Statistics Canada's data science mission is to expand the capacity of data science and analytics within the Government of Canada and beyond.
What are the keys to building data science capacity?
Trust—Deliver concrete results while adhering to high ethical standards at all times to build trust in data science methods.
Innovation—Statistics Canada's data scientists are committed to identifying and adopting the latest data science practices to deliver fast results.
Quality—Statistics Canada's data science methods follow rigorous practices, including internal reviews of projects, to ensure high-quality results and valid statistical inference.
Collaboration—The agency is working with partners across the Government of Canada, academia, international partners and other members of the data science community to learn from one another and share leading-edge data science methods.
What are the benefits of data science for Canadians?
Data science allows Statistics Canada to better serve Canadians by creating high-value products and services. By applying the latest machine learning and artificial intelligence practices, the agency is able to quickly process large data sets in shorter periods of time, supporting the need for increasingly nuanced data to better understand our country and our economy.
Machine Learning can also be used to make sense of unstructured data such as images or sensor data, quickly classify large amounts of information, summarize and extract key information from narratives, provide predictions and assist with research.
Providing timely, high-quality information
As information needs continue to expand, it is critical for national statistical agencies to apply these innovative solutions to support evidence-based decision making. There are many benefits to data science for Canadians, including:
- faster, timelier access to data products
- more accurate results
- more detailed, granular data
- reduced response burden on households and businesses.
These solutions also benefit Statistics Canada by giving data scientists the ability to process large amounts of unstructured data, eliminating manual work and reducing costs without compromising data quality.