This section contains detailed information on the department's planned results and resources for each of its core responsibilities. It also contains information on key risks related to achieving those results.
Statistical Information
Description
Statistics Canada produces objective, high-quality statistical information for the whole of Canada. The statistical information produced relates to the commercial, industrial, financial, social, economic, environmental and general activities and conditions of the people of Canada.
Planning highlights
Data-driven insights have never been more important than during the COVID-19 pandemic. Canadians have made it clear that relevant, timely and high-quality data are essential, not only in surviving this public health crisis, but also in thriving once the country moves past it.
Statistics Canada will respond by continuing to provide timely and accurate data that track the social, economic and health impacts of COVID-19, particularly on vulnerable groups. These data-driven insights guide leaders as they evaluate policy and program options to help Canada chart a path to recovery.
With the 2021 Census being conducted during the pandemic, Statistics Canada's specially trained interviewers will collect data in compliance with public health measures such as physical distancing. With the support and cooperation of Canadians, who understand the value of the census, the agency is aiming for close to 100% participation. This census will also capture the scale of the pandemic's continued social and economic impacts on Canadians.
COVID-19 has compelled Statistics Canada to further accelerate its multi-year modernization effort so that it is more agile, adaptive and responsive to the evolving data needs of Canadians. As a result, Statistics Canada will focus on the following actions in 2021–22.
Strengthening the statistical system
Canadians entrust their information and data to Statistics Canada, and the agency has built a world-leading framework to protect and safely handle data without compromising confidentiality and the trust of Canadians. The agency's system balances internal governance and external advice from governance bodies such as the Departmental Audit Committee and the Canadian Statistics Advisory Council to assure Canadians that privacy and confidentiality are embedded in everything the agency produces.
The Canadian Statistics Advisory Council's 2020 Annual Report recognizes Statistics Canada's central role as an independent national statistical organization, noting that the agency has never been more critical to meeting the need for timely and high-quality statistics in Canada. The report also provides tangible recommendations to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and to Statistics Canada to make the system even stronger and more responsive, to meet the needs of an evolving society and economy. The report recommends including statistical data requirements when planning federal government programs, and addressing critical data gaps (including investing to coordinate data collection across federal, provincial, territorial and other levels of government and organizations, and implementing adequate and effective mechanisms in the various fiscal arrangements with the provinces and territories to ensure that nationally consistent data flow to Statistics Canada). Recommendations also include rectifying serious imbalances in funding national statistical programs, ensuring the privacy of Canadians and the need for Canadians to provide data to Statistics Canada, and modernizing microdata access.
Statistics Canada is taking advantage of the council's expert advice on an ongoing basis and will work closely with partners in and outside the federal government to make tangible progress on the report's recommendations.
Necessity and Proportionality Framework
The Necessity and Proportionality Framework was developed to strike a balanced approach to data collection. Its goal is to ensure that Statistics Canada collects only the information that is necessary to produce timely, high-quality data, while fully protecting the privacy of Canadians and keeping safe the data that are collected.
Over the coming year, this framework will be further improved to take into account more explicitly the ethics, protocols and public engagement that govern the collection of sensitive data. Once completed, this framework will provide more detailed guidance to Statistics Canada's program managers when they plan data-gathering activities. The framework will also be revised to remain consistent with Canadian privacy laws as they are updated.
Adapting to the digital world
As part of the Government of Canada's Digital Charter, a review of potential changes to the Statistics Act is also being undertaken to align with other legislative amendments underway. This will ensure that Canada's national statistical system can continue to be responsive to today's needs and emerging challenges in an increasingly digital world.
Building an agile workforce and culture
In 2020, Statistics Canada fast-tracked initiatives that were already underway to enable its employees to work remotely, securely and safely during the pandemic. More than 7,500 employees transitioned to working remotely virtually overnight. These swift and decisive actions ensured that Canadians continued to benefit from the agency's statistical programs, which remained fully operational.
To enable this to continue over the coming year, the agency is expanding its network capacity and strengthening its secure digital infrastructure and information management practices to protect Canadians' data. This transformation will include the gradual deployment of new information technology equipment designed to
- improve the speed and capacity of the agency's network
- enable employees to access virtual desktops through cloud computing services
- strengthen information management practices and controls.
The agency will continue to improve confidentiality and security measures throughout the data production chain, including the data-gathering and dissemination stages.
Because Statistics Canada's greatest asset is its dedicated and high-performing workforce, the agency will continue to provide opportunities for staff to upgrade their skills and ensure they are equipped to use next-generation data analytics tools.
A workforce that reflects the diversity of Canada means a workforce that reflects the wide-ranging experience, knowledge and skill sets of different communities—the hallmarks of an agile and innovation-focused organization. That is why Statistics Canada is committed to developing a comprehensive human resources plan to promote gender equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Delivering user-friendly products and services
To ensure that more Canadians have the information they need when and in the formats they require, Statistics Canada is developing innovative ways to ensure that data are easier for Canadians to find, share and use.
Enhanced visualization of products and services
During the agency's many engagement activities, Canadians suggested that products and services would be more user-friendly if they were more visual. To ensure that statistical information reaches more Canadians and that they can better understand the data, the agency will continue to make its products available in various formats, including data tables, infographics and interactive maps. In addition, Statistics Canada will launch a more visually rich version of The Daily, its official release bulletin.
Expanding subject-matter portals and web data services
To modernize the look and feel of Statistics Canada's website, and as a result of positive user feedback, more portals will be created to provide a single point of entry to all data on particular topics, such as gender equity, diversity and inclusion, energy, justice, labour, and housing.
- Natural Resources Canada and Statistics Canada are jointly developing the Canadian Centre for Energy Information. This new portal provides trusted national energy statistics, updates on new energy data products, and opportunities to participate in creating data standards and new tools.
- To address ongoing COVID-19-related issues, as well as the need for longer-term modelling and analyses as part of the post-pandemic recovery, a COVID-19 data portal and a collaborative analytics community will be established.
Statistics Canada has developed an application programming interface that provides access to data and metadata the agency releases every day. In this way, Statistics Canada data on clients' websites can be automatically updated as soon as new data are available. Because of client demand, the service continues to expand.
Customized client products and services
Based on user feedback and engagement, Statistics Canada will introduce different products and services to meet the needs of specific audiences, including high-frequency users such as researchers, governments, business leaders and civil-society groups.
To meet the information needs of Canadians, including policy makers, Statistics Canada will continue to publish high-quality, timely analysis on various issues that affect the lives of Canadians in Insights on Canadian Society. A particular focus will be the impact of the pandemic on vulnerable groups, such as Indigenous people, women and groups designated as visible minorities.
Data access for researchers
Statistics Canada recognizes that researchers require access to microdata to conduct their work.
All microdata are non-aggregated, carefully modified and reviewed to ensure no individual or business is directly or indirectly identified. To encourage the public use of microdata, while preserving the privacy and confidentiality of all respondents, Statistics Canada offers a wide range of on-demand services.
In 2021–22, Statistics Canada will
- collaborate with new and existing partners to design flexible solutions that ensure researchers and policy makers have more timely and tailored access to the microdata they need, particularly as they respond to COVID-19
- deploy new data tabulation tools for undergraduate students and data librarians
- increase locations across Canada where microdata can be accessed and hours of service
- develop a cloud-based data service that can be accessed remotely
- increase the amount of accessible microdata on businesses and social indicators
- develop online training videos to help researchers working with Statistics Canada microdata.
Using leading-edge methods: The impact of COVID-19
Canadians need timely and accurate data-driven insights to support evidence-based decision-making, particularly in critical times such as the COVID-19 pandemic. At the onset of the pandemic, many Statistics Canada statistical programs pivoted to address urgent data needs for the pandemic response. This led not only to new releases, such as flash estimates, but also to new methods for collecting and analyzing data.
The agency documented unprecedented changes in Canada's economy, including sudden shifts in industrial activity that dramatically impacted supply chains, particularly in the agriculture, energy and transportation sectors. These rapid shifts also affected consumer behaviour, resulting in sudden shortages of flour and yeast, for example.
As the Government of Canada's emergency income-support programs were rolled out and businesses gradually reopened, Statistics Canada continued to track levels of economic activity, revealing a modest and uneven recovery that continues to disproportionately impact vulnerable groups such as young people, Indigenous people, workers without a postsecondary education, women, new immigrants and groups designated as visible minorities. Using data collected through innovative methods such as crowdsourcing, Statistics Canada published its first-ever study of how Canadians experienced discrimination, specifically during the pandemic.
Over the coming year, the agency will continue to track the impact of COVID-19 on levels of business activity by sector, and the financial positions of Canadian companies and their associated effects on labour force participation, as well as the economic, social and health impacts on vulnerable populations. The following will be areas of specific focus.
Disaggregated socioeconomic data
The agency will leverage the Labour Force Survey (LFS) to continue filling information gaps on gender equity, diversity and inclusion. It will produce timely statistics disaggregated by gender, as well as by group designated as a visible minority and disability status.
Specifically, Statistics Canada will
- add questions on gender to the LFS and produce indicators on groups designated as visible minorities
- combine data on disability status from the Canadian Income Survey with LFS data to produce timely labour force statistics about persons with disabilities
- add questions from the Canadian Income Survey to the LFS related to the market basket measure (MBM) to produce disaggregated annual statistics on the MBM.
To fulfill Canadians' demand for information on the unequal impacts of economic downturns, particularly in the COVID-19 context, Statistics Canada will
- develop research programs on the financial vulnerability of individuals and families during and after the pandemic
- examine the economic participation and social inclusion of groups designated as visible minorities as part of Canada's Anti-Racism Strategy
- analyze various social and economic factors and outcomes that particularly affect women, Indigenous people, people living with disabilities, groups designated as visible minorities and the LGBTQ+ community.
Leading the way: Gender, diversity and inclusion statistics
Statistics Canada plays a key role internationally in developing statistics related to gender equity, diversity and inclusion. It does so not only by providing data, but also by identifying data gaps and using new methods to develop datasets.
The Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics will establish a new data hub to present disaggregated data on racialized groups. The goal is to increase knowledge and literacy under five of the Gender Results Framework pillars:
- economic participation and prosperity
- poverty reduction, health and well-being
- gender-based violence and access to justice
- leadership and democratic participation
- education and skills development.
Women and Gender Equality Canada has engaged Statistics Canada to address important gaps in the availability of data and analysis related to gender, age, sexuality, disability and ethnocultural characteristics, and the intersections of these identities. For one of the projects the department is supporting, Statistics Canada is producing a report to evaluate the feasibility of adding intersectionality to the Gender Results Framework indicators.
Additional analytical products in development include
- a series on Canada's LGBTQ+ population, including an article on linguistic and ethnocultural diversity among lesbian, gay and bisexual Canadians
- a paper on the sociodemographic profile of women living in rural and remote areas of Canada (including immigrant status, Indigenous identity and ethnocultural characteristics)
- a paper on business owners among Canada's Black population.
Disaggregated data on businesses owned by visible minorities, including Black-owned businesses, has historically been an area where significant data gaps have existed and the current pandemic has further illuminated these gaps. Statistics Canada will engage with private sector initiatives such as BlackNorth to improve development of disaggregated data on businesses leadershipand board membership while in the short-term will continuing to include the self-identification question in the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions.
The Diversity of Charity and Non-profit Boards (DCNB) collected information to provide insights on the composition of boards of non-profit and charitable organizations. This will allow Statistics Canada to expand the understanding of the charitable and non-profit sectors by gaining a greater understanding of the makeup of governing boards and their representativity as it relates to the communities they service and the overall Canadian population.
In addition, greater emphasis will be placed on disaggregating as much data as feasible to enable a more detailed understanding of the characteristics of Canada's diverse population groups. For example, the questions of the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability will be developed so that the information it collects can be used to plan and evaluate current services, policies and programs for people living with disabilities, and can be disaggregated by age, gender, sexual orientation and income.
Finally, data have shown that the pandemic is affecting some Canadians—including women, Indigenous people, people living with disabilities, groups designated as visible minorities and the LGBTQ+ community—more severely than others. The agency's ongoing work related to gender often intersects with other areas, such as labour, race and disability. In the coming year, new disaggregated data based on gender will be released, particularly on the impact of the economic downturn caused by COVID-19.
The economic impact of COVID-19 and the road to recovery
The pandemic is affecting many components of Canadian society and the Canadian economy, including employment. The agency plans to produce more timely and detailed employment data from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, including flash employment estimates and more granular data by industry sector and region.
The LFS will continue to provide important labour market data to help shed light on the impact of the pandemic. Information about how Canadians are coping will be collected through supplemental questions in the LFS, including about workplace adaptations, remote work and the impact of federal emergency income-support payments on Canadian households.
Child care availability affects the labour market participation of many women, and this could influence the pace of Canada's post-pandemic recovery. However, little is known about the overall size and characteristics of the child care sector in Canada. A new Statistics Canada study in 2021–22 will address this gap. In a separate study, the agency will also report on the participation of children up to the age of 5 in early learning and child care programs during the pandemic.
The pandemic is having a significant economic impact on businesses. A survey on business openings and closures will build on the monthly statistics on this topic developed in 2020–21. The agency will develop additional products on how businesses are adapting and contributing to the post-pandemic economic recovery. Elements that will be examined include the contribution of new businesses to the recovery and the prevalence of zombie firms that require financial bailouts to operate.
Addressing data gaps related to public health
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted data gaps related to personal protective equipment (PPE), vaccine coverage, mental health and residential care.
- Demand for PPE has resulted in global uncertainty around supplies and inventories. Statistics Canada, in collaboration with Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, quickly developed the PPE Survey to track Canadian supply of and demand for masks, gowns, gloves and face shields. This survey will be expanded to include inventories of equipment for distributing vaccines, ventilators and supplies related to diagnostic testing.
- Timely data are key in making the COVID-19 vaccination campaign a success. Statistics Canada will conduct the COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Survey to estimate and track coverage rates in accordance with national public health requirements. The survey will be conducted several times to enable trends in coverage rates and respondent knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about COVID-19 vaccination to be observed.
- The Survey on Mental Health and Stressful Events will be conducted in spring 2021 to better understand how stressful events, particularly those related to COVID-19, can affect the mental health of Canadians. The mental health of health care workers has also become a particular concern. The crowdsourcing questionnaire Impacts of COVID-19 on Health Care Workers: Infection Prevention and Control will build on existing data and paint a more detailed picture of the pandemic's impact on the occupational health and safety of health care workers, as well as on their physical and mental health.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed a need for better information on nursing and residential care facilities in Canada. Results from the Nursing and Residential Care Facility Survey will be used by governments and researchers to better understand the sector, including its contribution to the Canadian economy and the health status and outcomes of its residents.
2021 Census of Population and Census of Agriculture
Because of COVID-19, the 2021 Census is expected to be one of the largest, most complex undertakings in Statistics Canada's 100-year history. The agency will take all necessary precautions and adapt its approach to protect the health and safety of its staff and all Canadians, while ensuring that information about all Canadians is collected.
In particular, the agency will encourage Canadians to complete the secure and user-friendly online questionnaire. This approach is designed to reach Canadians in all demographic groups, particularly those living in northern and remote communities, who would normally be hard to reach in person. The agency anticipates that nearly 100% of people will participate, with 80% expected to complete the questionnaire online.
Public health measures that limit in-person interviews are leading to innovative ways to collect data for the 2021 Census of Agriculture. For example, it will incorporate more administrative data, rather than rely primarily on survey data collected through in-person interviews.
Participation in 2021 Census: New and innovative methods
Statistics Canada is also innovating for the communications and activities promoting strong participation in the 2021 Census, which have been adjusted to reflect shifting trends in media consumption because of COVID-19.
With more Canadians spending time at home working, learning, watching TV, listening to the radio and participating in social media, a marketing campaign was developed to highlight the convenience—and public health benefits—of completing the census questionnaire online. A mapping tool was developed to monitor the real-time activity rate. This tool can also identify regions of the country that require more effort to encourage Canadians, especially in traditionally underrepresented groups, to participate.
Census operations
By Census Day on May 11, 2021, more than 32,000 field employees across the country will be mobilized to support all aspects of census operations, from enumeration to data collection and analysis, culminating in the release of census results.
Enumerators will limit the amount of face-to-face contact they have with the public. All will be equipped with masks, hand sanitizer and other PPE. In addition, call centres will be organized virtually, meaning many employees will be working remotely, safely and securely.
Using leading-edge methods: Beyond COVID-19
Innovation through data science
Over the coming year, Statistics Canada will continue using leading-edge tools and methods to scale up the use of data science in all its programs and produce sound statistics.
The agency plans to release its data science strategy in 2021 and use collaboration to drive innovation through the Data Science Network for the Federal Public Service (see "Collaborating and engaging with partners").
Data collected using alternative methods, such as crowdsourcing and non-probability samples, will continue to be integrated with data from probability samples to produce sound estimates and reliable measures. Research will also continue on integrating data from a variety of sources. Additionally, Statistics Canada will continue to combine the best of traditional statistical methods with artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The agency will continue to use more administrative data and refine its methods for life-course analysis and population-trajectory mapping, most notably for conducting a study on fatal and non-fatal drug overdoses in Canada.
The following 2021–22 projects demonstrate some of the ways in which Statistics Canada will continue to use a variety of leading-edge methods.
Modernizing the Survey of Household Spending
Modernizing the Household Expenditure Program will include transitioning the Survey of Household Spending to Statistics Canada's integrated data-collection platform. In addition, the agency will optimize the use of alternative data sources and explore other innovative ways to collect data, including an omnibus survey and online focus groups, to help address gaps.
Global Environment for the Economic Statistics Ecosystem
Planning is currently underway for the multi-year design of a new platform that will be accessible to more economic statistics users. This modernization initiative aims to improve the international framework for recognizing environmental accounting. It also aims to improve data sharing through harmonization and data system interoperability with international and national statistical organizations.
Administrative data for insights on human trafficking
In 2021–22, the agency will be working with federal partners to see how we can bring greater understanding on the scope and size of human trafficking which disproportionately victimizes women.
Integrated statistical registers
The new Statistical Building Register, a comprehensive list of buildings in Canada, was produced in 2020–21. It will continue to be refined in the coming years to replace the existing Address Register, which supports census collection and provides an alternative data source to the survey-first approach. The Statistical Building Register, when linked with another database that lists all businesses and institutions in Canada, will provide a richer, more precise and more detailed map of the country's physical structures and dwellings. This will help generate more accurate insights into Canada's economy and society.
Longitudinal Business Database
The Longitudinal Business Database is a new internal frame scheduled to be fully linked to the Business Register by the end of 2021–22. It will enable Statistics Canada to provide more detailed and timely data about new and failed businesses. This new link will be the data source for all the agency's business demography products and analyses, including special reports to be released earlier in the year on COVID-19 business-activity impacts.
Another study that will be conducted in the coming year will examine the characteristics of businesses owned by Black Canadians, as well as those owned by people living with disabilities. This study will provide insights on the potential barriers these groups face as entrepreneurs.
Measuring the impacts of economic shocks
Building on lessons learned during the pandemic, Statistics Canada will explore statistical models that can potentially generate a more reliable set of key economic indicators to track and measure levels of business and employment activity during periods of economic disturbance.
Experimentation
The agency is focusing on ways to become faster, more efficient and more responsive to client needs while decreasing response burden and increasing data granularity. Experimentation can ultimately help Statistics Canada improve the data it provides for Canadians. The agency will promote a culture of continuous improvement by encouraging and supporting experimentation to test new ideas and identify opportunities.
All aspects of the agency and its operations will be open for experimentation. For instance, in human resources, experimentation on the role of leadership and teamwork in fostering inclusion is planned. The agency's communication and dissemination experts will experiment with creating podcasts and using text-to-speech software to translate some of the agency's web content. Other planned experiments include using open source methods and tools for day-to-day statistical production activities, improving process flows, and creating new statistical indicators such as weekly family income indicators.
Additionally, in 2021–22, the agency will lead an international project for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's High-Level Group for the Modernisation of Official Statistics. This project, a hands-on guide, will provide recommendations for developing and using synthetic data at national statistical offices, and for measuring the quality of these data. Experimental approaches will be used to test the guide's recommendations with real-life synthetic data scenarios.
Citizen development
Creating and reusing open-source software code where possible are important ways to provide more timely, high-quality insights to Canadians. This open-by-default programming approach means, for example, that software developers could use simple tools to automatically access Statistics Canada's publicly available microdata. They would not need specialized knowledge of government agencies or programs to create a new app or develop adaptive or predictive learning systems for everything from self-driving cars to cognitive computers.
The Citizen Development Initiative was created to take an agency-wide approach to the transition to this new, more open, way of working. This initiative aims to establish guardrails, develop a training curriculum for the agency's workforce and create a roadmap to implement the necessary infrastructure. The Citizen Development Initiative will use a thorough scientific experimentation approach to ensure the standards, practices and procedures provide value to citizen developers.
Sustainable development
Since 2015, Statistics Canada has played a leadership role in the United Nations Inter-agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicators, which was mandated to develop and implement a set of indicators to measure global progress on the 17 SDGs. The 2018 federal budget included an investment to enable the agency to develop these indicators and report on Canada's progress towards the goals. Statistics Canada will continue to collaborate with government departments to develop and finalize these indicators. The agency will also examine how to measure overall progress towards these goals in an impartial and robust manner.
Collaborating and engaging with partners
Never has collaboration with new and existing partners been more important than during the pandemic, when timely, up-to-date data enabled public and private sector leaders to act swiftly based on the best available evidence.
Among other initiatives, Statistics Canada quickly offered its assistance to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the country's largest network of business associations, to develop the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions. Every step of this survey, from data collection to analysis and release, was expedited during a nationwide lockdown.
The results from the Survey and other new initiatives, highlighted the scale of COVID-19's impact on businesses that were forced to shut down, shed payroll, lay off employees and defer rent or mortgage payments. By September 2020, there were 57,000 fewer businesses than before the pandemic. This data gave federal departments necessary evidence to make decisions to support businesses and all Canadians hit hard by the lockdown.
Timely and accurate data-driven insights will be equally important in the coming year to help Canadians manage and recover from the pandemic. The agency will conduct a series of hackathons with the public and business groups to develop decision-support tools to guide leaders as they evaluate options to help Canadians.
Statistics Canada will embark on the following partnerships, collaborations and engagement projects in 2021–22:
- strengthen collaboration with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to make municipal governments more aware of how Statistics Canada's data-driven insights can help them make evidence-based decisions, and to help the agency better understand the data needs of communities of all sizes
- continue to work closely with Indigenous organizations (through the agency's Centre for Indigenous Statistics and Partnerships, and Indigenous Liaison Program) to identify and reduce data gaps with the 2021 Census, the 2022 Indigenous Peoples Survey and other surveys
- continue consultations with the provinces and territories to address data gaps on Canada's non-binary population, specifically related to alternative ways of reporting sex at birth and gender
- collaborate with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police to study the systemic inequalities experienced by Indigenous people and groups designated as visible minorities, and release more disaggregated data to better understand the experiences of racialized Canadians with the law enforcement and criminal justice system
- partner with Indigenous organizations to review all analytical articles on the victimization of First Nations, Métis and Inuit—these articles will expand knowledge about gender-based violence and Indigenous women's unique experiences of victimization
- work closely with representatives of associations and official language minority communities, as part of its dialogue and engagement activities for the 2021 Census as well as to achieve its objectives under the Action Plan for Official Languages (2018-2023),
- assist Infrastructure Canada and other levels of government with project-funding decisions by developing a mapping tool that will combine information on the current location of infrastructure with information on the economic and sociodemographic characteristics of neighbourhoods that would be served by public infrastructure investments
- work with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to produce more detailed estimates of crop yields during the growing season
- work with the Library of Parliament to give members of Parliament timely access to data-driven insights for decision-making.
Data strategies for the federal public service and Statistics Canada
As part of its ongoing collaborations with federal departments, Statistics Canada continues to be a data stewardship leader, ensuring that the federal public service can effectively govern and manage its data assets to better serve Canadians.
In 2021–22, work will continue on the Statistics Canada Data Strategy, including developing performance indicators to track progress on short-, medium- and long-term objectives.
The following projects for 2021–22 will support federal departments in their efforts to use data as a strategic asset:
- The National Address Register project will leverage existing data holdings and statistical infrastructure to develop a public register of trusted and standardized geo-referenced addresses. This project will reduce the cost of maintaining multiple decentralized databases of Canadian addresses and make the data more accessible to all Canadians. It will also encourage collaboration among federal departments that provide services to Canadians, making Canadians' interactions with the government easier.
- The Data Science Network for the Federal Public Service will continue to develop a community of practice among data scientists working in the Government of Canada to foster a culture of experimentation and innovation leading to concrete results.
International cooperation, statistical capacity building and fostering data literacy
Through newly established partnerships, Statistics Canada will support initiatives to ensure that diverse communities have the capacity to build and maintain their own statistical programs, grounded in their unique needs.
The following projects will be priorities for 2021–22.
First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities
In a spirit of renewal and partnership, Statistics Canada is supporting Indigenous organizations and communities as they develop the skills and infrastructure to build and maintain their own statistical programs, based on their own needs. The agency will continue to support a new generation of Indigenous statisticians and data scientists by offering them technical assistance, as well as webinars and train-the-trainer sessions.
Statistics Canada will also keep improving access to its existing data assets for Indigenous organizations and communities. In particular, Statistics Canada developed an Indigenous data portal on its website to enable users to easily find, use and share statistics about key topics that support, for example, Indigenous community planning.
International cooperation
Adherence to international standards and frameworks enables a consistent and coherent picture of Canada's economy, society and environment. At the national level, it supports evidence-based policy and allows Canadian decision makers to draw valid and necessary comparisons between Canada's performance and that of other countries, clarifying strengths and weaknesses. It also ensures sound statistics for international negotiations and commitments in areas important to Canadians, such as trade, investment, migration, human rights, gender equality and the environment.
Statistics Canada is leading the multi-year Project for the Regional Advancement of Statistics in the Caribbean, a capacity-building project with 14 member states of the Caribbean Community. It aims to address identified gaps to strengthen statistical systems, improve socioeconomic measures and support evidence-based policy making in participating countries. Other international capacity-building projects include PARIS21 and the Plan Sénégal Émergent.
Methods, standards and trends
Statistics Canada is working with other national statistical agencies to develop new standards (the 2025 System of National Accounts and the seventh edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual). The agency is also working on a comprehensive framework to better understand the activities of multinational corporations and the economic, social and environmental impacts of globalization.
Capacity-building in developing countries
Countries with less robust statistical systems lack the data to make sound policy decisions, and this makes it harder for them to withstand a crisis. That is why, in 2021–22, Statistics Canada will continue to provide ongoing training and support to enable developing countries to build, maintain and improve their national systems.
Mitigating risk in an agile manner
Statistics Canada continuously monitors its internal and external environment to develop risk mitigation strategies. The agency has identified risks relating to its core responsibility and has established strategies for the coming years. The agency will continue to adapt its governing instruments and oversight frameworks and engage with Canadians using clear, transparent and proactive communication. It will also continue to invest in robust infrastructure—both technological and methodological—to ensure the reliability, timeliness, scalability and security of its statistics. The agency has identified six corporate risks and corresponding mitigation strategies:
Accuracy and integrity
Maintaining the accuracy and integrity of data and information holdings—including avoiding major errors—is challenging given the pressures to produce information faster, increasingly complex production environments, the expanding use of multiple data sources and new techniques, and rising information demands.
Among risk mitigation activities, Statistics Canada is performing thorough analysis and systematic validation, improving subject-matter intelligence, implementing process-related improvements, engaging key stakeholders for validation purposes, testing new processes thoroughly, and using better information management practices.
Privacy and confidentiality
Strict controls and safeguards are essential to securely manage and protect the agency's vast amount of confidential and sensitive information from privacy breaches, wrongful disclosure and cyber security threats.
In addition to a strong culture and value system, Statistics Canada has oversight, governance instruments and processes in place to mitigate this risk. The agency continues to be vigilant, including by proactively reviewing confidentiality-related procedures and processes, applying stringent protection measures (e.g., the Policy on Official Release), regularly assessing the IT security posture, and providing privacy and confidentiality training to employees and partners.
Resources
Because the environment is continually evolving, there is a risk that the agency will not have the necessary workforce culture or adequate internal resources, capacity and expertise to deliver all its priorities.
Human resources mitigation strategies focus on strengthening the priority-setting process and balancing priorities with agile staffing, including by increasing the use of flexible assignment programs; creating an employee skills inventory bank; and developing a new integrated human resources strategy focused on achieving a diverse, inclusive and bilingual workforce. The agency will also create a new senior committee to oversee resource risks; implement seed funds and ideation frameworks for new ideas to reduce risk and optimize resource allocation; encourage citizen co-development; and continue its migration to the cloud, enabling access to self-serve, on-demand and scalable infrastructure capacity and solutions.
Relevance
Growing external demands stemming from a continuously evolving environment may require changes to ensure programs are relevant.
To mitigate this risk, Statistics Canada launched its modernization initiative with a focus on user-centric service delivery. By listening to Canadians through numerous mechanisms, including stakeholder engagement, advisory committees, feedback surveys and media monitoring, the agency will give them the information they need, when and how they want it. Expected results include easier and broader access to more timely and detailed statistics.
Transformation
Because the agency's modernization initiative is so large and complex, there is a risk that its objectives will not be achieved on a timely basis and users' heightened expectations will not be met.
To mitigate this risk, Statistics Canada is establishing stronger governance and implementing integrated business processes to provide more aligned and effective planning and oversight. In addition, the agency will explore more open data sources, develop quality indicators, and identify and address skill gaps. It will also build strategic relationships with key partners and increase user engagement to better understand needs and refine the transformation
Public trust
Breaches and wrongful disclosure of information, disinformation campaigns, and other factors may impact the public's trust in the agency, resulting in Canadians turning to other sources of information.
The agency's risk mitigation includes communicating extensively and transparently with Canadians to explain how Statistics Canada data affect their lives and to raise awareness about the agency's strict confidentiality and privacy protections. The agency is working with experts from around the world to balance the need for information with privacy protection and is implementing its new Necessity and Proportionality Framework. It will also continue to advance the Trust Centre on its website
Planned results for Statistical Information
Across the agency, employees are working to improve results and to ensure targets are both relevant and ambitious. The targets set by the agency for 2021–22 reflect the current environment and planned activities, including the 2021 Census Program. As the Departmental Results Framework matures, the agency will integrate performance indicator results into its decision-making processes to ensure value for Canadians and alignment of resources with government priorities.
| Departmental results | Departmental result indicators | Target | Date to achieve target | 2017–18 actual result | 2018–19 actual result | 2019–20 actual result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-quality statistical information is available to Canadians | Number of post-release corrections due to accuracy | 0 | March 31, 2022 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Percentage of international standards with which Statistics Canada conforms | 90%Table 1 Footnote 1 | March 31, 2022 | 89% | 88% | 88% | |
| Number of statistical products available on the website | 41,800 | March 31, 2022 | 33,642 | 35,920 | 38,042 | |
| Number of Statistics Canada data tables available on the Open Data Portal | 7,750 | March 31, 2022 | 7,162Table 1 Footnote 2 | 6,944Table 1 Footnote 2 | 7,386 | |
| High-quality statistical information is accessed by Canadians | Number of visits to Statistics Canada website | 37,500,000Table 1 Footnote 3 | March 31, 2022 | 26,461,926 | 19,752,776Table 1 Footnote 4 | 20,285,269 |
| Percentage of website visitors that found what they were looking for | 78% | March 31, 2022 | 76% | 79% | 78% | |
| Number of interactions on social media | 2,900,000Table 1 Footnote 5 | March 31, 2022 | 559,709 | 358,673Table 1 Footnote 6 | 521,441 | |
| High-quality statistical information is relevant to Canadians | Number of media citations on Statistics Canada data | 74,000Table 1 Footnote 7 | March 31, 2022 | 67,539 | 74,657Table 1 Footnote 8 | 56,921 |
| Number of journal citations | 23,000 | March 31, 2022 | 23,903 | 22,176 | 26,505 | |
| Percentage of users satisfied with statistical information | 80% | March 31, 2022 | 79% | 80% | 80% | |
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Financial, human resources and performance information for Statistics Canada's program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.
| 2021–22 budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates) | 2021–22 planned spending |
2022–23 planned spending |
2023–24 planned spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| 855,425,655 | 855,425,655 | 566,602,643 | 516,517,426 |
| Note: Main Estimates, planned spending and full-time equivalent figures do not include Budget 2021 announcements. More information will be provided in the 2021–22 Supplementary Estimates and Departmental Results Report, as applicable. | |||
Financial, human resources and performance information for Statistics Canada's program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.
| 2021–22 planned full-time equivalents |
2022–23 planned full-time equivalents |
2023–24 planned full-time equivalents |
|---|---|---|
| 6,026 | 5,065 | 4,644 |
| Note: Main Estimates, planned spending and full-time equivalent figures do not include Budget 2021 announcements. More information will be provided in the 2021–22 Supplementary Estimates and Departmental Results Report, as applicable. | ||
The change in planned financial and human resources from 2021–22 to future years relates largely to the cyclical nature of the Census Program, for which activities peak in 2021–22 and wind down thereafter. Statistics Canada expects to maintain its capacity in future years to deliver ongoing statistical programs, with no significant shifts in resources.
Financial, human resources and performance information for Statistics Canada's program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.