The Quarterly Services Indicators Survey is conducted under the Quarterly Industry Revenue Indices program to produce indicators of quarterly change in the revenues of selected business and consumer service industries.
Your information may also be used by Statistics Canada for other statistical and research purposes.
Collection period:
Collection methods:
Survey participation:
Confidentiality
Data are collected under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, Chapter S-19.
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.
The confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act are not affected by either the Access to Information Act or any other legislation. For example, the Canada Revenue Agency cannot access identifiable survey data from Statistics Canada.
These survey data will only be used for statistical purposes and will be published only in summary form.
Data sharing agreements and record linkage
Data sharing agreements
To reduce response 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 for statistical purposes only. Statistics Canada will share data from this survey only 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 include 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 and territorial statistical agencies of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon. The shared data will be limited to information pertaining to business establishments located within the jurisdiction of the respective province or territory.
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 are Section 12 agreements with the statistical agencies of Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
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.
Record linkage
Statistics Canada combines information from this survey with Goods and Services Tax (GST) data in order to produce more reliable distribution indicators.
Topics covered in the survey
The survey asks questions about the total quarterly revenues, which include:
- sales of goods and services
- rental and leasing revenues
- commissions, fees, and admissions
- royalties, rights, licensing and franchise fees
- transfers from head office or other business units of the firm.
Published data
Statistics Canada publishes the results of its surveys in many formats. To find all the documents related to this survey, follow the links below and type the name of the survey in the search engine located at the left of your screen to filter the results.
Data: You will find tables, profiles of a community or region, thematic maps, public use microdata files, and data visualization tools.
Analysis: You will have direct access to Stats in brief (e.g., releases from The Daily, fact sheets), articles and reports, and journals and periodicals.
Survey-specific questions
- What is the purpose of the Quarterly Services Indicators Survey?
- How was my business unit selected?
- How will this survey benefit my business unit?
- Who uses this information? Why is it important?
- When will the results be available?
What is the purpose of the Quarterly Services Indicators Survey?
The Quarterly Services Indicators Survey, conducted under the Quarterly Industry Revenue Indices (QIRI) program, provides quarterly movements of operating revenues for selected industries in business and consumer services in order to track their quarterly economic output. As there are few sub-annual output measures for the services industries, this program fills the gap for policy makers requiring more timely information to better assess current economic conditions.
How was my business unit selected?
All complex enterprises in the selected industries are included in the survey. Complex enterprises are defined as those which operate in more than one province and/or in more than one industry.
How will this survey benefit my business unit?
You will be able to use the data to track your business unit's performance, comparing it with averages for similar businesses in your industry.
Who uses this information? Why is it important?
Statistics Canada’s business surveys provide both the private and public sectors with vital information that is used in their decision making processes.
- Many businesses and organizations need accurate information to track growth and changes in the economy.
- Industry associations, business analysts and investors use the data to better understand rapidly evolving business environments.
- Individual businesses use the information to monitor their performance against industry averages.
- Schools and universities use survey results to study the economy.
- Governments need the information to make decisions about labour and fiscal policies and business assistance programs for industries.
When will the results be available?
Survey data are incorporated into the Quarterly Industry Revenue Indices program and the results are available in The Daily within 90 days after the reference quarter.