2021 Census of Population: Families, households and marital status, Canadian military experience, and Income - Video transcript
(The Statistics Canada wordmark, the Canada wordmark, and the title: “2021 Census of Population: Families, Households and marital status, Canadian military experience, and Income” are on screen)
(Darren Lezubski is on screen)
Bienvenue, welcome everyone. I'm glad you were able to join us today..
(Slide of webinar title page)
So, today we are, as Elen has alluded to, are going to cover the third release of the Statistics Canada census of population.
(Slide on screen with the 2021 Census release schedule)
And as many of you might appreciate, the census undertaking is an immense undertaking for Statistics Canada and we collect and compile a tremendous amount of information. And so not all of that information is released at one time.
So, on the slide here, we just wanted to highlight the information that has been released. Today we'll focus on the third release information, but also to let you know, as Elen has alluded to, that we will be having future webinars, census webinars. They occur one week after the release date, the official release date. And as I sort of highlight throughout today's session, I'll be draw your attention to the fact that as more and more information becomes available, we will identify how you can start to use that information and point you to some of the access points on our website. So, this is a quick indication of what's been released and what is coming in the future.
(A slide showing the overview of what will be discussed is shown)
Today's concept, as we've sort of alluded to, is going to focus on a couple of major themes. The idea of families and households, we'll talk a little bit about marital status, as well as Canadian military service, new question on the 2021 census, and then spent some time talking about income, and so the components of income and all of the elements that are associated with that type of information. We'll also spend just a few moments talking about who the actual target population of the census is, as many of you can appreciate. The census is, by definition, a complete enumeration of the entire population at a point in time. But it is helpful to be familiar with who is and who is not included in census and census data. We'll spend some time, a great portion of the session today, talking about concepts and definitions. We'll also talk about some of the key indicators that are available now as the official release has occurred. But for the most part, today's session is really trying to introduce the concepts, the definitions, to underline the importance of being familiar with these concepts and definitions so that you're able to find and to use census data as effectively as possible. I'll also spend a few moments talking and walking you through some of the information that's available on Statistics Canada's websites. We'll have a short navigation of the website and point you to key elements that will allow you to identify the information you might be looking for. Again, part of the objective there is to demystify the mystique and the sort of apprehension some people may have when they come to Statistics Canada's website. We're hoping that after this session, you'll be more encouraged and be looking forward to delving into the census data. So, that's essentially the perspective and the objectives that we're going to try to achieve today.
(Slides outlining the 2021 Census target population are shown)
As I alluded to, we'll start by just being clear on who the target population is for the census and recognize who is or should be included. The census is ideally seeking to capture information about all citizens of Canada, either by birth or naturalization, landed immigrants and non permanent residents, but it also includes government employees who may be working outside of Canada at the time of the census, and other staff who are outside of the country. Those people should still be, and are still included in the census counts. That's also reflective of Canadian military personnel who may be stationed or deployed around the world, as well as members on merchant vessels and their families, those are all people who are included in the census counts.
(A slide continuing on the 2021 Census target population is shown)
We also include refugee claimants and permit holders, people who have study or work permits. Though they require services in Canada and they are part of the population count as part of the census. It is helpful to note that there are a few exclusions, so ideally people who are government representatives from another country who are in Canada temporarily, or at the moment, are not included in the census. Again, armed forces of other nations are not included and someone who's temporarily visiting Canada at the time of the census would not be collected as part of the census. There are generally two methods of census collection modes. There's a de jure method and a de facto method. The de jure method is the method Statistics Canada uses, which is-- we collect information on people based on their usual place of residence, whereas the de facto method collects information on people where they are at the time of the census.
So, if I were in Halifax at the time of the census, if was a de facto method, I'd be counted in Halifax, but I actually live in Winnipeg. And the de jure method means even though I may not be in Winnipeg at the time of the census, I should report my usual place of residence as being in Winnipeg. So, those are the important underlying concepts of who is included and not included in the census, that is helpful for us to be familiar with.
(A slide outlining families, households, and marital status concepts is shown)
I also want to make sure that as I said, one of the objectives of today's session is to be clear on how the information is defined and how we delineate and differentiate different concepts and different variables. So today we'll talk about topics such as households, household type, and marital status, as well as how families can be defined and are defined in the census. And we'll also talk a little bit about some of the data tables that are available and which variables are related to them. For example, most of the public and the free tables on our website are going to be reflective of families and household members that are in private dwellings.
So, that would be excluding those who are in collective dwellings, unless otherwise noted on the data table. Most of the data tables on Statistics Canada's website is going to be reflective of data for people in private households.
So, we'll spend a little bit of time talking about some of those concepts, we'll drive home the distinctions, so that people are able to use and understand the data effectively.
(A slide outlining household universe is shown)
The first place we'll start, is by talking about what we refer to as different universes within the Statistics Canada census environments. We talk about the geography universe and talk about the household universe.
So, the household universe is the way we are able to classify people, or groups of persons, into their usual place of dwelling, and distinguish between those who are in private and collective dwellings. And again, household is a broad classification that consists of family members who may be living in a census family, or may be living with another relative, or maybe living with a non-relative. Those are the definitions we'll get into, in terms of understanding how the data is classified. And of course, as I've alluded to, the idea is that people would be counted at their usual place of residence at the time of the census.
(A slide outlining families universe is shown)
So, within the discussion of families and the family universe as part of the census, there are two key concepts that allow us, or that we use to differentiate or distinguish families, by type. And those concepts are the census family and the economic family. And economic families-- The economic family tends to be a much broader classification. Economic family will include census families, but it will also include families that may be a brother and a sister who are living together, or a census family with additional family members, whereas a census family is a much more refined definition. As we see on the slide here, it's a narrower definition and it's essentially information that refers to couples living together, whether they be with or without children, alone parent families, or single parent families, common law couples and things of that nature. Well we'll distinguish and we'll show the classification of how those family types are defined as we proceed. But this is one of those distinctions that is really important for data users to be familiar with, as information is reported for both economic families and census families, and it is helpful to be able to use census data as accurately and as effectively as possible, to be aware of how these concepts differ.
(A slide outlining economic family structure is shown)
On the slide here for those who are visual learners, and I will say Statistics Canada is always trying to be as accessible as we can in our public presentations, so when there is an image or a graph on the screen, I will try and describe that graph as well. So here in this slide is a further description of economic family structure, and we have a graph, it's a hierarchy of boxes and subcategories of how the classifications are further sub-classified and further divided. So as I said, the economic family refers to a combination of relatives that comprise a family.
So, these could be married spouses or common law partners, things of that nature. And you'll see here with the hierarchy we've got on the images, that you can start with the total population. We distinguish between those who are in collective dwellings and those who are in private households. Private households are generally the most common way we're going to disseminate census information. People in private households who all have persons who are in economic families, and persons who are not in economic families. People living alone, people living with non-relatives, things of that nature. And then subsequently, further subclassifications. You'll see that persons in census families is a subclassification of economic families.
So, as I said, it's within the concept but it's also a narrow definition, and census family is going to refer to-- And I'll show you an image of that, for those who are visual learners, in the next slide. But this is a visual graph, a visual way of understanding how we're classifying the data.
(A slide outlining census family structure is shown)
The next slide is just the visual representation of how we classify census families. And again, for those who may be joining us with e-readers, we have a hierarchy of boxes with subclassifications and subcategories. We start with census families as the initial starting point and then we distinguish between one-parent families, what used to be called lone-parent families. In 2021, the concept of the term is now one-parent family. And couples, couple families. And they could be either married or common law couples. And then within the couples family we can have families with or without children. We can have family-- One-parent families by definition, will always have at least the presence of one child. For couples families, they may be with or without children, and as I'll show in a slide later, we'll sort of demonstrate how Statistics Canada as the National statistical agency, has been trying to evolve and be reflective of the changing family dynamics over time.
So, we now have information on stepfamilies and simple stepfamilies, complex stepfamilies. It's an example of how we are trying to be reflective of the changing nature that families find themselves in.
So, these are just some visual graphics to help you understand the way the data is classified.
(A slide showing a visual on the results for Canada’s families is shown)
And if we just take a quick look at some of the results from the 2021 census of population, we have a visual here with some bubbles and some subcategories here.
So, this is National data. One of the things I'm hoping this presentation does, is encourages you to look for data that's in your community, or reflective of areas that you're interested in. But these are national trends and national data, so just over 10.2 million census families in 2021. And of those, couples, whether married or common law couples, represent about 83.6% of all of those, and lone-parent or one-parent families represent 16.4. And you'll see there's an equal distribution among couple families, of those with and without children.
So, these are just an example of some of the findings. We won't spend a lot of time, in this session, talking about data as a result of the 2021 census, per se. I will highlight some key indicators, but the delving into the data is something that we're hoping you're able to do at a later point. We're simply trying to identify the type of information that's available.
(A slide outlining key indicators for families and households is shown)
So, as I said, just some of the quick, key indicators. You know, the majority of families in Canada remain generally simple structure. One census family, with or without children, there is a lot of dynamic and change. We do have nearly a million households in Canada that are comprised of what we define as multiple generation families. These are two or more census families or a census family with additional family members.
So, this is an interesting trend, and to look to see how that's been changing over time. One key highlights coming out of the 2021 census of population, is that over 4 400 000 people live alone in Canada and that number has progressively been increasing up from 1 700 000 in 1981.
So, it's an indication of something that could have a real implication on housing demand, services for people, things of that nature. And then, of course, just reflective of the expanse and the diversity which characterizes the nation, such as Canada. We also realize that there are substantial regional differences across the country in terms of all the different variables we're introducing today. You look at the number of people living alone, it is higher-- The highest in Quebec. Much lower in the territory of Nunavut.
So, these are just some of the key highlights with respect to families and households, that we wanted to point you today.
(A slide showing a graph comparing living arrangements of young adults from 2001 Census to 2021 Census is shown)
Just a couple of other highlights, on the screen now is a bar graph with some information on the living arrangements of adults 20 to 24 years of age. This is National level data and it's just a bar graph that shows the information for the 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021 census data that gives us a sense of how the different types of living arrangements for young Canadians have changed over time. So for example, there seems to be a plateau in terms of the number of young adults, 20 to 34, living with a parent. You'll see the evident increase in the numbers living alone, as well as the declining proportion of those living with a spouse or a partner.
So, these are just an indication of how the census data and historical use of prior census information, can help you paint a portrait and an understanding of your community in terms of trends, and the implications of those trends over time.
(A slide outlining marital status concept is shown)
Quickly talk about one of the other key variables that are often associated with the changing nature of Canadian society, which is the marital status.
So, the census provides us with the opportunity to have information on the number of people who are married, number of people who are separated, the number of people who are widowed or divorced, as well as those whom have never married. And this is one of the variables that is perhaps one of the longest running variables that has been collected in the census, over the censuses history. And it's a variable that has generally been pretty consistent. So, it's important information to get a sense of, again, how society is changing.
(A slide outlining new concept of gender in the families, households, and marital status release is shown)
One of the things that, if any of you had joined us in the earlier release sessions, you'll know that the initial release was on simply population and dwelling counts. The last census release was where we introduced one of the key new concepts, which is the idea that Statistics Canada, as the National statistical agency is collecting information not just on sex but on gender, and the distinctions between those and how people can be classified. And because of the introduction of the gender concept, there is a new concept that we're able to report for the first time ever in the 2021 census, on the gender of families and households. And so, we are able to characterize different gender couples, so these are couples who are man and woman, either married or common law. We are able to characterize and provide information and counts on same gender couples, these are gay or lesbian couples, and we are also able to provide now, for the first time, information on what are classified as transgender or non-binary couples, and there are several subcategories within that. We can provide information on couples with at least one member who are transgendered, or a couple where at least one member is non-binary, and a couple where one person is transgendered and a non-binary person. So we'll be able to, again, get a sense of the diversity within family types that characterize Canadian society. And with that, it's helpful, as I mentioned, the introduction of this new concept.
(A slide outlining concepts over time is shown)
It's helpful to take a step back and just reflect on how families have changed over time. The evolving nature. And again, Statistics Canada is the National statistical agency. Our job is to provide good, reliable information to Canadians. And so we have always tried to make sure that the information and the concepts that we're using are relevant.
So, just a quick review of how the family concept has changed, you know, it was 1941 when we finally established a firm definition of census family in the census. Prior to that, the term had not been concisely defined. And then, 40 years later we started to collect and compile and report information on common law couples. 2001, we started to provide information on same sex couples. We've continually evolved. In 2011, we started to try and have data that reflects the complexity and the dynamics of families, with respect to stepchildren and all the subtleties that go on with that. 2016, there were further definitions and refinements, and then of course, as I've alluded to, in this census, the census 2021, we're in a position to report even more information on the gender families and couples.
So, it's an interesting reflection to step back and see how society is changing over time.
(A slide showing a chart on data for gender diversity status of couples is shown)
And just a quick snippet in terms of some of the findings from the 2021 census. Again, this is the first time we've had data that this is at the National level. We see the distribution of--
So, on the slide is a table showing the total number of families, the total number of different gender families.
So, either cis, or same sex, or different sex couples, same gender families, and so you've got an indication of the magnitude, the counts. We see that here, the total number of transgendered or non-binary couples, 32,205 as of the 2021 census. So, we're starting to have a picture of this type of diversity.
(A slide outlining Canadian military experience concept is shown)
That's information on families and households and how the census can help us understand that. There is also another new question-- It's not a new question, it's a question that hasn't been asked in 50 years. But, the 2021 census has included a question on Canadian military service for the first time since 1971. And this new question was asked to try and address a real data gap that existed in terms of the number of currently serving Canadian Armed Forces, as well as those who previously served, veterans. And as I mentioned at the outset when we talked about the release schedule and the additional variables that are going to be coming out over time, one of the objectives of this question is to allow us to build a portrait of the socio and economic demographic characteristics of Canadian Armed Forces members, as well as veterans and their families.
So, this new question was asked on the census because it was the most likely tool to be able to reach the largest number of people, including those who may be in collective dwellings, nursing homes, things of that nature.
(A slide showing the new Canadian military experience census question is shown)
So, the new question on the next slide will have an image of the census form, as well as an image of the actual question that was asked on the census. And then the new question was, "Has this person ever served in the Canadian military?" There's some additional information that helps define or clarify who should or should not respond in the affirmative and then we're able to collect information on people who are currently serving and those who served in the past.
(A slide showing data on women in the Canadian military is shown)
The data findings are-- Very interesting findings in terms of the counts and the number of currently serving members and veterans. Almost one in five currently serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces are women, which puts Canada, as a proportion of females in the armed forces, is one of the highest nations in the world with women in our current serving military force. And on the slide here is a graph with a map of Canada showing the distribution of some of the communities with the highest proportion of military members, currently serving military members. Communities such as Belleville, and Kingston, and Saguenay, and Fredericton, and Halifax.
So, this data gives us an indication of not just the count, but also the distribution of currently serving Canadian Armed Forces. It also allows us, as I've said, to paint a picture of the demographic characteristics.
So, we'll see that Canadian Armed Forces are generally younger than the working age labour force. They will see the gender distribution in the number of women, and things of that nature. So, that's currently serving members.
(A slide outlining key findings about Canadian veterans is shown)
We're also able to collect information on veterans, people who have previously served, and again, very interesting findings. Almost 16% of veterans are women, and we will use this information, coupled with additional information, to allow us to build a better portrait of the conditions of veterans in Canada. Again, information I would encourage you to take a to look at for your community, and to see, as well as just take a moment and thank all of those who served on behalf of our country, we are all grateful.
(A slide outlining income concept is shown)
The other component-- So, we've talked about families, households, some of those concepts. We've talked about the new question on military service and veterans. The other really key element that was released last week as part of the third release of the census is information on income. Statistics Canada, as we did in the 2016 census, the 2021 census uses administrative data sets from the Canada Revenue Agency to collect information. And by using administrative data to collect information on the income of Canadians, we're able to reduce the burden on respondents, so that those questions are not having to be responded to by the participants. We're also able to ensure that the data is of high quality. This is an advancement in terms of how good and accurate the information on incomes are going to be. Information on incomes are collected for those who are 15 years of age and over at the time of the census, and we've also got a description here in terms of what income is collected, income received in information for 2021. All census data, even though this is the 2021 census, all the income data-- Most of the income data is going to be reflective of 2020. We also give you a quick indication here of some of the information with respect to incomes that's not included or excluded.
So, lump sum payments from insurance settlements and things of that nature, lottery winnings, inheritance, things of that nature. Some of those sources of information are not included in the census, but the key distinction is that we are able to define and classify sources of income and then be able to report that information on the census.
(A slide showing a chart on the total income breakdown into market income and government transfers is shown)
And in that concept, I just want to draw your attention to the two main classifications or schemes we use to be able to differentiate and distinguish incomes. We have total income and then we differentiate that by market income and government transfers. I'm not going to go into great detail in this presentation. I will, during the website, point you to some resources, one of them being the census dictionary. The census dictionary, for anyone who's using census data, is a reference tool that will be invaluable. And the census dictionary will allow you to delve into the definitions and where different government programs fit within the government transfers, the classifications, and things of that nature. We'll also get a sense of other different sources of income, for market income, whether it be investments or tips and things-- Commissions, are classified. But, just as a quick summary of how we classify the information, market income is going to refer to income that's received through employment. So wages, and salaries, and commissions, and things of that nature. It's also going to be reflective of private pension income, or retirement income, investment income.
So, for those who are generating income through investments, and then other sources, other market sources.
So, that's generally the classification of how we define market income. Government transfers can be very broad in the initial stage, so we define those in terms of OAS or old-age security and survivor benefits for seniors, benefits like employment insurance, social assistance payments, child tax benefits. Those are the type of sources and there are a host of them that can be classified under government transfers. So again, I would encourage you, if you want to be familiar with this information, to refer to the census dictionary and be clear on the type and the nature of income in terms of the distribution, of how much is market income, how much is government transfers and make sure that you're using the information as accurately as possible.
(A slide outlining components of income in 2020 is shown)
The next slide is just for those visual learners. This is simply a table that represents the information I've shown in the previous slide. So for those who may be using e-readers, it's a table that shows total income and then subclassifications of marketing and government transfers, and then subclassifications of each of those combinations of different income sources by security and pension and things of that nature.
So, that's a quick introduction, and again, it's establishing the baseline for you to be able to understand main concepts for income that are reported in the census.
(A slide showing map of Canada with median after-tax income data per province is shown)
And just a quick look at some of the findings from the 2021 census, so median after tax income increased for eight of the 10 provinces and three of the territories over the last five years from 2016 to 2021, as well as in eight of the largest urban centers. We have on the screen here, just a simple map of Canada with some highlighted points in terms of identifying the median after tax income. So in Edmonton, 87,000 for 2015, and then 84,000 in 2020. So you get an indication that not every province saw an increase in their median income.
So, we'll get a sense of increases and decreases, but for the most part, incomes have tended to increase across Canada. That's one of the findings from the 2021 results.
(A slide outlining impact of COVID-19 pandemic on income is shown)
The other really key aspect from the 2021 census that is a bit unique, is that we are in a position to be able to assess the impact that COVID had on Canadian incomes, and we're doing that by facilitating the analysis of this impact by using information that reports data or income from various COVID programs and benefits that were put into place, as well as providing information from 2019 and 2020, so that we can track and assess the impact of COVID on incomes. We're able to do that because of the use of administrative data sources. During the website tour I will make a particular emphasis to highlight one of our new interactive tools on our website, which is the income interactive tool, and there are two features there. One is information that characterizes families by income percentiles and the other feature is the ability to look at changes in income for 2019 and 2020, in 2020 constant dollars for different communities and for different income sources.
So, I will make a point of highlighting that, but we want it to drive home the opportunity that was afforded to us with the 2021 census, by being able to assess the impact of COVID.
(A slide listing COVID-19 income support from government is shown)
As we said, some of the data is going to be reflective of many of the different emergency and recovery benefits that were established by our provincial governments or the federal government, and be able to provide some indication of the number of Canadians who receive benefits, the amount of benefits Canadians received, and things of that nature.
(A slide showing chart of percentage who received federal emergency and recovery benefits in 2020 is shown)
So, if we quickly look at some of the findings, 2/3 of Canadians 15 years of age and over received pandemic related benefits in 2020. And you'll also see the median amount received by most people. I'm encouraging you, I'm not going to spend a lot of time going over the details of the results, but this is information that we want to drive people's attention to, that is available from the census.
(A slide outlining key indicators for income is shown)
And then finally, I'll just quickly highlight the fact that we haven't delved in great detail, but the census also has an ability to assess other income related concepts such as low income and inequality. The data results are 0.2 low income rates in Canada. These are national based on the low income measure, the LIM, have fallen over the last five years. Low income rates fell in 2020, especially for children and families, but less so for seniors. And we've also again, as would be expected, quite a bit of bio-diversity in terms of the changes across the country and in different regions. There are generally three measures of low income that are reported. There's the LIM, the low income measure, there's the LICO, the low income cutoff, and there's the market basket measure, or MBM. Information for the market basket measure is based on disposable income, and that information will be released at a later census release. I believe it's in October, the October 26 release, where market basket measure information will be released.
(Slide on screen starting the tour of the Census of population webpage)
So with that, I'm going to spend just the last time we have. I want to make sure that we leave time for the moderated discussion, because I'm hoping that this has generated questions for you. Again, I'll remind you what Elen has said, please feel free to post your questions in the Q&A. We have subject matter experts who are going to be available to answer those questions, so please take the opportunity to do so. I am going to stop sharing my screen here and go to Statistics Canada's website, and I'll just quickly highlight-- I can just quickly highlight a couple of features.
(The main page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
I am hoping everyone can see my screen. On the page here, we've got Statistics Canada's website, www.statscan.gc.ca. For those who haven't visited the website, I encourage you to visit it daily to use the data. This is your data, we want you to make the most of it, and this is why I'm going to spend some time just highlighting some of the key elements and components of the census information that we want you to be familiar with.
So, as you come to the Statistics Canada website, you'll see along the top, there are a couple of, what I call, tabs. There is a dedicated tab for the census, and a couple of different options. Census population, census of Agriculture, as well as the census main page. I'm going to go to the census main page and I'm going to highlight some of the keys.
(The main Census of population page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
So, I'm going to select census of population. And on this page, you'll see, as I've been alluding to already, some of the key results from the release last week. The default setting is Canada, but you can go in and choose your level of geography that you'd be interested in. I'm in Manitoba, so if I wanted to see what those key results are for Manitoba, we can see that it automatically reflects the median employment income, median after tax household income for Manitoba, as well as additional measures in terms of income and things of that nature. That's a quick snapshot of just some of the basic information that's available. You also see here, the next census release, which will be in 28 days and that will be on language.
So, this is a key variable that's part of understanding the diversity and the makeup of Canada. I encourage all of you to please join us for that release when it becomes available. If you want to learn more about the releases, the release plan, the release topics, you can click on the release plans
(The 2021 Census release plan page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
And this will show you what is getting released and when. That's just a helpful tool for those who are new to the census website and new to Statistics Canada.
(The main Census of population page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
I'm just going to go back to the information that I want to highlight here. There are several things-- I want to make sure that there's time to show you the new interactive data visualization for income, explorer. I also want to highlight some of the key data sources that are available to us.
So, if you'll see here, we have a couple of tabs that I want to draw your attention to. The first is one that will take you to census data. The second one talks about census analysis. These are publications, such as those reported in The Daily, Statistics Canada's daily newsletter. Those are results that include some analysis of the results. We have census reference material. I've already alluded to the census dictionary as one of the go to sources, but there are also reference guides and information that explains why questions are asked, as well as the methodology of the census. And then, an element I'll speak very quickly to with the census topics, and there'll be a reason, it will become clear as to why I'm highlighting that after I've gone through some of the other elements.
(The 2021 Census of population data products page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
But, if I go to the census data tab at the beginning, it will take us to, as you might expect, the ability to access some of the different tables and information. I'm going to draw your attention to two key elements. One is the census profile, and I don't have the metrics in front of me, but I believe the census profile is the most commonly used tool that people use to access and assess census information. And the census profile is an extremely helpful tool.
(The 2021 Census of Population Census profile page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
If I click on it, you can type up and look for place names. You can type in a community, you can look by province, you can look by popular communities, such as census Metropolitan areas. Let's say I'm interested in St John's, Newfoundland.
(The 2021 Census of Population Census profile page outlining search results for St. John’s of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
So, if I click St John's Newfoundland, we get the census profile for St John's Newfoundland. This is going to have the information that's been released, as well as, as I said, a few variables get released. Those will be added to the profile. If you're just coming in, you need to get a rough handle on how many adults 15 to 24 years old are in your community, you can use the census profile to do that. There are some new features in the profile that are helpful to people. One of them, this is new to this census year, is that you can add multiple geographic layers so that you're able to compare more than one area. So for example, if I wanted to add Winnipeg, I'm in Winnipeg, I can type in Winnipeg and I will be asked which Winnipeg am I referring to. There are different geographical levels with the name of Winnipeg. I want Winnipeg CMA, I want to be comparing apples to apples, St John's CMA, Winnipeg CMA. So I'm going to select Winnipeg CMA and we are now able to compare both CMAs in one table. And I believe, my colleagues can correct me if I'm wrong, I believe this new addition allows us to add up to 5 geographies so you can do a quick comparison. We also have the opportunity to add or remove variables to this profile. So if there are variables in the profile that you don't think you'll need or you want to highlight on, you can add them or remove them. You can add both counts, as well as rates. So any variable that has a plus sign in front of it, if you click it, it will afford you the opportunity to add or remove additional variables. So I might only be interested in marital status, I can remove all those others and click apply, and the profile will be reflective of just marital status for the geographies I selected. And then the other-- And, it isn't a website navigation, but we do offer website navigation webinars, and we just want to let you know that you can download these tables as either a CSV file, or as a tab.
(The 2021 Census of population Census Profile download files page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
You can also download them in what are called ITV's, or Beyond 20/20 software program. You can download the Beyond 20/20 software free from Stat Can's website, and you can download the entire table at whatever level of geography you're looking for. So you'll have all the data from the profile. And you'll need to be on the 20/20 browser to open and use that information. That's just a quick introduction to census profiles.
(The 2021 Census of population data products page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
The other component-- And as we progress through the release of census information and census releases, more and more variables become available. So sometimes the census profile, which is essentially a flat file or gives you one variable, that might be sufficient, but you might be interested in not just the number of families in your community but the number of families in your community by type and their income. And if you want to look at that type of information, information that looks at multiple variables, you can go to the data tables.
(The 2021 Census of Population income data tables page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
And the data tables link will take you to information that's been released. Here, one of the elements I like to highlight, or one of the tips I like to provide, is that, oftentimes, when people come to the website they get a little overwhelmed with all the information that's available.
So, we have a very simple tool that allows you to filter the results. And if I go to the filter results option, I can look at the various topics that I might be interested in, and in this case, we've got the topics that have been released. So you'll note from some are available, others are grayed out. That's because they haven't been released yet. But if I was curious just on Canadian military information, I could select that, and then select the level of geography I want. Let's say I want provincial level data, or census subdivision level data. By using these filters, I can narrow the tables that become available to me, and help me be more efficient in terms of searching and finding the information that's relevant and important to me.
So, if I'm interested in families and households, and I'm interested in data at the provincial level and I click apply, there will be a list of all the tables that are available to me.
(The 2021 Census of Population families, households, and marital status data tables page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
I'm just going to spend a few moments talking about how you could become more efficient in finding the information you need when you're looking at data tables. First, is the level of geography is always going to be described in the table. So we have the census, the table, it describes the variables that are included and it will tell you what levels of geography. For example, if I wanted data by census tract, I could simply look at this table's geography. It's going to include data for Canada, it's going to include data for the provinces, census Metropolitan area, and census agglomeration. No census tract data in that table. Might be available in others, but not this table.
So, I don't need to spend time even looking at this table, I know this won't give me what I need. And it's just a very quick, almost heuristic shortcut you can use to be able to look, see what levels of geography, and if you know what levels you're looking for, you can simplify your search and become more efficient in finding the data you need. The other point I wanted to highlight, just quickly, is if you look at the description, the tables will provide a list of the variables. And oftentimes, people who are new to Statistics , Canada are new to census tables, are not quite clear what exactly this is referring to.
So, we've got a description on where we've got data on census family structure, (7A), in parentheses, so that tells you that the variables-- There are seven classifications within the census family structure. There's a census here, there's number 3 in parentheses. That tells you that there's data for three census periods in this table, and then the presence of children. There is four, the number 4, and that tells you that the barrier is broken down into four categories. And just quickly, if I were to open this table quickly, just be able to see visually, what that refers to.
(The 2021 Census of Population ‘Census family structure’ data table of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
So again, census family structure, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven classifications. Presence of children, one, two, three, four. Total without children, with children, and average number.
So, when you see those numbers in parentheses, they're basically telling you how detailed or how broad the variables within the individual tables are. And this becomes much more useful as we delve into additional releases, such as information on occupation and industry, where you might be looking for detailed industry data and there might be 200 or more variables included, as opposed to broad classifications.
So, being familiar with those little tips, those little shortcuts, can hopefully make you a little bit more efficient in being able to find your way around the Statistics Canada's website. That's just a quick description of the data.
(The main Census of population page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
I want to go back to the census home page and spend a few moments talking, as I said, we'll have census analysis.
(The 2021 Census of population census analysis page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
So, this is going to give you an indication of a quick link to all the different information that's been released that has analysis associated with these daily articles and things of that nature.
(The 2021 Census of population reference products page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
We have census products-- Census references, sorry. Census references and again, the census dictionary as well as reference guides that will be really useful to help you understand how definitions are defined, how concepts have changed over time. I will be totally honest, they're not page turners, but they are extremely helpful in terms of being able to use information accurately and effectively. And then finally, as you've sort of seen the reference material and the analytics documents and things of that nature, if I go back to the census population page here and talk about census topics, this is another nice shortcut that's available to us.
(The 2021 Census of population topics page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
And what it does, is it shows us the variables, the topics that have been released and have a hyperlink with it, as well as those variables that are yet to come. So we have computing, education, ethnicity and religion, diversity, all of those are going to be released. But the variables that have been released, you can go to the census topics and the nice thing about this, is by clicking on the hyperlink or the link, it will take you to a site that will have all of that information I've just shown you, that have a link to the tables, that have a link to the analytical articles. You now have a link to the reference material all in one click.
So, it's a very nice little shortcut.
(The 2021 Census of population Canadian military experience topic page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
If I'm interested in the Canadian military experience, for example, I can click on that and there, it takes me to the data tables that are associated with that topic, the dailies that are associated with that topic, and the reference guides and technical documents that are associated with that guide. So again, it's a very nice shortcut, and I like to joke with people that one of the great things about Statistics Canada's website is that you can get to the same information in different ways, but one of the challenges in Statistics Canada's website is that you can get to the same information in different ways.
So, people can sometimes be confused and think, "How did I get there?" So having shortcuts that allow you to be more efficient in finding information can be extremely helpful.
(The main Census of population page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
The last point I'll-- Just because I do want to make sure we have time for the moderated discussion, is I just want to drive, or draw people's attention to this visualization tool.
(The 2021 Census income explorer visualization tool page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
As I've said this is a tool that has essentially two data sets with it. The first one is going to allow you to look at the impact that COVID had on the census-- That COVID had on incomes, and we're able to look at that through the census. And the other one is to look at characteristics of family types and things of that nature, by income percentiles for the 2021.
So, the first one we've got here, and this is data that you can find the geography. It can be at the provincial level, at the census subdivision level which are municipalities, it can be at census Metropolitan, or the census agglomeration. So for example, if I wanted to find information about Peterborough, so I want Peterborough, and right away we've seen the distribution by age structure of percentiles. We can also look at this by age, we can look at census families. What if I want to see the distribution of income percentiles by different family types? This is an interactive tool that will allow you to do that. And then, of course, the actual data that you're looking at is included as well. So that's characteristics for selected variables, and the other one is, if you click on the 2019-2020, it will afford you the opportunity to look at the impact of incomes at, again, different levels of geography. So this has got Canada, I might want to add Newfoundland or-- Let's add Newfoundland and I might be interested in government transfers. And again, interactive and dynamic that allows us to see the impact of incomes and the impact of COVID on incomes between 2019 and 2020, and again, the data, as presented, is going to be available in the table underneath the charts. These are two interactive tools that are new that I really wanted to make sure we touched upon. So with that I am going to stop sharing my screen.
(The Canada wordmark is on screen)