It is a pleasure to outline Statistics Canada's accomplishments over the 2019–20 fiscal year in this Departmental Results Report. In 2019–20, the agency experienced unprecedented change and further opportunity to serve Canadians with credible, trusted and quality data and insights.
COVID-19 fuelled an extraordinary demand for a better understanding of Canada's society and economy in more granular detail, near real-time and in an integrated manner. Leveraging the agency's modernization efforts that were already underway, Statistics Canada's dedicated and committed experts securely transitioned to remote work practically overnight, and transformed many of the agency's programs to bring greater value to decision makers.
In addition to providing key statistics that drive Canada's economy and society, Statistics Canada is using good data management and stewardship practices to track the impacts of COVID-19 and to help Canada to better manage critical resources, such as personal protective equipment inventories. The agency has introduced new collection mechanisms and new methodologies by working in partnership with other departments to bring disaggregated data and new insights to Canadians in a timely manner. I thank Canadians for their remarkable support in helping the agency in its efforts. Their support showed how much Canadians value the agency's high-quality evidence and data, which help to influence decisions that impact all of Canada.
Statistics Canada is grateful for the advice and guidance of the members of the newly formed Canadian Statistics Advisory Council, as well as the Advisory Council on Ethics and Modernization of Microdata Access, provincial and territorial statistical focal points, numerous subject matter and technical advisory committees, and international colleagues.
Although more work is needed, the agency is making important strides in supporting key government priorities such as gender, diversity and inclusion, physical and mental health, energy statistics, the environment, and sustainable growth. Statistics Canada is also working to meet the increasing dependence on data to fuel Canada's economy and jobs, and is working to support building statistical capacity in Indigenous organizations.
The agency is also grateful to organizations and Canadians who participated in this past year's content consultations for the 2021 Census of Population and Census of Agriculture. The input received will help to ensure next year's censuses provide the solid evidence base needed for years to come.
Statistics Canada has operated in a transparent manner for over a century, earning the trust of Canadians. The agency is sharing even more information about what it does and how it goes about providing high-quality statistics. I invite Canadians to visit Statistics Canada's Trust Centre to learn more about how the agency works for them. I also invite Canadians to get to know the agency's dedicated employees in our video series, Faces of StatCan.
Canadians look to Statistics Canada to provide independent, credible and trusted information at a time when it can be challenging to differentiate information quality. I invite all Canadians, businesses and organizations to explore the agency's resources, which include dashboards, hubs and portals, releases in The Daily, data repositories, and hundreds of analytical papers. All these resources are available for free on the Statistics Canada website.
Statistics Canada is grateful for your support and trust, and the agency looks forward to continuing to serve you by delivering even greater insights through data for a better Canada.
Anil Arora
Chief Statistician of Canada