2024 International Methodology Symposium registration
Statistics Canada
October 29 to November 1, 2024
statcan.symposium2024-symposium2024.statcan@statcan.gc.ca
Privacy notice

Registration procedures

External participants:

Participants who are not Statistics Canada employees can now register using the online registration form that can be accessed by selecting the “Register” button at the bottom of this page.

Statistics Canada employees:

Instructions will be sent to Statistics Canada employees closer to the Symposium.

The registration fee covers the following:

• Conference attendance
• Break refreshments
• Registration program, abstracts, and list of participants

Symposium 2024 Registration Fees (in Canadian dollars)

Symposium 2024 Registration Fees (in Canadian dollars)

Category	Registration fees
	Before tax	Tax included Footnote 1
Workshop – in person	$80	$90.40
Symposium – in person	$300	$339.00
Symposium – online	$150	$169.50
StudentFootnote 2 – Symposium – in person or online	$150	$169.50

Registration deadline

The registration deadline for in-person conference attendance and workshops is September 30, 2024. Registration for online attendance will remain open until October 14, 2024. Participants are therefore invited to make sure to register before these dates.

Cancellation policy

Cancellations received in writing until September 30, 2024, will receive a full refund. After that date, no refunds will be made, but substitutions will be permitted. Please advise the registrar in advance of substitutions. However, if you do not cancel and do not attend, you will be charged the full registration fee. Travel and accommodation expenses are the responsibility of conference participants.

Register

Workshops will be held in person only on October 29, from 9:30am to 4:30pm.

Workshop 1

Smoothing based models using reproducible workflows in R – English session

Dr. Dave Campbell
Professor, Carleton University
https://people.math.carleton.ca/~davecampbell

Abstract:

In this workshop, we will introduce the use of Generalized Additive Models in R with emphasis on modern reproducible workflows that facilitate sharing and recycling efforts for use in new or updated datasets. Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) are a flexible regression tool that acts as an intermediary between linear regression and completely unconstrained function estimation from tools such as neural networks. GAMs are part of the inferential data science toolkit that allows a balance between ‘letting the data decide’ and exploiting expert insight into model curation.

Participants to this workshop will be introduced to reproducible workflows in R providing them with the ability to share results and automatically generate reports. In particular, a mathematical introduction to GAMs building on familiar tools from linear regression will be given. An overview of where these tools fit into the analytic toolbox and how they are combined into powerful predictive machines will also be discussed.

This workshop assumes only minimal experience with using R or a related data science coding language.

The workshop will be offered in English. The material will be available to participants in both official languages.

Biography:

Dr. Dave Campbell is a full Professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics and the School of Computer Science at Carleton University in Ottawa. Academically, he runs a collaborative team researching inferential algorithms at the intersections of statistics with machine learning, computing, and applied mathematics to solve problems inspired by industry and government collaborations. He has co-authored discussion papers in Bayesian Analysis and the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society (series B) and been awarded over $3.5 million in research grants.

Dave’s career path maintains a theme of Industrial collaborations. He spent 2021-2023 period leading the inferential Data Science team at the Bank of Canada overseeing projects relating to cybersecurity, forecasting banknote demand, understanding drivers of inflation, and ensuring data privacy. Before moving to Ottawa in 2019, Dave was a Professor at Simon Fraser University, where he led the creation of their BSc in Data Science. He was the inaugural President of the Data Science and Analytics Section of the Statistical Society of Canada and was a co-organizer of the popular Vancouver Learn Data Science Meetup linking industry and academia.

It is an honor for us that Dr. Dave Campbell accepted our invitation to share his knowledge at a Symposium workshop! You can actually find him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdavecampbell/

Workshop 2

Protecting the confidentiality of statistical data – French session

Dr. Anne-Sophie Charest
Professor, Laval University
https://www.fsg.ulaval.ca/corps-professoral/anne-sophie-charest

Abstract:

In this workshop, we will explore how to collect, analyze and share confidential data without disclosing personal information. We will look at the various risks associated with the use of personal data, as well as different ways of measuring these risks. In particular, we will consider differential privacy, an approach that has been the subject of much research and is now used in practice by some statistical agencies and private companies. We will explain the origin of this formal measure of confidentiality, look in detail at its mathematical definition and interpretation, and discuss the advantages and limitations of the approach. We will also discuss the use of synthetic datasets for privacy protection purposes: how to generate such datasets and assess their quality in terms of risk and utility. The content will be illustrated with R code, and part of the time will be set aside for participants to test the methods presented.

The workshop will be offered in French. The material will be available to participants in both official languages.

Biography:

Anne-Sophie Charest is an Associate Professor at Université Laval. She holds a PhD in Statistics from Carnegie Mellon University. Her research interests focus on the protection of the confidentiality of statistical data, including in the context of surveys or population census. She is particularly interested in the generation and analysis of synthetic datasets as well as the measurement of disclosure risk, particularly through the differential privacy framework.

It is an honor for us that Anne-Sophie Charest accepted our invitation to share her knowledge at a Symposium workshop! You can actually find her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-sophie-charest-900a585b/

Interprovincial trade activities

1. Over the last 12 months, did this business conduct any of the following activities within Canada?

Include transactions executed between a business in a given province or territory and a consumer or business outside that province or territory.
Select all that apply.

• Purchased goods or services from suppliers in another province or territory
  • Did this business purchase food products from suppliers in another province or territory?
    Food product refers to processed or unprocessed food or beverages for human consumption.
    • Yes
    • No
    • Don’t know
• Sold goods or services to customers in another province or territory
  • Did this business sell food products to customers in another province or territory?
    Food product refers to processed or unprocessed food or beverages for human consumption.
    • Yes
    • No
    • Don’t know
• Transported goods from one province or territory to another
  i.e. this business has its own fleet of trucks, trains, ships or planes to transport goods from one province or territory to another
  Exclude transportation contracted to a third-party company.

OR

• Don’t know

OR

• None of the above

Food production activities

2. Over the last 12 months, did this business do any food production activities?

e.g., manufacturing, processing or packaging food products
Exclude food production activities outsourced to a third-party company.

• Yes
  • Over the last 12 months, which of the following food production activities did this business do?
    Select all that apply.
    • Manufactured food products
      Manufacturing refers to the making or fabricating of a food from raw ingredients or already pre-manufactured ingredients, manually or with the use of machinery.
    • Processed food products
      Processing refers to a series of steps taken in order to prepare food.
    • Treated food products
      Treating refers to applying a process or a substance to a food to protect it or to give it particular properties.
    • Preserved food products
      Preserving refers to applying a process or treatment to a food to prevent its decomposition.
      Exclude storing the preserved food in a temperature-controlled facility for the exclusive purpose of maintaining the preserved condition and quality of the food.
    • Graded food products
      Grading refers to examining a food against a set of requirements prescribed in the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) and determining the grade for that food.
    • Packaged food products
      Packaging refers to placing a food in an inner or outer receptacle or covering, including a wrapper or confining band.
    • Labelled food products
      Labelling refers to applying or attaching a label, including a legend, a word or a mark, to a food or a package of food.
      OR
    • Don’t know
• No
• Don’t know

Flow condition: If “Yes” is selected in Q2, go to Q3. Otherwise go to Q5.

Safe Food for Canadians Regulations

3. Over the last 12 months, did this business hold a licence under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR)?

Safe Food for Canadians Regulations are consolidated sets of regulations that came into force in 2019 and that implement targeted improvements to the food system in order to overcome the risks and challenges posed by the speed, volume and complexity of present-day food production.

• Yes
  • In what year did this business first obtain a licence under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR)?
    Provide your best estimate.
    Year business first obtained this licence:
  • Over the last 12 months, did this business also hold a provincial or territorial food safety licence?
    • Yes
    • No
      • Did this business relinquish its provincial or territorial licence upon obtaining a licence under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR)?
        • Yes
        • No
        • Don’t know
    • Don’t know
• No
  • For which of the following reasons does this business not hold a licence under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR)?
    • This business is actively taking steps to obtain licence but has not yet completed the process
    • This business was unable to complete the process
    • This business is interested in obtaining a Safe Food for Canadians licence but finds the process too complicated
    • This business did not need to obtain a Safe Food for Canadians licence
      e.g. tasks requiring licence are completed outside of this business
    • Not interested in obtaining a Safe Food for Canadians licence
    • Other reason
      Specify other reason:
    • Don’t know
• Don’t know

Flow condition: If “Yes” is selected and “Year business first obtained this licence” is greater than 2022, go to Q4. Otherwise, go to Q5.

4. Over the last 12 months, how much did this business invest to be able to meet federal requirements to obtain a licence under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR)?

Safe Food for Canadians Regulations are consolidated sets of regulations that came into force in 2019 and that implement targeted improvements to the food system in order to overcome the risks and challenges posed by the speed, volume and complexity of present-day food production.

Provide your best estimate.

• Less than $100,000
• From $100,000 to less than $500,000
• From $500,000 to less than $1,000,000
• From $1,000,000 to less than $5,000,000
• From $5,000,000 to less than $10,000,000
• More than $10,000,000
• Don’t know

Flow condition: If “Don’t know” is selected in Q1, go to Q27. If “Purchased goods or services from suppliers in another province or territory” is selected in Q1, go to Q5. Otherwise, go to Q9.

Purchasing goods and services across provincial or territorial borders

5. Over the last 12 months, what was the percentage of total purchases of goods or services that were purchased from suppliers operating within another province or territory in Canada?

Include purchases between a business in a given province or territory and a consumer or a business outside that province or territory.
For goods purchased from suppliers, include all purchases.
For goods purchased from another business within the same company located in another province or territory, only include purchases of value-added or altered goods.
Exclude purchases within the same province or territory where the business is operating.
Provide your best estimate.
Percentage of total purchases of goods and services:

OR

• Don’t know

6. Over the last 12 months, in which provinces or territories did this business purchase goods or services from suppliers?

For goods purchased from suppliers, include all purchases.
For goods purchased from another business within the same company located in another province or territory, only include purchases of value-added or altered goods.
Exclude purchases within the same province or territory where the business is operating.
Select all that apply.

• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Prince Edward Island
• Nova Scotia
• New Brunswick
• Quebec
• Ontario
• Manitoba
• Saskatchewan
• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Yukon
• Northwest Territories
• Nunavut

OR

• Don’t know

Display condition: If “Yes” to purchasing food products from suppliers in another province or territory is selected in Q1, display “Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products”, “Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products” and “Food safety regulations were difficult to abide by”.

7. Over the last 12 months, which of the following obstacles did this business experience when purchasing goods or services from suppliers operating within another province or territory in Canada?

Select all that apply.

• No obstacles experienced

OR

• Distance between point of origin and destination
• Transportation cost
• Transportation availability
  e.g., lack of shipping containers
• Transportation regulations were difficult to abide by
• Permitted quantity of a given product was limited
• Too much paperwork to fill out
• Permits and licenses were difficult to obtain
• Provincial or territorial tax laws
• Provincial or territorial language laws
• Regulations for this business’ industry were difficult to abide by
• Difficulty identifying or securing agreements across supply chains to enable contracts with another province or territory
• Lack of knowledge or information on the market
• Lack of profitability
• Lack of inventory available
• Delay between placing and receiving orders
• Provincial or territorial laws and regulations regarding investment coming from another province or territory
• Limited consumer choices due to provincial or territorial regulations on service use
• Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products
• Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products
• Food safety regulations were difficult to abide by
• Other obstacle
  Specify other obstacle:                                   

OR

• Don’t know

Flow condition: If any obstacle from “Transportation cost” to “Other obstacle” is selected in Q7, go to Q8. Otherwise, go to Q11.
Display condition: Display in Q8 the obstacles selected in Q7.

8. Over the last 12 months, what impact did each of the obstacles experienced have on this business’s ability to purchase goods or services from suppliers operating within another province or territory in Canada?

• Transportation cost
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Transportation availability
  e.g., lack of shipping containers
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Transportation regulations were difficult to abide by
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Permitted quantity of a given product was limited
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Too much paperwork to fill out
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Permits and licenses were difficult to obtain
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Provincial or territorial tax laws
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Provincial or territorial language laws
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Regulations for this business’ industry were difficult to abide by
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Difficulty identifying or securing agreements across supply chains to enable contracts with another province or territory
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Lack of knowledge or information on the market
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Lack of profitability
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Lack of inventory available
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Delay between placing and receiving orders
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Provincial or territorial laws and regulations regarding investment coming from another province or territory
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Limited consumer choices due to provincial or territorial regulations on service use
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Food safety regulations were difficult to abide by
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Other obstacle
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all

Flow condition: If ONLY “Transported goods from one province or territory to another” is selected in Q1, go to Q11. If “Purchased goods or services from suppliers in another province or territory” is not selected or if “None of the above” is selected in Q1, go to Q9. Otherwise, go to Q11.

9. Over the last 12 months, why did this business not purchase goods or services from suppliers operating within another province or territory in Canada?

Select all that apply.

• Distance between point of origin and destination
• Transportation cost
• Transportation availability
  e.g., lack of shipping containers
• Transportation regulations were difficult to abide by
• Permitted quantity of a given product was limited
• Too much paperwork to fill out
• Permits and licenses were difficult to obtain
• Provincial or territorial tax laws
• Provincial or territorial language laws
• Regulations for this business’ industry were difficult to abide by
• Difficulty identifying or securing agreements across supply chains to enable contracts with another province or territory
• Lack of knowledge or information on the market
• Lack of profitability
• Lack of inventory available
• Delay between placing and receiving orders
• Provincial or territorial laws and regulations regarding investment coming from another province or territory
• Limited consumer choices due to provincial or territorial regulations on service use
• Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products
• Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products
• Food safety regulations were difficult to abide by
• Other reason
  Specify other reason:

OR

• No need or interest in purchasing from suppliers operating within another province or territory

OR

• Don’t know

Flow condition: If any reason from “Transportation cost” to “Other reason” is selected in Q9, go to Q10. Otherwise, go to Q11.
Display condition: Display in Q10 the reasons selected in Q9.

10. To what extent would a reduction or elimination of each of the following obstacles affect this business’ willingness to purchase goods or services from suppliers operating within another province or territory in Canada?

• Transportation cost
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Transportation availability
  e.g., lack of shipping containers
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Transportation regulations were difficult to abide by
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Permitted quantity of a given product was limited
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Too much paperwork to fill out
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Permits and licenses were difficult to obtain
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Provincial or territorial tax laws
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Provincial or territorial language laws
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Regulations for this business’ industry were difficult to abide by
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Difficulty identifying or securing agreements across supply chains to enable contracts with another province or territory
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Lack of knowledge or information on the market
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Lack of profitability
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Lack of inventory available
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Delay between placing and receiving orders
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Provincial or territorial laws and regulations regarding investment coming from another province or territory
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Limited consumer choices due to provincial or territorial regulations on service use
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Food safety regulations were difficult to abide by
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all
• Other reason
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Slight extent
  • No extent at all

Flow condition: If “Sold goods or services to customers in another province or territory” is selected in Q1, go to Q11. Otherwise, go to Q15.

Selling goods and services across provincial or territorial borders

11. Over the last 12 months, what was the percentage of total sales of goods or services that were sold to customers located within another province or territory in Canada?

Include sales between a business in a given province or territory and a consumer or a business outside that province or territory.
For goods sold to customers, include all sales.
For goods sold to another business within the same company located in another province or territory, only include sales of value-added or altered goods.
Exclude sales within the same province or territory where the business is operating.
Provide your best estimate.
Percentage of total sales of goods and services:

OR

• Don’t know

12. Over the last 12 months, in which provinces or territories did this business sell goods or services to customers?

For goods sold to customers, include all sales.
For goods sold to another business within the same company located in another province or territory, only include sales of value-added or altered goods.
Exclude sales within the same province or territory where the business is operating.
Select all that apply.

• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Prince Edward Island
• Nova Scotia
• New Brunswick
• Quebec
• Ontario
• Manitoba
• Saskatchewan
• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Yukon
• Northwest Territories
• Nunavut

OR

• Don’t know

Display condition: If “Yes” to selling food products to customers in another province or territory is selected in Q1, display “Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products”, “Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products” and “Food safety regulations were difficult to abide by”.

13. Over the last 12 months, which of the following obstacles did this business experience when selling goods or services to customers located within another province or territory in Canada?

Select all that apply.

• No obstacles experienced

OR

• Distance between point of origin and destination
• Transportation cost
• Transportation availability
  e.g., lack of shipping containers
• Transportation regulations were difficult to abide by
• Permitted quantity of a given product was limited
• Too much paperwork to fill out
• Permits and licenses were difficult to obtain
• Provincial or territorial tax laws
• Provincial or territorial language laws
• Regulations for this business’ industry were difficult to abide by
• Difficulty identifying or securing agreements across supply chains to enable contracts with another province or territory
• Lack of knowledge or information on the market
• Lack of profitability
• Lack of demand for goods or services offered
• Lack of inventory available
• Delay between placing and receiving orders
• Provincial or territorial laws and regulations regarding investment coming from another province or territory
• Limited consumer choices due to provincial or territorial regulations on service use
• Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products
• Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products
• Food safety regulations were difficult to abide by
• Other obstacle
  Specify other obstacle:                                   

OR

• Don’t know

Flow condition: If any obstacle from “Transportation cost” to “Other obstacle” is selected in Q13, go to Q14. Otherwise, go to Q17.
Display condition: Display in Q14 the obstacles selected in Q13.

14. Over the last 12 months, what impact did each of the obstacles experienced have on this business’s ability to sell goods or services to customers located within another province or territory in Canada?

• Transportation cost
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Transportation availability
  e.g., lack of shipping containers
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Transportation regulations were difficult to abide by
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Permitted quantity of a given product was limited
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Too much paperwork to fill out
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Permits and licenses were difficult to obtain
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Provincial or territorial tax laws
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Provincial or territorial language laws
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Regulations for this business’ industry were difficult to abide by
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Difficulty identifying or securing agreements across supply chains to enable contracts with another province or territory
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Lack of knowledge or information on the market
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Lack of profitability
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Lack of demand for goods or services offered
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Lack of inventory available
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Delay between placing and receiving orders
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Provincial or territorial laws and regulations regarding investment coming from another province or territory
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Limited consumer choices due to provincial or territorial regulations on service use
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Food safety regulations were difficult to abide by
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Other obstacle
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all

Flow condition: If ONLY “Transported goods from one province or territory to another” is selected in Q1, go to Q17. If “Sold goods or services to customers in another province or territory” is not selected or if “None of the above” is selected in Q1, go to Q15. Otherwise, go to Q17.

15. Over the last 12 months, why did this business not sell goods or services to customers located within another province or territory in Canada?

Select all that apply.

• Distance between point of origin and destination
• Transportation cost
• Transportation availability
  e.g., lack of shipping containers
• Transportation regulations were difficult to abide by
• Permitted quantity of a given product was limited
• Too much paperwork to fill out
• Permits and licenses were difficult to obtain
• Provincial or territorial tax laws
• Provincial or territorial language laws
• Regulations for this business’ industry were difficult to abide by
• Difficulty identifying or securing agreements across supply chains to enable contracts with another province or territory
• Lack of knowledge or information on the market
• Lack of profitability
• Lack of demand for goods or services offered
• Lack of inventory available
• Delay between placing and receiving orders
• Provincial or territorial laws and regulations regarding investment coming from another province or territory
• Limited consumer choices due to provincial or territorial regulations on service use
• Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products
• Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products
• Food safety regulations were difficult to abide by
• Other reason
  Specify other reason:

OR

• No need or interest in selling to customers located within another province or territory

OR

• Don’t know

Flow condition: If any reason from “Transportation cost” to “Other reason” is selected in Q15, go to Q16. Otherwise, go to Q17.
Display condition: Display in Q16 the reasons selected in Q15.

16. To what extent would a reduction or elimination of each of the following obstacles affect this business’ willingness to sell goods or services to customers located within another province or territory in Canada?

• Transportation cost
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Transportation availability
  e.g., lack of shipping containers
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Transportation regulations were difficult to abide by
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Permitted quantity of a given product was limited
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Too much paperwork to fill out
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Permits and licenses were difficult to obtain
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Provincial or territorial tax laws
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Provincial or territorial language laws
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Regulations for this business’ industry were difficult to abide by
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Difficulty identifying or securing agreements across supply chains to enable contracts with another province or territory
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Lack of knowledge or information on the market
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Lack of profitability
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Lack of demand for goods or services offered
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Lack of inventory available
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Delay between placing and receiving orders
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Provincial or territorial laws and regulations regarding investment coming from another province or territory
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Limited consumer choices due to provincial or territorial regulations on service use
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Food safety regulations were difficult to abide by
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all
• Other reason
  • Great extent
  • Moderate extent
  • Minor extent
  • No extent at all

Flow condition: If “Food safety regulations were difficult to abide by” is selected in Q7, Q9, Q13 or Q15, go to Q17. Otherwise, go to Q18.

Food safety regulations

This business previously selected “food safety regulations were difficult to abide by” as:

• an obstacle when purchasing goods or services from suppliers operating within another province or territory in Canada,
• a reason why it did not purchase goods or services from suppliers operating within another province or territory in Canada,
• an obstacle when selling goods or services to customers located within another province or territory in Canada, or
• a reason why it did not sell goods or services to customers located within another province or territory in Canada.

17. Over the last 12 months, why did this business find food safety regulations difficult to abide by?

Select all that apply.

• Regulations are overly prescriptive
• Regulations are unclear
• Regulations are not aligned between jurisdictions
• Other reason
  Please specify the other reason:

OR

• None of the above

OR

• Don’t know

Flow condition: If “Transported goods from one province or territory to another” is selected in Q1, go to Q18. Otherwise, go to Q23.

Transporting goods across provincial or territorial borders

18. Over the last 12 months, what was the percentage of total goods transported that were transported from one province or territory to another in Canada?

Include transportation between a business in a given province or territory and a consumer or a business outside that province or territory.
Exclude transportation within the same province or territory where the business is operating.
Provide your best estimate.
Percentage of total goods transported:

OR

• Don’t know

19. Over the last 12 months, which provinces or territories did this business transport goods to?

Exclude transportation within the same province or territory where the business is operating.
Select all that apply.

• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Prince Edward Island
• Nova Scotia
• New Brunswick
• Quebec
• Ontario
• Manitoba
• Saskatchewan
• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Yukon
• Northwest Territories
• Nunavut

OR

• Don’t know

20. Over the last 12 months, what was this business’s primary mode of transportation used when transporting goods from one province or territory to another?

Include transportation between a business in a given province or territory and a consumer or a business outside that province or territory.
Exclude transportation within the same province or territory where the business is operating.

• Air transportation
• Rail transportation
• Water transportation
• Truck transportation
• Other mode of transportation
  Please specify the other mode of transportation:
• None of the above
• Don’t know

21. Over the last 12 months, which of the following obstacles did this business experience when transporting goods from one province or territory to another in Canada?

Exclude transportation contracted to a third-party company.
Select all that apply.

• No obstacles experienced

OR

• Lack of equipment to operate efficiently over long distances
  e.g., lack of sleeper compartments in trucks, small fuel tanks
• Shortage of shipment containers
• Difficult transport networks to operate in
  e.g., circuitous low-capacity routes increase distance
• Lack of suitable backhauls
• Limited profit due to low freight rates
• Stiff competition in other provinces or territories
• Poor telecommunication networks to track loads properly
• Language barriers
• Recurrent traffic congestion encountered in intervening cities
• Different vehicle equipment registration and requirements between provinces and territories
• Different legal vehicle weights and dimensions between provinces and territories
• Seasonal load restrictions
• Different labour rules for transportation employees between provinces and territories
  e.g., mandatory training, alcohol and drug testing
• Difficult to obtain occupational licensing
• Different permit processes for oversized or overweight loads across provinces and territories
• Different fuel and sales tax rates across provinces and territories
• Inconsistent enforcement and policing across provinces and territories
• Too much paperwork to fill out to deliver goods to another province or territory
• Other obstacle
  Specify other obstacle:

OR

• Don’t know

Flow condition: If any obstacle from “Lack of equipment to operate efficiently over long distances” to “Other obstacle” is selected in Q21, go to Q22. Otherwise, go to Q25.
Display condition: Display in Q22 the obstacles selected in Q21.

22. Over the last 12 months, what impact did each of the obstacles experienced have on this business’s ability to transport goods from one province or territory to another in Canada?

• Lack of equipment to operate efficiently over long distances
  e.g., lack of sleeper compartments in trucks, small fuel tanks
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Shortage of shipment containers
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Difficult transport networks to operate in
  e.g., circuitous low-capacity routes increase distance
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Lack of suitable backhauls
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Limited profit due to low freight rates
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Stiff competition in other provinces or territories
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Poor telecommunication networks to track loads properly
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Language barriers
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Recurrent traffic congestion encountered in intervening cities
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Different vehicle equipment registration and requirements between provinces and territories
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Different legal vehicle weights and dimensions between provinces and territories
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Seasonal load restrictions
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Different labour rules for transportation employees between provinces and territories
  e.g., mandatory training, alcohol and drug testing
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Difficult to obtain occupational licensing
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Different permit processes for oversized or overweight loads across provinces and territories
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Different fuel and sales tax rates across provinces and territories
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Inconsistent enforcement and policing across provinces and territories
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Too much paperwork to fill out to deliver goods to another province or territory
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all
• Other obstacle
  • Major impact
  • Moderate impact
  • Minor impact
  • No impact at all

Flow condition: If “Transported goods from one province or territory to another” is not selected or if “None of the above” is selected in Q1, go to Q23. Otherwise, go to Q25.

23. Over the last 12 months, did this business offer transportation services?

i.e. this business has its own fleet of trucks, trains, ships or planes to transport goods
Exclude transportation contracted to a third-party company.  

• Yes
• No
• Don’t know

24. Over the last 12 months, why did this business not transport goods from one province or territory to another in Canada?

Select all that apply.

• Lack of equipment to operate efficiently over long distances
  e.g., lack of sleeper compartments in trucks, small fuel tanks
• Shortage of shipment containers
• Difficult transport networks to operate in
  e.g., circuitous low-capacity routes increase distance
• Lack of suitable backhauls
• Limited profit due to low freight rates
• Stiff competition in other provinces or territories
• Poor telecommunication networks to track loads properly
• Language barriers
• Recurrent traffic congestion encountered in intervening cities
• Different vehicle equipment registration and requirements between provinces and territories
• Different legal vehicle weights and dimensions between provinces and territories
• Seasonal load restrictions
• Different labour rules for transportation employees between provinces and territories
  e.g., mandatory training, alcohol and drug testing
• Difficult to obtain occupational licensing
• Different permit processes for oversized or overweight loads across provinces and territories
• Different fuel and sales tax rates across provinces and territories
• Inconsistent enforcement and policing across provinces and territories
• Too much paperwork to fill out to deliver goods to another province or territory
• Other reason
  Specify other reason:

OR

• No need or interest in transporting from one province or territory to another

OR

• Don’t know

Flow condition: If “Purchased goods or services from suppliers in another province or territory” or “Sold goods or services to customers in another province or territory” or “Transported goods from one province or territory to another” is selected in Q1, go to Q25. Otherwise, go to Q27.

Canadian Free Trade Agreement

25. Is this business aware of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement?

Canadian Free Trade Agreement: An intergovernmental trade agreement with the objective to reduce and eliminate, to the extent possible, barriers to the free movement of persons, goods, services, and investments within Canada and to establish an open, efficient, and stable domestic market.

• Familiar with the details of the agreement
• Aware of the existence but not familiar with the details of the agreement
• Not aware of the existence of the agreement
• Don’t know

Flow condition: If “Familiar with the details of the agreement” or “Aware of the existence but not familiar with the details of the agreement” is selected in Q25, go to Q26. Otherwise, go to Q27.

26. Did this business find the Canadian Free Trade Agreement beneficial when conducting any interprovincial trade activity in Canada?

Canadian Free Trade Agreement: An intergovernmental trade agreement with the objective to reduce and eliminate, to the extent possible, barriers to the free movement of persons, goods, services, and investments within Canada and to establish an open, efficient, and stable domestic market.

• Very beneficial
• Somewhat beneficial
• Not beneficial at all
• Don’t know

Future interprovincial trade activities

27. Over the next 12 months, does this business plan on conducting any of the following activities within Canada?

Include transactions executed between a business in a given province or territory and a consumer or business outside that province or territory.
Select all that apply.

• Purchase goods or services from suppliers in another province or territory
• Sell goods or services to customers in another province or territory
• Transport goods from one province or territory to another
  i.e. this business has its own fleet of trucks, trains, ships or planes to transport goods from one province or territory to another
  Exclude transportation contracted to a third-party company.

OR

• Don’t know

OR

• None of the above

Flow condition: If “Don’t know” is selected in Q27, go to Q31. If “Purchased goods or services from suppliers in another province or territory” is selected in Q1 and either “Purchase goods or services from suppliers in another province or territory” is not selected or “None of the above” is selected in Q27, go to Q28. Otherwise, go to Q29.
Display condition: If “Yes” to purchasing food products from suppliers in another province or territory is selected in Q1, display “Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products”, “Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products” and “Food safety regulations are difficult to abide by”.

Future purchases of goods or services across provincial or territorial borders

28. Why does this business not plan on purchasing goods or services from suppliers operating within another province or territory in Canada over the next 12 months?

Select all that apply.

• Distance between point of origin and destination
• Transportation cost
• Transportation availability
  e.g., lack of shipping containers
• Transportation regulations are difficult to abide by
• Permitted quantity of a given product is limited
• Too much paperwork to fill out
• Permits and licenses are difficult to obtain
• Provincial or territorial tax laws
• Provincial or territorial language laws
• Regulations for this business’ industry are difficult to abide by
• Difficulty identifying or securing agreements across supply chains to enable contracts with another province or territory
• Lack of knowledge or information on the market
• Lack of profitability
• Lack of inventory available
• Delay between placing and receiving orders
• Provincial or territorial laws and regulations regarding investment coming from another province or territory
• Limited consumer choices due to provincial or territorial regulations on service use
• Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products
• Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products
• Food safety regulations are difficult to abide by
• Other reason
  Specify other reason:                                      

OR

• Don’t know

Flow condition: If “Sold goods or services to customers in another province or territory” is selected in Q1 and either “Sell goods or services to customers in another province or territory” is not selected or “None of the above” is selected in Q27, go to Q29. Otherwise, go to Q30.
Display condition: If “Yes” to selling food products to customers in another province or territory is selected in Q1, display “Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products”, “Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products” and “Food safety regulations are difficult to abide by”.

Future sales of goods or services across provincial or territorial borders

29. Why does this business not plan on selling goods or services to customers located within another province or territory in Canada over the next 12 months?

Select all that apply.

• Distance between point of origin and destination
• Transportation cost
• Transportation availability
  e.g., lack of shipping containers
• Transportation regulations are difficult to abide by
• Permitted quantity of a given product is limited
• Too much paperwork to fill out
• Permits and licenses are difficult to obtain
• Provincial or territorial tax laws
• Provincial or territorial language laws
• Regulations for this business’ industry are difficult to abide by
• Difficulty identifying or securing agreements across supply chains to enable contracts with another province or territory
• Lack of knowledge or information on the market
• Lack of profitability
• Lack of demand for goods or services offered
• Lack of inventory available
• Delay between placing and receiving orders
• Provincial or territorial laws and regulations regarding investment coming from another province or territory
• Limited consumer choices due to provincial or territorial regulations on service use
• Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products
• Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products
• Food safety regulations are difficult to abide by
• Other reason
  Specify other reason:                                     

OR

• Don’t know

Flow condition: If “Transported goods from one province or territory to another” is selected in Q1 and either “Transport goods from one province or territory to another” is not selected or “None of the above” is selected in Q27, go to Q30. Otherwise, go to Q31.
Display condition: If “Sold goods or services to customers in another province or territory” and “Transported goods from one province or territory to another”, display “Contracted out transportation activities”.

Future transportation of goods across provincial or territorial borders

30. Why does this business not plan on transporting goods from one province or territory to another over the next 12 months?

Select all that apply.

• Lack of equipment to operate efficiently over long distances
  e.g., lack of sleeper compartments in trucks, small fuel tanks
• Shortage of shipment containers
• Difficult transport networks to operate in
  e.g., circuitous low-capacity routes increase distance
• Lack of suitable backhauls
• Limited profit due to low freight rates
• Stiff competition in other provinces or territories
• Poor telecommunication networks to track loads properly
• Language barriers
• Recurrent traffic congestion encountered in intervening cities
• Different vehicle equipment registration and requirements between provinces and territories
• Different legal vehicle weights and dimensions between provinces and territories
• Seasonal load restrictions
• Different labour rules for transportation employees between provinces and territories
  e.g., mandatory training, alcohol and drug testing
• Difficult to obtain occupational licensing
• Different permit processes for oversized or overweight loads across provinces and territories
• Different fuel and sales tax rates across provinces and territories
• Inconsistent enforcement and policing across provinces and territories
• Too much paperwork to fill out to deliver goods to another province or territory
• Contracted out transportation activities
• Other reason
  Specify other reason:

OR

• Don’t know

International trade activities

31. Over the last 12 months, did this business conduct any of the following activities outside of Canada?

Include transactions executed between a business in Canada and a consumer or business outside Canada.
Select all that apply.

• Purchased goods or services from suppliers in another country
  • Did this business purchase food products from suppliers in another country?
    Food product refers to processed or unprocessed food or beverages for human consumption.       
    • Yes
    • No
    • Don’t know
• Sold goods or services to customers in another country
  • Did this business sell food products to customers in another country?
    Food product refers to processed or unprocessed food or beverages for human consumption.
    • Yes
    • No
    • Don’t know
• Transported goods from Canada to another country
  i.e. this business has its own fleet of trucks, trains, ships or planes to transport goods from Canada to another country
  Exclude transportation contracted to a third-party company.

OR

• Don’t know

OR

• None of the above

Flow condition: If “Don’t know” is selected in Q31, go to Q39. If “Purchased goods or services from suppliers in another country” in Q31, go to Q32. Otherwise, go to Q34.

International purchases of goods or services

32. Over the last 12 months, from which areas outside of Canada did this business purchase goods or services from suppliers?

Select all that apply.

• United States of America
• Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America
• United Kingdom
• Europe other than United Kingdom
  Include Eastern and Western Europe.
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Asia & Oceania
  Exclude Australia and New Zealand.
• Middle East and Africa

OR

• Don’t know

Display condition: If “Yes” to purchasing food products from suppliers in another country selected is selected in Q31, display “Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products”, “Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products” and “Food safety regulations were difficult to abide by”.

33. Over the last 12 months, which of the following obstacles did this business experience when purchasing goods or services from suppliers outside of Canada?

Select all that apply.

• No obstacles experienced

OR

• Distance between point of origin and destination
• Transportation cost
• Transportation availability
  e.g., lack of shipping containers
• Transportation regulations were difficult to abide by
• Permitted quantity of a given product was limited
• Too much paperwork to fill out
• Permits and licenses were difficult to obtain
• Foreign tax laws
• Taxes or duties are too high
• Currency exchanges
• Foreign language laws
• Regulations for this business’ industry were difficult to abide by
• Difficulty identifying or securing agreements across supply chains to enable contracts with another country
• Lack of knowledge or information on the market
• Lack of profitability
• Lack of inventory available
• Delay between placing and receiving orders
• Foreign laws and regulations regarding investment coming from another country
• Limited consumer choices due to foreign regulations on service use
• Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products
• Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products
• Food safety regulations were difficult to abide by
• Other obstacle
  Specify other obstacle: 

OR

• Don’t know

Flow condition: If “Sold goods or services to customers in another country” is selected in Q31, go to Q34. Otherwise, go to Q36.

International sales of goods or services

34. Over the last 12 months, to which areas outside of Canada did this business sell goods or services to customers?

Select all that apply.

• United States of America
• Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America
• United Kingdom
• Europe other than United Kingdom
  Include Eastern and Western Europe.
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Asia & Oceania
  Exclude Australia and New Zealand.
• Middle East and Africa

OR

• Don’t know

Display condition: If “Yes” to selling food products to customers in another country selected is selected in Q31, display “Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products”, “Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products” and “Food safety regulations were difficult to abide by”.

35. Over the last 12 months, which of the following obstacles did this business experience when selling goods or services to customers located outside of Canada?

Select all that apply.

• No obstacles experienced

OR

• Distance between point of origin and destination
• Transportation cost
• Transportation availability
  e.g., lack of shipping containers
• Transportation regulations were difficult to abide by
• Permitted quantity of a given product was limited
• Too much paperwork to fill out
• Permits and licenses were difficult to obtain
• Foreign tax laws
• Taxes or duties are too high
• Currency exchanges
• Foreign language laws
• Regulations for this business’ industry were difficult to abide by
• Difficulty identifying or securing agreements across supply chains to enable contracts with another country
• Lack of knowledge or information on the market
• Lack of profitability
• Lack of demand for goods or services offered
• Lack of inventory available
• Delay between placing and receiving orders
• Foreign laws and regulations regarding investment coming from another country
• Limited consumer choices due to foreign regulations on service use
• Difficulty shipping food products over long distances due to perishability of products
• Costs associated with inspection and testing of food products
• Food safety regulations were difficult to abide by
• Other obstacle
  Specify other obstacle:    

OR

• Don’t know

Flow condition: If “Transported goods from Canada to another country” is selected in Q31, go to Q36. Otherwise, go to Q39.

International transportation of goods

36. Over the last 12 months, to which areas outside of Canada did this business transport goods to?

Exclude transportation contracted to a third-party company.
Select all that apply.

• United States of America
• Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America
• United Kingdom
• Europe other than United Kingdom
  Include Eastern and Western Europe.
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Asia & Oceania
  Exclude Australia and New Zealand.
• Middle East and Africa

OR

• Don’t know

37. Over the last 12 months, what was this business’s primary mode of transportation used when transporting goods to another country?

Include transportation between a business in Canada and a consumer or a business outside Canada.
Exclude transportation within Canada.

• Air transportation
• Rail transportation
• Water transportation
• Truck transportation
• Other mode of transportation
  Please specify the other mode of transportation:
• None of the above
• Don’t know

38. Over the last 12 months, which of the following obstacles did this business experience when transporting goods to another country?

Select all that apply.

• No obstacles experienced

OR

• Lack of equipment to operate efficiently over long distances
  e.g., lack of sleeper compartments in trucks, small fuel tanks
• Shortage of shipment containers
• Difficult transport networks to operate in
  e.g., circuitous low-capacity routes increase distance
• Lack of suitable backhauls
• Limited profit due to low freight rates
• Stiff competition in other countries
• Poor telecommunication networks to track loads properly
• Language barriers
• Recurrent traffic congestion encountered in intervening cities or border crossings
• Different vehicle equipment registration and requirements between countries
• Different legal vehicle weights and dimensions between countries
• Seasonal load restrictions
• Different labour rules for transportation employees between countries
  e.g., mandatory training, alcohol and drug testing
• Difficult to obtain occupational licensing
• Different permit processes for oversized or overweight loads across countries
• Different fuel and sales tax rates across countries
• Inconsistent enforcement and policing across countries
• Too much paperwork to fill out to deliver goods to another country
• Other obstacle
  Specify other obstacle:

OR

• Don’t know

Labour mobility in regulated occupations

39. Over the last 12 months, did this business hire individuals with a professional certification or licence from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory?

Include regulated occupations, professions, and skilled trades overseen by a provincial or territorial regulatory body.
e.g., doctors, engineers, welders, estheticians, industrial mechanics, electricians
Exclude individuals who only hold a professional certification or licence from outside of Canada.

• Yes
  • Over the last 12 months, how many individuals with a professional certification or licence from another province or territory outside of the hiring province did this business hire?
    Provide your best estimate.
    Number of individuals with a professional certification or licence from another province or territory hired:
    OR
    • Don’t know
• No
• Don’t know

Flow condition: If “Yes” is selected in Q39, go to Q41. Otherwise, go to Q40.

40. Over the last 12 months, did this business consider hiring individuals with a professional certification or licence from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory but did not hire any?

Include regulated occupations, professions, and skilled trades overseen by a provincial or territorial regulatory body.
e.g., doctors, engineers, welders, estheticians, industrial mechanics, electricians
Exclude individuals who only hold a professional certification or licence from outside of Canada.

• Yes
  • Over the last 12 months, how many individuals with a professional certification or licence from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory did this business consider hiring?
    Provide your best estimate.
    Number of individuals with a professional certification or licence from another province or territory considered:
    OR
    • Don’t know
• No
• Don’t know

Flow condition: If “Yes” is selected in Q39 or Q40, go to Q41. Otherwise, go to the end of the survey.

41. Over the last 12 months, in which of the following occupational categories did this business experience challenges when hiring or considering hiring individuals with a professional certification or licence from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory?

Exclude individuals who only hold a professional certification or licence from outside of Canada.
Select all that apply.

• Nurses
  e.g., registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, licensed practical nurses, nurse practitioners
• Medical doctors or specialist physicians
• Mental health professionals
  e.g., psychotherapists
• Veterinarians
• Other health professionals
  e.g., dentists, medical laboratory technologists
• Carpenters
• Heating, refrigeration, and air conditioning technicians
• Electricians
• Welders
• Other construction trade occupations
  e.g., plumbers, pipefitters
• Other trade occupations
  e.g., hair stylists, estheticians, motorcycle mechanics, cooks
• Engineers
• Architects
• Occupations in financial services
  e.g., mortgage brokers, accountants, securities agents, financial planners
• Occupations in law and legal services
• Occupations in education services
  e.g., teachers, early childhood educators
• Occupations in social services
  e.g., social workers, interpreters, translators
• Occupations in scientific and technical services
  e.g., geologists, chemists, agronomists
• Other occupational category
  Specify other occupational category:

OR

• Don’t know

Hiring process for individuals from another province or territory

42. Over the last 12 months, for which of the following reasons did this business hire or consider hiring individuals with a professional certification or licence from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory?

Exclude individuals who only hold a professional certification or licence from outside of Canada.

Select all that apply.

• Need for temporary labour during busy season
• Strongest candidates located outside of the hiring province or territory
• Difficulty finding appropriately skilled workers in the hiring province or territory’s labour market
• Desire to increase workforce diversity
  i.e., hire women, First Nation, Métis and Inuit, individuals from visible minority groups or individuals proficient in required language
• Other reason
  Specify other reason:

OR

• Don’t know

43. Over the last 12 months, which of the following obstacles did this business experience when hiring or considering hiring individuals with a professional certification or licence from outside of the hiring province or territory?

Exclude individuals who only hold a professional certification or licence from outside of Canada.
Select all that apply.

• No obstacles experienced

OR

• Level of effort required to verify individuals’ certification or licence with the appropriate regulatory body
• Time waiting for individuals to become certified or licenced in the hiring province or territory
• Concerns over scope of knowledge or skills due to their certification or licence coming from outside of the hiring province or territory
• Amount of paperwork or forms to fill out
• Cost associated with hiring individuals with a certificate or licence from outside of the hiring province or territory
  e.g., moving expenses, training costs
• Concerns over these individuals’ language proficiency
• Other obstacle
  Specify other obstacle:

OR

• Don’t know

44. Over the last 12 months, which of the following resources did this business consult to obtain information or external assistance in navigating the hiring process for individuals with a professional certification or licence from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory?

Exclude individuals who only hold a professional certification or licence from outside of Canada.
Select all that apply.

• Legal counsel
• Private consultants
• Recruitment agencies
• Regulatory bodies for relevant regulated occupations
• Unions
• Official federal or provincial government websites
• Worker’s Mobility website
• Federal or provincial labour mobility coordinators
• Other resource
  Specify other resource:

OR

• None of the above

OR

• Don’t know

Flow condition: If “Yes” is selected in Q40, go to Q45. Otherwise, go to Q46.

45. Over the last 12 months, which of the following scenarios did this business experience?

Select all that apply.

• Individuals turned down job offer because of the challenges associated with the professional certification or licencing process in the hiring province or territory
  Exclude individuals who only hold a professional certification or licence from outside of Canada.
• This business decided not to hire individuals because of the challenges associated with the professional certification or licencing process in the hiring province or territory
  Exclude individuals who only hold a professional certification or licence from outside of Canada.

OR

• None of the above

OR

• Don’t know

Quality and accessibility of information on certification and licensing requirements

46. How does this business rate the quality and accessibility of information from the following sources on certification and licensing requirements for individuals with a professional certification or licence from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory?

Exclude individuals who only hold a professional certification or licence from outside of Canada.

• Regulatory organizations’ website
  i.e., the organizations responsible for establishing occupational standards and ensuring consistent compliance with them
  • Excellent
  • Good
  • Fair
  • Poor
  • Very poor
  • Don’t know
• The Worker’s Mobility website
  • Excellent
  • Good
  • Fair
  • Poor
  • Very poor
  • Don’t know
• Information directly provided by Labour Mobility Coordinators within provincial or territorial governments who support employers, employees, and regulatory organizations on the labour mobility provisions of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)
  • Excellent
  • Good
  • Fair
  • Poor
  • Very poor
  • Don’t know
• The hiring provinces or territory’s official government website
  • Excellent
  • Good
  • Fair
  • Poor
  • Very poor
  • Don’t know

Flow condition: If any of “Carpenters”, “Heating, refrigeration, and air conditioning technicians”, “Electricians”, “Welders”, “Other construction trade occupations”, “Other trade occupations”, “Other occupational category” is selected in Q41, go to Q47. Otherwise, go to the end of the survey.

Persons working in trades

47. Over the last 12 months, did this business hire or consider hiring certified journeypersons from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory?

Certified journeypersons are qualified and skilled persons in a trade occupation and are entitled to the wages and benefits associated with that trade occupation. They are also allowed to train and act as a mentor to registered apprentices.

Exclude certified journeypersons who only hold a certification from outside of Canada.

• Yes, this business hired certified journeypersons from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory
• Yes, this business considered hiring certified journeypersons from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory but did not hire any
• No, this business neither hired nor considered hiring certified journeypersons from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory
• Don’t know

48. Over the last 12 months, did this business hire or consider hiring registered apprentices from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory?

Registered apprentices are individuals in a supervised work training program in a designated trade within their provincial or territorial jurisdiction. The apprentice must be registered with the appropriate governing body (usually a ministry of education or labour, or a trade-specific industry governing body) to complete the training.
Exclude registered apprentices who have only apprenticed outside of Canada.

• Yes, this business hired registered apprentices from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory
• Yes, this business considered hiring registered apprentices from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory but did not hire a registered apprentice
• No, this business neither hired nor considered hiring registered apprentices from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory
• Don’t know

Flow condition: If the business reported hiring or considering hiring certified journeypersons from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory in Q47 or if the business reported hiring or considering hiring registered apprentices from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory in Q48, go to Q49. Otherwise, go to the end of the survey.

49. Over the last 12 months, did this business hire or consider hiring these certified journeypersons or registered apprentices from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory to work in a compulsory trade occupation?

Provinces and territories designate each trade occupation as compulsory or voluntary. Work in compulsory trade occupations can only be performed by certified journeypersons or registered apprentices.
Exclude certified journeypersons or registered apprentices who only apprenticed outside of Canada.

• Yes
• No
• Don’t know

Flow condition: If or “Yes” to hiring or considering hiring registered apprentices from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory is selected in Q48, go to Q50. Otherwise, go to the end of the survey.

Registered apprentices

50. Over the last 12 months, which of the following obstacles did this business experience when hiring or considering hiring registered apprentices from another province or territory outside of the hiring province or territory?

Registered apprentices are individuals in a supervised work training program in a designated trade within their provincial or territorial jurisdiction. The apprentice must be registered with the appropriate governing body (usually a ministry of education or labour, or a trade-specific industry governing body) to complete the training.
Exclude registered apprentices who have only apprenticed outside of Canada.
Select all that apply.

• No obstacles experienced

OR

• Difficulty assessing apprentice’s previous in-school training and equivalent program level
• Difficulty obtaining assessment of apprentice’s previous work experience and applying credit for the appropriate hours towards the program requirements
• Difficulty obtaining the required records and paperwork from the apprenticeship authority in the province or territory where the apprentice was certified
• Difficulty placing apprentice in the appropriate apprenticeship level in the hiring province or territory
• Difficulty ensuring that the apprentice has the necessary health and safety training to meet the requirements in the hiring province or territory
• Other obstacle
  Specify other obstacle:

OR

• Don’t know

Red Seal trades

51. To what extent is this business familiar with the Red Seal trades?

Red Seal trades are programs that have common standards to assess the skills of persons working in trades across Canada in specific trades. Persons working in trades who pass examinations to meet the Red Seal standards receive a Red Seal endorsement on their provincial or territorial trade certificates.

• Great extent
• Moderate extent
• Slight extent
• No extent at all
• Don’t know

Date: May 2024

Program manager: Director, Centre for Social Data Integration and Development
Director General, Social Data Insights, Integration, and Innovation

Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB):

Personal information collected through the Survey Series on First Nations People, Métis and Inuit is described in Statistics Canada's "Special Surveys" Class of Personal Information. 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.

"Special Surveys" Class of Personal Information (Bank number: StatCan PPU 016) is published on the Statistics Canada website under the latest Information about Programs and Information Holdings chapter.

Description of statistical activity:

Under the authority of the Statistics Act^Footnote1 , Statistics Canada will be conducting the new voluntary Survey Series on First Nations People, Métis and Inuit (SSFNPMI) as of 2024.

The SSFNPMI is a new panel series^Footnote2 consisting of three to five surveys, that aims to fill data gaps identified by Indigenous and federal government partners. There are full and partial data gaps for Indigenous peoples on various indicators that fall under social topics such as health care access and experiences, discrimination in a health care setting, impacts of rising prices on food and housing, well-being, emergency preparedness and access to drinking water. Some questions included in the survey may be deemed sensitive, including questions on racism and discrimination in a health care setting, mental health, life satisfaction, food security questions and income. For example, one of the indicators in which there is a data gap is unmet mental health care needs, a quality of life indicator.

The survey series was also developed based on an analysis of indicators that align with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action IR4-8-2015-eng.pdf, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls for Justice Final Report | MMIWG, as well as the Canadian Indicator Framework for Sustainable Development Goals The Canadian Indicator Framework for the Sustainable Development Goals and the Quality of Life Framework Quality of Life Hub.

The sample units for the survey series are respondents who participated in the 2022 Indigenous Peoples Survey (IPS)^Footnote3 . Respondents were asked at the end of the IPS questionnaire to provide their email address or phone number if they agreed to be contacted for participation in future surveys such as panel surveys.

To reduce respondent burden and enhance the analytical value of the data, microdata linkage is performed on the data from the 2022 Indigenous Peoples Survey (IPS) with information collected in IPS being linked to microdata for each wave in the survey series. Planned variables to be linked are demographic variables such as sex, gender, sexual orientation, education, and age. These variables will be linked to the Survey Series on First Nations People, Métis and Inuit as it is important to understand barriers to health care access and discrimination for these demographic groups. Statistics Canada's microdata linkage and related statistical activities are assessed in Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment^Footnote4. All data linkage activities are subject to established governance^Footnote5 and are assessed against Statistics Canada's principles of necessity and proportionality^Footnote6. All approved linkages are published on Statistics Canada's website^Footnote7.

There is no planned sharing of the microdata for the SSFNPMI. Only non-confidential aggregate statistics and analyses conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. Availability and access to the program data will focus on using existing Statistics Canada access mechanisms such as the Federal Research Data Centre (FDRC), research data centre network (RDC)^Footnote8, Real Time Remote Access (RTRA) and Virtual Data Lab (VDL). The data will also be available in aggregated formats via Statistics Canada's website. All data are vetted using standard StatCan data disclosure and confidentiality rules prior to release.

Reason for supplement:

While the Generic Privacy Impact Assessment^Footnote9 (PIA addresses most of the privacy and security risks related to statistical activities conducted by Statistics Canada, this supplement was developed to address the collection and use of sensitive information, combined with sociodemographic and other information collected from the Indigenous Peoples Survey (IPS). The sensitive data includes topics such as health care discrimination and access to health care services, trust in institutions, impacts of rising prices, and income. 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 and use of personal information for the Survey Series on First Nations Peoples, Métis and Inuit can be justified against Statistics Canada's Necessity and Proportionality Framework:

In addition, the SSFNPMI is designed to allow for distinctions-based analysis of Indigenous Peoples at the national level, which means that the data can be disseminated by First Nations people, Métis, and Inuit distinctly. While other surveys at Statistics Canada may include Indigenous populations in their sample, the results do not always allow distinctions-based analysis at the national level by Indigenous Identity. It is advised, in general, and where possible, to release statistics by First Nations people, Métis and Inuit separately instead of by pan-Indigenous. First Nations, Métis and Inuit are distinct populations with distinct socio-economic and demographic characteristics that are very different from each other. For this reason, using a rapid instrument such as web-panels that target all three groups to that aim to fill specific data gaps is an important tool for helping improve the well-being of Indigenous peoples in Canada.

1. Necessity: Indigenous peoples are under-represented in a number of national key surveys. The data will serve to provide insights and fill data gaps in the areas of health care access, discrimination in a health care setting, well-being, the impact of rising prices, emergency preparedness and access to drinking water for First Nations Peoples living off reserve, Métis and Inuit. The data gaps were identified by a review of existing Indigenous data, a literature review of Indigenous data gaps in the past 15 years, and based on feedback and discussion with Indigenous and federal partners.

   Ongoing engagement with Indigenous communities, governments, and organizations with Statistics Canada is crucial to ensuring the relevance and necessity of the agency's data collection activities. The SSFNPMI will collect information on sensitive, but important issues for Indigenous peoples in Canada. Some of the data collected will help fill partial or full data gaps on important high level indicators that are used by government for planning and budgeting for all Canadians. It is important that First Nations people, Métis and Inuit are represented in the data. This information will help shed light on inequities and promote fairness and inclusion that will help inform policy and program decisions pertaining to First Nations people, Métis and Inuit.

2. Effectiveness - Working assumptions: The SSFNPMI will meet the identified objective and need to increase the visibility of Indigenous peoples in Canada's national Statistics. The panel surveys are the most efficient method of identifying this difficult to reach population that builds on data from the IPS and Census. Since the sample for the panel series is respondents from the IPS who agreed to participate in future surveys, the length of each questionnaire is shorter than a traditional survey. Each survey in the panel series is limited to 20 questions since the same set of respondents is surveyed every few months over a course of approximately a year on diverse topics. Furthermore, results for the entire panel series are available within approximately a year, as compared to two to three years for a typical survey, which allows for timely access to results for First Nations, Métis and the Inuit population.

   Each of the surveys in the series have been built to allow for dissemination nationally by Indigenous identity, that is by First Nations people living off reserve, Métis and Inuit.

   The variables that will be collected have been identified as data gaps for First Nations people, Métis and Inuit through an analysis of existing data, a literature review on Indigenous data gaps in the past 15 years, and through extensive engagement with Indigenous and federal partners.

3. Proportionality: The population for this survey consists of 6200 respondents to the Indigenous Peoples Survey (IPS) who provided their consent to be contacted to participate in future surveys. This sample is assessed as being suitable to meet the survey objective of producing new indicators for which there is little data available for Indigenous people.

   The Centre for Indigenous Statistics and Partnerships (CISP) within Statistics Canada has established an engagement strategy to ensure that the survey content covers important themes that were discussed with federal and Indigenous partners while being culturally sensitive and relevant. National Indigenous partners continue to be engaged in the content development of the surveys in the series (SSFNPMI), and content that raised concerns was revised accordingly.

   As is the practice for all new survey content, the SSFNPMI was tested with First Nations, Métis and Inuit to ensure the questions are relevant, clear, sensitive and appropriate. While it is recognized that some of the questions are sensitive, participants expressed that they were important in bringing awareness to important emerging issues.

   Similar to other panel surveys, many of the sociodemographic personal information elements required for analysis such as age, gender, sexual orientation and education do not need to be collected in the SSFNPMI, as they are available through the planned microdata linkages to the 2022 Indigenous Peoples Survey (IPS). Respondents will therefore not need to transmit the same personal information multiple times to Statistics Canada, thus limiting the scope of information collected to only new required information. The personal information such as age, gender, sexual orientation and education will be added to the SSFNPMI microdata file because it is important to understand barriers to health care access and discrimination for these demographic groups.

4. Alternatives: Alternative sources for the topics to be collected in the SSFNPMI are not available in other Statistics Canada surveys or administrative data holdings that are specific to First Nations people, Métis and Inuit. Alternative designs to a panel survey such as a traditional survey were considered, but panel surveys offer the best method for new data collection activities for the following reasons:

   1. The sample for this survey series are respondents of the 2022 IPS who have agreed to be contacted again for future surveys, therefore response burden is minimal.
   2. The time it takes from collection to dissemination for all surveys in this series is approximately one year, whereas traditional surveys could take up to 3 years from collection to release, providing almost real-time results.
   3. An analysis of data gaps and a review of existing Statistics Canada data holdings was completed specifically to ensure that data being collected by the SSFNPMI will meet targeted, important data gaps for First Nations people living off reserve, Métis and Inuit.

   In addition, the SSFNPMI is designed to allow for distinctions-based analysis of Indigenous Peoples at the national level, which means that the data can be disseminated by First Nations people, Métis, and Inuit distinctly. While other surveys at Statistics Canada may include Indigenous populations in their sample, the results do not always allow distinctions-based analysis at the national level by Indigenous Identity. It is advised, in general, and where possible, to release statistics by First Nations people, Métis and Inuit separately instead of by pan-Indigenous. First Nations, Métis and Inuit are distinct populations with distinct socio-economic and demographic characteristics that are very different from each other. For this reason, using a rapid instrument such as web-panels that target all three groups to that aim to fill specific data gaps is an important tool for helping improve the well-being of Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Mitigation factors:

Some questions contained in the SSFNPMI are considered sensitive as they relate to racism and discrimination in a health care setting and the workplace, mental health, life satisfaction, impacts of rising housing and food costs, and income.

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. These include the following that are of particular importance in the context of this survey:

• To mitigate the risk of potential sensitivities, respondents will be provided access to a list of mental health resources within the electronic questionnaire as well as on the Information for Survey participants web page. .
• Respondents will be given the option to skip a question if they do not feel comfortable providing a response.
• Interviewers will be trained on and have access to information on mental health supports to provide to respondents who show signs of distress triggered by sensitive questions and to provide the option to skip sensitive questions.
• As for all surveys, respondents will be informed in the invitation email, within the questionnaire and on Statistics Canada's website of the nature of the survey and that participation is voluntary. Respondents will also be reminded in the invitation email that they participated in the IPS and agreed to participate in future surveys. The survey will be made available in the four official languages of Nunavut (Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, English and French), as required by the Nunavut Agreement.
• Variables that directly identify respondents will be separated from the data files in the first stage of data processing and placed in a secure location with controlled access. Variables that might indirectly identify respondents are examined and modified as necessary in order to protect the privacy and confidentiality of respondents. 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 any outside government department or other organization. Careful analysis of the data and appropriate additional disclosure controls will be performed prior to the publication and sharing of data (in RDCs, etc.) to ensure that marginalized and vulnerable communities are not disproportionally impacted.

Conclusion:

This assessment concludes that, with the existing Statistics Canada safeguards including those 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.

Date: March 2024

Program manager:

• Director, Centre for Social Data Integration and Development
• Director General, Social Data Insights, Integration and Innovation

Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB):

Personal information collected through the Survey on Family Transitions is described in Statistics Canada’s “General Social Survey” 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. The General Social Survey covers rotating themes including: social support, time use; giving, volunteering and participating; victimization; families; and caregiving and care receiving. Personal information may include the first and last name and date of birth of each member of the household as reported by a member of the household; and the first and last name and date of birth of the selected respondent as reported by the selected respondent.

"General Social Survey" Class of Personal Information (Bank number: StatCan StatCan PPU 155) is published on the Statistics Canada website under the latest Information about Programs and Information Holdings chapter.

Description of statistical activity:

Under the authority of the Statistics Act^Footnote 1, Statistics Canada has been conducting the voluntary General Social Survey (GSS) on Families approximately every 5 years since its inception in 1990. Following a program redesign, it has been renamed the Survey on Family Transitions (SFT) which is scheduled for collection from April to September 2024. Aiming at providing key insights into Canada’s demographic dynamics, the SFT focuses on the union and childbearing trajectories of the respondent.

The SFT is designed to prioritize comparability to the previous GSS family cycles (1990, 1995, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2017), thereby allowing for the analysis of historical and emerging trends in family formation and dissolution. This is required for the analysis of sociodemographic trends in the country. The results of the new iteration are also key to the analysis of potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on family and fertility behaviour.

The survey was developed by Statistics Canada, in close collaboration with government and academic stakeholders including:

• Economic and Social Development Canada (ESDC)
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
• Canadian Heritage (PCH)
• McGill University
• Guelph University
• Université de Montréal
• University of Saskatchewan
• Women and Gender Equality Canada (WaGE)
• the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)
• Ministère de la famille et des aînés du Québec
• Institut national de la recherche Scientifique (Montréal)
• University of Western Ontario
• University of Alberta
• Institut de la famille du Québec

The SFT will be the only source of information in Canada that collects information on the timing of family trajectories and that will allow to elaborate statistics on union and fertility (for instance on life-long prevalence of common-law union, separation, repartnering or multiple-partner fertility).

The SFT will sample a total of 51,000 individuals that are representative of the Canadian population aged 20 to 79 years old living in private dwellings in the 10 Canadian provinces excluding those living in institutions and in other collective dwellings, such as the Canadian Armed Forces bases. The sample will be selected from the 2021 short-form Census survey frame as well as from administrative sources^Footnote 2, which ensures that the immigrant population who landed after the 2021 Census is also represented in the sample. The SFT aims to provide reliable data on family life trajectories for persons in each region in Canada, and by immigration status.

The sample is selected from respondents that provided valid contact information for the census, which was then used to create a sample of targeted respondents with an oversampling^Footnote 3 of individuals who are immigrants to Canada to ensure enough data will be captured to be able to release disaggregated statistics on relevant sub-groups that meet Statistics Canada’s Quality Guidelines. Given this oversample, in its 2024 iteration, the SFT will receive funding under the Disaggregated Data Action Plan (DDAP) which was part of the Government of Canada’s federal Budget 2021. It will collect information about family life experiences to provide information for specific immigrant populations in Canada.

If a respondent is confirmed to meet the survey selection criteria to continue with the survey (based on age and province of residence), they will be asked questions related to the following topics:

• Conjugal unions: length of current and previous common-law unions and marriages, number of children born in each union.
• Spouses/Partners: gender and age (or month and year of birth) of current and previous spouses or partners. Socio-demographic characteristics of current partner (labour market activity, population group, Indigenous identity, place of birth and educational attainment).
• Children:number, gender and age (or month and year of birth) of children born/adopted or step from any previous or the current union, residential status of each child (if younger than 19).
• Grandchildren: number, and age (or month and year when became a grandparent for the first time).
• Family background: whether the respondent grew up with both parents, one or none, socio-demographic characteristics of parents (age or month and year of birth, place of birth and educational attainment).
• Leaving the parental home: whether they left or returned and when (age/month or year).
• Basic sociodemographic information on the respondent (harmonized content): date of birth or age, gender/sex at birth, population group, place of birth, immigration, educational attainment, labour market participation, main activity, school attendance, Indigenous identity, population group, language, religion, sexual orientation, general health, and life satisfaction.
• Family related information: marriage and fertility intentions (situation and age depending), division of household tasks, and other people living in the household (age, gender, and relation between household members).

While the respondent is the sole sampling unit and unit of analysis, some information about their family members is collected in order to properly characterize the respondent’s trajectory and socio-economic status. The personal information is used to produce statistical data on social trends in order to monitor changes in the family trajectories and well-being of Canadians over time, and to provide immediate information on specific social policy issues of current or emerging interest: population ageing, fertility decline, childcare needs, family instability and well-being. Statistical analyses are to only be made about the respondent, rather than about any other individual whose information may also be collected from the respondent.

For recent cycles of the GSS, the information has been linked to income tax data files (PIB: StatCan PPU 111) in order to obtain personal and household income and reduce burden on respondents. In addition to the information collected from respondents, microdata linkages will also be performed for the SFT in order to reduce respondent burden and enhance the analytical value of the data. This includes linkages to tax data files and the Longitudinal Immigrant Database (IMDB). The IMDB includes information on immigrants that is not collected within the survey (e.g., admission category, intended destination, knowledge of official languages, etc.). The additional information obtained through such linkage will allow conducting more in-depth comparative analysis of family trajectories, especially between non-immigrant families and different types of immigrant families. This type of analysis, made possible by the linkage, is particularly relevant given that the survey includes an oversample of immigrants.

These linkages will support and improve insight and decision-making by encouraging and facilitating more in-depth policy analysis with regards to the well-being of persons with different types of family trajectories, which are of special interest to policymakers and researchers. This will improve insight with regards to, for example, the socioeconomic well-being of Canadians who experience trajectories of union instability, allowing research on the intersectionality between economic well-being, lived family experiences, gender and immigration status.

Statistics Canada’s microdata linkage and related statistical activities were assessed in Statistics Canada’s Generic Privacy Impact Assessment.^Footnote 4 All data linkage activities are subject to established governance^Footnote 5, and are assessed against Statistics Canada’s principles of necessity and proportionality^Footnote 6. All approved linkages will be published on Statistics Canada’s website^Footnote 7.

Availability and access to the microdata from the SFT will focus on using existing Statistics Canada access mechanisms such as the Federal Research Data Centre (FDRC), and research data centre network (RDC)^Footnote 8. The data will also be available in non-confidential aggregated formats via Statistics Canada’s website.

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 potential new risks associated with the collection, processing, and use of data related to some of the Survey on Family transitions (SFT) content, and the possible concerns of Canadians about the intrusiveness of the collection.

Though respondents must be aged 20-79, some questions may be particularly sensitive. The SFT will collect information about the respondents’ family life and trajectories, including some personal information regarding dates of family events, gender identity, sexual orientation, ex-spouses/ex-partners, children, and other family/household members. 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 Survey on Family Transitions (SFT) can be justified against Statistics Canada’s Necessity and Proportionality Framework:

1. Necessity:

   The SFT collects information on the timing of family events: it focuses on when a series of life events happened, allowing researchers and policy makers alike to understand how several aspects of the family life intersect. Leaving the parental home, getting married, and having children, have all been increasingly delayed in recent decades^Footnote 9, while the number of children Canadians have has also significantly gone down^Footnote 10. Understanding the associations between all these processes has relevant policy implications for adequately targeting interventions to the appropriate stage of Canadians’ life cycles. For instance, if fertility decline is linked to later union formation and childbearing delays - which have, in turn been linked to increasing difficulties in establishing residential and financial independence from the family of origin, policy-makers concerned with fertility and population aging might want to focus their efforts in policies targeted at facilitating home leaving for the youth, rather than on policies focusing on childbearing itself, which might be ineffective in this context^Footnote 11.

   The survey collects information on past events, so that this biographical information can be used to establish different types of life trajectories and their links to current socio-economic well-being. These questions allow analyzing how individuals with different types of family life trajectories fare in the present day, what type of family structures they currently have, and what specific needs they might have depending on their family trajectories. Some of the family events whose timing the SFT collects are known to have a long-lasting impact on the individual’s socio-economic well-being (for instance a separation or divorce^Footnote 12). The collected information thus allows identifying crucial turning points in the individual life course that may lead to increasing vulnerability and exclusion, information that is needed by both researchers and lawmakers.

   In order to identify the long-term impacts of family events (reported in the survey) on socio-economic well-being, linkages between the survey data and administrative datasets are required to obtain information on income, if the respondent consents to it. This allows assessing whether certain types of family trajectories (past events reported in the survey) are linked to current socio-economic outcomes. These correlations are not only of interest to researchers, but they also allow policy-makers to identify sources of inequality and inform policy. For example, targeted policies might prove more effective to prevent financial strain during the post-separation period for specific types of families that tend to experience increased financial strain, for instance when there is childbearing across households^Footnote 13. Events and when these were experienced are collected to measure the diversity of family situations and the plurality of family paths. The basic socio-economic characteristics (age and gender and previous parity) collected in the SFT about former spouses or partners are used to demonstrate what types of families might be affected by family transitions such as union dissolution.

   Some of the aspects covered by the survey are of particular importance in a post pandemic period as it will provide insight as to the changes to family trajectories brought by the pandemic. The socio-demographic changes observed in the post-pandemic period^Footnote 14 generate a context in which family scholars have expressed their interest in comparing the newly gathered data with previous cycles^Footnote 15, in order to assess emerging trends in family behaviour^Footnote 16 and identify needs among Canadians.

   Given the importance of understanding socio-demographic processes as those mentioned above, Federal and Provincial Departments (e.g., Employment and Social Development Canada, Justice Canada, Women and Gender Equality, Ministère de la Famille du Québec) make use of the data to better understand how the needs of Canadian families have been changing over the past decades and assess the relevance of programs and policies related to families. Such programs and policies focus on reducing family and child poverty (child tax benefits or transfer payments to families), work-life balance (enhancing childcare services and leave practices by parents, promoting women’s participation in/return to the labour force), and gender-based analysis (pay equity between men and women, gender equality in the involvement of mothers and fathers in family life). The SFT will be a key data source for these programs and policies. In addition, these data are used to assess not only the progress Canada is making towards such goals, but also how it fares in the international scene compared with other countries.

2. Effectiveness - Working assumptions:

   The 2024 SFT was carefully designed to produce relevant, high priority, and statistically meaningful information in order to meet the outlined goals. The personal information collected will help meet the objective of gathering timely data on sociodemographic processes. The SFT is tailored to provide specific information for measuring the types of family life courses experienced by Canadians and has taken steps to ensure it captures experiences from respondents of diverse backgrounds, including gender and immigration status. Information on the timing of family events, particularly on childbearing, provides for an accurate way to calculate demographic estimates and a complementary source to census data.

   The SFT includes retrospective biographical questions that ask the month and year, or the age, at which several events occurred. This allows to establish not only what type of family events happened in the life course of the respondent (home leaving, marriage, common-law, separation, divorce, childbearing), but also when these events happened, and in which sequence. Collecting this retrospective biographical data has been proven as an effective way to accurately assess the family trajectories of individuals not only by the three decades of the General Social Survey on Families, but also by its international counterpart^Footnote 17. The SFT collects thus not only effective but also internationally comparable data on the timing and types of family trajectories, which has been used in countless academic articles and government reports.

   The oversample of immigrants is an effective method to fill data gaps on issues related to family formation and dissolution among an underrepresented demographic group. Due to the lower prevalence of immigrants in the general population, contrasted with the need to produce more detailed disaggregated data on this population, immigrants will be oversampled in the SFT. The differences in sampling rates between the various target groups makes it possible to carry out more disaggregated and intersectional analysis with this survey than a survey with a general population sample design.This allows for the identification of family patterns that might be specific to certain groups, and to assess whether specific policies need to be put in place to increase their socio-economic wellbeing.

   Thus, the survey methodology combined with the rigorous testing of the questionnaire content enables the effective production of robust statistics that meet Statistics Canada’s quality guidelines and provide insights into differences and similarities in experiences among Canadians of different socio-economic backgrounds, and especially among immigrants, compared to the rest of the Canadian population.

3. Proportionality:

   Some of the questions included in the questionnaire of the SFT might be considered of a sensitive nature. These questions were assessed as required to determine the extent of the effect of family related experiences on respondents’ lives. Statistics Canada undertook a thorough assessment of the content of SFT’s predecessor, the GSS on Families, in order to remove content that is not essential to meeting the objectives of the SFT and to reduce respondent burden. This exercise resulted in the elimination of approximately one quarter of the previous content.

   The questionnaire content was developed in collaboration with subject matter experts from the academic sector as well as from within Statistics Canada. Statistics Canada's Questionnaire Design Resource Centre (QDRC) provided input and feedback for the survey questionnaire after conducting a series of qualitative testing interviews with individuals who have similar characteristics of the sample. Overall, QDRC participants reacted positively, and the topics covered in the survey were of general interest, and no issues or major concerns were observed about the proposed topics.

   Given its retrospective nature, the SFT collects detailed information on family events that took place outside the country (births, adoptions, union formation and dissolution). These include key family events experienced by immigrants before their arrival in Canada, or by Canadians while living abroad. This information provides the full family life course of individuals, thus allowing to make comparisons between immigrants and non-immigrants. This, in turn, allows for the identification of family patterns that might be specific to immigrants^Footnote 18, and to assess whether specific policies need to be put in place to increase their socio-economic wellbeing as it relates to their family trajectories. The content of the SFT is comparable to what is being done elsewhere. Therefore, it is possible to conduct comparative studies with survey data from other countries, for example, the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS), the German Family Panel Data (PAIRFAM), and the National Survey of Family Growth in the United States (NSFG).

   The survey collects information about certain individuals related to the respondent (e.g., spouses or partners, former spouses or partners, children, etc.). The personal information collected is purposely limited in scope and it can only be analyzed in ways that relate to the respondents themselves. The information collected about the family members of the respondent can thus only be used in ways that: a) define an attribute or characteristic about the respondents themselves (e.g., respondents with a spouse; respondents with younger/older children) and b) is at a level of disaggregation large enough to guarantee the protection of the respondents’ family members privacy.

   For particularly sensitive variables, the following considerations were taken into account:

   • Gender identity and sexual orientation: The collection of gender identity and sexual orientation allows for a better understanding of the diversity of family configurations pertaining to the 2SLGBTQIA population. Improving data collection on the latter was an important priority identified by the Privy Council Office (PCO)^Footnote 19. The collection of these variables will allow analysing this segment of the population previously not covered, which aligns with the intentions of the Disaggregated Data Action Plan and also the Government of Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan^Footnote 20. The latter highlights the need for intersectionality in policy design in order to serve “underserved and disenfranchised populations, particularly 2SLGBTQI+”. Whereas other studies have separately pointed out poorer socio-economic outcomes among the 2SLGBTQI+ population^Footnote 21, and their more instability-prone family trajectories^Footnote 22, little is known about how these factors intersect and how they play out over the life course of the 2SLGBTQI+ population. The inclusion of both gender and sexual orientation allows to measure the potentially distinct family life trajectories and transitions that might make individuals more prone to several well documented outcomes and the “disproportionate health, social and economic inequities experienced by some 2SLGBTQI+ communities”^Footnote 23. In order to formulate adequate policies targeting potentially vulnerable life course transitions (home leaving, separation) for this population, adequate data needs to be collected that will allow identifying such turning points in family trajectories.
   • Religion: Religious affiliation is one of the dimensions that allows understanding the background of the respondent: it is indicative of the social norms the respondent ascribes to, and those constitute a key aspect influencing family behaviours. Given the increasing share of immigrants in the Canadian population^Footnote 24 and the greater diversity in religious affiliation among them^Footnote 25, the different makeup of religious affiliation of the recent immigrants could impact their family behaviour, affecting for instance fertility rates in Canada. Religion has indeed been thoroughly documented as a factor in explaining fertility behaviour: more religious individuals tend to have higher fertility^Footnote 26. Religious affiliation is also related to divorce: in Canada, more religious individuals are less prone to divorce^Footnote 27.  The SFT predecessor, the GSS Families, has been used to disentangle the effects of religious attendance and religious affiliation from other factors on the risk of union dissolution in Quebec. Individuals with no religion, and those who attend religious services less frequently are more prone to experience dissolution, even after controlling for numerous other variables^Footnote 28. Given the well-known link between religion and family behaviour, including these variables is necessary to carry out accurate analysis of family behaviour. Isolating the potential role of religion from other factors that affect family transitions is also key in order to formulate appropriate family policy: in order to properly understand which characteristics can drive certain behaviours and outcomes, it is necessary to control for normative variables such as religion. This is especially applicable in the context of an immigrant oversample in the survey, where a higher diversity of religious backgrounds is expected.
   • Names or pseudonyms of related individuals: The SFT asks about partnerships, former partnerships and children, as well as characteristics of the respondent’s parents. The first name or pseudonym of those individuals is asked in order to automatically populate in pursuant questions to assist respondents in keeping track of questions about each of these persons. Qualitative testing demonstrated that when a first name or pseudonym is incorporated directly into the associated questions, it helped respondents better understand and answer these questions.

     Further relationships with related individuals are assessed in the following ways:

     • Current spouse/partners: Questions are asked about the characteristics of couples in Canada, whether they are married, living common-law or living apart together (i.e. in a relationship and living in separate dwellings). These questions allow examining the diversity of couple forms in Canada, partnership duration (stability and instability), and the fertility of couples in Canada.
     • Former spouse/partners: When couples separate or divorce, it impacts the lives of both former spouses/partners, as well as their children’s. The SFT collects data to shed light on the different impacts of separation or divorce: economic and financial consequences, the ongoing responsibilities for care of children and child custody, the role of each ex-spouse/ex-partner, and work-family arrangements. The length of time the spouses/partner have been together and their ages at the time of separation are important variables to study the prevalence and impacts of separation, repartnering and multiple-partner fertility^Footnote 29.
     • Children: Determining the number of children a person has had or adopted is an important measure of fertility, especially when Canada has hit a record low total fertility rate in 2022. Asking about children (young or old) allows to learn more about family compositions in Canada (two-parent intact families, blended families, single-parent families), arrangements separated parents may have, and to identify needs in terms of parental leave and childcare services.
     • Parent(s): Family environment while growing up, and changes to this environment are very important variables when studying the family life course of Canadians. Experiencing parental separation or divorce during childhood has been demonstrated to be associated with partnership stability during adulthood^Footnote 30. In addition to finding out whether the respondent lived with both parents at birth and up to age 15, new questions ask about the main reason for not living with both parents. Moreover, instead of asking questions about the characteristics of “the mother” and “the father” of the respondent, as was done in the past, the questionnaire first asks respondents who they consider as their parents (if any). This allows to better capture family diversity while ensuring better inclusiveness of all family types.
     • Other household members: The inclusion of details on other household members allows to better understand, complement, and supplement the collected information on life course trajectories. During consultations, stakeholders and partners deemed this information as critical to a survey on families. Furthermore, it allows identifying relationships in multiple family households and to identify otherwise concealed families (especially important in multi-generational households).

   Family identity and diversity: As society becomes increasingly diverse, family identity and diversity play a large role in shaping individuals’ life experiences and outcomes, including family trajectories. These can be influenced by many factors: family traditions, country of origin, geographic regions, ethnic identities, cultural groups, community norms, religion, etc. Since individuals belonging to vulnerable populations have specific family trajectories, the analysis needs to take into account information on family identity and diversity as these are factors that might make individuals more or less vulnerable to specific transitions, events and outcomes. For instance, lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals are much less likely to be married and to live with children, and more likely to live in less stable couple arrangements like common-law unions^Footnote 31. Moreover, the Indigenous population is younger than the non-Indigenous population. and a higher share of Indigenous children live with grandparents or with only one parent^Footnote 32. A younger age structure and higher rates of lone parenthood are also more frequent among the black population^Footnote 33. By collecting information on population group, gender, sexual orientation and Indigenous identity, the SFT would provide the latest information on family composition and family trajectories for specific population groups, and that would contribute to the development of program and policy for these respective populations.

   Statistics Canada is committed to providing information about family identity and diversity to inform decision making that supports family well-being (childcare services, parental leave, financial agreements and child custody after a family breakup, workplace policies and practices, etc.). Stakeholders require up-to-date information on the above sensitive topics to respond to changing social conditions where family life reflects evolving notions of what constitutes a family.

4. Alternatives:

   While most Statistics Canada’s surveys, as well as the census, are focused on providing an accurate snapshot of society at the time of the interview, the SFT is unique in its retrospective nature. In other words, the survey is not focused on the measurement of the respondent’s current situation, but on the family events the respondent has experienced in the past, and in how and when they got to their current living and family situation. More precisely, this survey collects information on the timing of family events, which is not accessible through any other means.

   The SFT covers information that is not otherwise collected by Statistics Canada. No alternative data sources currently exist which include sufficiently precise, complete, or robust data to replace the information collected by the survey. In particular, the SFT questions are the sole data source for information on:

   • Biographical information on the family life course of Canadians
   • General indicators on couple relationships in Canada
   • Family histories for events that took place outside of Canada
   • Internationally comparable data

   While some administrative or fiscal data sources can complement the type of information collected on the SFT, administrative data are not collected with the same goals in mind and are thus not an accurate replacement for biographical data on family events and transitions.

   The SFT will also be linked to other administrative data in order to reduce the burden placed on respondents to answer additional questions where possible. This linkage is the only way to derive the additional insights from the personal information collected as there are no alternative methods to analyze this information.

Mitigation factors:

While some questions contained in the survey can be considered sensitive, 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. These include the following that are of particular importance in the context of this survey:

Sensitivity

• A full review of the content was conducted with key stakeholders to keep only content that is directly relevant to the objective. As a result, about a quarter of questions were cut from the previous GSS on Families.
• Respondents are provided with the possibility to skip questions or provide partial responses.
• Short explanatory texts have been inserted where deemed necessary. These address the usefulness and purpose of the questions and help survey participants be made aware of the upcoming content before reading questions that are potentially sensitive to them.

Transparency and consent

• Prior to the survey, respondents will be informed that the survey is voluntary, and of the survey purpose, allowing them to decide whether they wish to participate. The SFT is collected using both respondent self-completed electronic questionnaire (rEQ) and interviewer assisted telephone interview (iEQ) collection methods. Interviewers will be thoroughly trained and have information readily available (interviewer manual, reference cards, PowerPoint presentation) to reply to respondent questions about the survey should the need arise.
• Individuals selected for the SFT are informed of survey content and privacy, using all means available to the agency. An invitation letter with an information brochure (see Appendix A) will be mailed out to selected respondents and will be available in the six most spoken non-official languages in Canada. The information regarding the survey content and its objective is also available on the Information for Survey Participants (ISP) Statistics Canada webpage, on the survey specific webpage, and in the questionnaire (which can also be found on the survey specific web page).

Conclusion:

While the survey raises potential privacy concerns, this assessment concludes that, with the existing Statistics Canada safeguards including those listed above, any remaining risks are such that Statistics Canada is prepared to accept and manage the risk.

Firm technology adoption, its determinants, and impacts (003-2023)

National Social and Affordable Housing Database linkage to administrative tax and immigration, Census and Canadian Housing Survey (002-2024)

Purpose: The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has developed a research plan to understand characteristics of persons and households living in social and affordable housing. The statistics produced will help inform the evaluation and further the implementation of the National Housing Strategy. 

As part of this plan, a linkage between the National Social and Affordable Housing Database (NSAHD) to multiple data sources held by Statistics Canada will be performed. Combining information from several sources (tax, employment, immigration, housing and the Census) will contribute income and sociodemographic information, as well as housing indicators to the linked database for those living in NSAHD units. Analytical work in this domain is expected to help researchers, the general public and government to understand and to improve housing policies or programs.

Output: The analytical file, once personal identifiers are removed, along with anonymized linkage keys will be placed in the Research Data Centre (RDC) for access by CMHC as Statistics Canada deemed employees for the first four months. After this period, the files will be made available in the RDC network and access will be granted following the standard RDC approval process. Only non-confidential aggregated statistics and analyses conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act and any applicable requirements of the Privacy Act, will be released outside of Statistics Canada.

Linking the Level of Supervision and Official Language Variables to the ESDC Employee Wellness Survey (ESDC EWS) (004-2023)

Microdata linkage for exploring the socio-economic outcomes of individuals who have received services from British Columbia Ministry of Children and Family Development (004-2024)

Purpose: This data linkage is being carried out on a cost-recovery basis by Statistics Canada for British Columbia Ministry of Children and Family Development (BC MCFD). 

The purpose of the data-linking initiative is to analyze the socio-economic outcomes of a cohort of individuals who have received BC MCFD services, by linking BC MCFD data with Statistics Canada data for the same cohort of individuals that BC MCFD would otherwise not have access to. The inclusion of a vast array of BC MCFD data gathered through service delivery, linked with Statistics Canada economic data will allow BC MCFD analysts to explore connections and variables that could not be gleaned from BC MCFD data alone.

The outputs will allow BC MCFD to evaluate the efficacy of the services provided by BC MCFD and strengthen the assessment of services provided by BC MCFD and support future policy development.

Output: Statistical tables will be prepared at the aggregate level while meeting the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act. Only non-confidential aggregate statistics such as counts, percentages and sums will be provided to the client and only after appropriate suppression has been applied. A total of ten tables will be provided to the client, one for two variables of interest, giving information for data that will be used by the BC MCFD analysts. A short report on the methodology and results will also be delivered to the client. An analytical file will be made available for the exclusive access of the BC MCFD analysts as deemed employees via a Statistics Canada secure access point follow the standard approval process.

Surrey Opioid Data Collection and Community Response Project: Linking Surrey Opioids data with Census, income, health and immigration data to generate privacy-enhancing synthetic data (005-2023)

Custom data request: Student Work Placement Program linked to the Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS), T1 Family Files (T1FF), and the 2021 Census of Population long form (006-2024)

Purpose: The Student Work Placement Project (SWPP) project will provide Employment and Social Development Canada with policy-relevant information that will allow them to evaluate the success of the SWPP. The project builds upon the information currently available to ESDC by including data pertaining to education and labour market integration and outcomes of postsecondary graduates who had a work-integrated learning placement through the SWPP, such as earnings and employment. The project will also allow disaggregation by sociodemographic characteristics with a focus on underrepresented groups, where possible. 

Output: Statistics Canada will provide aggregate, non-confidential custom tables to Employment and Social Development Canada. Only non-confidential aggregate statistics and analysis conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. If the client later wishes to access the linked source microdata files in the Research Data Centres to perform their own analysis, the source files used in the linkage with no direct identifiers will be made available to the client as Statistics Canada deemed employees through the Research Data Centre (RDC) program using the normal RDC project approval procedures.

Linkage of Canadian Employer-Employee Dynamics Database to demographic data to analyze Indigenous-owned businesses in Canada (007-2024)

Linkage of Canadian Employer-Employee Dynamics Database to demographic data to analyze Indigenous-owned businesses in Canada (007-2024)

Purpose: The purpose of the project is to link the Canadian Employer-Employee Dynamics Database to select variables from the Census of population, the National Household Survey, and the Canadian Community Health Survey to analyze Indigenous owned businesses. This data linkage will help Statistics Canada, and other Canadian government departments analyze data related to Indigenous-owned businesses in Canada to assist in policy making decisions.

Output: The resulting analytical file will be used to update CODR tables 33-10-0631-01: Private enterprises by sex and Indigenous identity of ownership, province or region and enterprise size, 33-10-0632-01: Private enterprises by sex and Indigenous identity of ownership, age group of primary owner and enterprise size on the Statistics Canada Website. The data linkage will also allow Economic Analysis Division to address several requests from other government departments related to Indigenous-owned businesses in Canada. Only non-confidential aggregate statistical outputs and analyses that conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada.

Date: March 2024

Program manager:

• Director, Centre for Social Data Integration and Development
• Director General, Social Data Insights, Integration and Innovation

Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB):

Personal information collected through the Survey Series on People and their Communities is described in Statistics Canada's "Special Surveys" Class of Personal Information. 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.

"Special Surveys" Class of Personal Information (Bank number: StatCan PPU 016) is published on the Statistics Canada website under the latest Information about Programs and Information Holdings chapter.

Description of statistical activity:

Under the authority of the Statistics Act^Footnote1, Statistics Canada is conducting Wave 5 of the voluntary Survey Series on People and their Communities^Footnote2 – Social Cohesion and Experiences of Discrimination (SSPC-SCED). This iteration of the survey will be collecting new content about the respondents’ future outlook in Canada, feelings towards others and experiences of discrimination with a focus on immigrants’ and racialized peoples’ experiences, in addition to information about self-perceived general and mental health and financial well-being. This sensitive content, in conjunction with the longitudinal nature and linkages with responses in the previous waves and the Census, warrants the development of this supplement to the Generic PIA in order to assess, describe and mitigate any potential associated privacy risks.

Reason for supplement:

As with the Supplement to the Generic PIA for the Survey Series on People and their Communities – Participation and Experiences in Community Sports (Wave 4), 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 was developed to address the collection and use of sensitive new content in Wave 5 of this survey series that includes information about respondents’ feelings towards others and their experiences with unfair treatment, racism and discrimination, combined with sociodemographic and other information collected from prior survey series waves. 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 and use of personal information for Wave 5 of the Survey Series on People and their Communities – Social Cohesion and Experiences of Discrimination (SSPC-SCED) can be justified against Statistics Canada’s Necessity and Proportionality Framework^{Footnote 3}:

1. Necessity:

   The fifth wave of the SSPC addresses issues such as self-perceived general and mental health, financial well-being, satisfaction with time use and satisfaction with the local environment, which contribute to several key indicators on the well-being of people in Canada in Canada’s Quality of Life Indicator Framework and will enable the federal government to identify future policy priorities and build on previous actions to improve evidence-based decision-making.

   The fifth wave also includes several questions related to social cohesion and other similar concepts (e.g., social inclusion and social connectedness) that indicate the relative strength or weaknesses of the bonds between societal members with emphasis on inter-group or between-group interconnectedness. The between-group aspect of social cohesion is the focus of the Conference of European Statisticians’ (CES) Task Team on Social Cohesion. Cohesion represents the act or state of sticking together tightly, highlighting the bond or the distance between two units. In social terms, the distance between groups may be defined in various ways, such as trust of out-of-group members (members of different sociodemographic/economic groups than the individual), feelings toward out-of-group members, and opinions and values relative to out-of-group members. The groups between which social distance is estimated can be identified and defined in various ways:

   1. Social and demographic characteristics, such as ethnicity, language, religion and sexual orientation.
   2. Political or opinion-based lines, such as opinions/positions on issues such as climate change, abortion or vaccination, as well as traditional measures such as political affiliation and ideology.
   3. Economic terms, such as economic grievances or marginalization articulated in terms of the differentiation and opposition of ‘the people’ to institutions, elites, or ‘the establishment’.

   The questions build on the In-Depth Review of Social Cohesion prepared for the CES and endorsed at its plenary meeting in June 2023. Measures of interpersonal and between-group ties will complement efforts to disaggregate population groups under the Disaggregated Data Action Plan (DDAP) to fill the knowledge gap on the distance between groups. Interpersonal and between-group ties will be central to better understanding social cleavages as they relate to discrimination as part of Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy to strengthen impact measurement and performance reporting.

   Finally, the fifth wave will aid in the development of a conceptual framework on racism and discrimination by Statistics Canada’s Centre for Gender, Diversity, and Inclusion Statistics in support of Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy and the DDAP. This conceptual framework will assist in operationalizing the measurement of racism and discrimination and identifying relevant indicators and new questions to include in future Statistics Canada social surveys. Questions will examine interpersonal or individual racism including subtler forms of racism which have been absent from existing Statistics Canada data holdings and surveys.

2. Effectiveness - Working assumptions:

   The questionnaire content in Wave 5 was developed in collaboration with subject matter experts from Statistics Canada’s Centre for Social Data Insights and Innovation, Social Analysis and Modelling Division, Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics and Diversity and Sociocultural Statistics division. Statistics Canada's Questionnaire Design Resource Centre (QDRC) provided input and feedback for the survey questionnaire after conducting a series of qualitative testing interviews with individuals who are representative of the sample. Overall, QDRC participants reacted positively, and the topics covered in the survey were of general interest. There were no major issues observed and there were no concerns about the proposed topics being too personal or sensitive.

3. Proportionality:

   Questions were developed with subject matter experts to fill specific data gaps and support policy and program development. While the sensitivity of these questions on experiences of unfair treatment, racism, and discrimination may cause distress for some respondents, the results from this survey are expected to provide data to help address issues related to the subtler, overlooked form of racism, “minor racism” or “everyday racism” that is not captured in other Statistics Canada social surveys. This will aid in the development of the conceptual framework on racism and discrimination at Statistics Canada and potentially lead to policy that results in a reduction in the occurrence and prevalence of racism and discrimination in Canada.

4. Alternatives:

   The same considerations for alternatives examined in the Supplement to the Generic PIA for the Survey Series on People and their Communities – Participation and Experiences in Community Sports (Wave 4) apply to SSPC-SCED.

   Specifically, alternative sources for the data to be collected are not available in any other Statistics Canada surveys or administrative data holdings. Alternative designs to a panel survey were considered for collecting this information, including a traditional survey, however, the response burden a traditional survey would place on this population would have likely compromised the ability to achieve response rates required to produce reliable statistics. Ultimately, a panel survey was deemed the optimal collection method to produce all the required disaggregated data for analysis without overburdening respondents.

   Additionally, although the General Social Survey (GSS)^{Footnote 4} program collects similar information, it does not address the analytical needs of SSPC-SCED. Moreover, the GSS does not oversample for a sufficient level of disaggregation needed to identify disparities between racialized and non-racialized groups and immigrants and non-immigrants on these topics.

Mitigation factors:

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, including measures outlined in the Supplement to Statistics Canada’s Generic PIA for the Survey Series on People and their Communities – Participation and Experiences in Community Sports (Wave 4):

Resources

Some questions contained in the SSPC-SCED are considered sensitive as they relate to an individual's experience or witnessing of unfair treatment, racism, or discrimination. Relevant resources will be provided to respondents in the information for survey participants and interviewers will be instructed to provide the resources should a respondent experience any distress. Additionally, respondents will be provided with the possibility to skip questions.

Consent

Individuals selected for the SSPC-SCED will be informed in the invitation email and in the electronic questionnaire or during the telephone interview that their participation is voluntary before being asked any questions.

Confidentiality

Variables that directly identify respondents will be separated from the data files in the first stage of data processing and placed in a secure location with controlled access. Variables that might indirectly identify respondents are examined and modified as necessary in order to protect the privacy and confidentiality of respondents. 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 appropriate additional disclosure controls will be performed prior to the publication and sharing of data (in RDCs, etc.) to ensure that marginalized and vulnerable communities are not disproportionally impacted.

Data linkage

The linkage of SSPC-SCED data with other sources of information will be used in statistical studies to evaluate data quality and the impact of non-response, to improve and assist with data editing and imputation, and for direct replacement of data in presence of partial non-response when the quality is deemed appropriate. The linkage files will be used only within Statistics Canada for methodological research, development and processing.

Security measures for linkage keys and administrative files respect the policies, directives and guidelines for information technology security at Statistics Canada. When linkage is required, it is done using anonymized statistical identifiers ("linkage keys") and, as a result, no linked file contains personal identifiers such as name, phone number and address (excluding postal code). These anonymized statistical identifiers are used to link to other sources of information for statistical purposes only. The personal identifiers obtained are removed from the rest of the information and securely stored with restricted access with an approved operational requirement to access them, and whose access is removed when no longer required.

Transparency

Prior to the survey, respondents will be informed that the survey is voluntary, and of the survey purpose, allowing them to decide whether they wish to participate. This information will be provided in the invitation email, the electronic questionnaire, by interviewers, as well as on the SSPC-SCED website.

Additionally, although no concerns were raised by participants in focus groups during the testing of the questionnaire, respondents will be provided with a warning about the sensitive nature of the experiences of discrimination questions, the ability to skip any questions, as well as with information on relevant resources^{Footnote 5}. Additionally, interviewers are trained to provide relevant resources to respondents who show signs of distress, and to offer to skip sensitive questions.

Conclusion:

This assessment concludes that with the existing Statistics Canada safeguards including those listed in the Supplement to the Generic PIA for the Survey Series on People and their Communities – Participation and Experiences in Community Sports (Wave 4), any remaining risks are such that Statistics Canada is prepared to continue to accept and manage the risk.