportation by common or contract carriers. (Note: FOB factory gate means truck gate if manufacturer or logger is using own truck and driver.)

Sales denominated in foreign currency should be converted into Canadian dollars at the exchange rate on the day of transaction.

Note 1: Goods reported as sold should not be included in inventory and goods held on consignment should be reported as inventory until actually sold.

Note 2: If you are classified as a contract logger, the sales of logs and wood residue that result from logging services performed for another business unit that owns the timber rights should not be reported by you but by the business unit that owns the stumpage rights. You should only report the revenues from the logging service provided in question 3e.

Note 3: Please note that the questionnaires for the manufacturing industries and the logging industries are slightly different. Depending on which one you have received, the questions might be worded slightly differently and some categories of revenue might not be part of your questionnaire.

3. a. sales of logs, wood residue and manufacturing products

Include:

  • sales of goods manufactured from own materials whether at this business unit or at any other subcontracted manufacturing plants located within Canada
  • sales of logs and wood residue harvested by your own employees or by contractors on behalf of your business unit should all be reported here
  • sales out of warehouses at locations other than your business unit if storage warehouses are owned or rented by your business unit
  • amounts received from progress billings
  • charges for installation of manufactured goods where installation is part of sales
  • book value of goods sold for rental
  • revenue from sales of timber (for non-logging operations only; logging operations should report these in question 3b – revenue from stumpage sales)
  • transfers to other business units or a head office of your firm. Note that these should be reported at the value shown on your books of account (i.e., book transfer value).

Exclude:

  • transfers into inventory and consignment sales
  • shipping charges by common or contract carriers
  • discounts and returns
  • federal, provincial and territorial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes
  • revenues from contract logging when only the labour services are provided. (Report these at line 3e – revenues from logging service fees and/or custom work).
  • sales of goods purchased for resale, as is
  • revenue from repair work
  • revenue from manufacturing and logging service fees and/or custom work
  • revenue from timber rights (for logging operations only; report these amounts in question 3b – revenue from stumpage sales).

b. Revenue from stumpage sales

Please report any revenue earned from stumpage sales during the reporting period.

c. sales of goods purchased for resale, as is

Report sales of goods that have not been processed or altered in your business unit and that have been purchased and resold in the same condition.

Include sales of products transferred to you from other business units of your firm and sold in the same condition as transferred.

For the logging industry, include logs purchased and disposed of as logs with no further processing (for example processing includes: drying scaling, grading, etc.).

Exclude:

  • the Logging operations should not report at this line the sales of logs and wood residue, regardless of the business that harvested it (please report the amounts at question 1 – Sales of logs, wood residue and manufactured products)
  • transfers into inventory and consignment sales
  • shipping charges by common or contract carriers
  • discounts and returns
  • federal, provincial and territorial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes
  • logging operations must not report at this line, sales of logs and wood residue harvested by contract loggers on behalf of your business unit (report at question 3a).

d. revenue from repair work

Repair work comprises fixing/repairing products that have already been installed or delivered to a client (or other business unit). This work could be done at the client's facilities or at your business unit (where the products were uninstalled and shipped for repair). Repair work also includes warranty repairs where your business unit charges a fee to either an external business or another business unit within your firm. In all of these cases, your business unit has only provided labour to a client but this client owns the product(s) and materials involved.

Exclude:

  • shipping charges by common or contract carriers
  • discounts
  • federal provincial and territorial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes.

e. Revenue from logging service fees or manufacturing and/or custom work

Custom work, manufacturing or logging service, comprises manufacturing or logging work undertaken to the specifications of a client (or other business unit of your firm) prior to installation or initial delivery. Your business unit has only provided labour to a client but this client owns the product(s) and materials involved (e.g., contract logging).

Exclude:

  • shipping charges by common or contract carriers
  • discounts
  • federal provincial and territorial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes.

f. other sales – specify:

Include sales of goods and services not specified elsewhere (i.e log hauling).

Exclude:

  • revenue from rental and leasing
  • commissions
  • revenue from royalties, franchise and licensing fees
  • revenue from interest and dividends
  • subsidies /grants.

Total sales of goods and services

(sum of questions a. to f.)

Selected expense information

Please note that the questionnaires for the manufacturing industries and the logging industries are slightly different. Depending on which one you have received, the questions might be worded slightly differently and some categories of expense might not be part of your questionnaire.

4. a. Purchases of raw materials and components

Report the laid-down cost FOB plant gate, but excluding GST for all raw materials and components purchased for your manufacturing or logging process.

Include:

  • shipping charges by common carrier or contract carriers
  • freight in and duty
  • fuel purchased to be used as an input into the manufacturing process as a feedstock or processing material (e.g., crude oil processed into gasoline).

Exclude:

  • federal provincial and territorial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes
  • purchases of goods purchased for resale in the same condition as purchased (without further manufacturing or processing)
  • purchases of non-returnable containers and other shipping and packaging materials (boxes, cartons, barrels, kegs, bottles, pallets, etc.)
  • change in inventories.

b. Stumpage fees

Business units undertaking logging operations on Crown land must pay "stumpage fees" for harvested logs. If logging activity is applicable to your business unit, please report the total of all stumpage fees paid during this reporting period.

c. purchases of non-returnable containers and other shipping and packaging materials

Report the laid-down cost for all shipping and packaging materials purchased FOB plant gate, but excluding GST.

Include:

  • boxes, cartons, barrels, kegs, bottles, pallets, etc.
  • shipping charges by common carrier or contract carriers
  • freight in and duty.

Exclude:

  • federal provincial and territorial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes.

d. Purchases of goods for resale, as is

Report the laid-down cost of goods purchased for resale in the same condition as purchased (FOB plant gate, but excluding GST), i.e., without further manufacturing or processing.

Include:

  • shipping charges by common carrier or contract carriers
  • freight in and duty.

Exclude:

  • federal provincial and territorial sales taxes and excise duties and taxes
  • change in inventories.

e. Vehicle fuel expense

Report any vehicle fuel expenses incurred during your logging or manufacturing process.

Include purchases of gasoline, diesel fuel, propane, natural gas and other fuel used to operate any type of vehicle at the location or otherwise, such as sales representatives' cars, delivery trucks, lift trucks, etc.

Exclude any fuel purchased for power/heat generation.

Salaries, wages and commissions

Details on salaries, wages and commissions

This section requests a breakdown of total salaries, wages and commissions for this business unit. Amounts reported for salaries and wages should be gross, before any deductions from employees for income tax and employee contributions to health, accident, pension, insurance, or other benefits, all of which should be included. Please do this calculation separately for direct and indirect labour. Do not include benefit contributions by the employer.

Details on average number of people employed

To calculate the average number employed, add the number of employees in the last pay period of each month of the reporting period and divide this sum by the number of months (usually 12). Please do this calculation separately for direct and indirect labour.

The section is designed to account for all personnel on the payroll of your business unit.

Direct labour (manufacturing or logging)

Please report gross salaries and average number of workers.

Include employees engaged in:

  • manufacturing (processing and/or assembling)
  • logging and forestry support
  • packing, handling, warehousing
  • repair and maintenance, janitorial
  • watchmen
  • foremen doing work similar to their employees
  • erection/installation by own business unit when an extension of your manufacturing operations.

6. Indirect labour (administrative and selling/operating)

Please report gross salaries and average number of workers. Do not include workers that are not on your payroll.

Include:

  • executives, administrators and office staff
  • sales staff
  • food service staff
  • building construction and major renovation staff (when work is chargeable to fixed asset accounts)
  • machinery and equipment repair staff (when work is chargeable to fixed asset accounts).

Opening and closing Inventories

Inventories are to be reported at the value maintained in your accounting records (book value). If your accounting records do not distinguish between goods of own logging or manufacturing process and goods purchased for resale, please provide your best estimate of the distribution between the two inventory types.

Include:

  • inventory at the logging processing location, manufacturing plant or at any warehouse or selling outlet which is treated as part of this business unit
  • inventory in transit in Canada
  • inventory held on consignment in Canada.

Exclude:

  • goods owned and held in inventory abroad
  • any goods held on consignment for others.

7.

a. raw materials and components

Include:

  • materials and components to be used in the logging or manufacturing process
  • fuel purchased to be used as an input into the logging or manufacturing process as a feedstock or processing material (e.g., crude oil processed into gasoline)
  • non-returnable containers and other shipping and packaging materials.

Exclude any raw material intended for resale in the same condition as purchased

b. Goods and work in process

Include:

  • partially completed goods
  • the value of work done on goods accounted for under progress billing for which no payment has been received.

c. Finished goods manufactured

Include:

  • logs, wood residues and manufactured products
  • goods of own manufacture from your business unit.

d. Goods purchased for resale, as is

Include all goods which are purchased for resale without further processing by your business unit.

Exclude components manufactured by another business unit/firm that are purchased or transferred by this business and used as inputs for the assembly and manufacturing system (report these at question 15 – Raw material and components).

e. Other inventories (please specify)

Include all other inventory of materials used in your logging or manufacturing process but not included in the above categories.

Total inventories

(sum of questions a. to e.)

Sales of logs, wood residue and goods manufactured

This section represents a breakdown by product for the total reported at 'sales of logs, wood residue and manufactured products' in the Industry characteristics section question 3a. Please report the value of sales (in thousands of Canadian dollars) for each product produced by your operations for the products listed in this section.

For each product, report sales net of:

  • shipping charges by common or contract carriers
  • discounts
  • sales allowances
  • return sales
  • sales taxes
  • excise duties and taxes

Note: If you are classified as a contract logger, the sales of logs and wood residue that result from logging services performed for another business unit that owns the stumpage rights should not be reported by you but by the business unit that owns the stumpage rights. You should only report the revenues from the logging service provided (in question 3e).

Exclude shipping charges by contract or common carrier if possible for each product class. If your accounting records do not allow you to provide sales of your reported commodities net of shipping charges, you will be prompted to report your total shipping charges at a later time.

If you manufacture products that are not listed in this section, please enter the product description and relevant amounts at question 2 – All other products from logs, wood residue and own manufactured goods sold – please specify below. This question is about the different products sold by this business. For example: If, in addition to the products listed in the previous screens, this business also sold motor vehicle steering components, motor vehicle transmission components and motor vehicle brake systems, report 3 additional products.

Purchases of raw materials and components to be used in the logging or manufacturing process

This section requests a breakdown, by product, of the total reported at 4a. 'Purchases of raw materials and components' of the Industry characteristics section. Please report the cost of raw materials for each individual product used in manufacturing operations.

In reporting the cost of the various items purchased, give the laid-down value at your business unit, (i.e., the amounts after discounts actually paid or payable).

Where quantity information is requested, please provide this information from your records or, if not recorded, provide your best estimate.

Note: If you are involved in contract logging, manufacturing services or custom work, the raw materials and components used in these processes that are owned by the business to which you are providing a service should not be reported here.

Include:

  • semi-processed goods, if you are part of a multi-business unit firm and receive semi-processed goods as transfers from the other business units of your firm for further processing. The cost of such goods should be equivalent to the transfer value reported by the shipping unit plus any transportation and handling charges paid by your business unit to common or contract carriers
  • any fuel purchased as an input into the manufacturing process, as a feedstock or processing material (e.g., crude oil processed into gasoline), or for any other non-energy purpose.

Exclude fuel used for energy purposes (e.g., for office or plant heating) – These energy items should be reported in the "Detailed information on energy and water costs or expenses" section.

If you purchased raw materials that are not displayed in this section, please enter the raw material name and relevant amounts at question 2 – All other raw materials and components purchased – please specify below. This question is about the different raw materials or components used in the manufacturing or logging process by this business. For example: If, in addition to the products listed in the previous screens, this business also used iron ore, copper ore, and fibrous glass materials, report 3 additional products.

Details on this business's locations

General guidelines

This section requests a breakdown of total operating revenues, salaries, wages and commissions for all locations included in this survey. Please report separately for each location (covered by your business unit).

The section is designed to account for all personnel on the payroll of your business unit, including those working in ancillary units which form part of your business unit. Ancillary units are those not directly engaged in the manufacturing process but that offer support activities to your business unit (e.g., warehouses, sales offices).

Please indicate if any locations are no longer part of your business unit and should be deleted from the list.

Operating revenues represent the revenue generated from the course of normal business operations (e.g., sales and commissions).

Labour expenses

Amounts reported for salaries and wages should be gross, before any deductions from employees for income tax and employee contributions to health, accident, pension, insurance, or other benefits, all of which should be included. Please do this calculation separately for direct and indirect labour at each location. Do not include benefit contributions by the employer.

Direct labour (manufacturing or logging

Please report gross salaries. Include wages for employees engaged in:

  • manufacturing (processing and/or assembling)
  • logging and forestry support
  • packing, handling, warehousing
  • repair and maintenance, janitorial
  • watchmen
  • foremen doing work similar to their employees
  • erection/installation by own business unit when an extension of your manufacturing operations.

Indirect labour (for administrative and selling or operating only)

Please report gross salaries. Do not include workers that are not on your payroll.

Include salaries for:

  • executives, administrators and office staff
  • sales staff
  • food service staff
  • building construction and major renovation staff (when work is chargeable to fixed asset accounts)
  • machinery and equipment repair staff (when work is chargeable to fixed asset accounts).

Please indicate whether each specific location operated for the full reporting period or part of it. If a location did not operate for the full year, please provide an explanation in the space provided (e.g. seasonal operations, strike, plant closure, etc.)

Detailed information on energy and water costs or expenses

Please report information on all purchased energy, water utility expenses and electricity purchased by your business unit for energy purposes only. Answers to the detailed questions should cover amounts used by your business unit in all plant and office operations and any support units which are part of your business unit. Do not report fuel consumed as fuel purchased unless the amounts are substantially the same (or unless you can only report consumption)

Include transportation costs, duties, etc. which form part of the laid-down cost at your business unit.

Exclude any fuel purchased to be used as an input into the manufacturing process as a feedstock or processing material or for any other non-energy purposes (e.g., a raw material for products such as chemicals, synthetic rubber and a variety of plastics).

1. Electricity

Please report the delivered cost of purchased electricity.

2. Gasoline

The cost of purchased gasoline includes that used for all plant operations.

Exclude fuel for motor vehicle use

3. Light fuel oil

Please report the total value of purchased light fuel oil for this reporting period.

Include:

  • all distillate type fuels for power burners
  • fuel oil no.2 (heating oil no. 2)
  • fuel oil no.3 (heating oil no. 3)
  • furnace fuel oil
  • gas oils
  • light industrial fuel.

4. Heavy fuel oil

Please report the total value of purchased heavy fuel oil for this reporting period.

Include: ll grades of residual type fuels for steam or diesel engines (non-vehicle use)

  • all grades of residual type fuels for steam or diesel engines (non-vehicle use)
  • bunker B and Bunker C
  • fuel oils no. 4, 5 and 6
  • residual fuel oil.

5. Diesel fuel

Please report the total value of purchased diesel fuel for the current reporting period

Exclude fuel for motor vehicle use.

6. Liquefied petroleum gas (e.g., propane, butane)

Please report the total value of purchased liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) for this reporting period. LPG's comprise normally gaseous paraffinic compounds extracted from refinery gases.

Exclude fuel for motor vehicle use

7. Natural gas

Please report the total value of purchased natural gas, which comprises a mix of hydrocarbon compounds and small quantities of various non-hydrocarbons existing in a gaseous phase.

Exclude fuel for motor vehicle use

8. Coal

Please report the total value of purchased coal for this reporting period.

9. Water Utilities

Please report the total value of water utility costs. Note that in some municipalities, water utilities are included in the municipal tax bill. If this case applies to you, please enter the amount if it is itemized on your tax bill.

10. Other energy and water expenses - specify:

Please report the total value of all other purchased energy types not specified elsewhere (e.g., steam, oxygen or hydrogen).

11. Total energy and water expenses

(sum of lines 1 to 10)

How can I obtain data from Statistics Canada?

Inquiry service

Ask about our most recent data by:

  • telephone: 1-800-263-1136
  • telecommunications device for the hearing impaired: 1-800-363-7629
  • fax: 1-877-287-4369
  • e-mail: infostats@statcan.gc.ca
  • website: www.statcan.gc.ca

Data from the Annual Survey of Logging Industries

Dissemination Solutions Section

Telephone: 613-951-9497
Toll Free: 1-866-873-8789
E-mail address: statcan.csbpdisseminationsolutions-cpsesolutionsdediffusion.statcan@statcan.gc.ca

Please remember to sign your name at the end of the questionnaire

For further information and assistance

Remember, if you are experiencing difficulty in completing the survey or if you are not sure about how to respond to a specific question, please call us at 1-800-858-7921 and someone will be happy to assist you.

Please keep a copy of this questionnaire accessible in case you receive an enquiry from our staff. It could also serve as a guide to completing next year's survey, if necessary.

Thank you for your cooperation.
Remember, all data provided are kept confidential.
Please retain a copy for your records.

Notification of intent to extract web data

Statistics Canada is piloting a web data extraction initiative, also known as web scraping, which uses software to search and compile publicly available data from organization websites. As a result, we may visit the website for this organization to search for, and compile, additional information. This initiative should allow us to reduce the reporting burden on organization, as well as produce additional statistical indicators to ensure that our data remain accurate and relevant.

We will do our utmost to ensure the data are collected in a manner that will not affect the functionality of the website. Any data collected will be used by Statistics Canada for statistical and research purposes only, in accordance with the agency's mandate.

For more information regarding Statistics Canada's web scraping initiative, please visit About us.

To learn more about Statistics Canada's transparency and accountability, please visit Transparency and accountability.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Statistics Canada Client Services, toll-free at 1-877-949-9492 (TTY: 1-800-363-7629) or by email at infostats@statcan.gc.ca. Additional information about this survey can be found by selecting the following link:

Consult the reporting guide at Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP) for further information.

Retail Commodity Survey: CVs for Total Sales (November 2019)

Retail Commodity Survey: CVs for Total Sales (November 2019)
NAPCS-CANADA Month
201908 201909 201910 201911
Total commodities, retail trade commissions and miscellaneous services 0.67 0.62 0.61 0.56
Retail Services (except commissions) [561] 0.67 0.62 0.61 0.55
Food at retail [56111] 1.01 1.05 0.74 0.65
Soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, at retail [56112] 0.48 0.48 0.62 0.44
Cannabis products, at retail [56113] 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Clothing at retail [56121] 1.94 0.93 1.20 0.81
Footwear at retail [56122] 1.43 1.26 1.26 1.08
Jewellery and watches, luggage and briefcases, at retail [56123] 1.76 1.85 1.91 1.76
Home furniture, furnishings, housewares, appliances and electronics, at retail [56131] 0.58 0.62 0.77 0.74
Sporting and leisure products (except publications, audio and video recordings, and game software), at retail [56141] 2.17 2.56 2.35 1.68
Publications at retail [56142] 6.95 11.63 6.76 6.19
Audio and video recordings, and game software, at retail [56143] 1.62 1.45 4.64 2.94
Motor vehicles at retail [56151] 2.40 2.05 2.09 2.13
Recreational vehicles at retail [56152] 3.42 4.32 4.33 4.44
Motor vehicle parts, accessories and supplies, at retail [56153] 1.42 1.27 1.57 1.52
Automotive and household fuels, at retail [56161] 1.90 1.87 2.05 1.93
Home health products at retail [56171] 2.45 2.65 2.61 2.33
Infant care, personal and beauty products, at retail [56172] 3.24 3.18 3.36 3.32
Hardware, tools, renovation and lawn and garden products, at retail [56181] 1.48 1.77 1.36 1.21
Miscellaneous products at retail [56191] 2.23 2.24 2.40 2.31
Total retail trade commissions and miscellaneous servicesFootnote 1 1.56 1.90 1.69 1.78

Footnotes

Footnote 1

Comprises the following North American Product Classification System (NAPCS): 51411, 51412, 53112, 56211, 57111, 58111, 58121, 58122, 58131, 58141, 72332, 833111, 841, 85131 and 851511.

Return to footnote 1 referrer

Environment, Energy and Transportation Statistics Division
Energy Section

This guide is designed to assist you as you complete the
2020 Monthly Electricity Supply and Disposition Survey.

Help Line: 1-877-604-7828 (TTY: 1-866-753-7083)

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.

Table of contents

A – Reporting Instructions

Please report information for the month indicated on the front of the questionnaire, and return it within 10 days of receipt.

Please complete all sections as applicable.

If the information requested is unknown, please provide your best estimate.

This guide is designed to assist you as you complete the Monthly Electricity Supply and Disposition Survey. If you need more information, please call 1-877-604-7828.

B – Electricity Generation Method

Combustible fuels: see section C

Nuclear: Electricity generated at an electric power plant whose turbines are driven by steam generated in a reactor by heat from the fission of nuclear fuel.

Hydro: Electric power generated from a plant in which the turbine generators are driven by flowing water.

Tidal: Electric power generated from a plant in which turbine generators are driven from tidal movements.

Wind: A power plant in which the prime mover is a wind turbine. Electric power is generated by the conversion of wind power into mechanical energy.

Solar: Electricity created using Photovoltaic (PV) technology which converts sunlight into electricity OR electricity created using solar thermal technology where sunlight heats a liquid or gas to drive a turbine or engine.

Wave: Electricity generated from mechanical energy derived from wave motion.

Geothermal: Electricity generated from heat emitted from within the earth's crust, usually in the form of hot water or steam.

Other non-combustible sources: This includes fuels such as waste heat, steam, and steam purchased from another company. Specify in the space provided.

C – Combustible fuels

Coal: A readily combustible, black or brownish-black rock-like substance, whose composition, including inherent moisture, consists of more than 50% by weight and 70% by volume of carbonaceous material. It is formed from plant remains that have been compacted, hardened, chemically altered and metamorphosed by heat and pressure over geologic time without access to air.

Natural gas: A mixture of hydrocarbons (principally methane) and small quantities of various hydrocarbons existing in the gaseous phase or in solution with crude oil in underground reservoirs.

Petroleum: This covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil and petroleum products that are made up of refined crude oil and used as a fuel source (i.e., crude oil, synthetic crude oil, natural gas liquids, naphtha, kerosene, jet fuel, gasoline, diesel, and fuel oil; excludes Petroleum coke, bitumen and other oil products not specified).

Other combustible fuels: This includes fuels such as propane, orimulsion, petroleum coke, coke oven gas, ethanol and any other type of combustible fuels not otherwise identified on the questionnaire. Specify in the space provided.

Wood (Report for "Dry" method): Wood and wood energy used as fuel, including round wood (cord wood), lignin, wood scraps from furniture and window frame manufacturing, wood chips, bark, sawdust, forest residues, charcoal and pulp waste.

Spent pulping liquor: A by-product in the paper making process, containing carbohydrate and lignin decomposition products.

Methane (Landfill gas): A biogas composed principally of methane and carbon dioxide produced by anaerobic digestion of landfill waste.

Municipal and other waste: Wastes (liquids or solids) produced by households, industry, hospitals and others (examples: paper, cardboard, rubber, leather, natural textiles, wood, brush, grass clippings, kitchen waste and sewage sludge).

Other type of Biomass: Any other type of biomass not otherwise identified on the questionnaire. This includes fuels such as food waste/food processing residues, used diapers, and biogases – example, gas produced from animal water digesters. Specify in the space provided.

D – Receipts of electricity from the U.S.A.

If applicable, please report the total quantity of electricity (MWh) and Canadian dollar value (thousands of dollars) this business imported/purchased from the United States.

E – Receipts of electricity from within Canada

If applicable, please report the total quantities of electricity (MWh) and total dollar value (thousands of dollars) purchased or received from within and/or other provinces (e.g., other utilities/producers, transmitters, distributors).

F – Total Supply

This is the sum of Total Generation, Total Receipts from United States, Total Receipts from other Provinces and Total Receipts from Within Province. The Total Supply number must equal the Total Disposition number.

G – Deliveries of electricity to the U.S.A.

If applicable, please report the total quantity of electricity (MWh) and Canadian dollar value (thousands of dollars) this business exported/sold to the United States.

H – Deliveries of electricity within Canada

If applicable, please report the total quantity of electricity (MWh) and total dollar value (thousands of dollars) your company sold to other domestic companies, by province or territory.

I – Unallocated and/or losses

Include

  • transmission losses
  • adjustments
  • "unaccounted for" amounts which are subject to variation because of cyclical billing

Exclude

  • generating station use output as measured at the generating station gate

Thank you for your participation.

Why do we conduct this survey?

The purpose of this survey is to collect information for producing national and provincial level estimates of potato production and value. These estimates will be used to assess the economic health of the industry. Agricultural producers and industry analysts will work with this information to make production and marketing decisions, and government analysts will use it to develop agricultural policies in Canada.

Your information may also be used by Statistics Canada for other statistical and research purposes.

Your participation in this survey is required under the authority of the Statistics Act.

Other important information

Authorization to collect this information

Data are collected under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, Chapter S-19.

Confidentiality

By law, Statistics Canada is prohibited from releasing any information it collects that 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 only.

Record linkages

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

Data-sharing agreements

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

Section 11 of the Statistics Act provides for the sharing of information with provincial and territorial statistical agencies that meet certain conditions. These agencies must have the legislative authority to collect the same information, on a mandatory basis, and the legislation must provide substantially the same provisions for confidentiality and penalties for disclosure of confidential information as the Statistics Act. Because these agencies have the legal authority to compel businesses to provide the same information, consent is not requested and businesses may not object to the sharing of the data.

For this survey, there are Section 11 agreements with the provincial statistical agencies of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. The shared data will be limited to information pertaining to business establishments located within the jurisdiction of the respective province.

Section 12 of the Statistics Act provides for the sharing of information with federal, provincial or territorial government organizations. Under Section 12, you may refuse to share your information with any of these organizations by writing a letter of objection to the Chief Statistician, specifying the organizations with which you do not want Statistics Canada to share your data and mailing it to the following address:

Chief Statistician of Canada
Statistics Canada
Attention of Director, Enterprise Statistics Division
150 Tunney's Pasture Driveway
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0T6

You may also contact us by email at statcan.esdhelpdesk-dsebureaudedepannage.statcan@statcan.gc.ca or by fax at 613-951-6583.
For this survey, there is a Section 12 agreement with the Prince Edward Island Statistical agency.

For agreements with provincial and territorial government organizations, the shared data will be limited to information pertaining to business establishments located within the jurisdiction of the respective province or territory.

Business or organization and contact information

1. Verify or provide the business or organization's legal and operating name and correct where needed.

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

Legal Name

The legal name is one recognized by law, thus it is the name liable for pursuit or for debts incurred by the business or organization. In the case of a corporation, it is the legal name as fixed by its charter or the statute by which the corporation was created.

Modifications to the legal name should only be done to correct a spelling error or typo.

To indicate a legal name of another legal entity you should instead indicate it in question 3 by selecting 'Not currently operational' and then choosing the applicable reason and providing the legal name of this other entity along with any other requested information.

Operating Name

The operating name is a name the business or organization is commonly known as if different from its legal name. The operating name is synonymous with trade name.

  • Legal name:
  • Operating name (if applicable):

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

Note: 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.

  • First name:
  • Last name:
  • Title:
  • Preferred language of communication:
    • English
    • French
  • Mailing address (number and street):
  • City:
  • Province, territory or state:
  • Postal code or ZIP code:
  • Country:
    • Canada
    • United States
  • Email address:
  • Telephone number (including area code):
  • Extension number (if applicable):
    The maximum number of characters is 10.
  • Fax number (including area code):

3. Verify or provide the current operational status of the business or organization identified by the legal and operating name above.

  • Operational
  • Not currently operational
    Why is this business or organization not currently operational?
    • Seasonal operations
      • When did this business or organization close for the season?
        • Date
      • When does this business or organization expect to resume operations?
        • Date
    • Ceased operations
      • When did this business or organization cease operations?
        • Date
      • Why did this business or organization cease operations?
        • Bankruptcy
        • Liquidation
        • Dissolution
        • Other - Specify the other reasons for ceased operations
    • Sold operations
      • When was this business or organization sold?
        • Date
      • What is the legal name of the buyer?
    • Amalgamated with other businesses or organizations
      • When did this business or organization amalgamate?
        • Date
      • What is the legal name of the resulting or continuing business or organization?
      • What are the legal names of the other amalgamated businesses or organizations?
    • Temporarily inactive but will re-open
      • When did this business or organization become temporarily inactive?
        • Date
      • When does this business or organization expect to resume operations?
        • Date
      • Why is this business or organization temporarily inactive?
    • No longer operating due to other reasons
      • When did this business or organization cease operations?
        • Date
      • Why did this business or organization cease operations?

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

Note: The described activity was assigned using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

This question verifies the business or organization's current main activity as classified by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is an industry classification system developed by the statistical agencies of Canada, Mexico and the United States. Created against the background of the North American Free Trade Agreement, it is designed to provide common definitions of the industrial structure of the three countries and a common statistical framework to facilitate the analysis of the three economies. NAICS is based on supply-side or production-oriented principles, to ensure that industrial data, classified to NAICS , are suitable for the analysis of production-related issues such as industrial performance.

The target entity for which NAICS is designed are businesses and other organizations engaged in the production of goods and services. They include farms, incorporated and unincorporated businesses and government business enterprises. They also include government institutions and agencies engaged in the production of marketed and non-marketed services, as well as organizations such as professional associations and unions and charitable or non-profit organizations and the employees of households.

The associated NAICS should reflect those activities conducted by the business or organizational units targeted by this questionnaire only, as identified in the 'Answering this questionnaire' section and which can be identified by the specified legal and operating name. The main activity is the activity which most defines the targeted business or organization's main purpose or reason for existence. For a business or organization that is for-profit, it is normally the activity that generates the majority of the revenue for the entity.

The NAICS classification contains a limited number of activity classifications; the associated classification might be applicable for this business or organization even if it is not exactly how you would describe this business or organization's main activity.

Please note that any modifications to the main activity through your response to this question might not necessarily be reflected prior to the transmitting of subsequent questionnaires and as a result they may not contain this updated information.

The following is the detailed description including any applicable examples or exclusions for the classification currently associated with this business or organization.

Description and examples

  • This is the current main activity
  • This is not the current main activity
    Provide a brief but precise description of this business or organization's main activity:
    • e.g., breakfast cereal manufacturing, shoe store, software development

Main activity

5. You indicated that is not the current main activity.

Was this business or organization's main activity ever classified as: ?

  • Yes
    When did the main activity change?
    Date:
  • No

6. Search and select the industry classification code that best corresponds to this business or organization's main activity.

Select this business or organization's activity sector (optional)

  • Farming or logging operation
  • Construction company or general contractor
  • Manufacturer
  • Wholesaler
  • Retailer
  • Provider of passenger or freight transportation
  • Provider of investment, savings or insurance products
  • Real estate agency, real estate brokerage or leasing company
  • Provider of professional, scientific or technical services
  • Provider of health care or social services
  • Restaurant, bar, hotel, motel or other lodging establishment
  • Other sector

7. You have indicated that the current main activity of this business or organization is: Main activity. Are there any other activities that contribute significantly (at least 10%) to this business or organization's revenue?

  • Yes, there are other activities
    Provide a brief but precise description of this business or organization's secondary activity:
    e.g., breakfast cereal manufacturing, shoe store, software development
  • No, that is the only significant activity

8. Approximately what percentage of this business or organization's revenue is generated by each of the following activities?

When precise figures are not available, provide your best estimates.

CAPTION
  Percentage of revenue
Main activity  
Secondary activity  
All other activities  
Total percentage  

Potatoes sold in the 2019 crop year

1. Did you sell any potatoes in the 2019 crop year?

  • Yes
  • No

Quantity sold and total value received for the 2019 crop year

2. For the 2019 crop year, what was the quantity of potatoes sold and the total value received?

Include all grades of potatoes sold.

Exclude any potatoes purchased for re-sale.

Report the amount received after any deductions or bonuses were made.

The following are for the quantity of potatoes sold and the total value received for the 2019 crop year.

Exclude any potatoes purchased for re-sale.

Report the total value received after any deductions or bonuses.

Report total value received taking into account all grades.

CAPTION
  Quantity of potatoes sold Unit of measure Total value received CAN$
a. Tablestock potatoes      
b. Seed potatoes      
c. Processing potatoes      
Unit of measure
  • Metric tonnes
  • Hundredweight (cwt)
  • Imperial tons
  • Barrels (165 pounds)
  • Pounds
  • 10 pound bag
  • 25 pound bag
  • 50 pound bag
  • 75 pound bag
  • Kilograms

Potatoes grown for sale this year

3. Are you growing any potatoes for sale this year?

Please report all planting intentions, if you have not completed your planting activities when completing this survey.

  • Yes
  • No

Area planted

4. What is the total area of potatoes planted in the 2020 crop year?

Please report for the entire operation. Report the area of potatoes planted on land owned or rented by all partners in the operation.

Please report all planting intentions, if you have not completed your planting activities when completing this survey.

Total area:

Unit of measure:

  • Acres
  • Hectares

Agricultural production

5. Which of the following agricultural products are currently being produced on this operation?

Select all that apply.

  • Field crops
  • Hay
  • Summerfallow
  • Potatoes
  • Fruit, berries and nuts
  • Vegetables
  • Sod
  • Nursery products
  • Greenhouse products
  • Cattle and calves
    Include beef or dairy.
  • Pigs
  • Sheep and lambs
  • Mink
  • Fox
  • Hens and chickens
  • Turkeys
  • Maple taps
  • Honey bees
  • Mushrooms
  • Other
    Specify agricultural products:
  • Not producing agricultural products

Area in crops

6. What area of this operation is used for the following crops?

Report the areas only once, even if used for more than one crop type.

Exclude land used by others.

CAPTION
  Area Unit of measure
a. Field crops    
b. Hay    
c. Summerfallow    
d. Potatoes    
e. Fruit, berries and nuts    
f. Vegetables    
g. Sod    
h. Nursery products    
Unit of measure
  • acres
  • hectares
  • arpents

Greenhouse area

7. What is the total area under glass, plastic or other protection used for growing plants?

Total area:

Unit of measure:

  • square feet
  • square metres

Livestock (excluding birds)

8. How many of the following animals are on this operation?

Report all animals on this operation, regardless of ownership, including those that are boarded, custom-fed or fed under contract.

Include all animals kept by this operation, regardless of ownership, that are pastured on a community pasture, grazing co-op or public land.

Exclude animals owned but kept on a farm, ranch or feedlot operated by someone else.

CAPTION
  Number
a. Cattle and calves  
b. Pigs  
c. Sheep and lambs  
d. Mink  
e. Fox  

Birds

9. How many of the following birds are on this operation?

Report all poultry on this operation, regardless of ownership, including those grown under contract.

Include poultry for sale and poultry for personal use.

Exclude poultry owned but kept on an operation operated by someone else.

CAPTION
  Number
a. Hens and chickens  
b. Turkeys  

Maple taps

10. What was the total number of taps made on maple trees last spring?

Total number of taps:

Honey bees

11. How many live colonies of honey bees (used for honey production or pollination) are owned by this operation?

Include bees owned, regardless of location.

Number of colonies:

Mushrooms

12. What is the total mushroom growing area (standing footage) on this operation?

Include mushrooms grown using beds, trays, tunnels or logs.

Total area:

Unit of measure:

  • square feet
  • square metres

Changes or events

1. Indicate any changes or events that affected the reported values for this business or organization, compared with the last reporting period.

Select all that apply.

  • Strike or lock-out
  • Exchange rate impact
  • Price changes in goods or services sold
  • Contracting out
  • Organizational change
  • Price changes in labour or raw materials
  • Natural disaster
  • Recession
  • Change in product line
  • Sold business or business units
  • Expansion
  • New or lost contract
  • Plant closures
  • Acquisition of business or business units
  • Other
    Specify the other changes or events:
  • No changes or events

Contact person

1. Statistics Canada may need to contact the person who completed this questionnaire for further information. Is [Provided Given Names], [Provided Family Name] the best person to contact?

  • Yes
  • No

Who is the best person to contact about this questionnaire?

  • First name:
  • Last name:
  • Title:
  • Email address:
  • Telephone number (including area code):
  • Extension number (if applicable):
    The maximum number of characters is 5.
  • Fax number (including area code):

Feedback

1. How long did it take to complete this questionnaire?

Include the time spent gathering the necessary information.

  • Hours:
  • Minutes:

2. Do you have any comments about this questionnaire?

AgZero: Using alternative data and advanced technologies to reduce response burden on farmers

Like other data users, farmers want timely, accurate and detailed data, while completing the least number of traditional surveys. That is why in April 2019, Statistics Canada set a goal to move beyond a survey-first approach by replacing survey data with data from administrative sources.

This project, dubbed AgZero, is using alternative data sources and advanced technologies, such as Earth Observation data and machine learning, to reduce the response burden on farmers to as close to zero as possible by 2026. Through this process, Statistics Canada will continue to provide the same high-quality information, while applying the same rigorous privacy and confidentiality standards that Canadians expect and deserve.

By 2026, farmers will spend less time answering survey questions.

Early milestones include:

  • In July 2019 and March 2020, Statistics Canada produced estimates on the number of temporary foreign workers in the agriculture sector in Canada using administrative data. The estimates were produced with zero direct contact with farmers, saving them valuable time.
  • The agency implemented a new crop yield model for the July 2019 Field Crop Survey in Manitoba using satellite imagery and administrative data. This resulted in fewer survey questions for respondents in that province. The goal is to expand this model to as many provinces as possible by 2022, depending on the availability of administrative data.
  • In April 2020, Statistics Canada used administrative data to produce annual estimates of the total number of employees in the agriculture sector without having to ask farmers to complete questionnaires.

A history of trusted agriculture statistics

Since the time of the first census in 1921, Canada's national statistical office has collected, analyzed and reported on agriculture in Canada so that – together – we can better understand ourselves and our country. As the agency continues to modernize and chart new methods of collecting data, we are committed to protecting the rightful privacy of Canadians' information. It is our duty by law.

How AgZero keeps your information safe and private

Our AgZero project follows the same rigorous privacy and confidentiality standards as all other statistical programs at Statistics Canada. All collected information is anonymized: this means that data that is made public can never be connected to you, your household or business.

The project also applies innovative methods to preserve security, privacy and confidentiality, including the agency's Necessity and Proportionality Framework. It helps ensure that the agency's need for data is well-defined, and that we work to balance the volume and sources of data with the need to reduce the response burden on Canadians—all while maintaining the protection of their privacy. For more, check out Statistics Canada's Trust Centre.

Learn more about AgZero

As part of our commitment to engagement and transparency, Statistics Canada's Agriculture Statistics Program provides regular updates on the AgZero initiative to key stakeholders. These include Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, provincial and territorial ministries of agriculture, and key industry groups.

Stay up-to-date on the latest news by following Statistics Canada's social media channels, or by registering for My StatCan agriculture updates.

You can read more about AgZero in the StatCan Blog: Reducing the response burden imposed on farmers and business.

Do you have any questions about our AgZero project? If so, contact: AgZero.

The road to AgZero

The road to Agzero

Modernization projects

Statistics Canada fosters a culture of innovation—it is at the heart of everything we do. Our modernization initiative is based on five key pillars, which were developed in collaboration with our stakeholders in a series of consultations to better understand their information needs. These consultations, coupled with the lessons learned from our four pathfinder projects, are helping transform Canada’s national statistical agency into one that is even more modern and responsive to our data-driven world.

Today, we know that traditional statistics-gathering methods are no longer sufficient to accurately measure Canada’s economic and societal changes. That is why Statistics Canada’s focus has shifted toward leveraging administrative data, using advanced technologies and developing new, cost-effective methods to link and integrate data from a variety of sources.

As we experiment with new methods, we will continue to apply the same rigorous privacy and confidentiality standards to protect Canadians’ information. It is our responsibility by law.

Our modernization projects

Learn about some of our latest initiatives that are driving our modernization forward.

Audit Report

November 2019
Project Number: 80590-112

Executive summary

Statistics Canada works with all levels of government and private sector organizations in the collection and compilation of statistical information. Although the agency has been acquiring data from alternative sources for decades, Statistics Canada data collection has traditionally been rooted in the administration of surveys. The agency has acknowledged that the traditional method of collecting data presents a series of unique challenges for meeting new and ongoing data needs and reducing response burden.

As part of the agency's modernization initiative that was launched in 2017, the agency is moving towards an "administrative data first agenda." This agenda seeks to use the acquisition of data from alternative sources as the primary method to collect statistical information in order to improve the balance between data quality, response burden and costs.

For the purpose of this audit, "data from alternative sources" are defined as all data other than survey data, which includes, but is not limited to administrative data (data obtained under the Statistics ActFootnote 1) as well as data available to the public.

Why is this important?

As the national statistical office, Statistics Canada must ensure it delivers relevant statistical information in an efficient and transparent manner. In today's environment, Statistics Canada like many other public sector organizations is faced with continuous change and has had to innovate and discover new ways to acquire data in order to continue to serve Canadians and fulfill its mandate.

Against this backdrop, the agency has implemented an administrative data first agenda that is aligned with its modernization initiative. Within this administrative data first paradigm, the agency seeks to respond to statistical demands and ensure that data from alternative sources are acquired in a strategic, timely and transparent manner. The audit determined the extent to which the agency has implemented effective processes and controls to support these objectives, while ensuring the stewardship of agency interests.

Key audit findings

The Data Acquisition Committee provides support on a wide-range of topics, including: strategic advice on potential partnerships, data strategies and new initiatives proposed by statistical program divisions. Interviews with committee members indicated that there is some concern regarding the committee's expanding roles and responsibilities.

Although the agency has broadly identified some of the risks to acquiring data from alternative sources through various corporate mechanisms, no full risk assessment has been completed for the acquisition of data from alternative sources. The restructuring of the agency's Tier 2 governance committees offers the agency a real opportunity to strengthen oversight on risk management activities.

The Statistics Canada Data Strategy was developed to provide a roadmap for how the agency, as part of its modernization agenda, will continue to govern data assets and key strategic data capacities. The Statistics Canada Data Strategy identifies a series of short, medium and long term business objectives for acquiring access to alternative sources of data but these objectives have not yet been aligned to specific performance indicators.

Roles and responsibilities for acquiring data from alternative sources are clearly outlined and defined within Statistics Canada's policy instruments. However, the policy instruments need to be updated to reflect some recent changes to legislative requirements under section 8(2) and 8(3) of the Statistics Act and the updated role of the Data Stewardship Division (DSD) and statistical program areas in the acquisition process.

Two training courses have been offered to assist agency employees in carrying out their responsibilities for acquiring data from alternative sources. Both courses could benefit from providing guidance on the implications of the new legislative requirements under the Statistics Act and further explaining how program managers can leverage DSD and the Office of Privacy Management and Information Coordination (OPMIC) during the acquisition process.

Data acquisition agreements are used to acquire administrative data. Publicly available data do not need to be obtained under the Statistics Act and, generally speaking, are not subject to the same requirements as administrative data.

Legal oversight is provided by the OPMIC during the data acquisition process. When a data acquisition agreement is drafted, OPMIC is contacted to perform a review of the terms and conditions within the proposed agreement prior to obtaining signatures.

When the agency incurs a financial fee for acquiring data from alternative sources, a cost proposal is submitted to the agency by the provider that identifies the total cost along with supporting financial information. However, there is limited evidence to demonstrate how management reviews these costs to determine whether they are reasonable and represent value for money.

Statistical program managers were generally not using the standard evaluation questionnaire or any other suitable tool to assess data quality and fit for use. In collaboration with the Modern Statistical Methods and Data Science Branch, DSD is coordinating a more user friendly version of the quality evaluation questionnaire.

Overall conclusion

Management has implemented a governance framework to provide oversight and advance the agency's administrative data first agenda, with corporate tools in place that support this agenda and identify some of the risks to acquiring data from alternative sources. The proposed restructuring of the agency's governance committees offers an opportunity to strengthen risk management activities for the acquisition of data from alternative sources. The aim is to provide Statistics Canada with a more effective governance structure to support the acquisition of data from alternative sources. The agency has also identified business objectives for acquiring data from alternative sources although the absence of key performance indicators could hinder the agency's ability to measure progress against its business objectives.

Internal controls are in place and functioning with some minor deficiencies, which are attributed to recent legislative changes and an internal transformation of responsibilities related to the acquisition process. Through training programs and internal communication, management has taken positive steps to inform employees but should ensure this is consistently communicated across the agency.

Conformance with professional standards

The audit was conducted in accordance with the Mandatory Procedures for Internal Auditing in the Government of Canada, which include the Institute of Internal Auditors' International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing.

Sufficient and appropriate audit procedures have been conducted, and evidence has been gathered to support the accuracy of the findings and conclusions in this report, and to provide an audit level of assurance. The findings and conclusions are based on a comparison of the conditions, as they existed at the time, against pre-established audit criteria. The findings and conclusions are applicable to the entity examined, and for the scope and period covered by the audit.

Steven McRoberts
Chief Audit and Evaluation Executive

Introduction

Background

The world is constantly changing, with new technologies regularly emerging, only to become obsolete and outdated almost overnight. With this ever-changing environment comes increased pressure for governments to have 'real-time' data to inform public policy as data are the lifeblood of decision-making in the public sector.

In the public sector, data help direct and inform decision-making by providing valuable information such as how many live in poverty; whether greenhouse gas emissions are increasing; or how public money is being spent. The success of the Canadian economy, and the prosperity of its communities depends in part on advancing programs that focus on strengthening public sector decision-making in key areas such as the financial, environmental and the social fields.

Statistics Canada plays an integral role in in this endeavour, as a foundational part of the agency's mandate is to collect and compile statistical information. For decades, the agency's business has been rooted in the administration of surveys, with data from alternative sources being used to complement its data collection. Recently, the agency acknowledged that traditional surveying of Canadians and businesses has struggled, because of increasing costs and response burden.

For the purpose of this audit, "data from alternative sources" has been defined as all data other than survey data, this includes, but is not limited to, administrative data (data obtained under the Statistics Act) as well as data available to the public. Data available to the public do not need to be obtained under the Statistics Act and are not subject to the requirements of the Statistics Act.

Administrative data first agenda

As a part of the agency's modernization initiative that focuses on user-centric service delivery and leading edge data integration, Statistics Canada has committed to an administrative data first agenda. This agenda is aimed at positioning the agency to better respond to statistical demands in the ever-changing and ever-evolving modern data world. In an administrative-first paradigm, administrative data are considered first before a survey is conducted, in order to complement or replace data acquired from a survey or to evaluate its quality.

Statistics Canada has taken steps towards realizing its administrative data first agenda by formalizing broad business objectives in a number of corporate initiatives. These objectives include:

  • identifying, and gaining timely access to data from alternative sources for statistical purposes;
  • communicating to the public in a proactive and transparent manner why the agency seeks to acquire data from alternative sources; and
  • strategically managing the acquisition of data through the effective implementation of governance and stewardship.

A period of transition

When acquiring data from alternative sources, there are a number of processes, procedures and key stakeholders that play an integrated role. The Data Stewardship Division (DSD) is responsible for the creation and implementation of sound data stewardship protocols to ensure all data assets are well managed, secure, and fit for use. The Office of Privacy Management and Information Coordination (OPMIC) provides legal oversight and is responsible for reviewing data acquisition agreements for legal implications.

The process by which the agency acquires data from alternative sources is in a period of transition as a result of shifting internal roles and responsibilities, new legal interpretations to the Statistics Act and updates to internal governance structures. In the future, these changes will impact how the agency manages its risks for acquiring data from alternative sources.

Audit objective

The objective of the audit was to provide reasonable assurance to the Chief Statistician (CS) and the Departmental Audit Committee that management has adequate processes and controls in place to support the strategic, transparent and timely acquisition of data from alternative sources while ensuring the sound stewardship of public assets and agency interests.

Scope

The audit scope included an examination of acquisitions of data from alternative sources from private sector organizations where negotiations to acquire data from alternative sources began or were completed during fiscal years 2017/2018 to 2018/2019, including acquisitions that were underway or not yet completed as at May 31, 2019. The audit focused on three key controls areas, namely: governance, tools and training and internal controls.

Statistics Canada also acquires data from alternative sources from provinces, territories and federal departments and agencies. It was determined during the planning phase of the audit that acquiring data from the public sector poses less risk to the agency and for this reason, public sector data acquisitions were excluded from the scope of the audit.

Approach and methodology

This audit was conducted in accordance with the Mandatory Procedures for Internal Auditing in the Government of Canada, which include the Institute of Internal Auditors' International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing. Field work consisted of a review of applicable processes, activities and tools to ensure compliance with Statistics Canada legislative and policy requirements.

Authority

The audit was conducted under the authority of the approved Statistics Canada Integrated Risk-based Audit and Evaluation Plan 2019/2020 to 2023/2024.

Audit findings, recommendations and management response

The data acquisition process

The Data Acquisition Committee (DAC) provides support on a wide-range of topics, including: strategic advice on potential partnerships, data strategies and new initiatives proposed by statistical program divisions. Interviews with committee members indicated that there is some concern regarding the committee's expanding roles and responsibilities.

Although the agency has broadly identified some of the risks to acquiring data from alternative sources through various corporate mechanisms, there has not been a full risk assessment completed for the acquisition of data from alternative sources. The restructuring of the agency's Tier 2 governance committees offers the agency a real opportunity to strengthen oversight on risk management activities.

The Statistics Canada Data Strategy (SCDS) was developed to provide a roadmap for how the agency, as part of its modernization agenda, will continue to govern data assets and key strategic data capacities. The SCDS identifies a series of short, medium and long term business objectives for acquiring access to alternative sources of data but these objectives have not yet been aligned to specific performance indicators.

Roles and responsibilities for acquiring data from alternative sources are clearly outlined and defined within Statistics Canada's policy instruments. However, the policy instruments need to be updated to reflect some recent changes to legislative requirements under Section 8(2) and 8(3) of the Statistics Act and the updated role of the DSD and statistical program areas in the acquisition process.

Two training courses have been offered to assist agency employees in carrying out their responsibilities for acquiring data from alternative sources. Both courses would benefit from providing guidance on the implications of the new legislative requirements under the Statistics Act and further explaining how program managers can leverage DSD and OPMIC during the acquisition process.

As the national statistics office, Statistics Canada is constantly exploring ways to acquire alternative sources of data to better support its statistical programs and provide Canadians with valuable information. Statistics Canada can acquire data from alternative sources from both the public and the private sectors and has acknowledged their importance in supplementing its statistical programs through the agency's modernization initiative. The DSD is responsible for developing sound data stewardship protocols to ensure all data assets are well managed, secure, and fit for use. DSD has developed an acquisition process that identifies the steps to acquire new sources of data from alternative sources. This process ensures that all proposed data acquisitions are consistently performed using a common approach.

Data acquisitions are contingent upon a number of key factors, including: the complexity of the acquisition, the sensitivity of the data and the pre-existing relationship with the data provider. Normally, the process begins with statistical program managers identifying data from alternative sources collected and held by other organizations that can support the legal mandate of Statistics Canada. Once a need has been identified, a request is sent to DSD to determine whether the data will be for broad use or localized use.

Once the request is complete and the type of data is determined, DSD and OPMIC provide guidance to the program areas on how to proceed with the acquisition. With support from DSD, program managers establish a strategy to reach out to the data provider and initiate early discussions with key stakeholders. The next step is to begin negotiations with the data provider. This is a key point in the process when Statistics Canada meets with representatives from the data provider to discuss the data being requested, legal and privacy expectations and any associated costs. It should be noted that Statistics Canada does not pay for data but rather for the time and effort required to compile the intended data sources.

When acquiring data from alternative sources with an associated cost, it can be obtained under the Statistics Act (data sharing agreement). Data can also be acquired without the use of the Statistics Act through a contract or written communication. When the data are obtained under the Statistics Act, the statistical program area is responsible for initiating expenditure initiation under section 32 of the Financial Administration Act and performing a financial review process with support provided by the OPMIC and DSD. For data acquisitions that do not fall under the authority of the Statistics Act, Corporate Support Services Division (CSSD) is responsible for reviewing the proposed costs and determining whether the proposal should be accepted for payment. Through interviews, the audit found that CSSD's departmental delegation of financial authorities for services is $100,000 and any contract above that threshold would be sent to Public Services and Procurement Canada.

An agreement is formalized through a data acquisition agreement, contract or written communication once all aspects of the negotiations have been finalized, including any potential cost. Typically, the agency begins receiving synthetic or test data from the provider and quality assessments must be completed to determine whether the data are usable within the agency's existing data environment. If the data are deemed fit for use, statistical program managers finalize and sign the data acquisition agreement with the data provider. The OPMIC plays a key role in this step as they are responsible for ensuring that the agreement contains terms and conditions that protect the legal interests of the agency.

Through consultation with DSD, the audit found that DSD's role in the acquisition process is expected to change. The intent is for program divisions to carry out their own data acquisitions and DSD to act as an intermediary on all matters related to data acquisitions. DSD's intent is to communicate these changes and make this process visible but at the time of audit, no timeline had been established.

The data acquisition process described above is supported through a series of controls including governance committees, training courses and internal policy instruments. All play an important role in identifying, and gaining timely access to data and communicating to the public why the agency seeks to acquire for statistical purposes. The audit determined the extent to which these controls were operating and comes at a time when the agency is undergoing significant changes as it looks to advance its administrative data first agenda.

Governance mechanisms are undergoing changes that are expected to strengthen risk management.

The DAC was created in February 2018 as a result of consolidating the Administrative Data Management Committee, Collection Planning Committee and Business Response Management Committee. The DAC's mandate is to provide leadership and direction for data acquisitions with the objective of implementing and maintaining an "administrative data first agenda," The DAC is made up of 18 members that include senior managers, directors and director generals from multiple fields across the agency. The committee meets approximately once per month and provides support on a wide-range of topics, including: strategic advice on potential partnerships, data strategies and new initiatives proposed by statistical program divisions.

Interviews with committee members indicated that there is some concern regarding the committee's expanding roles and responsibilities. DAC was originally intended to be a strategic-level oversight body to provide high-level guidance on activities directly linked to acquiring data from alternative sources. However, the audit found that some of the DAC's activities are more ad-hoc in nature and not always within its intended mandate. For example, the committee was tasked with determining whether certain surveys should be made mandatory or voluntary. It is important that the DAC operate within its intended mandate to ensure that there is adequate time and resources to address key activities related specifically to the acquisition of data from alternative sources.

Moving forward, the agency has an opportunity to strengthen its governance with the proposed changes to the existing Tier-2Footnote2 governance structure. These modifications are designed to consolidate the 10 existing Tier-2 governance committees into 5 new committees. The proposed 'Data in: Data Acquisition and Management' is one of the five new committees and will aim to provide Statistics Canada with a more effective governance structure to support the acquisition of data from alternative sources. The committee will be responsible for identifying risks and issues related to acquiring data from alternative sources and implementing mitigation strategies to ensure the agency is able to respond proactively to change and uncertainty. The new responsibilities of the proposed committee are needed as risk management oversight for acquiring data from alternative sources needs to be strengthened to enable more effective decision-making throughout the agency.

The audit confirmed that no risk assessment has been completed for the acquisition of data from alternative sources, although the agency has broadly identified some of the risks to acquiring data from alternative sources through various corporate mechanisms.

Through interviews, agency employees indicated that there might be some merit to undertaking a risk assessment. The restructuring of the agency's Tier 2 governance committees offers the agency a real opportunity to strengthen risk management activities for acquiring data from alternative sources as it will improve decision-making in governance, strategy and objective setting. However, at the time of the audit this restructuring had not yet been fully implemented.

Work is required to ensure that key performance measures are in place.

The CS has stated the importance of continuing to modernize each step of the statistical process, by modernizing and embracing an administrative data first agenda. To achieve this, Statistics Canada has embedded performance measures in corporate initiatives like the SCDS. The SCDS was developed to provide a roadmap for how the agency, as part of its modernization agenda, will continue to govern data assets and key strategic data capacities. The SCDS is organized into two main pillars: data governance and data stewardship. Under data stewardship, there are a series of 7 'strategic data capacities' that are intended to have performance measurement criteria that would track progress against specific targets.

One of the 7 strategic data capacities is: 'data discovery'. This area links directly to the administrative data first agenda and identifies a series of short, medium and long term business objectives for acquiring access to alternative sources of data. These include: outlining why the agency seeks to acquire data from alternative sources, establishing mechanisms to include community engagement and implementing processes to support the acquisition of data from multiple access points across the agency.

However, the SCDS does not contain any objectives or performance measures related to the 'timeliness' and 'speed' with which the agency acquires data from alternative sources even though through interviews, agency employees stressed the importance of gaining access to data from alternative sources in a timely manner.

Overall, although the SCDS provides short, medium and long term business objectives for acquiring data from alternative sources, these objectives have not been aligned to performance indicators. Without these indicators, the agency cannot fully track its progress against key objectives that include timeliness and transparency in order to determine whether objectives for acquiring data from alternative sources are being achieved. In discussion with DSD, measurement criteria for the acquisition of data from alternative sources, as outlined in the SCDS, will be developed with program areas and in consultation with Corporate Strategy and Management Field. It was indicated by DSD that the indicators related to the short term business objectives will be developed by early 2020.

Updates are required to policy instruments to ensure they are aligned with new legislative requirements and DSD's new role.

The Policy on the Use of Administrative Data Obtained under the Statistics Act and the Directive on Obtaining Administrative Data under the Statistics Act are the supporting internal policy instruments that provide direction on the acquisition and use of data from alternative sources. Overall, they effectively outline the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders across the agency and define the operational steps involved in acquiring data from alternative sources.

DSD has played a significant role in the acquisition of data from new alternative sources. Its responsibilities included: acquiring administrative data sources that had a broad scope and supporting statistical programs in their acquisition of administrative data. As previously stated, DSD's role in the acquisition process is expected to change. Program divisions will be expected to carry out their own data acquisitions and DSD will act as an intermediary on all matters related to data acquisitions. DSD indicated that they intend to make this new process visible and update the policy instruments by the end of fiscal year 2019-2020.

The policy instruments have not yet been updated to reflect the new legal interpretation. Under the new legal interpretation (provided to the agency in February 2018) there are two modifications. Specifically, under section 8(2), the CS must now publish any mandatory request for information before a request is submitted to a data provider. Under section 8(3), the CS must notify the Minister of any new mandatory request for information at least 30 days before it is published.

Without these updates in the policy instruments, the agency increases the risk that employees may not be aware of, or fully understand these requirements. This could hinder the agency's ability to acquire data in an efficient and effective manner. Although work is underway to update the policy instruments, it has not yet been finalized.

Training courses cover key components of the data acquisition process, but there are opportunities for improvement.

Providing effective training to agency employees presents a unique opportunity to expand their knowledge base and allows them to strengthen skills unique to their job responsibilities. Agency employees who understand how to leverage interpersonal skills within the negotiation process will assist the agency in acquiring data from alternative sources in a more expedient manner. However, for this to occur employees must be aware of and have adequate access to training opportunities so that they can develop the requisite knowledge and skills for acquiring data from alternative sources.

Since 2017-18, two training courses have been offered to employees at the agency to assist them in carrying out their responsibilities for acquiring data from alternative sources. However, both courses contain areas that could be improved. 'Obtaining Administrative Data under the Statistics Act' was a course developed under the direction of DSD and provides guidance on governing instruments, concepts and tools on how to overcome challenges during the data acquisition process. The course was last delivered to agency employees in January 2018, and does not include any guidance on the new legal interpretation of the Statistics Act that applies to data from alternative sources. It should be noted that DSD is currently updating the training course to address the implications of the new legislative requirements, and DSD's new role in the data acquisition process.

'Skillful Negotiations' was developed under the direction and guidance of the Employee Development and Wellness Division in order to assist agency employees in carrying out effective negotiations. The course effectively provides guidance on carrying out skillful negotiations including: identifying team roles, outlining different types of negotiations and how to leverage interpersonal skills. It also provides participants with the opportunity to provide feedback on the overall course content, including each of the four main training modules. Although the overall level of satisfaction from course participants is high (86.5%) the course could be improved by including specific guidance on the new legislative and legal requirements under the Statistics Act and how to effectively utilize DSD and OPMIC when seeking to acquire data from alternative sources.

Recommendation 1

It is recommended to the Assistant Chief Statistician, Analytical Studies, Methodology and Statistical Infrastructure to ensure that the realigned governance structure embeds effective risk management oversight for acquiring data from alternative sources.

Management response

Management agrees with the recommendation.

  • 1.1 Through the restructuring of the agency's Tier 2 governance committees, a governing body will be identified. The committee's responsibility will include risk management activities for the acquisition of data from alternative sources.
  • 1.2 An improved governance process for the acquisition of data from alternative sources will be developed and documented. Supporting material will include explicit documentation of the entire governance process using flow diagrams as well as templates to support efficient documentation of:
    1. specific steps of the governance process;
    2. the steps considered to mitigate risks;
    3. the record of decisions; and,
    4. accountability.
  • 1.3 Programs areas will be informed about the new governance process related to the acquisition of data from alternative sources.
Deliverables and timeline

The Director General of the Strategic Data Management Branch will identify a governing body whose responsibility will include risk management activities for the acquisition of data from alternative sources by March 2020.

The Director of the Data Stewardship Division will develop an improved governance process for the acquisition of data from alternative sources that will include key elements to mitigate risks and document accountability by June 2020.

The Director of the Data Stewardship Division and Director of the Office of the Chief Editor will:

  • Develop a communication plan to socialize the new governance process to managers and employees involved in the acquisition of data from alternative sources by March 2020.
  • Communicate activities defined in the communication plan by March 2021.

Recommendation 2

It is recommended to the Assistant Chief Statistician, Analytical Studies, Methodology and Statistical Infrastructure to ensure that key performance indicators and measurable outcomes are developed and aligned to business objectives for acquiring data from alternative sources in the Statistics Canada Data Strategy.

Management response

Management agrees with the recommendation.

  • 2.1 Key performance indicators associated with the acquisition of data from alternative sources will be defined.
Deliverables and timeline

The Director of the Data Stewardship Division will establish key performance indicators that will measure the effectiveness of the governance processes associated with the acquisition of data from alternative sources by November 2020.

Recommendation 3

It is recommended to the Assistant Chief Statistician, Analytical Studies, Methodology and Statistical Infrastructure to ensure that training courses and policy instruments are updated to ensure agency employees are provided with appropriate guidance and direction on new legislative requirements under the Statistics Act and DSD's new role in the acquisition of data from alternative sources.

Management response

Management agrees with the recommendation.

  • 3.1 Relevant policy instruments will be updated to reflect the latest legal and operational requirements based on the new governance process.
  • 3.2 Up to date training material related to the acquisition of alternate data will become a mandatory requirement for staff involved in the acquisition of data. Mandatory training centered on Statistics Canada's legal obligation and associated governance operations will be delivered.
Deliverables and timeline

The Director General of the Strategic Data Management Branch will:

  • Update versions of the following policy instruments by June 2020 (draft versions) and November 2020 (final versions):
    • Policy on the Use of Administrative Data Obtained under the Statistics Act
    • Directive on Obtaining Administrative Data under the Statistics Act
    • Guidelines on data available to the public
  • Update mandatory training material that reflects legal and operational requirements by February 2021.

Review of data acquisition files

Data acquisition agreements are used to acquire administrative data. Publicly available data do not need to be obtained under the Statistics Act and, generally speaking, are not subject to the same requirements as administrative data.

Legal oversight is provided by the OPMIC during the data acquisition process. When a data acquisition agreement is drafted, OPMIC is contacted to perform a review of the terms and conditions within the proposed agreement prior to obtaining signatures.

When the agency incurs a financial fee for acquiring data from alternative sources, a cost proposal is submitted to the agency by the provider that identifies the total cost along with supporting financial information. However, there is limited evidence to demonstrate how management reviews these costs to determine whether they are reasonable and represent value for money.

Statistical program managers were generally not using the standard evaluation questionnaire or any other suitable tool to assess data quality and fit for use. In collaboration with the Modern Statistical Methods and Data Science Branch, DSD is coordinating a more user friendly version of the quality evaluation questionnaire.

The Directive on Obtaining Administrative Data under the Statistics Act requires agency employees to implement a series of internal controls within the acquisition process to protect and safeguard the agency. To provide reasonable assurance that controls were in place and functioning as intended, the audit examined 12 private sector data acquisitions (7 administrative data files and 5 publicly available data files) that had been completed within the audit scope. The key controls assessed included:

  • use of a data acquisition agreement
  • legal oversight
  • financial oversight
  • quality assessment

Data acquisition agreements are used to acquire non-publicly available data but less so for publicly available data.

Under section 5.1.2 of the directive, the preferred method to obtain administrative data from private organizations is a data acquisition agreement, pursuant to the Statistics Act. However, the directive prescribes that an agreement may also take the form of an exchange of written communications or a contract, assuming it contains all the essential elements of a data acquisition agreement (i.e. legal authority to obtain data, its intended use or any legal requirements to protect it).

The audit reviewed seven administrative data acquisition files (obtained under the Statistics Act) to determine the extent to which the agency documents the terms and conditions of data agreements. In all seven files, the agency formalized data agreements that were aligned with the requirements under the Directive.

Publicly available data do not need to be obtained under the Statistics Act and, therefore are not subject to the same requirements as administrative data. The Guideline on data available to the public does not require or suggest that formal data acquisition agreements should be used when acquiring data available to the public.

The audit reviewed five acquisitions of publicly available data and found that three of the five files did not contain any form of agreement. The remaining two files contained either a formal license agreement or an exchange of written communications with the data provider. Under normal circumstances, there is no requirement to enter into an agreement for publicly available data.

Adequate legal oversight is provided by the Office of Privacy Management and Information Coordination.

OPMIC is responsible for reviewing all new agreements and working with legal counsel to ensure that the appropriate terms and conditions are in place to protect the agency's legal interests. Specifically, section 6.2.4.5 of the directive states that the Director of OPMIC must: 'support statistical program managers by reviewing all final data acquisition agreements before they are sent to the other organization.' As the directive does not specify what the review must include, we found that the review function varied depending on the complexity of the data acquisition.

Overall, when a data acquisition agreement was drafted, OPMIC was contacted to perform a review of the terms and conditions within the proposed agreement prior to obtaining signatures. The audit found that OPMIC provided legal oversight for all seven administrative data files (obtained under the Statistics Act). The exceptions where OPMIC did not perform a review included the file that contained an exchange of written communications and the three publicly available files without an agreement. As the Directive only identifies a requirement when there is a data acquisition agreement in place, OPMIC is not expected to be involved in the acquisition process in the absence of a formal agreement.

Financial reviews are taking place, but are not always formally documented.

When Statistics Canada acquires data from private sector organizations, the agency can acquire the data with no associated costs or pay the organization to compile the requested data. It is important to note that Statistics Canada does not pay for the data itself, rather, for the time and effort required to compile the intended data sources. DSD indicated that when there is a cost, the data provider develops a cost proposal that outlines the variables included in the final price. The cost proposal is submitted to Statistics Canada for review and acceptance. Part of the decision making process is to review the quality evaluation assessment to determine whether the value of the data is commensurate with its potential costs.

The directive and policy outline the requirements for financial oversight for data acquisitions with a cost. Specifically section 6.6 of the directive states that private sector acquisitions with a cost are to be provided to the CSSD for financial review. However, as of March 2018, CSSD was no longer involved in carrying out financial reviews for acquisitions that fall under the Statistics Act. Instead, a new process was implemented in which the responsibility to conduct a financial review of costs now falls under the responsibility of the statistical program manager and senior management with support from DSD and OPMIC. The agency's policy instruments have not been updated to reflect this change in process. They also do not prescribe any requirements for how program managers can demonstrate that they have considered whether costs are reasonable and represent value for money. Through interviews with program managers, the audit found that the financial review process that is in place includes exercising due diligence for expenditure initiation under section 32 of the Financial Administration Act.

The audit reviewed 4 acquisition files with an associated cost that were obtained under the Statistics Act to determine whether 1) a cost proposal was provided and 2) whether the cost proposal was reviewed to validate the costs for reasonableness. In all four files examined, the data provider submitted a cost proposal. In three of the four files, there was email documentation demonstrating that management was aware of and accepted the costs being proposed by the data provider. However, each of the four files did not contain any analysis to demonstrate how management determined that costs were reasonable in order to ensure value for money and that the agency's financial interests were protected.

Quality reviews of data from alternative sources are generally not being carried out.

Statistics Canada policy instruments are clear on the importance of and responsibilities surrounding the quality assessment of new data from alternative sources. As stated in section 6.4 of the directive, senior managers of statistical programs are responsible for assessing the quality of potential administrative data and their statistical usability, by using the data quality evaluation framework maintained by DSD or any other suitable tool. Contained within the data quality evaluation framework, is an evaluation questionnaire tool that is available for managers to assess new sources of data. The quality review process is an important step because it helps the agency to determine the value of the data, which in turn, helps to rationalize potential costs.

The audit reviewed the 12 acquisition files to determine whether a quality assessment was completed prior to obtaining the data. Overall, the audit found that program managers were generally not using DSD's data quality evaluation questionnaire or any other suitable framework. Four of the 12 files had documentation to demonstrate that a quality review took place. Of the four files that had completed a quality review, three were administrative data and one was publicly available data. The remaining eight files did not contain documentation to demonstrate that a quality review was completed prior to signing the data acquisition agreement. Through consultation with DSD, we were informed that statistical program managers were not using the standard evaluation questionnaire because of a perceived time burden. The audit also found cases in which the individuals responsible for the quality review were no longer in their roles resulting in documentation not being available. Without consistently evaluating the quality of data from alternative sources, there is a risk that statistical programs may acquire data that are incomplete or incompatible with their programming needs.

DSD has since taken steps to address this by updating the quality evaluation questionnaire to ensure it is more streamlined. In interviews with DSD they have stated that the updated quality evaluation framework, as developed by the Modern Statistical Methods and Data Science Branch, will be completed by the end of fiscal year 2019-2020 and the intent is to have it available for use in early 2020.

Recommendation 4

It is recommended to the Assistant Chief Statistician, Analytical Studies, Methodology and Statistical Infrastructure to ensure that the data quality evaluation questionnaire is updated and that agency employees are aware of the requirement to assess data for quality and statistical usability prior to acquiring data from alternative sources.

Management response

Management agrees with the recommendation.

  • 4.1 Employees will be informed regarding their roles and responsibilities associated with the quality assessment of data from alternative sources. Accountability regarding the documentation and registration of the quality assessment process will be embedded in the updated data governance process for the acquisition of data from alternative sources.

Deliverables and timeline

The Director of the Data Stewardship Division, Director of the Office of the Chief Editor and the Director of International cooperation and Methodology Innovation Centre will:

  • Develop a communication plan by May 2020 to inform managers regarding:
    • specific requirements associated with the quality assessment of data sources;
    • the quality assessment tools available; and,
    • the corporate tools available to register the quality assessment evaluation document.
  • Communicate activities defined in the communication plan by March 2021.

Appendices

Appendix A: Audit criteria

Audit criteria
Control objectives / Core controls / Criteria Sub-criteria Policy instruments/Sources

Audit objective: Provide reasonable assurance to the Chief Statistician and the Departmental Audit Committee that management has adequate processes and controls in place to support the strategic, transparent and timely acquisition of data from alternative sources while ensuring the sound stewardship of public assets and agency interests.

  • 1. An effective governance framework is in place over the acquisition of data from alternative sources to support agency objectives.
  • 1.1 Oversight bodies are in place and have clearly communicated mandates that include roles with respect to risk management and control.
  • 1.2 Management requests and receives sufficient, complete, timely and accurate information from oversight bodies to inform risk-based decision making in relation to acquiring data from alternative sources.
  • 1.3 Roles, responsibilities and accountabilities, as defined in key policy instruments, are clearly understood.
  • Audit Criteria related to Management Accountability Framework (MAF): A tool for Internal Auditors
  • Statistics Canada's Quality Assurance Framework
  • 2. Employees are provided with the necessary processes, tools and training to support the acquisition of data from alternative sources.
  • 2.1 A comprehensive training plan is in place to support agency officials related to their work in negotiating data acquisition agreements.
  • 2.2 The training plan is being provided to employees across the agency.
  • 2.3 The training plan incorporates feedback and lessons learned from agency officials, in order to address specific challenges/barriers in negotiating data acquisition agreements.
  • 2.4 Employees have access to and are aware of sufficient processes and tools such as software, equipment and standard operating procedures to support their work in negotiating data acquisition agreements.
  • 3. Processes and controls are in place and working effectively to ensure that the agency's interests are protected when acquiring data from alternative sources.
  • 3.1 Data from alternative sources acquisitions are formally documented.
  • 3.2 There is appropriate legal oversight of data acquisitions to ensure adequate protection to the agency.
  • 3.3 There is appropriate financial oversight of data acquisitions to ensure adequate protection to the agency.
  • 3.4 The quality of administrative/ data from alternative sources is assessed prior to its acquisition.

Appendix B: Initialisms

CS
Chief Statistician
CSSD
Corporate Support Services Division
DAC
Data Acquisition Committee
DSD
Data Stewardship Division
SCDS
Statistics Canada Data Strategy
OPMIC
Office of Privacy Management and Information Coordination

Manufacturing and Wholesale Trade (Monthly) - December 2018 to December 2019: National Level CVs by Characteristic

National Level CVs by Characteristic
Month Sales of goods manufactured Raw materials and components inventories Goods / work in process inventories Finished goods manufactured inventories Unfilled Orders
%
December 2018 0.59 0.94 1.23 1.34 1.13
January 2019 0.60 0.94 1.21 1.29 1.26
February 2019 0.62 0.93 1.22 1.26 1.13
March 2019 0.59 0.94 1.22 1.32 1.11
April 2019 0.60 0.96 1.20 1.33 1.16
May 2019 0.61 0.94 1.20 1.34 1.09
June 2019 0.58 0.94 1.18 1.38 1.15
July 2019 0.64 0.92 1.12 1.33 1.12
August 2019 0.61 0.92 1.18 1.34 1.11
September 2019 0.60 0.92 1.16 1.38 1.07
October 2019 0.60 0.93 1.18 1.39 1.14
November 2019 0.59 0.96 1.20 1.37 1.15
December 2019 0.57 0.99 1.29 1.38 1.10

National Weighted Rates by Source and Characteristic, December 2019

National Weighted Rates by Source and Characteristic, December 2019
Characteristics Data source
Response or edited Imputed
%
Sales of goods manufactured 91.0 9.0
Raw materials and components 84.5 15.5
Goods / work in process 86.4 13.6
Finished goods manufactured 83.1 16.9
Unfilled Orders 92.2 7.8
Capacity utilization rates 78.3 21.7