Date: November 2021

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

Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB):

Personal information collected through the Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction is described in Statistics Canada's "Special Surveys" Personal Information Bank. The Personal Information Bank refers to information collected through Statistics Canada's ad hoc surveys, which are not part of the regular survey taking activities of the Agency. They cover a variety of socio-economic topics including health, housing, labour market, education and literacy, as well as demographic data.

The "Special Surveys" Personal Information Bank (Bank number: StatCan PPU 026) is published on the Statistics Canada website under the latest Information about Programs and Information Holdings chapter.

Description of statistical activity:

Statistics Canada, under the authority of the Statistics Act^{Footnote 1}, will conduct the Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction on behalf of the Department of Employment and Social Development Canada with the possibility of conducting another iteration in the future. This voluntary targeted survey will collect information on the quality of employees' work conditions, access to benefits and flexible work arrangements, labour relations, work-related well-being and workplace health and safety including harassment and discrimination. The information from this survey will guide research and analysis to update the Canada Labour Code. Statistics Canada will publish aggregate results in the Daily (the Agency's official release bulletin) summarizing the survey findings along with data tables. These data will be fully anonymized and non-confidential, without any direct personal identifiers, which prevents the possibility of identifying individuals. The Department of Employment and Social Development Canada will access the data file, with all personal identifiers removed, in the Research Data Centres^{Footnote 2} and will only be permitted to release aggregate results, which are fully anonymized and non-confidential. They will use these data to:

• Identify the prevalence of work conditions that do not follow the Labour Code by industry
• Ensure fair treatment and compensation for employees
• Improve administration of labour standards
• Determine areas within the Labour Code that should be updated
• Identify if procedures and support to employees are in place that respond to incidents of harassment and violence if they do occur
• Identify if changes are required to the regulations dealing with harassment and violence in the workplace

This survey will collect information from employees living in Canada who worked for a business under federal jurisdiction. Contact information was obtained either from employees' tax records^{Footnote 3} or from their employer^{Footnote 4}. In addition to questions about working conditions, this survey will also collect information such as age, sex at birth, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, salary or wage earned, Indigenous identity, country of birth, immigration status and related information, citizenship, population group, level of education, and if they have a disability. Responses will be aggregated to ensure that no individual can be identified in published results.

Reason for supplement:

While the Generic Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) addresses most of the privacy and security risks related to statistical activities conducted by Statistics Canada, this supplement describes additional measures being implemented due to the sensitivity of the information being collected. As is the case with all PIAs, Statistics Canada's privacy framework ensures that elements of privacy protection and privacy controls are documented and applied.

The Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction will collect information on working conditions such as workplace health and safety including harassment and discrimination. Questions on harassment and discrimination could be considered sensitive and may cause distress for some respondents. This supplement also presents an analysis of the necessity and proportionality of collecting this sensitive information.

Necessity and Proportionality

The collection of personal information for the Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction can be justified against Statistics Canada's Necessity and Proportionality Framework:

1. Necessity:

   Data from the Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction seeks to improve our understanding of employee working conditions within federally regulated workplaces to support the Government of Canada's strategy to update the Canada Labour Code. This includes workplaces that are free from harassment, violence and discrimination.

   The content and scope of the survey were developed by Statistics Canada and the Department of Employment and Social Development Canada and tested by Statistics Canada's Questionnaire Design Resource Centre. The content of the survey was deemed necessary for understanding and creating specific policies to address and prevent sexual harassment, non-sexual harassment and discrimination based on race, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. These data will be analysed alongside industry categories to determine if there is an association between working conditions and an increased risk of sexual harassment, non-sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace.

   The Department of Employment and Social Development Canada will analyze the survey results, in aggregate form and without personal identifiers, to assess the working conditions, including the health and safety of these employees. The information will also be used to inform and update the Canada Labour Code. Only employees who worked for a business under federal jurisdiction during the reference period of 2020 are eligible to participate in the Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction. As such, respondents will first be asked to confirm if they worked for a specific employer in order to establish whether they can take part in the survey. The demographic data including: age, sex at birth, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, Indigenous identity, country of birth, immigration status and related information, citizenship, population group, level of education and if they have a disability will be collected and used for analysis of sub-populations. These data serve to better understand if certain characteristics, such as age, gender, education or race are associated with an increased risk of sexual harassment, non-sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
   The survey data file, with all personal identifiers removed, will be made available to researchers in the Research Data Centres (RDC)^{Footnote 5} upon approval of requests to access the data for statistical research^{Footnote 6}. Statistics Canada's directives and policies ensure the confidentiality of any data released from the RDC. Only aggregate results, which are fully anonymized and non-confidential, without direct personal identifiers, which precludes the possibility of re-identifying individuals, can be released from the RDC. Individual responses will be grouped with those of others when reporting results and results for very small groups will not be published or shared with government departments or agencies. This will also reduce any potential impact on vulnerable populations or subsets of populations, as the grouping of results will protect the confidentiality of individual responses.

   Although there are currently no plans for record linkage, direct personal identifiers such as name will be retained on a separate file in a secure location for potential linkage opportunities in the future.

   Statistics Canada's microdata linkage and related statistical activities were assessed in Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment.^{Footnote 7} All data linkage activities are subject to established governance^{Footnote 8}, and are assessed against the privacy principles of necessity and proportionality^{Footnote 9}. All approved linkages are published on Statistics Canada's website^{Footnote 10}.

2. Effectiveness - Working assumptions:

   The survey will be conducted using a self-reported electronic questionnaire. The sample frame for this survey will be developed by Statistics Canada methodologists using administrative files within the Agency, which contain personal information such as name and contact information. The sample frame is created to ensure the population of employees under federal jurisdiction is represented. This information will be used to contact individuals selected for the survey. Prior to collection, selected individuals will be sent an invitation letter with details about the survey such as the survey purpose and the protection of confidentiality, as well as a brochure with information for workplace safety and mental health resources. The letter will include a unique secure access code for the respondent to access the electronic questionnaire on Statistics Canada's secure survey infrastructure.

   Statistics Canada interviewers will conduct follow-up phone calls with people who have not responded after six weeks. This will also provide respondents with an opportunity to complete the survey over the telephone with a trained Statistics Canada interviewer.

   The collection period will be approximately three months. Statistics Canada will follow all directives and policies for the development, collection, and dissemination of the survey. Survey responses will not be directly attached to respondents' personal identifiers, such as their name, address or phone numbers. Other personal information collected during the survey such as age, sex at birth, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, salary or wage earned, Indigenous identity, country of birth, immigration status and related information, citizenship, population group, level of education and if they have a disability, will be grouped to create statistics for publication of survey results and used for analysis of sub-populations.

3. Proportionality:

   A sample size of 37,500 has been assessed as necessary by methodologists to produce statistics of sufficient quality by industry level of federally regulated workplaces. Employment and Social Development Canada has also identified the need for estimates at the industry level, as a smaller sample size would not be expected to yield estimates of sufficient quality. If a future iteration of SEFJ occurs, its sample design will be reviewed and updated based on information gathered from this iteration.

   Experts at Statistics Canada and at the Employment and Social Development Canada have been consulted on the scope and methodology of the SEFJ. Questions from other Statistics Canada surveys have been included in the SEFJ. This content has undergone three rounds of qualitative testing and no sensitivity issues were identified during qualitative testing. As well, three questions on the COVID-19 pandemic were added to assess the impact of the pandemic on unemployment and the health and safety encountered by the respondents. These questions underwent informal qualitative testing and were reviewed by the Questionnaire Design Resource Centre, who have been involved in testing a series of questionnaires on the COVID-19 pandemic.

   Each question and response category was carefully considered to ensure that it would measure the research questions and help inform future decisions related to the quality of employees' work conditions including harassment or discrimination.

   Proportionality has also been considered based on data sensitivity and ethics:

   • Data sensitivity: The data collected for the SEFJ could be of a sensitive nature due to some of the elements being measured. To reduce the risk of sensitive information being disclosed, these data will be processed according to Statistics Canada best practices. In particular, personal identifier variables (e.g. address, etc.) are stored in a file separate from the survey data and accessible to only a limited number of employees on a need-to-know basis, and are never disclosed. They are retained for no more than two years after collection is completed.
   • Ethics: Experts at Statistics Canada and ESDC have been consulted to ensure that the collection of data for the SEFJ will be done ethically. Respondents will be informed in the questionnaire that their participation is voluntary and will be provided with the survey topics before being asked any questions. A national resource on mental health and workplace safety will be listed on the brochure (see appendix A) and mailed to the respondents.

   The benefits of the findings, which are expected to support decision making for the federal government and are aimed at measuring working conditions to improve Canada Labour Code standards, are believed to be proportional to the potential risks to privacy.

4. Alternatives:

   Currently, there are no other data sources that gather information on the working conditions of employees under federal jurisdiction. Many survey methodologies were explored. However, based on discussions between subject matter and methodology experts at Statistics Canada and the Department of Employment and Social Development Canada, it was determined that a survey with at least 37,500 units was necessary to produce reliable and accurate results by industry. Releasing data at these aggregated levels will reduce the potential to identify impacts on vulnerable populations, subsets of populations, and groups, while providing meaningful results.

Mitigation factors:

Some questions on the Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction are considered sensitive as they relate to sexual harassment, non-sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace encountered by individuals and the outcomes those problems have had on their lives. The overall risk of harm to the survey respondents has been deemed manageable with existing Statistics Canada safeguards that are described in Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment, as well as with the following measures:

Mental Health and Workplace Safety Resources

A brochure will be mailed to respondents that provides details about the survey, such as the survey purpose, how the survey results will be used, the protection of confidentiality, as well as a national resource for mental health and workplace safety.

Transparency

As with all Statistic Canada surveys, prior to the survey, respondents will be informed of the survey purpose, allowing them to decide if they want to participate. This information will be provided through invitation and reminder letters, and reiterated at the beginning of the online questionnaire. Respondents will also be informed that their participation is voluntary before being asked any questions. Information about the survey, a brochure, and the survey questionnaire will be made available on Statistics Canada's website on the day collection starts.

Confidentiality

Individual responses will be grouped with those of others when reporting results. Individual responses and results for very small groups will never be published or shared with government departments or agencies. Careful analysis of the data and consideration will be given prior to the release of aggregate data to ensure that vulnerable individuals are not disproportionally impacted.

Conclusion:

This assessment concludes that, with the existing Statistics Canada safeguards and mitigation factors listed above, any remaining risks are such that Statistics Canada is prepared to accept and manage the risk.

Formal approval:

This Supplementary Privacy Impact Assessment has been reviewed and recommended for approval by Statistics Canada's Chief Privacy Officer, Director General for Modern Statistical Methods and Data Science, and Assistant Chief Statistician for Social, Health and Labour Statistics.

The Chief Statistician of Canada has the authority for section 10 of the Privacy Act for Statistics Canada, and is responsible for the Agency's operations, including the program area mentioned in this Supplementary Privacy Impact Assessment.

This Privacy Impact Assessment has been approved by the Chief Statistician of Canada.

Information and data are among Canada's most valuable resources. Data derived from a wide range of sectors and areas of interest are essential to informed decision making for pandemic recovery initiatives, for reconciliation and a renewed relationship with Indigenous peoples, for tackling the climate crisis, and for addressing key issues the country will face for decades to come.

Leading-edge Canadian public and private sector organizations are driving the use of digital information to better understand the issues we face. There is a wealth of public and private data in this country that is not part of the national statistical system. When they are built upon common concepts and definitions and shared standards, these data can be key to meeting the needs of Canadians. To do this effectively, it means building strong relationships that promote the value of data and connection of information.

First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities are each developing a distinctions-based approach to asserting their unique jurisdiction, ownership and control over their data that relates to their identity, their people, language, history, culture and communities. Information, data and capacity development investments are important at the community, regional and national levels to support these efforts.

To build truly nation-wide data means that legislation and policy must not only be in place, but also clear on issues of data stewardship and need for data. Working within the national statistical system, Statistics Canada is often constrained in its ability to deliver what Canadians expect and need to create prosperity and well-being in a world marked by a digital future. Even with digital modernization efforts, the statistical system is hampered by fragmentation, unused data and unmet data needs in critical sectors. These are largely a consequence of the inheritance of an outdated governance structure between Statistics Canada and federal departments, provinces and territories. The federal government must be a leader and support new governance models that bring broader perspectives and partnerships.

For Canada to succeed in an increasingly dynamic digital world, Statistics Canada's role is key. The agency is an independent and trusted source of official statistics and provides a solid foundation for government accountability and evidence-based decision making by both the public and the private sectors, which benefits all Canadians.

Strong, clear and unambiguous statistical legislation is important to support the national data system including its national data strategies. Modern digital technology for collecting, transferring and sharing statistical information is not well reflected in the Statistics Act, which affects how the statistical legislation is interpreted. Statistics Canada's role as data steward in the country's statistical systems needs to be clarified and strengthened in the Statistics Act.

Issues such as the global COVID-19 pandemic, racial injustice, the tragedy of Indigenous residential schools and the climate crisis have heightened a growing recognition among Canadians and decision makers of how important reliable and timely detailed information is to understand many of the issues facing Canadians.

There is a need for nimble, flexible data systems, as pressing problems and critical events are often unexpected. In general, the pace of change today occurs much more quickly than the change captured in quinquennial census information or data collected from annual surveys. There are new untapped sources of information that can provide more real-time data and accurate portraits of Canadians and their communities.

Data sources on their own generally do not provide the breadth, depth or interconnections required to examine more complex issues such as socio-economic inequalities and environmental impacts from and on businesses. To support these analyses, datasets need to be constructed from multiple sources under clearly specified confidentiality and security protocols. Increasingly, researchers need to be able to link and connect relevant variables on demand.

Data visualizations are a powerful tool to explore and present ideas. In response to feedback from information session participants, this session uses a case study approach to illustrate how to explore your data and decide which visualizations help tell your audience a data story. Designed for a beginner to intermediate audience, the session focuses on one of the hardest parts of designing graphs and charts: knowing where to start.

English Information Sessions

• Tuesday, January 25, 2022, 1:00 pm to 2:30pm, Eastern Time

French Information Session

• Monday, January 27, 2022, 1:00 pm to 2:30pm, Eastern Time

Concepts used by the Registered Apprenticeship Information System (RAIS)

Designated trades

Apprenticeship training and trade qualifications in Canada are governed by the provincial and territorial jurisdictions. These jurisdictions determine the trades, for which, apprenticeship training is made available as well as the trades, for which, certificates are granted. These are referred to as designated trades. The jurisdictions also determine which of the designated trades require certification in order to work unsupervised in the trade. The list of designated trades varies considerably between the jurisdictions. Data from the Registered Apprenticeship Information System (RAIS) include those trades that are designated in at least one province or territory.

Registered apprentices are people who are 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's governing body) in order to complete the training.

Trade Qualifiers or Trade Challengers are people who have worked in a specific trade for an extended period of time, without necessarily having ever been an apprentice, and who have received certification from a jurisdiction, usually done via a skills assessment examination in the trade.

Registrations

The total registrations in apprenticeship programs is the count of any registrations that occurred during the reporting period (from January to December of the calendar year) within one of the 13 jurisdictions (province or territories).

Total registrations = Already registered + New registrations + Reinstatements

• Already registered - the number of registrations carried forward from the previous calendar year
• New registrations - new entrants to any apprenticeship program that occurred during the 12 months reporting period
• Reinstatements - registrations by people who had left an apprenticeship program in a specific trade in a previous year and had returned to the same apprenticeship program during the reporting period

Red Seal and non-Red Seal Programs

The Red Seal Program sets common standards assessing the skills of tradespersons across Canada in specific trades, referred to as the "Red Seal" trades. Tradespersons who meet the Red Seal standards, through examination, receive a Red Seal endorsement on their provincial/territorial trade certificates. The Red Seal endorsement provides recognition that your certificate meets an interprovincial standard that is recognized in each province and territory.

Non-Red Seal trades do not have interprovincial standards. Many of these trades do not have an examination requirement in order to work in the trade.

Certification

The requirements for granting a certificate varies by jurisdiction in Canada. In most instances, an apprentice is issued a certificate if he or she completes requirements such as supervised on-the-job training, technical training, as well as passing one or more examinations. Most trade qualifiers (Challengers), meanwhile, become certified once they pass an examination.

Certification terminology

There are jurisdictional differences in the names of certificates awarded.

They may include:

• Certificate of Apprenticeship
• Diploma of Qualification
• Certificate of Qualification
• Journeyperson's Certificate

• Certificat d'aptitude
• Certificat de compagnon
• Certificat de compétence
• Diplôme d'apprentissage

Federal, provincial and territorial changes pertinent to the interpretation of RAIS data

1. Revisions have been made to the Quebec 1991 to 2005 data, which also changed the previous Canada totals.

2. Prior to 1999, Nunavut was part of the Northwest Territories.

3. Starting in 2003, a change occurred in the reporting of Newfoundland and Labrador's information concerning newly registered apprentices and cancellations/suspensions.

4. The British Columbia data have been revised in 2005. This changed the previous Canada totals for 2005.

5. Starting with the 2005 reporting year, Prince Edward Island changed their information system and this may have affected historical comparisons. At the end of 2006, Prince Edward Island made some adjustments and revisions to their database which accounted for the change in the carry-over of registered apprentices for the beginning of 2007. In 2007, an increase in new registrations is, to some extent, related to a demand for skilled workers outside of the province. In 2008, due to technical difficulties during the redesign of their Registered Apprenticeship Information System, Prince Edward Island was not able to report a number of apprentices.

6. In 2006, minor trade code revisions were made to Manitoba.

7. In 2006 and 2007, differences may occur in Ontario related to the carry-over totals of active apprentices between both years. This is a result of the conversion of client data into Ontario's new database system. As a result, a clean-up of inactive clients occurred and this adjusted the active total of registered apprentices and their carry-over into 2007.

8. As of 2008, the portion of total Quebec trade information coming from Emploi-Quebec (EQ) is no longer being provided in aggregated form. The data from the province includes all trades with the exception of the automotive sector.

9. In 2008, Alberta incorrectly included the Industrial warehousing trade with the Partsperson and Partsperson (material) trades and also excluded the Construction Craft Worker trade.

10. In 2008, a distinct feature of the Rig Technician trade is that although individuals may be registered as apprentices in the trade in Ontario, their certificates are granted as trade qualifiers (challengers).

11. In 2008, Alberta reported a large number of discontinued apprentices, which was a result of them implementing a series of cancellations and suspensions of inactive apprentices.

12. In 2008 and 2009, new Quebec legislation affecting the Emploi-Quebec (EQ) sector trade was introduced. This resulted in some changes in the reporting of registered apprenticeship registrations.

13. An adjustment has been made to the Joiner trade in British Columbia, to include the trade in the Interior finishing major trade group, rather than in the previous Carpenter's major trade group.

14. In 2010, the Emploi-Quebec (EQ) data included revised trade programs where some of the trades have been segmented into several levels. This segmentation created possible multiple registrations and completions by a single individual apprentice, where previously only one registration and completion existed for this individual.

15. In 2011, the Electronics technician (Consumer Products) trade was no longer designated as a Red Seal trade.

16. In 2012, the Gasfitter - Class A and Gasfitter - Class B trades were designated as Red Seal trades.

17. In 2013, changes in provincial regulations governing drinking water related trades reported by Emploi-Quebec (EQ), have resulted in program changes, as well as the transferring of responsibility of some of these trades to the Conseil de la Construction du Québec (CCQ).

18. Begining in 2013, Ontario's data is received from two organizations. The registration data continues to be reported by the Ministry of Advanced Education Skills Development (MASED). They are also responsible for issuing Certificates of Apprenticeships upon the completion of technical training and on-the-job hours. The Ontario College of Trades (OCOT) is responsible for reporting data on Certificates of Qualifications, which are issued to apprentices upon the completion of a certification exam. This administrative practice has affected the RAIS data in a number of different ways.

1. On April 8, 2013, MASED awarded a Certificate of Apprenticeship to approximately 6,000 apprentices who had completed their technical training and on-the-job hours, and had not yet received a Certificate of Qualification.
2. There are discrepancies in the number of apprentices in Ontario due to differences in how MASED and OCOT define an apprentice. OCOT considers apprentices to be their members, for whom they have received membership applications with payment of annual membership fees. MASED considers apprentices to be individuals for whom they have received signed training agreements. In the MASED registration data, apprentices can have active and inactive statuses, which can also contribute to discrepancies. Inactive apprentices are apprentices with whom MASED have not received information about their progression in their apprenticeship program for more than a certain period of time. Active and inactive apprentices are included in the RAIS data. As such, the RAIS data may include previously registered apprentices, who have since discontinued their apprenticeship program, but have not yet informed MASED that they have discontinued their program.
3. Beginning in 2013, apprentices who discontinued from apprenticeship programs in the past, but who remained on the database as already registered apprentices began to be removed from MASED records. These removals appear in the RAIS data files in the following years. The clean-up occurred during odd years (2013, 2015, and 2017). After discussion with the Ontario data partners in 2019, it was indicated that the last of these batch discontinuations were completed in 2017. As a result, there will be less of a spike in discontinuations, and more of a normalized trend from here starting in 2018 and onwards. Normal discontinuation figures for the province will be about 5,000 to 7,000 per year.
4. In 2014 and 2015, apprentices who did not receive their Certificate of Qualification or Certificate of Apprenticeship in the same year were classified as trade qualifiers (Challengers) rather than apprentices. To align the RAIS data with the standard definition of trade qualifier (Challengers), these records were reclassified as apprentices with the release of the 2016 RAIS data. This revision led to a decrease of about 2,600 trade qualifiers (Challengers) in Ontario in both 2014 and 2015 compared to the previously released data.

19. In 2013, a regulatory change came into effect which affects both Ornamental ironworkers and Structural steel erectors under the jurisdiction of the Conseil de la Construction du Québec (CCQ). Workers in these two trades are now considered Ironworkers. Both the 2014 and 2015 reference years were also impacted by these regulatory changes.

20. In 2013, changes were made to the Automotive Service Technician trades in British Columbia. Apprentices no longer have to complete mandatory work-based training hours at each program level before progressing to the next level of technical training. The 2014 reference year was also impacted by these changes.

21. Certificates in the Steamfitter/Pipefitter trade under the Conseil de la Construction du Québec (CCQ), also include Plumbers.

22. Starting in 2013, Building/Construction Metalworker are coded to Metal Workers (other) instead of being included in the 'Other' category.

23. In 2014, the Heavy Equipment Operator (Dozer), Heavy Equipment Operator (Excavator) and Heavy Equipment Operator (Tractor-Loader-Backhoe) trades were designated as Red Seal trades.

24. Trade qualifiers (Challengers) in trades governed by Emploi-Quebec (EQ) represents certificates granted to individuals who received recognition for previously completed training. Emploi-Quebec (EQ) may, for example, recognize training in the case where an individual has a certificate in other provinces, territories, countries, or if the individual received a Diploma of Vocational Studies (DVS) in Quebec. These trade qualifiers (Challengers) also represent certificates granted as part of the regular re-certification process required in certain trades.

25. In March of 2014, there were changes made to the eligibility for the Apprenticeship Training Tax Credit (ATTC) in Ontario. This may have affected registration counts in some trades including those for information technology.

26. Prior to 2014, three welder programs (level A, level B, and level C) were offered in British Columbia. Starting in 2014, these three programs began to be phased out and replaced by a single apprenticeship program for welders. This change will impact registrations and certifications in this trade for the years following 2014.

27. Starting in 2017, changes are being made to the Automotive Service Technician program in British Columbia. The program is being restructured to align with other Canadian jurisdictions Automotive Service Technician Red Seal programs. These changes impacted reinstatement totals for 2017 and will potentially influence registrations counts for years following 2017.

28. In July 2018, Manitoba announced that it will perform a data clean-up every two years, starting with the 2019 reporting year. This clean-up resulted in lower numbers for both registrations and certifications for the 2019 reporting year.

29. In 2013, the structural steel erector trade and locksmith trade merged to become the ironworker worker trade. Transitional measures were put in place for journeypersons in these trades, which ended in July 2018.

30. British Columbia has some broad categories of trades where it is possible to receive a certificate after each level is completed, while other jurisdictions only certify apprentices after completing the final level.

1. In 2019, the Industry Training Authority (ITA) made a decision to group some of their trades under one general trade. For example, Automotive Service Technician 1, Automotive Service Technician 2, and Automotive Service Technician 3 were combined into Automotive Service Technician.
2. All the trades under Welder were not consolidated, but a general version of the Welder trade was created in 2019.
3. Also, some apprenticeships were deactivated for certain trades and replaced by Challenge Pathway only, which is for trade qualifiers. Rig Technician, Petroleum Equipment Service Technician, and Water Well Driller are examples of these trades.

31. Starting December 1st, 2019, British Columbia will no longer offer technical training for the Rig Technician apprenticeship program. The apprentices continuing in this trade were taking their technical training in Alberta; however, Alberta no longer offers technical training for this trade and is in the process of de-designating this apprenticeship. Individuals can still receive a designation in trade by challenging the exam in British Columbia.

32. During the reference year of 2020, as a result of the pandemic some provinces cancelled or postponed in-class training, exams and apprenticeships throughout 2020. Counts for various indicators might be considered historical lows due to the pandemic in 2020. This created a larger deviation in the data for RAIS 2020 registrations, certifications and discontinuations.

Investment, Science, and Technology Division

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Key definitions
   1. Price base date
   2. Volume state date
   3. Residential property
   4. Non-residential property
   5. Properties subject to municipal, provincial, territorial and federal payment-in-lieu
3. Input data
   1. Data sources
   2. Unit reported
4. Auxiliary Data
   1. Multiple Listing Service data
   2. Building permit and investment in construction data
   3. Census of Population
   4. Census of Agriculture
   5. List of CSDs from the Data Integration Infrastructure Division
5. Classification
   1. Geography
   2. Type of Property
6. Imputation for missing data
   1. Imputation of residential values
   2. Imputation of non-residential values
7. Price adjustments
   1. Choice of Source Data Vintage
   2. Residential Price adjustment
      1. Overview of price adjustment methodology
      2. Calculating weighted monthly average resale price
      3. Residential price index for Nunavut
      4. Price adjustments when the following tax year's values are known
   3. Non-residential price adjustment
8. Volume adjustments
   1. Residential volume adjustments
   2. Non-residential volume adjustments
9. Removals and adjustments in accordance with typical property assessment and taxation practices
   1. Removal of CSDs on account of First Nations and other Aboriginal Groups
   2. Exclusion of exempt residential property
   3. Exclusions of schools, churches and hospitals
   4. Removal of properties subject to provincial-territorial and municipal payments-in-lieu of taxes
   5. Adjustments in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut
   6. Removal of machinery and equipment values in Alberta, Northwest Territories and Nunavut
   7. Removal of personal property values in Manitoba
   8. Mixed-use properties
10. Quality control
    Annex 1. List of CSD types representing First Nations and other Aboriginal Groups
11. Annex 2. List of Provinces and Territories with Microdata in tax year 2020

1. Introduction

The Property Values Program produces annual estimates of assessment values of properties at current prices across Canada. Finance Canada uses these estimates to determine fiscal capacity with respect to property taxes for the Equalization program and the Territorial Formula Financing (TFF) program. ^{Footnote 1} In order to ensure comparability of the data, a number of adjustments are made, including: coding property categories to a common classification; adjusting to a common price base date and volume state (or stock) date; and imputation of missing property values in some areas. Additionally, other removals and adjustments are carried out in order to produce estimates of assessment values at current price that meet the requirements to determine fiscal capacity.

This document presents these adjustments in more detail.

2. Key definitions

a. Price base date ^{Footnote 2}

The price base date (also called the valuation date) corresponds to a fixed point in time as of when a property is valued.

b. Volume state date

The volume state date is the fixed point in time as of when the stock of properties is recorded, which also corresponds to the date where all properties are represented in an assessment roll data file.

c. Residential property

Defined as all types of property categorized as residential for assessment purposes in the majority of provinces and territories. It includes single and multi-unit properties, farm residences, cottages and vacation homes, mobile homes, and vacant lands which are lawfully usable for residential purposes.

d. Non-residential property

Defined as all types of property categorized as non-residential for assessment purposes in the majority of provinces and territories. It includes industrial, commercial and institutional properties, engineering construction and mining properties, and vacant lands which are lawfully usable for non-residential purposes.

Agricultural properties ^{Footnote 3} (not including farm residences, which are part of residential property) as well as machinery and equipment properties are excluded from final estimates.

e. Properties subject to municipal, provincial, territorial and federal payment-in-lieu

Defined as municipal, provincial, territorial and federal government-owned property for which owners remit payment-in-lieu of tax to municipal governments or local taxation authorities for receiving municipal services. A payment-in-lieu of taxes is made to compensate a local government for some or all of the tax revenue that it loses because of the nature of the ownership or use of a particular piece of real property. Usually, no property tax is collected for buildings owned by government.

3. Input data

a. Data sources

Assessment data are collected from provincial, territorial and municipal assessment entities and are based on municipal assessment rolls. Data providers agree to provide the data on a regular basis either through formal agreements or responding per data request.

Starting in January 2018, assessment roll microdata is gradually being received from every jurisdiction, to replace the use of assessment roll aggregate data. See Annex 2.

b. Unit reported

Data are reported either at the municipality level, or at property or sub-property level.

4. Auxiliary Data

a. Multiple Listing Service data

Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data are produced by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). The data are obtained via Haver Analytics, a company that is the sole distributer of CREA MLS data. MLS data are for resale homes and are comprised of dollar volume sales and number of units sold by real estate board. Data are available for all provinces and territories with the exception of Québec and Nunavut.

b. Building permit and investment in construction data

Data on the number of residential and non-residential building permits issued, investment in construction completion, by type of work (e.g., new unit, conversion, etc.), is obtained from Statistics Canada's Building and Demolition Permits (BDP) and Investment programs. The data are produced monthly, by jurisdiction.

c. Census of Population

Data from Census of population are available every five years. Between census years, yearly values, referred to as "Intercensal" values, are derived using linear interpolation. ^{Footnote 4} These values are used at various stages of the production cycle such as for the imputation of missing values and for the estimation of farm residences.

d. Census of Agriculture

Similar to the Census of population, data from Census of Agriculture are available every five years. Yearly values ("Intercensal" values) are also derived using linear interpolation and used during the production cycle. Census of Agriculture values are used to estimate the values of farm residences in Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, provinces where such values are embedded in totals or are missing.

e. List of CSDs from the Data Integration Infrastructure Division

The list of Census Subdivisions (CSD) is produced, maintained and updated annually by the Data Integration Infrastructure Division at Statistics Canada.

5. Classification

a. Geography

The municipalities covered by the collected data are assigned to Census Subdivisions (CSDs) updated annually by Statistics Canada's Data Integration Infrastructure Division, using the Standard Geographical Classification system. The assignment of CSDs is revised yearly to reflect changes (municipal amalgamations, legal status changes, etc.) that occur during the year.

CSDs containing First Nations or other autonomous or self-governing areas are out of scope for Fiscal Arrangements purposes (see Annex 1); consequently, estimates are not produced for these CSDs.

b. Type of Property

The Type of Property Classification was reviewed to improve comparability of the data amongst provinces and territories. The classification of properties is more precise when more details are available in the data.

6. Imputation for missing data

There exist municipalities or regions that are not assessed by provincial or territorial assessment bodies, and therefore no property taxes are levied. As a result, assessment values are missing for some jurisdictions, mostly in unorganized areas. ^{Footnote 5} Additionally, on occasion, some municipalities submit their assessment values to assessment bodies later than when the data are required. Missing property assessment values for these municipalities are imputed.

For taxation year 2020, there were 149 jurisdictions with missing data that were imputed, 139 of which were in Newfoundland-and-Labrador, 8 were in Northwest Territories and 2 were in Saskatchewan.

a. Imputation of residential values

The imputed residential value for a CSD is calculated by multiplying the number of private dwellings by the average value of owner-occupied dwellings for the CSD from the intercensal Census of Population file.

In order to produce an imputed value that best reflects the desired price base and volume state dates:

• the number of private dwellings value is taken from the yearly intercensal file of the same year as the volume state date of the raw file; and
• the average value of owner-occupied dwellings is taken from the yearly intercensal file or derived from assessed values of the same year as the price base date of the raw file.

The resulting imputed values are then processed and adjusted ^{Footnote 6} using the same methodology as for raw values.

b. Imputation of non-residential values

Unlike the imputation for residential property values where dwelling values from intercensal files can be used to estimate the value of residential properties, no similar direct indicator is available for non-residential properties. Therefore, non-residential values are imputed using data of CSDs with similar Census population counts within the same province or territory.

Ratios of the total non-residential values over the total population are calculated using data from CSDs for each population class (see table 1 below) for each province and territory. These ratios ^{Footnote 7} are then applied to the population count of the missing CSD to derive the imputed non-residential value. Most of the missing CSDs are from rural areas.

Table 1 – Population class used for imputation on non-residential values ^{Footnote 8}

Population Class	Description
1	Rural
2	Small Sized Municipalities
3	Medium Sized Municipalities
4	Large Sized Municipalities

7. Price adjustments

Due to differences in assessment practices and frequency of revaluation practices, data received do not always align with the target price base date of July 1 of the year preceding the taxation year.

a. Choice of Source Data Vintage

In order to minimize price adjustments, the data from the file whose price base date most closely aligns with the target price base date is used to produce the estimates of a given taxation year. In the event that two input files have the same time interval between their price base date and the target price base date, the file with the closest volume state date is selected.

b. Residential Price adjustment

Price adjustments for residential properties are derived using monthly sales data for the resale housing market from MLS. Nunavut is the only region for which resale housing data does not exist; therefore, a residential price index is constructed for this territory.

i. Overview of price adjustment methodology

For a given province or territory, the price adjustment calculations are done at two geographic levels:

• CSDs within a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA)
• CSDs outside CMAs (or rest of the province)

For Newfoundland and Labrador, ^{Footnote 9} Prince Edward Island, Yukon and Northwest Territories, there are no data available at the CMA level; therefore, the price adjustment calculations are performed on the provincial and territorial totals.

ii. Calculating weighted monthly average resale price

In order to smooth seasonal fluctuations that can exist in monthly data, weighted monthly average prices are used in the calculation of the residential price adjustment. For a given month, twelve consecutive months of data (period beginning six months before and ending five months after the month) are used.

For a given month k, the formula for calculating the weighted monthly average is as follows:

${\text{Weighted\_Monthly\_Average}}_k\text{=}\frac{\sum _{k-6}^{k+5}{\text{ResDollarVol}}_k}{\sum _{k-6}^{k+5}{\text{ResUnitSold}}_k}$

Where ResDollarVol is the total dollar value of the monthly residential sales and ResUnitSold is the monthly total number of residential units sold.

The residential price adjustments are performed at the CSD level. To arrive at the price adjusted assessment value, the ratio of the weighted monthly average for the month of the target price date over the weighted monthly average for the month of the price base date is calculated. The ratio that is applied to the assessment value of a given CSD is dependent on if the CSD is located in a CMA, and is dependent on the province or territory that it is located in.

iii. Residential price index for Nunavut

As resale data do not exist for Nunavut, Statistics Canada uses data for the region of northern Quebec (NQC) ^{Footnote 10} as a proxy for this territory. ^{Footnote 11} The property assessment data are provided by the provincial Government of Quebec.

The Nunavut residential index is calculated using an unweighted average of residential and non-residential property values reported. ^{Footnote 12}

An annual series is generated and converted into a monthly series by adding one twelfth of the dollar difference between two observations to each successive month between observed values (linear interpolation), creating a monthly index. Residential price-adjustments are then applied to Nunavut property values using the same algorithm (for ratios) designed for resale data.

iv. Price adjustments when the following tax year's values are known

In certain provinces and territories such as Prince-Edward-Island and New-Brunswick, assessment roll values are received yearly. In both these cases, the price base date is January 1st of the tax year. Recall that the target price base date is 6 month earlier, i.e. July 1st of the year preceding the tax year. Assessment values are therefore known for January 1st of the tax year and January 1st of the year preceding the tax year. In order to make better use of the assessment data available, a price index is developed using true assessment values on their price base date, which excludes the effect due to yearly changes in volume (new construction and demolition). This index is used to price adjust assessment values in Price-Edward-Island and New-Brunswick.

c. Non-residential price adjustment

Unlike residential properties, non-residential properties (more specifically industrial, commercial, and industrial (ICI)) are not often for sale. It is therefore comparatively more difficult to find appropriate market indicators to use for non-residential price adjustment. To overcome this, the correlation between residential and non-residential price changes was analysed.

A regression analysis was performed and a model was constructed using aggregate raw data from four provinces: Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec and British Columbia. The reasons for using these specific four provinces are twofold: (1) these provinces evaluate their property stock on an annual basis, ^{Footnote 13} and (2) they report data for both assessment values and numbers of properties. This level of detail allowed the derivation of the annual non-residential price movements.

Based on the regression analysis using data from the four provinces mentioned above, the conclusion was to use the model coefficient of 0.73336 as a discount factor to the residential series and also to the residential price index in Nunavut. ^{Footnote 14} The resulting series, generated by applying the discount factor to the residential series, is used for the price adjustment of non-residential values for all provinces and territories.

8. Volume adjustments

Volume adjustments ensure that properties reflect a common volume state date of January 1st of the taxation year. For assessment data that reflects a volume state date earlier or later than the target volume state date, the value of all completed construction that occurred in the period between the two dates is estimated using Statistics Canada's monthly Building and Demolition Permits (BDP) Program or from the Investment Program and then added or subtracted, as the case may be, from the total property values. This methodology is used for both residential and non-residential property values.

a. Residential volume adjustments

For residential properties, the volume adjustment is calculated by estimating the construction that was completed in between the volume state date and the target volume state date using the number of permits from the BDP survey and monthly resale values, or from using the investment in construction completion values.

Based on an analysis of residential construction data, the assumption is made that a residential property being newly built can be considered to be a substantially finished (assessable) unit approximately three months after a building permit is issued. Therefore, for a given month, the BDP data used for the volume adjustment is that of the given month minus three (so for example for June we would use the March BDP data).

For each month falling in the period between the volume state date and target volume state date, the number of permits is multiplied by the average monthly resale value from MLS (for all provinces and territories other than Nunavut), to obtain a monthly volume adjustment value. The monthly volume adjustment values are summed for each month to arrive at the total volume adjustment for the period. For Nunavut, the average assessment value for Northern Québec is used.

Similarly, construction completion values represent the total investment in construction available upon completion of construction. Monthly values that fall between the volume state date and the target volume state date are summed for an estimated total volume adjustment for the period.

Although the two methods are comparable, volume adjustments calculated using investment in construction completion values are slightly more accurate than those calculated using building permit values. When investment in construction completion values are available, they are used in the calculations over the use of building permit values. Residential volume adjustments account for approximately 2% of total values.

Volume adjustments calculated using investment in construction completion values were used to produce residential estimates.

b. Non-residential volume adjustments

For non-residential construction, the assumption is that a property undergoing construction can be considered to be a substantially finished (assessable) unit approximately eight months after a building permit is issued. As non-residential construction projects vary significantly in scope, size, and values, using an average value is not recommended; therefore, the volume adjustment methodology for residential properties cannot be applied to the non-residential.

Instead of using the number of permits, the total value of all permits issued, by month, is used. Consequently, "total values of the non-residential permits" that were issued during the period (using an 8-months lag to allow for construction to be completed) is used to obtain the volume adjustment value. This estimate of new property construction value is used to adjust the total estimates.

As for residential volume adjustments, when non-residential investment in construction completion values are available, these used in the calculations of volume adjustments over the use of building permit values. Non-residential volume adjustments account for approximately 2% of total values.

Volume adjustments calculated using investment in construction completion values were used to produce non-residential estimates.

9. Removals and adjustments in accordance with typical property assessment and taxation practices

a. Removal of CSDs on account of First Nations and other Aboriginal Groups

Census subdivisions containing First Nations reserves, and autonomous or self-governing areas are removed as they are deemed out of scope. Such CSDs are identified based on their CSD type. ^{Footnote 15} For taxation year 2020 estimates there were 14 CSDs that were classified as out of scope and removed from final estimates.

b. Exclusion of exempt residential property

In some provinces, certain properties are identified as exempt from property taxes as presented in the input files received from the assessment bodies. Any value associated with these properties are excluded from estimates for the purposes of fiscal arrangements.

c. Exclusions of schools, churches and hospitals

The most important non-residential properties which are generally exempt from property taxes are schools, churches and hospitals (S/C/H).

Some provinces and territories provide detailed breakdowns of S/C/H in their assessment data. For these provinces and territories, the exact proportion of S/C/H is removed from the final estimates.

For provinces and territories where the S/C/H breakdowns are not available, the proportion of the S/C/H assessment values relative to total assessment values for non-residential properties is estimated by calculating and applying the proportion of S/C/H property values from a similar reporting province or territory. It should be noted that values for engineering and mining properties are excluded from the total assessment value for non-residential properties used in the calculation of the S/C/H proportions.

The list of provinces and territories used in the calculation of estimated S/C/H proportion depends on data availability and can change from one year to the next as microdata is received.

d. Removal of properties subject to provincial-territorial and municipal payments-in-lieu of taxes

Instead of regular property taxes, federal, provincial or municipal government usually remit a payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) for their exempt properties. However, only federal PILT property represents fiscal capacity for the consolidated provincial-territorial-municipal-local sector; provincial, territorial and municipal (PTM) PILT properties are excluded.

When breakdowns of values of PILT properties are not available, as is the case for a number of provinces and territories, these values are estimated. The estimation of PM-PILT values takes into account the S/C/H values, some of which are also PTM-PILT properties, which have already been removed. Only the "remaining" PILT values are estimated and removed.

Although the estimation methodology using aggregate assessment roll data is successful in estimating the remaining proportion to remove, the arrival of assessment roll microdata allows for a more precise estimation of remaining PILT proportions to remove.

e. Adjustments in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut

Unlike in provinces and the Yukon, property assessments in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut do not consistently follow market value standards.

Land values within the municipal taxation areas (Iqaluit in Nunavut; Yellowknife, Fort Simpson, Fort Smith, Hay River, Norman Wells and Inuvik in NWT), reflect full market value, while land values in the remainder of the two territories (i.e. in the General Taxation Areas) are, according to the data provider, based on average regional development costs.

Improvements (i.e. buildings) in both territories are assessed based on depreciated Edmonton construction costs, using Alberta's depreciation schedule. The value so determined for Yellowknife is then multiplied by a factor of 1.35, which is set out in regulations. According to the assessment data provider, this was done to reflect Yellowknife's actual construction costs relative to Edmonton's. Yellowknife's assessed building values therefore approximately reflect market value. ^{Footnote 16}

Outside of Yellowknife, in the two territories, a discount factor of 0.666 has been applied to building values initially assessed at depreciated Edmonton construction costs. This factor is also set out in regulations and, according to the assessment data provider, was introduced to encourage development. Upon data entry, this embedded 0.666 scaling factor is removed from the building values in the Northwest Territories outside of Yellowknife and Nunavut.

f. Removal of machinery and equipment values in Alberta, Northwest Territories and Nunavut

Property values for machinery and equipment (M&E) components in the non-residential category are deemed to be out of scope.

The data received from Northwest Territories and Nunavut contain a sizeable share of M&E components in the non-residential total. They are mainly embedded in the following three non-residential classes: mineral, transmission and hydrocarbon. The M&E components are removed by multiplying the reported improvement values by a deflationary factor for each of the previously mentioned three non-residential classes. These factors are provided yearly by the respondents. This treatment ensures that only real property values are included in final estimates, and that the M&E components are excluded.

In Alberta, property values for the M&E components are reported separately by the data providers and are excluded from the final estimates.

g. Removal of personal property values in Manitoba

The assessment roll in Manitoba includes personal property such goods and chattels, which are not considered real property. Such property values are excluded from the estimate.

h. Mixed-use properties

Some properties are used for both residential and non-residential purposes. In cases where no further breakdowns are available, the values of mixed-use properties are redistributed between residential and non-residential property types according to the existing distribution of total residential and non-residential property values by CSD. In cases where further breakdowns are available, mostly in jurisdictions where microdata was received, the values are assigned according to the exact breakdown. The mixed-use properties represent 0.015% of the total valuation of properties in Canada.

One of the most common cases of mixed-use type properties are of a building consisting of ground level commercial with one or more floors of residential units above.

10. Quality control

Statistics Canada's quality assurance framework requires an assessment of data relevance, accuracy, timeliness, accessibility, interpretability and coherence. The quality of the raw input data collected from provincial, territorial and municipal assessment departments and agencies cannot be evaluated in this framework. However, confrontational analysis is performed to compare the source data to existing statistical programs and public information such as annual reports obtained from Provincial websites. Any irregularities identified are carefully reviewed and analyzed before the official release of the data.

Total adjusted residential estimates, for both taxable and exempt properties, are compared to Statistics Canada's Census of Population. The coherence of the values is examined by census coverage analysis, which compares the source data to private dwelling counts and values found in Statistics Canada's Census of Population.

Annex 1. List of CSD types representing First Nations and other Aboriginal Groups ^{Footnote 17}

The following are the list of CSD types representing First Nations and other Aboriginal groups presented by province and territory.

Annex 1. List of CSD types representing First Nations and other Aboriginal Groups

Province / Territory	CSD Type	CSD Type description	Legal Code	Legal Code description	Number of CSDs
NS	IRI	Indian reserve	FL	Federally legislated	2
NB	IRI	Indian reserve	FL	Federally legislated	1
ON	IRI	Indian reserve	FL	Federally legislated	1
MB	IRI	Indian reserve	FL	Federally legislated	1
SK	IRI	Indian reserve	FL	Federally legislated	3
SK	S-É	Indian settlement	U	Not legal municipality - aboriginal geography	1
AB	IRI	Indian reserve	FL	Federally legislated	1
BC	IGD	Indian government district	PL	Provincially legislated - legal municipality	2
BC	IRI	Indian reserve	FL	Federally legislated	5
BC	NL	Nisga'a land	FL	Federally legislated	1

Annex 2. List of Provinces and Territories with Microdata in tax year 2020

Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, British Columbia, Yukon.