Date: April 2022

Program manager: Director, Centre for Indigenous Statistics and Partnerships

Director General, Social Data Insights, Integration, and Innovation

Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB):

Personal information collected through the Indigenous Peoples Survey 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 Act^{Footnote 1}, conducts the Indigenous Peoples Survey (IPS) every 5 years on behalf of Indigenous Services Canada, Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, and Employment and Social Development Canada. This voluntary targeted survey is a national survey of First Nations people living off reserve, Métis and Inuit. Each cycle of the IPS focusses on a high-priority theme based on new and emerging data priorities for Indigenous peoples, in addition to collecting a consistent set of core variables that can be tracked over time. The 2022 IPS will focus on Indigenous children and families while continuing to provide other essential socioeconomic, demographic, and cultural information, as well as a robust health module.

The survey supports Indigenous Services Canada's mandate ''to support and empower Indigenous peoples'' and aims to provide current and relevant data to inform policy and programming activities in education, employment and health. It is a valuable source of information for Indigenous organizations, communities, service providers, researchers, and governments to improve the well-being of Indigenous peoples.

Also, Employment and Social Development Canada uses information from the IPS to undertake the Nunavut Inuit Labour Force Analysis which provides a detailed analysis of the labour force of the Nunavut Settlement Area to determine the availability, interest and the level of preparedness of Inuit for government employment in accordance with Article 23.3.1 of the Nunavut Agreement. According to Article 23.3.2, the purpose of the analysis is "to assess the existing skill level and degree of formal qualification among the Inuit labour force and to assist in formulating Inuit employment plans and pre-employment training." Article 23 reflects the aspirational objective of increasing Inuit participation in government to a representative level.

Indigenous peoples invited to participate in the 2022 IPS are selected from those who reported having an Indigenous identity or having Indigenous ancestry on the 2021 Census long-form questionnaire. Consistent with the Census, the IPS only covers persons living in private dwellings in Canada. It also excludes individuals living on reserve and specific First Nations communities in Yukon and Northwest Territories, who are instead included in surveys conducted by the First Nations Information Governance Centre.

The survey includes questions on access to services, child care, education and general health. Some questions included in the 2022 survey may be deemed sensitive, particularly for the 15 to 17 year age group, including gender identity, sexual orientation, family history, family separation, victimization, missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, alcohol consumption and drug use, mental health, suicide, victimization, discrimination, pregnancy and childbirth, basic needs, food security, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey content was developed in collaboration with the sponsoring departments and in consultation with National Indigenous Organizations (NIOs) and other Indigenous organizations.

The Nunavut Inuit Supplement questions were developed in partnership with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, the Government of Nunavut (GN), Pilimmaksaivik, and Employment and Social Development Canada. The questions were designed to assess the availability, interest and preparedness of Inuit for government employment in Nunavut, and to eventually increase their representation in government.

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. Indigenous Services Canada, Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, and Employment and Social Development Canada will access the data file, with all personal identifiers removed, in the Research Data Centres^{Footnote 2} and will only be permitted to release aggregate results, which are fully anonymized and non-confidential.

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, a supplement was developed for the 2022 Indigenous Peoples Survey due to its sensitive content, and in the context of heightened awareness resulting from Truth and Reconciliation. 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.

Necessity and Proportionality

The collection of personal information for the Indigenous Peoples Survey (IPS) can be justified against Statistics Canada's Necessity and Proportionality Framework:

1. Necessity:
   Statistics Canada's Surveys on Indigenous Peoples program is a national, multi-year, multi-stakeholder program that provides critical data and research for developing effective policies and monitoring progress. The IPS provides information on Indigenous populations that is not available from other data sources. The survey is conducted on a 5-year collection cycle with fixed core content that allows for monitoring of trends, along with rotating thematic content which helps address new and emerging data priorities for Indigenous peoples.
   The information produced through the IPS is used to improve access to high quality services for First Nations, Inuit and Métis, such as Early Childhood Development programs and to increase representation of Inuit employed in government in Nunavut. The survey is run as a cost-recovery project for Indigenous Services Canada and supports their mandate "to support and empower Indigenous peoples".
   The 2022 IPS will focus on Indigenous children and families while continuing to provide other essential socioeconomic, demographic, and cultural information, as well as a robust health module. The 2022 survey theme and content was developed in collaboration with the survey sponsors, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC), Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), and in consultation with national indigenous organizations including:
   • Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP)
   • Assembly of First Nations (AFN)
   • Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK)
   • Métis National Council (MNC)
   • Pauktuutit
   • Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC)
   • National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC)
   These consultations with Indigenous organizations highlighted the need for the IPS to collect information on sensitive, but important issues for Indigenous peoples in Canada, such as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, residential school attendance and experienced racism. This information could help with further acknowledgment of these issues and with the path to reconciliation.
   The survey data file, with all personal identifiers removed, will be made available to researchers in the Research Data Centres (RDC)^{Footnote 3} upon approval of requests to access the data for statistical research^{Footnote 4}. 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.
   Participants in the survey will be informed that the survey data will be linked to 2021 Census data to provide additional contextual information, and to help reduce respondent burden. Statistics Canada's microdata linkage and related statistical activities were assessed in Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment.^{Footnote 5} All data linkage activities are subject to established governance ^{Footnote 6}, and are assessed against the privacy principles of necessity and proportionality^{Footnote 7}. All approved linkages are published on Statistics Canada's website^{Footnote 8}.
2. Effectiveness - Working assumptions:
   The 2022 IPS will produce estimates for First Nations, Inuit and Métis at the provincial and territorial level to help advance programs and policies. The survey is conducted on a 5-year collection cycle with fixed core content that allows for monitoring of trends along with rotating thematic content which helps to address new and emerging data priorities for Indigenous peoples.
   The 2022 IPS Nunavut Inuit Supplement is designed to support the federal government's obligation under Article 23 of the Nunavut Agreement to conduct an ongoing Nunavut Inuit Labour Force Analysis (NILFA). It includes a large supplemental sample designed to produce community-level estimates for Inuit aged 15+ enrolled under the Nunavut Agreement.
   The supplemental questions were jointly developed by the NILFA Technical Working Group, including members of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, the Government of Nunavut and the Government of Canada.
3. Proportionality:
   The population for this survey consists of anyone who identified as Indigenous or indicated Indigenous ancestry on the 2021 Census. In order to achieve the desired level of data quality, a minimum sample size was computed. Based on a projected response rate, the sample size for the IPS is approximately 68,000 plus an additional required sample of 5850 specific to the Nunavut Inuit Supplement. To ensure that Indigenous priorities were reflected in the survey content and that it was culturally sensitive and relevant, National Indigenous Organizations (NIOs) were engaged and consulted with the support of the survey sponsors (ISC and ESDC). Additionally, the NIOs and other Indigenous organizations/groups completed a Ranking Questionnaire which allowed them to prioritize the themes and questions that they considered most important and that would be retained. Every effort was made to ensure that the feedback received from these groups was addressed and incorporated where possible. Themes or questions that raised major concerns were revised accordingly. In regards to the sensitive nature of some of the questionnaire modules, NIOs indicated that while these were difficult for respondents to answer, their inclusion in the questionnaire was deemed necessary. Questions were retained based on the data needs of the sponsoring departments and on those expressed by the NIOs that were consulted.
4. Alternatives:
   The IPS is designed to allow for distinctions-based analysis of Indigenous Peoples at the national, provincial and territorial levels. While other surveys include Indigenous populations in their sample, given the relatively small population of First Nations, Métis and Inuit in Canada, those surveys can often only produce pan-Indigenous estimates at the national level. The IPS, which collects information specifically and directly from Indigenous populations is required to gather data on issues that are relevant to First Nations, Métis and Inuit.

Mitigation factors:

Some questions contained in the IPS are considered sensitive as they relate to family history and family separation, smoking, drug use, alcohol consumption, suicide, mental health, discrimination, victimization, missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, basic needs and food security. 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:

• Helpline resources from across Canada will be available to respondents in the electronic questionnaire help button.
• Escape buttons will allow respondents to skip the more sensitive victimization module of the questionnaire.
• Interviewers will be trained on and have access to information on mental health supports to provide to respondents who share information or show signs of distress triggered by sensitive questions.
• For respondents 14 years of age and under, the survey is completed by the adult most knowledgeable about that child. For youth 15 to 17, although parental permission is not required, interviewers will be instructed not to complete the survey with this age group if the parent refuses.
• As for all surveys, respondents will be informed through the invitation letter, brochure, promotional and advertising materials, along with the questionnaire and on Statistics Canada's website, that participation is voluntary and of the nature of the survey to inform their decision to participate. For the Nunavut Inuit Supplement target population, some of this information is made available in the four official languages of Nunavut (Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, English and French), as required by the Nunavut Agreement.

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.

Appendix 1 – Promotional Material

Brochure

Poster

Media advisory

July 8, 2022, OTTAWA, ON –

On July 13, 2022, Statistics Canada will release the third set of results from the 2021 Census. This release will include the portrait of Canada's families and households, the past and present Canadian military experience and the income profile of Canadians.

The release will be published in Statistics Canada's Daily at 8:30 a.m. eastern time on July 13, 2022. Information about subsequent releases throughout 2022 is available at 2021 Census dissemination planning - Release plans.

Statistics Canada officials will hold a news conference to present high-level national, provincial, and territorial findings for the third release from the 2021 Census. Officials will be available to answer questions from the media following their remarks.

On July 13 and the following days, Statistics Canada will also grant interviews regarding this 2021 Census data release. Members of the media are invited to submit their requests for interviews and/or custom tabulations ahead of the release date to the Media Hot Line.

Date

July 13, 2022

Time

9:00 AM to 10:00 AM (EDT)

Location

The news conference will be held virtually.

Participation in the question and answer portion of this event is for accredited members of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery only. Media who are not members of the Press Gallery may contact pressres2@parl.gc.ca to request temporary access. A teleconference line is also available for media who wish to listen to the event:

Toll-free dial-in number (Canada/US): 1-866-206-0153
Local dial-in number: 613-954-9003
Participant passcode: 8843208#

Associated link

2021 Census of Population – Backgrounder for Media

Contact

Media Relations
Statistics Canada
statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca

Overview of the census

• The census is conducted every five years.
• The 2021 Census was Canada's 23rd national census.
• The year 2021 marked the 355th anniversary of the first census.
• The short-form questionnaire (2A): 75% of Canadian households received the short-form questionnaire, covering the following topics: age, sex at birth, gender, relationships of household members, marital status, language and Canadian military service.
• The long-form questionnaire (2A-L): 25% of Canadian households received the long-form questionnaire, covering the above-mentioned topics, as well as activities of daily living, sociocultural information, mobility, education and labour market activity.

Participating in the census

• As in previous years, the 2021 Census was mandatory. All residents of Canada were legally required to complete a census questionnaire, in accordance with the provisions of the Statistics Act.

Major releases from the 2021 Census

• Beginning February 9, 2022, seven major "themed" releases highlighted from the 2021 Census of Population. These releases are published in The Daily, Statistics Canada's official release bulletin, and offer data, analytical and reference products.

• On April 27, 2022, Statistics Canada released the second set of results from the 2021 Census. This release explored Canada's shifting demographic profile, and for the first time ever, included data about the gender diversity of our population. Additional questions on sex-at-birth and gender were added to the 2021 Census to allow more Canadians to better represented. Data about the various types of dwellings in Canada were also released.
• The next release, on July 13, 2022, will paint the portrait of Canada's families and households and provide information about the past and present military experience and income profile of Canadians. There are many other stories to come:
  • August 27
    • Linguistic diversity and use of English and French in Canada
  • September 21
    • First Nations people, Métis and Inuit in Canada
    • Canada's housing portrait
  • October 26
    • Portrait of citizenship and immigration in Canada
    • Ethnocultural and religious composition of the population
    • Mobility and migration

• The final release, on education, the labour force and instruction in the official minority language, will take place on November 30, 2022. After the seven major releases, there will be further releases of new analysis and products (dates to be determined).

Why do we conduct the census?

• The census paints a portrait of people in Canada and the places where they live.
• The census provides high-quality information that is used by all levels of government, businesses, and various community and social services organizations.
• Census data are used to administer government programs and plan daycare centres, schools, hospitals, housing, skills training for employment, public transportation and emergency services.
• The census is also conducted to meet statutory requirements. The population counts from the census are used to adjust the population estimates, which—in turn—are used to determine representation in Parliament, calculate transfer payments between different levels of government and support various government programs across the country.
• Census data are key during the pandemic since they are used for emergency response and preparedness purposes. Local-level census population, age, income and housing data are required by all levels of government to determine who is most vulnerable to the health and economic crisis underway. Furthermore, vaccine allocations have been conducted on a per capita basis, using census data.
• Census data will help us better understand the impacts of the pandemic on different groups and communities, as well as their evolution since the last census in 2016. Moreover, data collected in the 2021 Census will inform many of the economic and health-related policy decisions that must be made by all levels of government in the coming months and years as the aftermath of the pandemic continues to affect Canadians.

How did we conduct the census?

• Statistics Canada adapted to the reality of the pandemic to conduct a safe census that enabled Canadians to tell their story and provide vital information about their country and communities.
• Collection procedures for the census were redesigned to ensure respondents and census employees were safe by limiting the amount of contact needed to participate in this important exercise.
• All households were encouraged to complete the questionnaire online to adhere to a contact-free approach of census data collection.
• No census employees from Statistics Canada were permitted to visit or enter institutional collective dwellings (e.g., seniors' homes, long-term care facilities).

Languages and alternate formats

• The 2021 Census questions were available in 25 languages (13 Indigenous languages and 12 immigrant languages), in addition to English and French. The census questionnaire was available in only English and French, however, and had to be completed in either English or French.
• Materials such as large-print questionnaires, and braille, video and audio versions of the questions were available upon request by contacting the Census Help Line.

Content in the census

• Statistics Canada undertook a rigorous consultation, testing, review and approval process to ensure that the questions in the 2021 Census reflect demands for key information.
• The content proposed by Statistics Canada was submitted to Cabinet, and the questions asked in the 2021 Census were prescribed by an order in council, as is required by the Statistics Act.
• The 2021 Census of Population short-form questionnaire (2A) asked up to 17 questions on topics such as age, sex at birth, gender, relationships of household members, marital status, language and Canadian military service.
• The 2021 Census of Population long-form questionnaire (2A-L) contained the same questions as the short-form questionnaire, but also featured some new and modified questions on ethnic or cultural origins; religion; citizenship and immigration; First Nations people, Métis and Inuit; labour; and housing. Changes to questions are outlined in topic-specific fact sheets available on the Statistics Canada website.

Response rates

The national collection response rates for the Census of Population were as follows:

• 2006: 97.0%^{Footnote 1}
• 2011: 98.1%
• 2016: 98.4%^{Footnote 1}
• 2021: 98.0%^{Footnote 1} (during a pandemic)

The national collection response rates by Internet for the Census of Population were as follows:

• 2006: 18.5%^{Footnote 1}
• 2011: 54.4%
• 2016: 68.3%^{Footnote 1}
• 2021: 84.1%^{Footnote 1} (during a pandemic)

Please visit the agency website for a detailed breakdown (by geography and type) of the 2021 Census of Population collection response rates.

Date: April 2022

Program manager: Director, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics

Director General, Census Subject Matter, Social Insights, Integration and Innovation

Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB)

Personal information collected through the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) is described in Statistics Canada's "Crime Statistics" Personal Information Bank (Bank number: StatCan PPU 029). The UCR collects personal information to produce statistical information relating to the nature and extent of crime in Canada and to describe the circumstances of criminal incidents, as well as the characteristics of victims and accused persons. Personal information is collected pursuant to the Statistics Act (Sections 3, 7, 13).

The Crime Statistics PIB is published on the Statistics Canada website under the latest Information about Programs and Information Holdings chapter.

Description of statistical activity

Statistics Canada conducts the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) under the authority of the Statistics Act^{Footnote 1}. The UCR collects data on criminal incidents that come to the attention of, and have been substantiated by, police. Information collected from police services includes personal information such as name, date of birth, gender, and characteristics of victims and accused persons involved in criminal incidents, as well as information relating to the nature and extent of the incidents.

The purpose of the survey is to measure the incidence of crime in Canadian society and its characteristics. The information is used by federal and provincial policy makers as well as public and private researchers.

More than 1,000 separate police services and detachments respond to the survey, comprising of over 190 different police forces. Starting in 2022, the Canadian Forces Military Police will become an active respondent to the UCR survey and will be required to provide the same information already provided by other police services.

Information on the UCR is available on Statistics Canada's website Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR)

Reason for supplement

While the Generic Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) addresses the privacy and security risks related to statistical activities conducted by Statistics Canada including the UCR, due to the sensitivity of the information being collected and in the context of the current Canadian Armed Forces (CAF)-Department of National Defence (DND) Sexual Misconduct dossier, this supplement describes the measures in place to protect the privacy and confidentiality of the information, and informs Canadians that the Canadian Forces Military Police will now be an active respondent to the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) and will be reporting data on Criminal Code and Federal Statute incidents under their jurisdiction. 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.

Necessity and Proportionality

The collection of personal information for the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) by the Canadian Forces Military Police can be justified against Statistics Canada's Necessity and Proportionality Framework:

1. Necessity:
   The general benefits of the UCR data for Canadians have been well defined in terms of:
   • providing a comprehensive picture of crime in Canada
   • supporting police services and other justice stakeholders in their resource planning and program development for the policing community
   • supporting decisions about the distribution of police resources, definitions of provincial standards and for comparisons with other departments and provinces or territories
   • providing information for policy and legislative development, evaluation of new legislative initiatives, and international comparisons, and
   • helping media, academics and researchers use these data to examine specific issues about crime.
   To date, the response rate in terms of police respondents complying with the UCR survey is virtually 100 percent, but some respondents are still missing to ensure that the survey is covering the total crime that come to the attention of police in Canada. Among those few respondents missing is the Canadian Forces Military Police (CFMP). The CFMP is responsible to enforce laws and regulations on Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) establishments in Canada and abroad. They serve the entire CAF community, including Regular and Reserve Force members, civilian employees, cadets, and family members. Among the primary responsibilities of the CFMP are to investigate and report incidents involving military or criminal offenses and perform other policing duties, such as traffic control and traffic-accident investigations which are in scope of the UCR.
   To provide the most accurate picture of crime in Canada, it is important that all police services respond to the UCR. In addition, the CFMP has expressed its interest to be included in the UCR in order to be transparent regarding crimes on their military bases across the country. The Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJCSS) has therefore been working with the CFMP in including them in the UCR. In compliance with Statistics Canada's Policy on Informing Users of Data Quality and Methodology^{Footnote 2}, users of the UCR will be informed of the addition of the CFMP as a respondent to the UCR and of the relevant data quality and methodology through the Agency's Integrated Metadata Base (IMDB) UCR web page^{Footnote 3}.
   The CFMP will be reporting the same information as the current UCR respondents, including personal information on victims and accused involved in criminal incidents in Canada. The survey data file, without direct identifiers other than postal code and date of birth, will be made available to researchers in the Research Data Centres (RDC)^{Footnote 4} upon approval of requests to access the data for statistical research. Statistics Canada's directives and policies on data publication will be followed to ensure the confidentiality of any data released from the RDCs. Only aggregate results, which are fully anonymized and non-confidential, without direct identifiers, which precludes the possibility of re-identifying individuals, can be released from the RDCs. Statistics Canada will retain this data as long as required for statistical purposes, in order to conduct analysis of long‐term impacts.
   Data from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) can be linked to other data sets for both specialized data production activities such as the update of the Crime Severity Index (CSI), as well as for cost-recovery or other specialized projects that address specific justice-related research questions and/or data gaps. Statistics Canada's microdata linkage and related statistical activities were assessed in Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment.^{Footnote 5} All data linkage activities are subject to established governance^{Footnote 6}, and are assessed against the privacy principles of necessity and proportionality^{Footnote 7}. All approved linkages are published on Statistics Canada's website^{Footnote 8}.
2. Effectiveness - Working assumptions:
   Statistics Canada's Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) is an administrative data source that extracts police service files from their Record Management Systems on a monthly basis. It is the only source of data that collects information on all criminal incidents reported by Canadian police services. It is Canada's primary source of information to monitor the nature and extent of police-reported crimes across the country. Accordingly, including the Canadian Forces Military Police (CFMP) will allow for a more complete picture of crime in Canada.
   All Statistics Canada directives and policies for obtaining administrative data under the Statistics Act and dissemination of the data are followed, and information released does not disclose any information identifying victims or accused involved in a criminal incident reported by the police. Further, the CFMP is engaged in ongoing discussions with the CCJCSS to determine if additional vetting rules specific to their data are required to ensure the confidentiality of victims or accused.
   The data from the UCR survey is representative of crime in Canada and is disaggregated at the provincial and Census metropolitan Area (CMA)^{Footnote 9} geographical level and at the incident level. Information on victims and accused including age and gender, are grouped in order to ensure anonymity. More specifically, CCJCSS does not release any tables or cross-tabulations that may identify directly or indirectly a particular victim or suspect by the specifics of an offence. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.
   The CFMP, in collaboration with CCJCSS, has established that the CFMP data will be systematically disseminated at a higher level of geography where their individual military bases' data will be published together as one respondent and included in the Canada level rollup only (no province breakout for confidentiality reasons). In addition, there will be ongoing discussions between the CFMP and CCJCSS to establish if additional residual disclosure rules for their data will be required.
3. Proportionality:
   Personal information such as name, date of birth, gender, and characteristics of victims and accused persons involved in criminal incidents, as well as information relating to the nature and extent of the incident is collected from more than 1,000 separate police services and detachments, comprising of over 190 different police forces which will now include the Canadian Forces Military Police. To provide the most accurate picture of crime in Canada, it is important that all police services respond to the UCR.
   The data collected through the UCR survey provide key information for crime analysis, resource planning and program development for the policing community.
   Municipal and provincial governments use the data to inform decisions about the distribution of police resources, to develop definitions of provincial standards, and for comparisons with other departments or jurisdictions. For the Federal Government, the UCR survey provides information for policy and legislative development, for the evaluation of new legislative initiatives, and for international comparisons.
   The UCR survey also provides information to the general public on the nature and extent of police-reported crime and crime trends in Canada. As well, media, academics and researchers use these data to examine specific issues about crime.
   All data extracted from police services administrative files are carefully considered to address specific data needs and gaps, and consultations with the Police and Information Statistics Committee (POLIS) from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police are conducted on an ongoing basis.
   Proportionality has also been considered based on ethics:
   Data sensitivity: The data collected from the CMPF could be of a sensitive nature due to the current CAF-DND Sexual Misconduct dossier. The risk of sensitive information being disclosed is minimal since their data will be processed according to Statistics Canada's and the UCR-specific current practices. In particular, personal identifier variables (e.g. name and date of birth of victims and accused) are suppressed from the data and accessible to only a limited number of employees on a need-to-know basis. They are never disclosed.
   Approved researchers accessing the UCR microdata files in the RDCs must apply well defined vetting rules in order to use the data for research purposes. It has additionally been agreed on that the CFMP, in collaboration with CCJCSS, could develop additional vetting rules that may be applied, if required, to their specific data and those rules will be consistent across military bases for which information will be collected.
4. Alternatives:
   The Canadian Forces Military Police (CFMP) is not currently responding to the UCR Survey, therefore incidents reported under the Canadian Criminal Code by this force are not accounted for in the Canadian crime statistics released yearly by Statistics Canada. Including the CFMP as an active respondent will address this data gap.

Mitigation factors

Some of the variables contained in the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) such as names, date of birth and gender are considered sensitive as they directly identify individuals coming into contact with the police in the context of a criminal incident. 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 some additional measures implemented specifically for the UCR. Data from the Canadian Forces Military Police (CFMP) could be perceived as of a higher sensitivity due to the CAF-DND Sexual Misconduct dossier. Additional safeguard measures will therefore be applied on those specific cases reported by the CFMP.

Measures for all StatCan surveys

The following describes some of the measures that apply to all surveys but that demonstrate safeguards of particular importance for the UCR.

The Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) has collected aggregate police-reported data since 1962 and incident-based data on the characteristics of all criminal incidents, victims and accused persons since 1988. The ongoing success of the UCR incident-based survey is dependent on the cooperation and participation of the police services across Canada. Statistics Canada takes great care to respect the trust that respondent police services place in Statistics Canada to safeguard the information that they have supplied. The confidentiality provisions stipulated by Paragraph 17(1)(b) of the Statistics Act require that the characteristics of individual incidents, accused or victims not be disseminated to the public.^{Footnote 10}

In addition to legislative requirements outlined by the Statistics Act, the Government of Canada and Statistics Canada have established a number of policies around collecting and storing sensitive statistical information, such as data collected through the UCR; these include the Federal Policy on Government Security^{Footnote 11}, and Statistics Canada's IT Security Policy and Policy on Privacy and Confidentiality.

To ensure compliance with these security requirements, physical security measures are put in place whereby data, including that of the UCR, are stored in a secure location where access is controlled and limited only to authorized persons on a need-to-know basis. More specifically, access to the data is controlled by file permissions and these permissions are only granted in a way to permit the minimum access necessary to program service delivery. All Statistics Canada employees, including deemed employees^{Footnote 12}, involved in the production of statistics are aware of their obligation to protect confidentiality and of the legal penalties for wrongful disclosure.

Furthermore, all direct identifiers (e.g. for the UCR, names, date of birth, and address of the victims or accused persons) are removed from the data files during UCR data processing steps and the files that contain these variables are stored in a separate secure area (server). Secure practices and processes are used in the production of statistics and access to any protected information is based strictly on the need-to-know principle and is limited to only those persons whose current work-related responsibilities require access to the information.

Measures for the UCR

The following describes some of the additional measures that apply to the UCR:

Statistics Canada's Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJCSS) also takes specific steps to preserve data confidentiality and where data users have access to microdata, for example, via Statistics Canada's Research Data Centres (RDCs), confidentiality vetting guidelines specific to the UCR survey have been developed in order to prevent the release of potentially sensitive information that pertains to the characteristics of a particular individual or incident.

Generally speaking, these measures include the UCR data made available in the RDCs for statistical research and analysis, and the results (outputs) of this analysis that can exported out of the RDCs.

UCR data available in RDCs

• A review of all the UCR variables was conducted to determine which variables would be included for access in the RDCs and which would not. Variables were marked for exclusion for one of two main reasons:
  • Direct identifiers – The variables that identify specific individuals or incidents (e.g., name of victim, name of accused, FPS (Finger Print Information System) number, police report number (incident file number)). These variables are not available in the RDCs under any circumstances.
  • Data quality issues – The data received from police services that are of poor or unknown quality.
• Consideration was also given to possible confidentiality risks that might be associated with the response categories for certain UCR variables, as these responses could potentially reveal sensitive information about the incident, the accused or the victim. For example, the precise time and date of particular incidents may be particularly revealing and as such are not releasable. When presenting data by these variables (e.g., cross-tabulating type of violation by time of incident), the researcher is required to collapse the time into 6-hour intervals. Therefore, where necessary, sensitive response categories are aggregated or collapsed into a more generic category to reduce any risk of disclosure.
• Similarly, individual violation codes for criminal offences captured on the UCR were examined to discern if there were any potential confidentiality issues that might result from releasing information for particular violation codes. Sensitive violation codes such as those related to the sexual violation of children, are grouped into a single category as 'Other Sexual Violations', therefore aggregated or collapsed under a more generic code to reduce any risk of disclosure.
• Finally, the retained variables were examined to identify any potentially sensitive variables (i.e., indirect identifiers or sensitive variables), that could, either alone or when appearing in conjunction with other variables, disclose confidential information. Once the potentially sensitive variables were identified, disclosure rules were then developed to manage the confidentiality concerns related to these variables.

UCR research and analysis outputs that can leave the RDCs

In order for statistical outputs resulting from analysis of the UCR data to receive approval for removal from the RDCs, the following confidentiality vetting rules must be satisfied.

First and foremost, statistical outputs may not be removed from the RDC if they can lead to the possible identification of a particular victim, accused person or incident.

For frequency tables (i.e., counts, rates, totals), a scoring method is used by the RDC analyst to determine the disclosure risk score for each table. The score is based on the nature and level of detail of the variables that make up that table, and increases as more sensitive variables are included. Variables that are potentially more sensitive (i.e., those associated with a higher risk of identification or revealing a characteristic that can be attributed to a single individual or incident) are given higher scores. The lowest score is a 0 and is awarded to variables associated with an extremely low risk of disclosure, whereas a score of 8 is given when the risk of disclosure is extremely high. Researchers will score their tables themselves. Then, after tallying the total disclosure risk score for a table, the researcher, in consultation with the RDC analyst, then compares the table score to the established threshold to determine whether or not it can be released.

For the UCR, the threshold for disclosure risk scores is 7. Frequency tables with scores at or below the threshold may be released as is – regardless of the cell count. Tables with disclosure risk scores above the threshold will not be releasable. In cases where tables score above the threshold, researchers may want to consider removing one or more sensitive variables or try using an aggregated variable to lower the table's overall score.

Alternately, with a few exceptions, researchers can choose to apply a controlled rounding process (rounding to base 5) to their tables. The RDC analyst will verify that the rounding program has been applied correctly.

Measures for UCR CFMP data

In collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJCSS), it has been determined that the Canadian Forces Military Police (CFMP) would like all of their bases' data published together as one respondent and included in the Canada level rollup only (no province breakout for confidentiality reasons). Additionally, measures such as rolling up certain offence types to avoid the release of disaggregated data that could potentially identify individuals and/or specific vetting rules related to the CFMP data may be developed by the CFMP and Statistics Canada, if required, in order to heighten confidentiality protection.

Conclusion

This assessment concludes that, with the existing Statistics Canada safeguards and additional 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.