Health Statistics Program - Video transcript
Hello. I'm Steve Trites, Director of the Centre for Population Health Data at Statistics Canada.
It's a pleasure to speak with you today.
Public health decisions are shaped by data.
And asking the right questions starts with the right information.
From mental health to chronic disease, from childhood development to aging, our role is simple: we collect, connect, and protect health information so researchers and decision makers can understand what's really happening in the lives of Canadians. Across our agency, we bring together a wide range of health data sources to support evidence-based decisions that improve population health.
That includes surveys, administrative records, physical measurements, and integrated datasets, all brought together securely.
Thanks to recent investments in disaggregated data, Canadians now have access to more detailed and more representative statistics, especially for populations that have historically been under-represented.
Together, these data help you ask better questions, because the right question is often more important than a quick answer: Who is most affected? Where do gaps exist? And how are things changing over time?
For example: analyzing cancer screening data with outcomes has helped inform breast cancer screening discussions across Canada.
Wastewater surveillance supports early detection of COVID-19 and flu trends and helps monitor substances use in communities. You can start with public products like Daily releases, Health Reports, dashboards, infographics, or explore detailed online data tables across many health topics.
For more advanced projects, you can access detailed data through secure environments like our Research Data Centres, Virtual RDC, and Secure Data Access Centre.
If your work involves biological samples, our Canadian Health Measures Survey Biobank supports approved lab analysis, and is enabling new genomics research in Canada.
Beyond access, we work directly with researchers, public health professionals, and other stakeholders to support projects from start to finish.
This can include adding targeted content to existing surveys, oversampling specific populations, or designing new health surveys.
Recent projects include expanding oral health measures, producing new evidence on breast cancer screening that's informing policy discussions, and delivering mental health surveys for federal partners.
No matter your health question, our goal is the same: to help you turn data into insight, and insight into action.