October 31, 2018
The following statement was issued to media yesterday by the Chief Statistician of Canada.
Statistics Canada has a long history of working with personal and sensitive information to support policy making and research, and we have rigorous processes in place to protect the privacy of Canadians.
Traditional statistics gathering methods are no longer sufficient to accurately measure Canada's economy and societal changes. It is our duty to leverage the best methods and sources to provide facts to Canadians when they need it while providing the highest level of protection of privacy and confidentiality.
More than 75 per cent of purchases are conducted online by Canadians, and Statistics Canada has to have access to these data in order to provide all Canadians with the timely and quality statistics they need in areas such as housing and debt and the impacts of transitioning to a GIG economy.
Throughout the planning of the pilot project, we have worked closely with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and incorporated their recommendations into our design. In fact, I have invited the Privacy Commissioner to provide us with any additional suggestions. I understand the concerns that Canadians have, and want to assure them that their personal information is carefully protected, and never shared publicly.
— Anil Arora, Chief Statistician of Canada
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