Organizational profile
Appropriate minister(s): The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, P.C., M.P.
Institutional head: Anil Arora
Ministerial portfolio: Innovation, Science and Economic Development
Enabling instrument(s):
Year of incorporation / commencement: The Dominion Bureau of Statistics was established in 1918. In 1971, with the revision of the Statistics Act, the agency became Statistics Canada.
Other: Under the Statistics Act, Statistics Canada is required to collect, compile, analyze, abstract and publish statistical information relating to the commercial, industrial, financial, social, economic and general activities and condition of the people of Canada.
Statistics Canada has two primary objectives:
- to provide statistical information and analysis on the economic and social structure and functioning of Canadian society, as a basis for developing, operating and evaluating public policies and programs; for public and private decision making; and for the general benefit of all Canadians
- to promote the quality, coherence and international comparability of Canada's statistics through collaboration with other federal departments and agencies, with the provinces and territories, and in accordance with sound scientific standards and practices.
Statistics Canada's head office is located in Ottawa. There are regional offices across the country in Halifax, Sherbrooke, Montréal, Toronto, Sturgeon Falls, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver. There are also 35 research data centres located throughout the country in academic institutions. In addition, there are five secure rooms available for access by employees of federal departments and selected provincial ministries. These centres provide researchers with access to microdata from population and household survey programs in a secure setting. Canadians can follow the agency on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, feeds and YouTube.
Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do
Information on Statistics Canada's raison d'être, mandate and role is available on the agency's website.
Information on Statistics Canada's mandate letter commitments is available in the Minister's mandate letter.
Operating context
Information on the operating context is available on Statistics Canada's website..
Reporting framework
Statistics Canada's approved departmental results framework and program inventory for 2023–24 are as follows.
Departmental Results Framework
Core Responsibility: Statistical Information
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.
Result 1
High-quality statistical information is available to Canadians.
- Indicator 1: Number of post-release corrections due to accuracy.
- Indicator 2: Percentage of international standards with which Statistics Canada conforms.
- Indicator 3: Number of statistical products available on the website.
- Indicator 4: Number of Statistics Canada data tables available on the Open Data Portal.
Result 2
High-quality statistical information is accessed by Canadians.
- Indicator 1: Number of visits to Statistics Canada website.
- Indicator 2: Number of hits on Statistics Canada's Application Programming Interface (API).
- Indicator 3: Percentage of website visitors that found what they were looking for.
- Indicator 4: Number of interactions on social media.
Result 3
High quality statistical information is relevant to Canadians.
- Indicator 1: Number of media citations on Statistics Canada data.
- Indicator 2: Number of journal citations.
- Indicator 3: Percentage of users satisfied with statistical information.
Internal Services
Program Inventory
- Economic and Environmental Statistics
- Socio-economic Statistics
- Censuses
- Cost-Recovered Statistical Services
- Centres of Expertise
| Structure | 2023-24 | 2022-23 | Change | Reason for change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core responsibility | Statistical Information | Statistical Information | No change | Not applicable |
| Program | Economic and Environmental Statistics | Economic and Environmental Statistics | No change | Not applicable |
| Program | Socio-economic Statistics | Socio-economic Statistics | No change | Not applicable |
| Program | Censuses | Censuses | No change | Not applicable |
| Program | Cost-Recovered Statistical Services | Cost-Recovered Statistical Services | No change | Not applicable |
| Program | Centres of Expertise | Centres of Expertise | No change | Not applicable |
Four departmental results indicators methodologies were updated to improve the quality and transparency of the data provided:
- Number of post-release corrections due to accuracy for mission critical releases
- The indicator will now include the number of post-release corrections made on the agency's 21 mission critical programs
- Percentage of website visitors that found what they were looking for
- This indicator will be reported using the Government of Canada Task Success, previously it used the Website Evaluation Survey
- Number of interactions on social media
- The indicator will now include two new social media platforms (Snapchat and TikTok) for a total of eight platforms
- Percentage of users satisfied with statistical information
- This indicator will be reported using the Client Experience Index, previously it used the Statistics Canada Client Survey