Date: November 2021
Program manager: Director, Centre for Social Data Integration and Development
Director General, Census Subject Matter, Social Insights, Integration and Innovation
Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB):
Personal information collected through the Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction is described in Statistics Canada's "Special Surveys" Personal Information Bank. The Personal Information Bank refers to information collected through Statistics Canada's ad hoc surveys, which are not part of the regular survey taking activities of the Agency. They cover a variety of socio-economic topics including health, housing, labour market, education and literacy, as well as demographic data.
The "Special Surveys" Personal Information Bank (Bank number: StatCan PPU 026) is published on the Statistics Canada website under the latest Information about Programs and Information Holdings chapter.
Description of statistical activity:
Statistics Canada, under the authority of the Statistics ActFootnote 1, will conduct the Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction on behalf of the Department of Employment and Social Development Canada with the possibility of conducting another iteration in the future. This voluntary targeted survey will collect information on the quality of employees' work conditions, access to benefits and flexible work arrangements, labour relations, work-related well-being and workplace health and safety including harassment and discrimination. The information from this survey will guide research and analysis to update the Canada Labour Code. Statistics Canada will publish aggregate results in the Daily (the Agency's official release bulletin) summarizing the survey findings along with data tables. These data will be fully anonymized and non-confidential, without any direct personal identifiers, which prevents the possibility of identifying individuals. The Department of Employment and Social Development Canada will access the data file, with all personal identifiers removed, in the Research Data CentresFootnote 2 and will only be permitted to release aggregate results, which are fully anonymized and non-confidential. They will use these data to:
- Identify the prevalence of work conditions that do not follow the Labour Code by industry
- Ensure fair treatment and compensation for employees
- Improve administration of labour standards
- Determine areas within the Labour Code that should be updated
- Identify if procedures and support to employees are in place that respond to incidents of harassment and violence if they do occur
- Identify if changes are required to the regulations dealing with harassment and violence in the workplace
This survey will collect information from employees living in Canada who worked for a business under federal jurisdiction. Contact information was obtained either from employees' tax recordsFootnote 3 or from their employerFootnote 4. In addition to questions about working conditions, this survey will also collect information such as age, sex at birth, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, salary or wage earned, Indigenous identity, country of birth, immigration status and related information, citizenship, population group, level of education, and if they have a disability. Responses will be aggregated to ensure that no individual can be identified in published results.
Reason for supplement:
While the Generic Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) addresses most of the privacy and security risks related to statistical activities conducted by Statistics Canada, this supplement describes additional measures being implemented due to the sensitivity of the information being collected. As is the case with all PIAs, Statistics Canada's privacy framework ensures that elements of privacy protection and privacy controls are documented and applied.
The Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction will collect information on working conditions such as workplace health and safety including harassment and discrimination. Questions on harassment and discrimination could be considered sensitive and may cause distress for some respondents. This supplement also presents an analysis of the necessity and proportionality of collecting this sensitive information.
Necessity and Proportionality
The collection of personal information for the Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction can be justified against Statistics Canada's Necessity and Proportionality Framework:
- Necessity:
Data from the Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction seeks to improve our understanding of employee working conditions within federally regulated workplaces to support the Government of Canada's strategy to update the Canada Labour Code. This includes workplaces that are free from harassment, violence and discrimination.
The content and scope of the survey were developed by Statistics Canada and the Department of Employment and Social Development Canada and tested by Statistics Canada's Questionnaire Design Resource Centre. The content of the survey was deemed necessary for understanding and creating specific policies to address and prevent sexual harassment, non-sexual harassment and discrimination based on race, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. These data will be analysed alongside industry categories to determine if there is an association between working conditions and an increased risk of sexual harassment, non-sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
The Department of Employment and Social Development Canada will analyze the survey results, in aggregate form and without personal identifiers, to assess the working conditions, including the health and safety of these employees. The information will also be used to inform and update the Canada Labour Code. Only employees who worked for a business under federal jurisdiction during the reference period of 2020 are eligible to participate in the Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction. As such, respondents will first be asked to confirm if they worked for a specific employer in order to establish whether they can take part in the survey. The demographic data including: age, sex at birth, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, Indigenous identity, country of birth, immigration status and related information, citizenship, population group, level of education and if they have a disability will be collected and used for analysis of sub-populations. These data serve to better understand if certain characteristics, such as age, gender, education or race are associated with an increased risk of sexual harassment, non-sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
The survey data file, with all personal identifiers removed, will be made available to researchers in the Research Data Centres (RDC)Footnote 5 upon approval of requests to access the data for statistical researchFootnote 6. Statistics Canada's directives and policies ensure the confidentiality of any data released from the RDC. Only aggregate results, which are fully anonymized and non-confidential, without direct personal identifiers, which precludes the possibility of re-identifying individuals, can be released from the RDC. Individual responses will be grouped with those of others when reporting results and results for very small groups will not be published or shared with government departments or agencies. This will also reduce any potential impact on vulnerable populations or subsets of populations, as the grouping of results will protect the confidentiality of individual responses.Although there are currently no plans for record linkage, direct personal identifiers such as name will be retained on a separate file in a secure location for potential linkage opportunities in the future.
Statistics Canada's microdata linkage and related statistical activities were assessed in Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment.Footnote 7 All data linkage activities are subject to established governanceFootnote 8, and are assessed against the privacy principles of necessity and proportionalityFootnote 9. All approved linkages are published on Statistics Canada's websiteFootnote 10.
- Effectiveness - Working assumptions:
The survey will be conducted using a self-reported electronic questionnaire. The sample frame for this survey will be developed by Statistics Canada methodologists using administrative files within the Agency, which contain personal information such as name and contact information. The sample frame is created to ensure the population of employees under federal jurisdiction is represented. This information will be used to contact individuals selected for the survey. Prior to collection, selected individuals will be sent an invitation letter with details about the survey such as the survey purpose and the protection of confidentiality, as well as a brochure with information for workplace safety and mental health resources. The letter will include a unique secure access code for the respondent to access the electronic questionnaire on Statistics Canada's secure survey infrastructure.
Statistics Canada interviewers will conduct follow-up phone calls with people who have not responded after six weeks. This will also provide respondents with an opportunity to complete the survey over the telephone with a trained Statistics Canada interviewer.
The collection period will be approximately three months. Statistics Canada will follow all directives and policies for the development, collection, and dissemination of the survey. Survey responses will not be directly attached to respondents' personal identifiers, such as their name, address or phone numbers. Other personal information collected during the survey such as age, sex at birth, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, salary or wage earned, Indigenous identity, country of birth, immigration status and related information, citizenship, population group, level of education and if they have a disability, will be grouped to create statistics for publication of survey results and used for analysis of sub-populations.
- Proportionality:
A sample size of 37,500 has been assessed as necessary by methodologists to produce statistics of sufficient quality by industry level of federally regulated workplaces. Employment and Social Development Canada has also identified the need for estimates at the industry level, as a smaller sample size would not be expected to yield estimates of sufficient quality. If a future iteration of SEFJ occurs, its sample design will be reviewed and updated based on information gathered from this iteration.
Experts at Statistics Canada and at the Employment and Social Development Canada have been consulted on the scope and methodology of the SEFJ. Questions from other Statistics Canada surveys have been included in the SEFJ. This content has undergone three rounds of qualitative testing and no sensitivity issues were identified during qualitative testing. As well, three questions on the COVID-19 pandemic were added to assess the impact of the pandemic on unemployment and the health and safety encountered by the respondents. These questions underwent informal qualitative testing and were reviewed by the Questionnaire Design Resource Centre, who have been involved in testing a series of questionnaires on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Each question and response category was carefully considered to ensure that it would measure the research questions and help inform future decisions related to the quality of employees' work conditions including harassment or discrimination.
Proportionality has also been considered based on data sensitivity and ethics:
- Data sensitivity: The data collected for the SEFJ could be of a sensitive nature due to some of the elements being measured. To reduce the risk of sensitive information being disclosed, these data will be processed according to Statistics Canada best practices. In particular, personal identifier variables (e.g. address, etc.) are stored in a file separate from the survey data and accessible to only a limited number of employees on a need-to-know basis, and are never disclosed. They are retained for no more than two years after collection is completed.
- Ethics: Experts at Statistics Canada and ESDC have been consulted to ensure that the collection of data for the SEFJ will be done ethically. Respondents will be informed in the questionnaire that their participation is voluntary and will be provided with the survey topics before being asked any questions. A national resource on mental health and workplace safety will be listed on the brochure (see appendix A) and mailed to the respondents.
The benefits of the findings, which are expected to support decision making for the federal government and are aimed at measuring working conditions to improve Canada Labour Code standards, are believed to be proportional to the potential risks to privacy.
- Alternatives:
Currently, there are no other data sources that gather information on the working conditions of employees under federal jurisdiction. Many survey methodologies were explored. However, based on discussions between subject matter and methodology experts at Statistics Canada and the Department of Employment and Social Development Canada, it was determined that a survey with at least 37,500 units was necessary to produce reliable and accurate results by industry. Releasing data at these aggregated levels will reduce the potential to identify impacts on vulnerable populations, subsets of populations, and groups, while providing meaningful results.
Mitigation factors:
Some questions on the Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction are considered sensitive as they relate to sexual harassment, non-sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace encountered by individuals and the outcomes those problems have had on their lives. The overall risk of harm to the survey respondents has been deemed manageable with existing Statistics Canada safeguards that are described in Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment, as well as with the following measures:
Mental Health and Workplace Safety Resources
A brochure will be mailed to respondents that provides details about the survey, such as the survey purpose, how the survey results will be used, the protection of confidentiality, as well as a national resource for mental health and workplace safety.
Transparency
As with all Statistic Canada surveys, prior to the survey, respondents will be informed of the survey purpose, allowing them to decide if they want to participate. This information will be provided through invitation and reminder letters, and reiterated at the beginning of the online questionnaire. Respondents will also be informed that their participation is voluntary before being asked any questions. Information about the survey, a brochure, and the survey questionnaire will be made available on Statistics Canada's website on the day collection starts.
Confidentiality
Individual responses will be grouped with those of others when reporting results. Individual responses and results for very small groups will never be published or shared with government departments or agencies. Careful analysis of the data and consideration will be given prior to the release of aggregate data to ensure that vulnerable individuals are not disproportionally impacted.
Conclusion:
This assessment concludes that, with the existing Statistics Canada safeguards and mitigation factors listed above, any remaining risks are such that Statistics Canada is prepared to accept and manage the risk.
Formal approval:
This Supplementary Privacy Impact Assessment has been reviewed and recommended for approval by Statistics Canada's Chief Privacy Officer, Director General for Modern Statistical Methods and Data Science, and Assistant Chief Statistician for Social, Health and Labour Statistics.
The Chief Statistician of Canada has the authority for section 10 of the Privacy Act for Statistics Canada, and is responsible for the Agency's operations, including the program area mentioned in this Supplementary Privacy Impact Assessment.
This Privacy Impact Assessment has been approved by the Chief Statistician of Canada.