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The 1991 to 2006 Canadian census mortality and cancer follow-up study tracked mortality in a 15% sample of the non-institutional adult population.  People were eligible to be included in the study cohort if they were aged 25 or older and a usual resident of Canada on Census Day in 1991; were not a long-term resident of an institution; and were enumerated on the long-form questionnaire (Appendix table A).

Table A Cohort members, person-years at risk, and deaths in follow-up period, by sex, income adequacy quintile, education, housing and Aboriginal ancestry, non- institutional population in Canada at baseline, 1991 to 2006

Deaths of cohort members were determined by linking census records to the Canadian Mortality Database (4 June 1991 to 31 December 2006).  Details about the construction and contents of the linked file have been reported elsewhere.^9,10

Age was transformed from age at baseline to age at the beginning of each year of follow-up.  Deaths and person-years at risk were calculated separately for each year (or partial year) of follow-up and then pooled by age at the beginning of each follow-up year.  Abridged period life tables (based on 5-year age groups) for men and women, standard errors, and 95% confidence intervals were calculated according to the method of Chiang.¹¹  Remaining life expectancy is the average number of years a person at a given age would be expected to live if the mortality rates observed for a specific period persisted into the future.¹²  Additional results for each population subgroup are available in CANSIM Tables 109-5401 and 109-5402.

Income adequacy quintiles were calculated by summing total pre-tax, post-transfer income from all sources for all family members, and then taking the ratio of total income to the Statistics Canada low-income cut-off for the applicable family size and community size group.¹³  Quintiles were derived based on this ratio.⁹

Highest level of education was grouped into four categories:  less than secondary graduation, secondary graduation or trades certificate, postsecondary certificate or diploma, and university degree or equivalent.

The category "shelters, rooming houses and hotels" comprises people whose usual residence at the time of census enumeration was one of the following types of non-institutional collective dwellings:  shelters and hostels for the homeless, missions, YMCA/YWCA facilities, rooming and lodging houses, hotels, motels, and tourist homes.¹⁴

Registered Indian status was determined by a direct question:  "Is this person a Registered Indian as defined by the Indian Act of Canada?" (yes, no).  Non-Status Indians were defined as respondents who indicated a single ancestry of North American Indian, but were not a Registered Indian.  Métis were defined as respondents who indicated a single ancestry of Métis, or who indicated two or more Aboriginal ancestries, one of which was Métis. 

Undercoverage of the 1991 Census was estimated at 3.4%.  These missed individuals were more likely to be young, mobile, low income, of Aboriginal ancestry,¹⁵ or homeless.  A total of 78 Indian reserves (about 38,000 people) were either not enumerated or incompletely enumerated and so were excluded from the census database and could not be part of the follow-up cohort.¹⁶  People in long-term care facilities, seniors' residences or prisons, and non-tax-filers in the 1990 and 1991 tax years (data needed for linkage) were excluded from the cohort.  As a result of these exclusions, at age 25 male cohort members had 4 months more of remaining life expectancy, and females cohort members had 6 months more, compared with the total population.^17,18

Information about income, education, place of residence, and type of housing was collected only at baseline (1991 Census); these characteristics could have changed during the follow-up period.

The concept of ethnic or cultural ancestry (used to categorize persons as Métis or non-Status Indians) is fluid.  It reflects individuals' understanding and views about their origins, awareness of their family background, and the social climate at the time of the census, all of which can influence the reporting of ethnic origin or ancestry, and all of which are subject to change.  Thus, the results of this analysis may be affected by conditions that prevailed when the 1991 Census was conducted, and that may differ from more recent censuses.¹⁹