Date: January 2020
Program managers:
- Director, Centre for Social Data Integration and Development
- Director General, Census Subject Matter, Social Insights, Integration and Innovation
Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB)
Personal information collected through the Survey on Sexual Misconduct at Work (SSMW) is described in Statistics Canada's "Special Surveys" Personal Information Bank. The Personal Information Bank refers to information collected through Statistics Canada's ad hoc surveys, which are conducted on behalf of other government departments, under the authority of the Statistics Act. "Special surveys" covers a variety of socio-economic topics including health, housing, labour market, education and literacy, as well as demographic data.
The "Special Surveys" Personal Information Bank (Bank number: StatCan PPU 026) is published on the Statistics Canada website under the latest Information about Programs and Information Holdings chapter.
Description of statistical activity
Statistics Canada will be conducting the Survey on Sexual Misconduct at Work, a voluntary survey, on behalf of the federal Department for Women and Gender Equality in response to Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence. The survey will provide insight on the prevalence and nature of sexual harassment, discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity and sexual victimization in Canadian work-related settings.
The survey includes questions about the characteristics, impact and reporting of these experiences, and related perceptions of workplace culture. It also includes questions on the age, province of residence, postal code, sex at birth, gender identity and expression, place of birth, immigration and citizenship, personal and household income, religion, and disability of the respondent. The survey includes specific questions about the jobs or businesses that the respondents have had in the 12 months leading up to collection. Respondents are given the option of identifying the name of their employer(s) and position(s). Alternatively, they can provide nicknames for the former, for privacy purposes.
This data will be collected from individuals aged 15 years and older who live in the ten Canadian provinces and who have worked in their lifetime. The results will be presented by province, where possible, as well as by industry and occupation.
Reason for supplement
While the Generic Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) addresses most of the privacy and security risks related to statistical activities conducted by Statistics Canada, this supplement describes additional measures (see below, Mitigation Factors) being implemented for collection and access to the information due to the sensitivity of the questions asked. This supplement also presents an analysis of the necessity and proportionality of this new collection of personal information.
Necessity and proportionality
The collection and use of personal information for the SSMW can be justified against the four-part test proposed by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada:
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Necessity: The Survey on Sexual Misconduct at Work will support the Government of Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence. The content and scope of the survey are in part defined by discussions held with a range of stakeholders and subject matter experts such as academics, researchers, service providers, provincial/territorial governments, and the Department for Women and Gender Equality. The content of the survey, including the personal information being requested, was deemed necessary for understanding, and, ultimately, preventing and addressing experiences of inappropriate sexual behaviours. This includes discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity and sexual victimization in the workplace. Research suggests the risk of experiencing sexual harassment and victimization varies according to a number of factors, many of which require the collection of personal information, such as age. Gathering non-identifiable data would not enable the identification of these risk factors and would result in potentially ineffective interventions.
Research on sexual harassment has identified certain risk factors such as gender, education, income, visible minority status, disability status and marital status. The data will be analysed according to these factors to determine if they are also associated with an increased risk of sexual harassment and victimization in the workplace specifically.
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Effectiveness: Conducting surveys is the only way to get estimates of both reported and unreported sexual harassment. This is required in order to fully understand the scope of sexual harassment in the workplace and to put in place preventative measures. A sample size of 50,000 individuals has been assessed as necessary by methodologists to produce quality statistics that represent potentially rare events, such as sexual assault at work.
The survey will help fill a gap in provincial and regional estimates of sexual harassment, victimization and discrimination based on sex, gender and sexual orientation in Canadian work-related settings and will supplement recorded crime rates. This high quality, timely and relevant data will help inform workplace codes of conduct, as well as other policies, laws and programs designed to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct in the workplace. As a result the survey results help Canadian governments, at all levels, and employers address two pillars: prevention, and legal and justice system response.
Other surveys of a similar nature have been carried out by Statistics Canada, such as:
- Survey of Sexual Misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces (SSMCAF);
- Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces (SSPPS);
- Survey of Individual Safety in the Postsecondary Student Population (SISPSP);
- General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization; and,
- General Statistics Survey (GSS) at Work and Home.
These surveys provide valuable insights and are also used to study the prevalence of sexual harassment over time.
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Proportionality: Proportionality has been considered based on the following elements – sensitivity and ethics:
- Sensitivity: The Survey on Sexual Misconduct at Work is a voluntary survey, and the collection method is similar to other voluntary household surveys. Due to the fact that this information is submitted voluntarily, the risk related to the high sensitivity of this data collection method is considered low. However, the nature of the questions in this survey are of a more sensitive nature, and the population of interest includes minors. As such, additional mitigation factors (see below) are being implemented to ensure that the collection methods are proportional to the needs for the data.
- Ethics: The Survey on Sexual Misconduct at Work has been developed using past, similar surveys as precedents to determining best practices, in particular to assist victims in accessing support and to reduce response burden. In addition, the survey frame excludes units which were selected for similar previously mentioned surveys specifically to reduce burden to these respondents. Additional steps are being taken to reduce burden and assist the Survey on Sexual Misconduct at Work respondents (see below, Mitigation Factors).
Data collected through the Survey on Sexual Misconduct at Work will contain only the variables required to achieve the statistical goals of the survey. Standard best practices for household surveys with respect to data collection and publication will be followed. The public benefits of the survey findings, which are expected to inform policies, laws, programs and support services aimed at improving workplace culture and work-related settings across the country, are believed to be proportional to the potential privacy intrusion for the 50,000 participants being sampled for this voluntary survey.
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Alternatives: Few sources have gathered data on self-reported sexual victimization in the workplace. In 2016, the General Social Survey provided some insight on sexual harassment in a survey focused on the larger topic of Canadians at work and home. In 2017, Insights West, a market research firm surveyed women exclusively on whether and how often they experience sexual harassment at work. That same year, Employment and Social Development Canada surveyed 1,000 people and held public consultations to better understand the types of harassment behaviours that take place in Canadian workplaces. However, no other quality sources report comprehensive and in-depth information such as the characteristics, impact and reporting of these incidents or the industries and settings in which they occur. Furthermore, existing crime data available from administrative data sources are limited to officially reported events that meet the threshold for criminality and are known to significantly underrepresent true rates of sexual victimization in the population. As such, data gaps exist and more information is needed in order to help guide policies, laws, programs and support services that prevent and respond to these behaviours in the workplace.
Mitigation factors
The survey content includes questions on witnessing and experiencing inappropriate sexual behaviours, discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity, and sexual assault. This content has undergone two rounds of in-person testing, including a voluntary round of sensitivity testing to identify and address potential sources of harm for future respondents. As expected, some questions were considered sensitive by the test respondents but the overall risk of harm to survey participants was deemed manageable through the mitigating actions outlined here.
Consent
All respondents will be informed of the sensitive nature of the survey before participating via a letter and brochure explaining the survey's purpose. Respondents will also be informed, in both the invitation and reminder letters as well as the questionnaire itself, that their participation is voluntary before being asked any questions.
For the Survey on Sexual Misconduct at Work, parental consent of minors will not be requested. For any data collection from minors, Statistics Canada's decision to seek consent from a minor's parent or legal guardian is based on what the minor is reasonably expected to understand. Statistics Canada considered factors such as the ability to understand the survey questions and to make an informed decision regarding their participation, their responses and the use of their personal information. The guideline for the majority of Statistics Canada surveys is to seek parental consent for respondents under 15 years of age. This survey is not exceptional in this regard, and it is considered that minors aged 15 and above will have the necessary understanding to make an informed decision regarding their participation in this voluntary survey.
Access to personal information
Statistics Canada has established that answers to sensitive questions collected from minors will not be disclosed to parents or guardians requesting access to their child's personal information. If parental values and belief systems differ from those of the minor, disclosure of the minor's survey responses to a parent or guardian could place the minor's safety at risk. The respondents themselves, whether they are adults or minors, can request and obtain the information collected about themselves.
Support Services
Since survey questions may evoke emotional reactions from the respondents, contact information for support services and resources for victims of sexual violence will be made available to respondents in various forms, including in the brochure mailed to respondents, on the survey questionnaire and on the Statistics Canada website. Survey phone interviewers and help desk staff will also have this information available to relay to respondents. Survey phone interviewers will receive additional training from a certified clinical psychologist on how to handle difficult interviews with respondents who may be triggered by the content of the survey. In addition, interviewers will receive training and resources on self-care strategies during the collection period.
Feedback
At the end of the survey questionnaire, we have included a series of questions to understand the experience and impact that the survey had on respondents. We hope to be able to draw the same conclusions that other surveys on the topic have made: that although this topic is a difficult one, respondents appreciate being heard, feel valued and believe there are benefits to the survey.
Conclusion
This assessment concludes that, with the existing Statistics Canada safeguards, any remaining risks are such that Statistics Canada is prepared to accept and manage the risk.
Formal approval
This Supplementary Privacy Impact Assessment has been reviewed and recommended for approval by Statistics Canada's Chief Privacy Officer, Director General for Modern Statistical Methods and Data Science, and Assistant Chief Statistician for Social, Health and Labour Statistics. The Chief Statistician of Canada has the authority for section 10 of the Privacy Act for Statistics Canada, and is responsible for the Agency's operations, including the program area mentioned in this Supplementary Privacy Impact Assessment.
Eric Rancourt
Director General,
Modern Statistical Methods and Data Science
Linda Howatson-Leo
Chief Privacy Officer
Lynn Barr-Telford
Assistant Chief Statistician,
Social, Health and Labour Statistics
Anil Arora
Chief Statistician of Canada