1.0 Description

The Canadian Perspectives Survey Series (CPSS) is a set of short, online surveys beginning in March 2020 that will be used to collect information on the knowledge and behaviours of residents of the 10 Canadian provinces. All surveys in the series will be asked of Statistics Canada's probability panel. The probability panel for the CPSS is a new pilot project initiated in 2019. An important goal of the CPSS is to directly collect data from Canadians in a timely manner in order to inform policy makers and be responsive to emerging data needs. The CPSS is designed to produce data at a national level (excluding the territories).

The survey program is sponsored by Statistics Canada. Each survey in the CPSS is cross sectional. Participating in the probability panel and the subsequent surveys of the CPSS is voluntary.

The third survey of the CPSS is CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19. It was administered from June 15, 2020 until June 21, 2020.

Any question about the survey, the survey series, the data or its use should be directed to:

Statistics Canada

Client Services
Centre for Social Data Integration and Development
Telephone: 613-951-3321 or call toll-free 1-800-461-9050
Fax: 613-951-4527
E-mail: statcan.csdidclientservice-ciddsservicealaclientele.statcan@statcan.gc.ca

2.0 Survey methodology

Target and survey population

The target population for the Canadian Perspectives Survey Series (CPSS) is residents of the 10 Canadian provinces 15 years of age or older.

The frame for surveys of the CPSS is Statistics Canada's pilot probability panel. The probability panel was created by randomly selecting a subset of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) respondents. Therefore the survey population is that of the LFS, with the exception that full-time members of the Canadian Armed Forces are included. Excluded from the survey's coverage are: persons living on reserves and other Aboriginal settlements in the provinces; the institutionalized population, and households in extremely remote areas with very low population density. These groups together represent an exclusion of less than 2% of the Canadian population aged 15 and over.

The LFS sample is drawn from an area frame and is based on a stratified, multi-stage design that uses probability sampling. The LFS uses a rotating panel sample design. In the provinces, selected dwellings remain in the LFS sample for six consecutive months. Each month about one-sixth of the LFS sampled dwellings are in their first month of the survey, one-sixth are in their second month of the survey, and so on. These six independent samples are called rotation groups.

For the probability panel used for the CPSS, four rotation groups from the LFS were used from the provinces: the rotation groups answering the LFS for the last time in April, May, June and July of 2019. From these households, one person aged 15+ was selected at random to participate in the CPSS - Sign-Up. These individuals were invited to Sign-Up for the CPSS. Those agreeing to join the CPSS were asked to provide an email address. Participants from the Sign-Up that provided valid email addresses formed the probability panel. The participation rate to the panel was approximately 23%. The survey population for all surveys of the CPSS is the probability panel participants. Participants of the panel are 15 years or older as of July 31, 2019.

Sample Design and Size

The sample design for surveys of the CPSS is based on the sample design of the CPSS – Sign-Up, the method used to create the pilot probability panel. The raw sample for the CPSS – Sign-Up had 31,896 randomly selected people aged 15+ from responding LFS households completing their last interview of the LFS in April to July of 2019. Of these people, 31,626 were in-scope at the time of collection for the CPSS - Sign-Up in January to March 2020. Of people agreeing to participate in the CPSS, that is, those joining the panel, 7,242 had a valid email address. All panel participants are invited to complete the surveys of the CPSS.

Sample Design and Size

Stages of the Sample	n
Raw sample for the CPSS – Sign-Up	31,896
In-scope Units from the CPSS – Sign-Up	31,628
Panelists for the CPSS (with valid email addresses)	7,242
Raw sample for surveys of the CPSS	7,242

3.0 Data collection

CPSS – Sign-Up

The CPSS- Sign-Up survey used to create Statistics Canada's probability panel was conducted from January 15th, 2020 until March 15th, 2020. Initial contact was made through a mailed letter to the selected sample. The letter explained the purpose of the CPSS and invited respondents to go online, using their Secure Access Code to complete the Sign-Up form. Respondents opting out of joining the panel were asked their main reason for not participating. Those joining the panel were asked to verify basic demographic information and to provide a valid email address. Nonresponse follow-up for the CPSS-Sign-Up had a mixed mode approach. Additional mailed reminders were sent to encourage sampled people to respond. As well, email reminders (where an email address was available) and Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) nonresponse follow-up was conducted.

The application included a standard set of response codes to identify all possible outcomes. The application was tested prior to use to ensure that only valid question responses could be entered and that all question flows would be correctly followed. These measures ensured that the response data were already "clean" at the end of the collection process.

Interviewers followed a standard approach used for many StatCan surveys in order to introduce the agency. Selected persons were told that their participation in the survey was voluntary, and that their information would remain strictly confidential.

CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19

All participants to the pilot panel for the CPSS, minus those who opted out after previous iterations of CPSS, were sent an email invitation with a link to the CPSS3 and a Secure Access Code to complete the survey online. Collection for the survey began on June 15th, 2020. Reminder emails were sent on June 16th, June 18th and June 20th. The application remained open until June 21st, 2020.

3.1 Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any data which would divulge information obtained under the Statistics Act that relates to any identifiable person, business or organization without the prior knowledge or the consent in writing of that person, business or organization. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

4.0 Data quality

Survey errors come from a variety of different sources. They can be classified into two main categories: non-sampling errors and sampling errors.

4.1 Non-sampling errors

Non-sampling errors can be defined as errors arising during the course of virtually all survey activities, apart from sampling. They are present in both sample surveys and censuses (unlike sampling error, which is only present in sample surveys). Non-sampling errors arise primarily from the following sources: nonresponse, coverage, measurement and processing.

4.1.1 Nonresponse

Nonresponse errors result from a failure to collect complete information on all units in the selected sample.

Nonresponse produces errors in the survey estimates in two ways. Firstly, non-respondents often have different characteristics from respondents, which can result in biased survey estimates if nonresponse bias is not fully corrected through weighting. Secondly, it reduces the effective size of the sample, since fewer units than expected answered the survey. As a result, the sampling variance increases and the precision of the estimate decreases. The response rate is calculated as follows:

[ Responding units / (Selected units – out-of-scope units) ] x 100%

The following table summarizes the response rates experienced for the CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19. Response rates are broken down into two stages. Table 4.1.1a shows the take-up rates to the panel in the CPSS- Sign-Up and Table 4.1.1b shows the collection response rates for the survey CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19.

Table 4.1.1a Participation to the Pilot Probability Panel for the CPSS – Sign-Up

	Stages of the Sample for the CPSS – Sign-Up
	Raw sample for the CPSS – Sign-Up	In-scope Units from the CPSS – Sign-Up	Panelists for the CPSS (with valid email addresses)	Participation Rate to the Panel for CPSS
n	31,896	31,628	7,242	22.9%

Table 4.1.1b Response Rates to the CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19

	Stages of the Sample for the CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19
	Panelists for the CPSS (with valid email addresses)	Respondents to CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19	Collection Response Rate to CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19	Cumulative Response Rate
n	7,242	4,209	58.1%	13.3%

As shown in Table 4.1.1b, the collection response rate for the CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19 is 58.1%. However, when nonparticipation in the panel is factored in, the cumulative response rate to the survey is 13.3%. This cumulative response rate is lower than the typical response rates observed in social surveys conducted at Statistics Canada. This is due to the two stages of nonresponse (or participation) and other factors such as the single mode used for surveys of the CPSS (emailed survey invitations with a link to the survey for online self-completion), respondent fatigue from prior LFS response, the inability of the offline population to participate, etc.,.

Given the additional nonresponse experienced in the CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19 there is an increased risk of bias due to respondents being different than nonrespondents. For this reason, a small bias study was conducted. Please see Section 6.0 for the results of this validation.

4.1.2 Coverage errors

Coverage errors consist of omissions, erroneous inclusions, duplications and misclassifications of units in the survey frame. Since they affect every estimate produced by the survey, they are one of the most important type of error; in the case of a census they may be the main source of error. Coverage errors may cause a bias in the estimates and the effect can vary for different sub-groups of the population. This is a very difficult error to measure or quantify accurately.

For the CPSS, the population covered are those aged 15+ as of July 31, 2019. Since collection of the CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19 was conducted from June 15th-21st, 2020, there is an undercoverage of residents of the 10 provinces that turned 15 since July 31, 2019. There is also undercoverage of those without internet access. This undercoverage is greater amongst those age 65 years and older.

4.1.3 Measurement errors

Measurement errors (or sometime referred to as response errors) occur when the response provided differs from the real value; such errors may be attributable to the respondent, the questionnaire, the collection method or the respondent's record-keeping system. Such errors may be random or they may result in a systematic bias if they are not random. It is very costly to accurately measure the level of response error and very few surveys conduct a post-survey evaluation.

4.1.4 Processing errors

Processing error is the error associated with activities conducted once survey responses have been received. It includes all data handling activities after collection and prior to estimation. Like all other errors, they can be random in nature, and inflate the variance of the survey's estimates, or systematic, and introduce bias. It is difficult to obtain direct measures of processing errors and their impact on data quality especially since they are mixed in with other types of errors (nonresponse, measurement and coverage).

4.2 Sampling errors

Sampling error is defined as the error that results from estimating a population characteristic by measuring a portion of the population rather than the entire population. For probability sample surveys, methods exist to calculate sampling error. These methods derive directly from the sample design and method of estimation used by the survey.

The most commonly used measure to quantify sampling error is sampling variance. Sampling variance measures the extent to which the estimate of a characteristic from different possible samples of the same size and the same design differ from one another. For sample designs that use probability sampling, the magnitude of an estimate's sampling variance can be estimated.

Factors affecting the magnitude of the sampling variance for a given sample size include:

1. The variability of the characteristic of interest in the population: the more variable the characteristic in the population, the larger the sampling variance.
2. The size of the population: in general, the size of the population only has an impact on the sampling variance for small to moderate sized populations.
3. The response rate: the sampling variance increases as the sample size decreases. Since non-respondents effectively decrease the size of the sample, nonresponse increases the sampling variance.
4. The sample design and method of estimation: some sample designs are more efficient than others in the sense that, for the same sample size and method of estimation, one design can lead to smaller sampling variance than another.

The standard error of an estimator is the square root of its sampling variance. This measure is easier to interpret since it provides an indication of sampling error using the same scale as the estimate whereas the variance is based on squared differences.

The coefficient of variation (CV) is a relative measure of the sampling error. It is defined as the estimate of the standard error divided by the estimate itself, usually expressed as a percentage (10% instead of 0.1). It is very useful for measuring and comparing the sampling error of quantitative variables with large positive values. However, it is not recommended for estimates such as proportions, estimates of change or differences, and variables that can have negative values.

It is considered a best practice at Statistics Canada to report the sampling error of an estimate through its 95% confidence interval. The 95% confidence interval of an estimate means that if the survey were repeated over and over again, then 95% of the time (or 19 times out of 20), the confidence interval would cover the true population value.

5.0 Weighting

The principle behind estimation in a probability sample such as those of the CPSS, is that each person in the sample "represents", besides himself or herself, several other persons not in the sample. For example, in a simple random 2% sample of the population, each person in the sample represents 50 persons in the population. In the terminology used here, it can be said that each person has a weight of 50.

The weighting phase is a step that calculates, for each person, his or her associated sampling weight. This weight appears on the microdata file, and must be used to derive estimates representative of the target population from the survey. For example, if the number of individuals who smoke daily is to be estimated, it is done by selecting the records referring to those individuals in the sample having that characteristic and summing the weights entered on those records. The weighting phase is a step which calculates, for each record, what this number is. This section provides the details of the method used to calculate sampling weights for the CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19.

The weighting of the sample for the CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19 has multiple stages to reflect the stages of sampling, participation and response to get the final set of respondents. The following sections cover the weighting steps to first create the panel weights, then the weighting steps to create the survey weights for CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19.

5.1 Creating the Panel Weights

Four consecutive rotate-out samples of households from the LFS were the starting point to form the panel sample of the CPSS. Since households selected from the LFS samples are the starting point, the household weights from the LFS are the first step to calculating the panel weights.

5.1.1 Household weights

Calculation of the Household Design Weights – HHLD_W0, HHLD_W1

The initial panel weights are the LFS subweights (SUBWT). These are the LFS design weights adjusted for nonresponse but not yet calibrated to population control totals. These weights form the household design weight for the panel survey (HHLD_W0).

Since only four rotate-outs were used, instead of the six used in a complete LFS sample, these weights were adjusted by a factor of 6/4 to be representative. The weights after this adjustment were called HHLD_W1.

Calibration of the Household Weights – HHLD_W2

Calibration is a step to ensure that the sum of weights within a certain domain match projected demographic totals. The SUBWT from the LFS are not calibrated, thus HHLD_W1 are also not calibrated. The next step is to make sure the household weights add up to the control totals by household size. Calibration was performed on HHLD_W1 to match control totals by province and household size using the size groupings of 1, 2, or 3+.

5.1.2 Person Panel weights

Calculate Person Design Weights – PERS_W0

One person aged 15 or older per household was selected for the CPSS – Sign-Up, the survey used to create the probability panel. The design person weight is obtained by multiplying HHLD_W2 by the number of eligible people in the dwelling (i.e. number of people aged 15 years and over).

Removal of Out of Scope Units – PERS_W1

Some units were identified as being out-of-scope during the CPSS – Sign-Up. These units were given a weight of PERS_W1 = 0. For all other units, PERS_W1 = PERS_W0. Persons with a weight of 0 are subsequently removed from future weight adjustments.

Nonresponse/Nonparticipation Adjustment – PERS_W2

During collection of the CPSS – Sign-Up, a certain proportion of sampled units inevitably resulted in nonresponse or nonparticipation in the panel. Weights of the nonresponding/nonparticipating units were redistributed to participating units. Units that did not participate in the panel had their weights redistributed to the participating units with similar characteristics within response homogeneity groups (RHGs).

Many variables from the LFS were available to build the RHG (such as employment status, education level, household composition) as well as information from the LFS collection process itself. The model was specified by province, as the variables chosen in the model could differ from one province to the other.

The following variables were kept in the final logistic regression model: education_lvl (education level variable with 10 categories), nameissueflag (a flag created to identify respondents not providing a valid name), elg_hhldsize (number of eligible people for selection in the household), age_grp (age group of the selected person), sex, kidsinhhld (an indicator to flag whether or not children are present in the household), marstat (marital status with 6 categories), cntrybth (an indicator if the respondent was born in Canada or not), lfsstat (labour force status of respondent with 3 categories), nocs1 (the first digit of National Occupational Classification code of the respondent if employed, with 10 categories), and dwelrent (an indicator of whether the respondent dwelling is owned or rented). RHGs were formed within provinces. An adjustment factor was calculated within each response group as follows:

$\frac{\text{Sum of weights of respondents and nonrespondents}}{\text{Sum of weights of respondents}}$

The weights of the respondents were multiplied by this factor to produce the PERS_W2 weights, adjusted for panel nonparticipation. The nonparticipating units were dropped from the panel.

5.2 Creating the CPSS3 weights

Surveys of the CPSS start with the sample created from the panel participants. The panel is comprised of 7,242 individuals, each with the nonresponse adjusted weight of PERS_W2.

Calculation of the Design Weights – WT_DSGN

The design weight is the person weight adjusted for nonresponse calculated for the panel participants (PERS_W2). No out-of-scope units were identified during the survey collection of CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19. Since all units were in-scope, WT_DSGN =PERS_W2 and no units were dropped.

Nonresponse Adjustment – WT_NRA

Given that the sample for CPSS was formed by people having agreed to participate in a web panel, the response rates to the survey were relatively high. Additionally, the panel was designed to produce estimates at a national level, so sample sizes by province were not overly large. As a result, nonresponse was fairly uniform in many provinces. This resulted in having only one response homogeneity group (RHG) in Prince Edward Island. For the other provinces, the RHGs were formed by some combination of age group, sex, education level, rental status, LFS status, whether or not children are present in the household, eligible household size, and the first digit of the National Occupational Classification (NOC) code for respondents who are employed. An adjustment factor was calculated within each response group as follows:

$\frac{\text{Sum of weights of respondents and nonrespondents}}{\text{Sum of weights of respondents}}$

The weights of the respondents were multiplied by this factor to produce the WT_NRA weights, adjusted for survey response. The nonresponding units were dropped from the survey.

Calibration of Person-Level Weights – WT_FINL

Control totals were computed using LFS demography projection data. During calibration, an adjustment factor is calculated and applied to the survey weights. This adjustment is made such that the weighted sums match the control totals. Most social surveys calibrate the person level weights to control totals by sex, age group and province. For CPSS3, calibration by province was not possible, since there were very few respondents in some categories in the Atlantic and Prairie Provinces. In addition, there were very small counts for male respondents aged 15 to 24 in the Atlantic Provinces. For this reason, the control totals used for CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19 were by age group and sex by geographic region, where the youngest age group for males in the Atlantic region was collapsed with the second youngest. The next section will include recommendations for analysis by geographic region and age group.

5.3 Bootstrap Weights

Bootstrap weights were created for the panel and the CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19 survey respondents. The LFS bootstrap weights were the initial weights and all weight adjustments applied to the survey weights were also applied to the bootstrap weights.

6.0 Quality of the CPSS and Survey Verifications

The probability panel created for the CPSS is a pilot project started in 2019 by Statistics Canada. While the panel offers the ability to collect data quickly, by leveraging a set of respondents that have previously agreed to participate in multiple short online surveys, and for whom an email address is available to expedite survey collection, some aspects of the CPSS design put the resulting data at a greater risk of bias. The participation rate to the panel is lower than typically experienced in social surveys conducted by Statistics Canada which increases the potential nonresponse bias. Furthermore, since the surveys of the CPSS are all self-complete online surveys, people without internet access do not have the means to participate in the CPSS and therefore are not covered.

When the unweighted panel was compared to the original sample targeted to join the panel, in particular there was an underrepresentation of those aged 15-24, those aged 65 and older, and those with less than a high school degree. These differences were expected due to the nature of the panel and the experience of international examples of probability panels. Using LFS responding households as the frame for the panel was by design in order to leverage the available LFS information to correct for the underrepresentation and overrepresentation experienced in the panel. The nonresponse adjustments performed in the weighting adjustments of the panel and the survey respondents utilised the available information to ensure the weights of nonresponding/nonparticipating units went to similar responding units. Furthermore, calibration to age and sex totals helped to adjust for the underrepresentation by age group.

Table 6.1 shows the slippage rates by certain domains post-calibration of CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19. The slippage rate is calculated by comparing the sum of weights in the domain to that of the control total based off of demographic projections. A positive slippage rate means the sample has an over-count for that domain. A negative slippage rate means the survey has an under-count for that domain. Based on the results shown in Tables 6.1 and 6.2, it is recommended to only use the data at the geographical levels and age groups where there is 0 slippage. That is nationally, by geographic region (Maritime Provinces, Quebec, Ontario, Prairie Provinces, and British Columbia), and by the four oldest age groups.

Table 6.1 Slippage rates by geographic region

Area	Domain	n	Slippage Rate
Geography	CanadaTable 6.1 Footnote 1	4,209	0%
	Prince Edward Island	98	12.2%
	Newfoundland and Labrador	119	-7.1%
	Nova Scotia	231	3.4%
	New Brunswick	194	-1.9%
	Quebec	693	0%
	Ontario	1,232	0%
	Manitoba	342	-2.1%
	Saskatchewan	290	6.5%
	Alberta	459	-1.0%
	British Columbia	551	0%
Footnote 1 Based on the 10 provinces; the territories are excluded Return to table 6.1 footnote 1 referrer

Table 6.2 Slippage rates by age group

Area	Domain	n	Slippage Rate
Age group	15 to 24 years	236	3.2%
	25 to 34 years	510	-2.7%
	35 to 44 years	711	0%
	45 to 54 years	678	0%
	55 to 64 years	924	0%
	65 years and older	1,150	0%

After the collection of CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19, a small study was conducted to assess the potential bias due to the lower response rates and the undercoverage of the population not online. The LFS data was used to produce weighted estimates for the in-scope sample targeted to join the probability panel (using the weights and sample from PERS_W1). The same data was used to produce weighted estimates based on the set of respondents from the CPSS3 survey and the weights WT_FINL. The two set of estimates were compared and are shown in Table 6.3. The significant differences are highlighted.

Table 6.3 Changes in estimates due to nonparticipation in the CPSS and the COVID-19 survey

Subject	Recoded variables from 2019 LFS	Estimate for in-scope population (n=31,628)	Estimate for W3 of CPSS (n=4,209)	% Point Difference
Education	Less than High School	15.5%	13.7%	-1.7%
	High School no higher certification	25.9%	25.5%	-0.4%
	Post-secondary certification	58.6%	60.8%	2.2%
Labour Force Status	Employed	61.2%	61.6%	0.5%
	Unemployed	3.4%	3.3%	-0.1%
	Not in Labour Force	35.3%	35.0%	-0.3%
Country of Birth	CanadaTable 6.3 Footnote 1	71.7%	75.0%	3.3%
Marital Status	Married/Common-lawTable 6.3 Footnote 1	60.4%	61.1%	0.7%
	Divorced, separated, widowedTable 6.3 Footnote 1	12.8%	11.6%	-1.2%
	Single, never married	26.9%	27.3%	0.5%
Kids	Presence of childrenTable 6.3 Footnote 1	31.7%	34.6%	2.9%
Household Size	Single person	14.4%	13.9%	-0.6%
	Two person HH	34.8%	37.3%	2.5%
	Three or more people	18.4%	18.7%	0.4%
Eligible people for panel	One eligible person aged 15+	15.9%	15.5%	-0.4%
	Two eligible peopleTable 6.3 Footnote 1	49.3%	53.2%	3.9%
	Three or more eligible people	34.8%	31.4%	-3.5%
Dwelling	Apartment	12.1%	11.8%	-0.3%
	RentedTable 6.3 Footnote 1	24.8%	25.0%	0.2%
Occupational Code	Management occupations (NOC0)	6.0%	5.9%	-0.1%
	Business Finance and Administration (NOC1)	10.7%	10.9%	0.2%
	Natural and Applied Sciences and related occupations (NOC2)	5.2%	6.1%	0.8%
	Health Occupations (NOC3)	4.7%	4.5%	-0.2%
	Occupations in education, law and social, community and government services (NOC4)	7.6%	8.2%	0.6%
	Occupations in art, culture, recreation and sports (NOC5)	2.5%	2.8%	0.3%
	Sales and service occupations (NOC6)	16.6%	16.8%	0.2%
	Trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations (NOC7)	9.6%	10.0%	0.4%
	Natural resources, agriculture and related production occupations (NOC8)	1.6%	1.8%	0.2%
	Occupations in manufacturing and utilities (NOC9)	2.9%	2.3%	-0.6%
Footnote 1 Estimates that are significantly different at α= 5%. Return to first table 6.3 footnote 1 referrer

While many estimates do not show significant change, the significant differences show that some bias remains in the CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19. There is an underrepresentation of those where there were three or more eligible participants for the panel. And there is an overrepresentation of people born in Canada, households with two persons in total, and those where there were two eligible participants for the panel. These small differences should be kept in mind when using the CPSS3 – Resuming Economic and Social Activities During COVID-19 survey data. Investigation about differences in estimates is ongoing, and as evidence of differences are identified, strategies are being tested to improve the methodology from one wave of the survey to the next.

Under the authority of the Statistics Act, Statistics Canada is hereby requesting the following information, which will be used solely for statistical and research purposes and will be protected in accordance with the provisions of the Statistics Act and any other applicable law. This is a mandatory request for data.

• Employment insurance, social assistance, and other transfers
  • Employment insurance, social assistance, and other transfers
  • Data on Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) recipients
  • Data on Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB), Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) and Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit (CWLB) recipients
• Job vacancies, labour mobility and layoffs
  • Job Postings

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Data Integration Infrastructure Division

• Business Register Coverage
• Available Data
• Data variations due to methodological changes, by year
• Data quality and limitations
• Key definitions found in Business Register Data
  • Statistical Entities
  • Employment
• Geography
  • Structure of the Standard Geographical Classification
  • Census Metropolitan Area and Census Agglomeration
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Business Register Coverage

The Business Register is a repository of information reflecting the Canadian business population and exists primarily to supply frames for all economic surveys in Statistics Canada. It provides a means of coordinating the coverage of business surveys and of achieving consistent classification of statistical reporting units.

Included in Business Register data are all Canadian businesses which meet at least one of the three following criteria:

1. Have an employee workforce for which they submit payroll remittances to CRA;
2. Have at least $30,000 in annual revenue;
3. Are incorporated under a federal or provincial act and have filed a federal corporate income tax form within the past three years.

Available Data

Canadian Business Counts (formerly Canadian Business Patterns)

Location counts with employees by province/Canada, NAICS and employment size ranges.

Location counts without employees by province/Canada and NAICS.

Location counts with employees by census metropolitan areas/census subdivisions, NAICS and employment size ranges.

Custom Aggregate Data Tables:

Employment Size Range

• Units: Location, establishment or enterprise counts
• Geography: All geography
• Industry: All levels of NAICS
• Employment Size Ranges: Standard 9 ranges or custom 13 or 21 ranges
• Confidentiality measures: None

Revenue Ranges

• Units: Location, establishment or enterprise counts
• Geography: Province and CA/CMA
• Industry: NAICS-2, 3
• Confidentiality measures: Rounding

Profit/Non-Profit Data (December only)

• Units: Establishment counts
• Geography: Province
• Industry: NAICS-2
• Confidentiality measures: Suppression

Business Type and Public/Private Data (December only)

• Units: Enterprise counts
• Geography: Province and CMA (14)
• Industry: NAICS-2
• Confidentiality measures: Suppression

Data variations due to methodological changes, by year

• In December 2000, and June 2005, the number of smaller businesses declined. The Business Register has analyzed new administrative sources to detect more rapidly and accurately business closures. This has resulted in the use of new signals that are now part of the processes to update the Business Register.
• The June 2006 reference period shows an increase in the number of businesses because of a methodological change. There is a new way of identifying newcomers on the Business Register. The following sectors have been affected: NAICS 48–49 (Transportation and Warehousing), NAICS 53 (Real Estate and Rental and Leasing) and NAICS 54 (Professional, Scientific and Technical Services).
• The December 2007 reference period is based on the redesigned Business Register. The statistical structure (including establishments) has been simplified to better reflect the operating structure of the business. The decrease in the number of establishments is the result of our continuous efforts to detect inactive businesses as early as possible.
• The December 2008 reference period introduced the use of "statistical location" counts, besides the usual establishment counts. The use of location counts provides a better measurement of business units. Definitions of the statistical establishment and location are provided later in this document under the "Statistical Establishment" and "Statistical Location" sections.
• The December 2008 and June 2009 reference periods show a decrease in the number of businesses. This can be attributed to the introduction of new "inactivation rules" that expanded the ability to identify units that aren't reporting any economic activity.
• For the first time, the December 2010 reference period includes all unincorporated (T1) businesses with sales of at least $30,000. This integration of T1 businesses is intended to create a more comprehensive representation of the business population on our register. Specifically, this change has mainly affected the following sectors: NAICS 53 (Real Estate and Rental and Leasing), NAICS 44–45 (Retail Trade) and NAICS 62 (Health Care and Social Assistance). The introduction of these units hasn't had a significant impact on total business counts and represents 1.6% of all locations in December 2010.
• A large increase in the June 2013 reference period is due toincorporated businesses which are now required to auto-code a NAICS to record their tax form information with the Canada Revenue Agency. The increase represents an accumulation of about two years of auto-coding. This change affected almost every sector and accounts for most of the growth in the data between December 2012 and June 2013.
• A small portion of the increase in businesses in December 2013 is due to new rules regarding the acceptance of auto-coded NAICS which resulted in these businesses being included in the data. The impact wasn't as widespread as the initial NAICS auto-code increase in June 2013 but mostly affected non-employers and the majority of sectors.
• There are two industrial classification categories introduced in 2014; unclassified which is a new category for businesses which haven't received a NAICS code and classified for businesses which have received a NAICS code. The impact of adding the unclassified category is an additional 78,718 locations with employees and 313,107 locations without employees. These counts can be easily identifiable because they're in a separate category.
• In December 2014, a revision of the employer status on all units of the Business Register resulted in approximately 70,000 businesses with employees to shift to the businesses without employees' category. This is mostly noticeable in the smaller employment size ranges. Business counts in NAICS 72—Accommodation and food services, 62—Health care and social assistance, 31–33—Manufacturing and 44–45—Retail trade see the largest decreases.
• Starting in December 2014, businesses without employees now cover all enterprises which meet one of the following criteria: is incorporated or shows at least $30,000 in revenue (nontaxable or taxable). This change affects businesses that didn't have $30,000 in taxable revenue in previous years but did have at least $30,000 in (nontaxable and taxable) revenue. These businesses will now be included and represent approximately 600,000 units. Business counts in NAICS 53—Real estate and rental and leasing and 62—Health care and social assistance have the largest increases.
• The December 2019 counts reflect a downward correction to the number of businesses, especially those without employees, due to new criteria for identifying businesses that had become inactive. Approximately 140,000 units were affected by this correction.
• The June 2020 counts cannot be used to measure the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. These figures continue to include most businesses that closed in the months since the crisis began. Those that close permanently will eventually cease to be included, once business wind-down and closeout procedures are completed and confirmed, which can take several months.

Data quality and limitations

The Business Register is largely based on the Business Number (BN) registration source as collected by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Time Series

Changes to the Business Register's methodology or to business industrial classification strategies can cause increases or decreases in the number of active businesses. As a result, the data do not represent changes in the business population over time. Statistics Canada recommends that users not use the data as a time series.

Creations

Generally, a location creation on the Business Register occurs shortly after a BN is created for each business registrant by CRA. The BN registrations are used to update the Business Register database weekly. Sometimes, the business is contacted to obtain the necessary information for the creation of a location record.

Inactivation

Businesses are assigned an inactive status on the Business Register when neither a tax payment nor payroll remittance has been made by these businesses for some time.

Geography

The Business Register adopted the Standard Geographical Classification, 2016 version. The link between a business and its geographical code is made using the postal code. Since the postal code is designed by Canada Post and targets the efficient delivery of the mail, there are many situations where one postal code doesn't align exactly to the boundaries of a single SGC geographic unit. The smaller and rural geographic units are more subject to this possibility.

North American Industrial Classification System

For newly created businesses, the primary industrial coding is initially processed using automated coding software. This software evaluates the activity description indicated by the business and assigns the appropriate industry classification coding (about 50% of new business records). Activity descriptions lacking precision are subjected to a manual coding process.

Key definitions found in Business Register Data

Statistical Entities

Statistical Enterprise

An enterprise is the legal operating entity at the top of the operating structure. There is only one enterprise per operating structure. It's associated with a complete set of financial statements.

Statistical Establishment

A statistical establishment is the production entity or the smallest grouping of production entities which:

1. Produces a homogeneous set of goods or services;
2. Doesn't cross provincial boundaries; and
3. Provides data on the value of output together with the cost of principal intermediate inputs used along with the cost and quantity of labour resources used to produce the output.

Statistical Location

The location is an operating entity, specifically a production entity which:

1. Conducts economic activity at or from a single physical location or group of locations;
2. Resides within the smallest standardized geographical area;
3. Is able to provide employment data at a minimum.

Employment

Source

Employment is based on both corporations' payroll remittance and profiling/survey data. These data are at first edited and imputed before being used as input for other processes.

For simple units, attached to only one legal entity, the employment is derived from payroll deductions using the 2nd maximum input within the last 12 months of data. For the complex units, aggregated employment, obtained from profiling, is first determined at the enterprise level. This value is afterward distributed at the establishment and location levels based on the profiled employment distribution from the Business Register.

Employment Size Ranges

The following are the employment size ranges available in the Business Register:

• 1 to 4
• 5 to 9
• 10 to 19
• 20 to 49
• 50 to 99
• 100 to 199
• 200 to 499
• 500+

Locations without employees include the self-employed, i.e., those who don't maintain an employee payroll, but may have a workforce which consists of contracted workers, family members or business owners. These also include employers who didn't have employees in the last 12 months.

This data should not be used in any manner to compile industry employment estimates.

Geography

The Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) is Statistics Canada's official classification for the geographical areas in Canada. It was developed to facilitate the analysis of statistical data using a uniform geographical area definition. It produces a range of geographical areas that are useful for analysis, convenient for data collection and compilation on this basis. It is intended primarily for the classification of statistical units such as locations.

Structure of the Standard Geographical Classification

Each of the three sets of areas covers all of Canada. They are hierarchical: a census subdivision aggregates to a census division, which in turn aggregates to a province or territory.

(1) Province and Territory

"Province" and "territory" refer to the major political units of Canada. From a statistical point of view, province and territory are basic areas for which data are tabulated. Canada is divided into 10 provinces and 3 territories.

(2) Census Division

Census division (CD) is the general term for provincially legislated areas (such as county and regional district) or their equivalents. Census divisions are intermediate geographic areas between the province/territory level and the municipality (census subdivision).

Usually they are groups of neighbouring municipalities joined together for the purposes of regional planning and managing common services (such as police or ambulance services). These groupings are established under laws in certain provinces of Canada.

(3) Census Subdivision

Census subdivision (CSD) is the general term for municipalities (as determined by provincial/territorial legislation) or areas treated as municipal equivalents for statistical purposes (e.g., Indian reserves, Indian settlements and unorganized territories).

Please take note, when using the CSD, of the volatility of the counts between the different reference periods. Units move from one CSD to another, not due to actual changes in physical location, but due to changes in linkages between a specific CSD and postal code.

Census Metropolitan Area and Census Agglomeration

A census metropolitan area (CMA) or a census agglomeration (CA) is formed by one or more adjacent municipalities centred on a population centre (known as the core). A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000 of which 50,000 or more must live in the core. A CA must have a core population of at least 10,000. To be included in the CMA or CA, other adjacent municipalities must have a high degree of integration with the core as measured by commuting flows derived from previous census place of work data.

If the population of the core of a CA declines below 10,000, the CA is retired. However, once an area becomes a CMA, it is retained as a CMA even if its total population declines below 100,000 or the population of its core falls below 50,000. All areas inside the CMA or CA, that aren't population centres, are rural areas.

Other Geographies

Economic Region

An economic region (ER) is a grouping of complete census divisions (CDs) (with one exception in Ontario) created as a standard geographic unit for analysis of regional economic activity.

Census Tract

Area that is small and relatively stable. Census tracts usually have a population of 2,500 to 8,000. They are in large urban centres that must have an urban core population of 50,000 or more.

Federal Electoral District

Area represented by a Member of Parliament (MP) elected to the House of Commons.

Dissemination Area

Small area composed of one or more neighbouring blocks, with a population of 400 to 700 persons. All of Canada is divided into dissemination areas.

Forward Sortation Area

Area composed of the first three digits of the postal code which is a six-character code defined and maintained by Canada Post Corporation for the purpose of sorting and delivering mail.

"000" Residue

Please note that codes have been created for residues. They consist of the province/territory code followed by zeroes. This residual category reflects statistical units in Canada where there is insufficient information to precisely locate the locations within a census division/census subdivision as determined by the 2016 Standard Geographical Classification.

Industry Codes—North American Industry Classification System

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is an industry classification system developed by the statistical agencies of Canada, Mexico and the United States. Created, it's designed to provide common definitions of the industrial structure of the 3 countries and a common statistical framework to facilitate the analysis of the 3 economies. NAICS is based on supply or production-oriented principles, to ensure that industrial data, classified to NAICS, are suitable for the analysis of production-related issues such as industrial performance.

NAICS is a system encompassing all economic activities. It has a hierarchical structure.

NAICS Structure

Sectors

2 digits

Sub-sectors

3 digits

Industry Groups

4 digits

Industries

5 digits

National Industries

6 digits

Revenue

These revenues are derived mostly from administrative files from C.R.A. (Canada Revenue Agency). They're based on both corporations' income tax revenues and GST sales remittances. These data are at first edited and imputed before being used as input for other processes. For simple units, attached to only one legal entity, the revenue is derived from a regression model using the GST sales as independent variable, the income tax revenue being the dependent variable. For the complex units, aggregated revenue is first determined at the enterprise level. This value is afterward distributed at the establishment and location levels based on the profiled revenue distribution from the Business Register.

Contact us

Business Register Dissemination Unit
Data Integration Infrastructure Division
Statistics Canada
Tunney's Pasture
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0T6
statcan.statisticalregisters-registresstatistiques.statcan@statcan.gc.ca

Release date: August 13, 2020 (Previous notice)

• Introduction
• How we reached out and whom we heard from
• Summary of what we heard
  • CRDC open online consultation
• Next steps
  • Timeline

Introduction

Accountability and transparency—which are of the utmost importance for research funding organizations—are becoming increasingly critical for demonstrating how funds are deployed. Research stakeholders, the government and the public are seeking information about which areas of research are receiving support and the levels of investment in each of these areas. Furthermore, since research efforts are global, the ability to combine and compare information about funded research with other organizations is necessary to improve collaboration, improve support for research and development (R&D), and benchmark investments and performance both nationally and internationally.

Since December 2017, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and Statistics Canada^{Footnote 1} have been jointly developing the Canadian Research and Development Classification (CRDC). This new classification has been designed to include all research sectors and represent the current research landscape in Canada while also contributing to greater alignment with international standards. It is also comprehensive enough to support a wide range of needs within the R&D ecosystem. Furthermore, it has been developed to facilitate the peer review process and the reporting of investments by federal research funding agencies and the Government of Canada. The CRDC will help ensure the consistent compatibility and comparability of statistics across research funding agencies both in Canada and internationally while balancing the needs of different users and highlighting specific areas of Canadian research strength. The CRDC is the product of months of reviews, consultations, analysis and negotiations among the sponsors and the Canadian research community in an effort to make research classification consistent in Canada.

The CRDC is a set of three interrelated classifications:

• Type of activity (TOA): This is categorization by type of research being undertaken, e.g., fundamental, applied, experimental development.
• Field of research (FOR): This is categorization by field of research; it is the methodology used in R&D that is being considered. The categories within this classification include major fields of research based on knowledge source, subject of interest, and methods and techniques used.
  • There are four hierarchical levels: divisions are the broadest level, and groups, classes and subclasses represent increasingly detailed dissections of these categories. This resulted in a comprehensive list of fields of research—nearly 1,800 in total—to help reflect Canada's current research landscape.
• Socioeconomic objectives (SEO): This is categorization by R&D purpose or outcome.
  • There are two hierarchical levels: divisions are the broadest level, followed by groups. There are approximately 85 groups.

While Statistics Canada will use the CRDC to report on Canada's R&D activities at the national and international levels, the federal research granting agencies have been involved from the beginning of the project, as they see great benefits in having a common research classification. Adopting a common approach for classifying research and expertise across the federal research granting agencies aims to

• provide a common language for discussing research in the higher education sector, in the public sector and within government, enabling better evidence-based decision making within the research ecosystem
• make it possible to identify expertise and research areas in a truly multidisciplinary classification
• improve the identification of emerging research fields
• help identify potential collaboration opportunities to optimize research efforts and improve outcomes
• improve the identification of research funding gaps and opportunities
• provide the research community with harmonized and integrated R&D classification
• improve reporting on the agencies' combined contributions to research and science in Canada
• help the agencies streamline their operational processes for peer review, recruitment and reviewer selection.

How we reached out and whom we heard from

• Over 100 research funding agency employees
• Over 300 subject-matter experts across all sectors
• 18 webinars hosted by project sponsors
• Over 860 responses from the online consultations
• Over 1,700 notices of interest about the CRDC received through the pilot program
• Over 1,000 suggestions proposed by subject-matter experts and the research community as a whole

The project sponsors sought to engage and consult as wide of an audience as possible to collect evidence-based recommendations to help develop the CRDC. The consultation process started in February 2018 and ended in September 2019. Those consulted include

• the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Statistics New Zealand and the Australian Research Council, as they have been using a similar model for 10 years and could share their expertise and experience
• internal staff at each Canadian federal research granting agency to ensure that the CRDC supports the full range of uses of a research classification for program delivery, monitoring and reporting
• subject-matter experts in the research community to inform and validate the terminology used in and the scope of specific fields of research
• targeted stakeholders, such as federal science-based departments and agencies, provincial funding agencies, and provincial statistical agencies, to obtain feedback on the general structure and principles of the classification.

An open online consultation process ran from February 11 to March 22, 2019, to give a wider audience the chance to provide feedback on the proposed categories and terminology. The New Frontiers in Research Fund at SSHRC used a pilot version of the classification.

Summary of what we heard

In the open online consultation, participants and subject-matter experts were asked to review proposed categories and suggest any changes to specific categories—including adding, removing, combining, splitting and renaming—to represent the current Canadian research landscape, and to ensure that the classification would meet the needs of different stakeholders across the Canadian research ecosystem. The objective of the consultation process was to obtain feedback on fields of research and socioeconomic objectives, not on type of activity.

CRDC open online consultation

• 817 responses received
• 313 responses with comments on field of research
• 5% of respondents identified their field of research as "other"

Most frequent comments and suggestions provided for consideration on fields of research

Field of research	Most frequent comments and suggestions provided for consideration
General	The CRDC FOR codes are well mapped to existing categories in different research classifications. Several comments recommended updates to different categories. Cross-sector categories are not always easy to find. Some categories are not well defined and do not represent the evolution of some of the fields in the Canadian research landscape. The level of granularity in each category seems to be adequate for supporting each granting agency's needs—such as the peer review process—by allowing peer reviewers to be selected and review committee members to be identified based on common disciplines. The ability to aggregate different levels of data seems to be adequate for supporting reporting on investments, research activities in specific fields, and R&D objectives at the organizational, national and international levels. Some categories seem to be more granular than others. The delineation between categories is not always evident, and the definitions provided are not always helpful.
Category specific (examples)	Electronic and electrical engineering need to be reviewed to reflect the current research landscape. Neurosciences should be subdivided by how it pertains to each sector. Geosciences is spread across all relevant fields; however, some important categories are missing. Literature fields are neither well categorized nor representative, and it would be difficult to classify current research within the proposed categories. Industrial engineering categories will need to be updated to reflect current progress being made in Canada. Examples of specific categories that were identified as missing include rhetoric studies, disciplinary education and genetic epidemiology.

Comments and suggestions for consideration on socioeconomic objectives

Socioeconomic objectives	Comments and suggestions for consideration
General	Depending on the time frame considered when identifying the outcome of the research, the socioeconomic objectives could be different. Examples for each group category would help delineate each category or group. Interdisciplinary research spans disciplines and does not fit neatly into these objectives.
Category specific (examples)	Split arts and leisure into two categories. There is uncertainty about which category changes in health-related policy would fit into. Categories for social justice topics are missing. Well-being and mental health need to be listed under five-digit levels under health. The understanding of past societies is included, but the understanding of current societies is missing. The education categories need to be better defined, as the category title is not intuitive and creates confusion. The lists are very comprehensive, but lack interdisciplinary studies across the natural and social sciences, e.g., socioecological systems.

Comments and suggestions for consideration overall

Overall

Comments and suggestions for consideration

General

The way the codes are displayed needs to be more user friendly and intuitive to make it easier for the user to identify their area of research or expertise. Some of the definitions provided were very poor. The categories will need to be reviewed regularly to ensure that areas that are developing past "emerging" are captured in the future. The granularity and structure of the CRDC are flexible enough to meet the needs of the research community.

Next steps

The consultations provided insights to help improve the proposed CRDC and its categories to better reflect the current Canadian research landscape. Participants and subject-matter experts identified many areas and categories for improvement. Based on the consultation results, the CRDC was revised, and the suggested fields of research, socioeconomic objectives and other proposed changes were taken into account. Opportunities to minimize the burden of identifying and selecting fields of research and socioeconomic objectives are being studied to improve usability and findability.

Timeline

• Pre-consultation period
  • March to December 2017
• Consultations
  • February 2018 to September 2019
• Release of the What We Heard report
  • August 2020
• Release of the new Canadian Research and Development Classification
  • Fall 2020
• Implementation within each federal research granting agency
  • Ongoing

Diversity and Social Statistics Division, Cycle 35, 2020.

Social contact with relatives

Now a few questions about contact you have with your relatives, including your parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and in-laws.

Do most of your relatives live in the same city or region as you?

"City or region" means close enough to easily visit you.

Exclude people you live with.

• Yes
• No
• No living relatives

Frequency and type of contact with relatives

Thinking of all the relatives you had contact with in the past month, how often did you communicate with any of your relatives by text message?

e.g., WhatsApp

Exclude people you live with.

Would you say:

• Every day
• A few times a week
• Once a week
• 2 or 3 times a month
• Once a month
• Not in the past month
• No cell or mobile device
• Do not text message

Frequency and type of contact with relatives

Thinking of all the relatives you had contact with in the past month, how often did you do the following?

• Every day
• A few times a week
• Once a week
• 2 or 3 times a month
• Once a month
• Not in the past month

a. See any of your relatives in person

Exclude people you live with

b. Talk with any of your relatives by telephone

Exclude:

• text messages
• people you live with

c. Communicate with any of your relatives by e-mail or online social networks

Include all forms of Internet communication. e.g., Facebook, Twitter, instant message, Skype and FaceTime.

Exclude people you live with.

Overall, how satisfied are you with how often you communicate with your relatives?

Are you:

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
• Dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied

Are you dissatisfied because you communicate with your family members too often or not often enough?

• Too often
• Not often enough

Relatives you feel at ease with

How many relatives do you have who you feel close to, that is, who you feel at ease with, can talk to about what is on your mind, or call on for help?

Include people you live with.

• Number of relatives

Does this relative you feel close to live in the same city or local community as you?

• Yes
• No

Of these {number} relatives you feel at ease with, how many live in the same city or local community as you?

• Number of relatives

Social contact with close friends

Now a few questions about your friends.

How many close friends do you have, that is, people who are not your relatives, but who you feel at ease with, can talk to about what is on your mind, or call on for help?

Include people you live with.

• Number of close friends

Does your close friend live in the same city or local community as you?

• Yes
• No

Of these {number} close friends, how many live in the same city or local community as you?

• Number of close friends

Social contact with other friends

Not counting your close friends or relatives, approximately how many other friends do you have?

Include acquaintances as well as online friends.

• 1
• 2-19
• 20-49
• 50-79
• 80 or more
• No other friends

Frequency and type of contact with other friends

Does this other friend live in the same city or local community as you?

• Yes
• No

Of these other friends, how many live in the same city or local community as you?

• Number of other friends

Frequency and type of contact with friends

Thinking of {your friend/all your friends}, in the past month how often did you do the following?

• Every day
• A few times a week
• Once a week
• 2 or 3 times a month
• Once a month
• Not in the past month

a. See {your friend/any of your friends} in person

b. Talk with {your friend/any of your friends} by telephone

Include cellphones and landlines.

Exclude texting.

c. Communicate with {your friend/any of your friends} by text message

e.g., WhatsApp

d. Communicate with {your friend/any of your friends} by e-mail or online social networks

Include all forms of Internet communication. e.g., Facebook, Twitter, instant message, Skype and FaceTime.

Overall, how satisfied are you with how often you communicate with your {friend/friends}?

Are you:

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
• Dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied

Are you dissatisfied because you communicate with them too often or not often enough?

• Too often
• Not often enough

Characteristics of friends

Of all the friends you had contact with in the past month, approximately how many have the following characteristics?

Include contact in person, by telephone, by text, e-mail or any other form of online communication, e.g., Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, online gaming.

• All
• Most
• About half
• A few
• None
• Don't know

a. Have the same mother tongue as you

The mother tongue is the first language learned in childhood and still understood.

b. Come from an ethnic group that is visibly different from yours

c. Have the same religion as you

If you have no religion, indicate how many of your friends also do not have a religion.

d. Are the same sex as you

e. Have the same sexual orientation as you

Sexual orientation refers to being heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or other sexual orientations.

f. Identify with the same gender as their sex assigned at birth

Gender refers to current gender which may be different from sex assigned at birth and may be different from what is indicated on legal documents.

g. Are around the same age group as you

Base your answer on what "same age group" means to you.

Of all the friends you had contact with in the past month, how many have roughly the same level of education as you?

Include contact in person, by telephone, by text, e-mail or any other form of online communication, e.g., Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, online gaming.

Would you say:

• All
• Most
• About half
• A few
• None
• Don't know

Of those friends who have a different level of education than you, how would you describe their level of education?

Would you say:

• Most have a higher level than you
• Most have a lower level than you
• Half have a higher, half have a lower level
• Don't know

Of all the friends you had contact with in the past month, how many have a similar level of household income as you?

Include contact in person, by telephone, by text, e-mail or any other form of online communication, e.g., Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, online gaming.

Would you say:

• All
• Most
• About half
• A few
• None
• Don't know

Of those friends who have a different level of household income than you, how would you describe their level of income?

Would you say:

• Most have a higher level than you
• Most have a lower level than you
• Half have a higher, half have a lower level
• Don't know

Social contact - new people

In the past month, outside of work or school, how many new people did you meet either face-to-face or online?

Include people you had not met before and who you intend to stay in contact with.

• Number of new people

Did you meet this person on the Internet?

Include social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc.

• Yes
• No

Of these {number} people, how many did you meet on the Internet?

Include social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc.

• Number of people

People whom you know

Here is a list of jobs that people you know may have. These people could be family or relatives, close friends or someone else you know.

By "knowing" a person, we mean that you know them by name and well enough to contact them.

Do you know any people with the following jobs?

• Yes
• No

a. Bus driver

b. Senior executive of a large company

c. Home or office cleaner

d. Hairdresser or barber

e. Human resources or personnel manager

f. Lawyer

g. Car mechanic

h. Nurse

i. Police officer

j. School teacher

Civic engagement – participation in groups

The next questions are about formal and informal groups, organizations or associations to which you may belong.

In the past 12 months, were you a member or participant in the following groups, organizations or associations? These could be formally organized groups or just groups of people who get together regularly to do an activity or talk about things.

Include groups you are active in through the Internet.

• Yes
• No

a. Sports or recreational organization

e.g. hockey league, health club or golf club

b. Cultural, educational or hobby organization

e.g. theatre group, book club or bridge club

c. Union or professional association

d. Political party or group

e. Religious-affiliated group

Exclude regular attendance at your place of worship.

f. School group, neighbourhood, civic or community association

e.g. parent-teacher association (PTA), alumni association, block parents or neighbourhood watch

g. Humanitarian or charitable organization or service club

e.g. Meals on Wheels, United Way, Unicef, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Distress Centre, Rotary Club, Red Cross

h. Seniors' group

e.g. seniors' club, recreational association or resource centre

i. Youth organization

e.g. Me to We, Scouts, Guides, Big Brothers or Big Sisters, YMCA or YWCA

j. Immigrant or ethnic association or club

k. Environmental group

e.g. in the areas of conservation, ecology, the environment or animal rights

l. Other type of group, organization or association

Specify other type of group, organization or association

Civic engagement – number of groups

Of all the types of groups, organizations or associations we talked about, in how many were you a member or participant in the past 12 months?

• Number of groups, organizations or associations

How many of these {number} groups were you active in through the Internet?

Include any involvement through the Internet in the past 12 months, whether you conducted part or all of your activities through the Internet.

Your answer should be based on what "being active through the Internet" means to you.

• Number of groups, organizations or associations

Were you active in this group through the Internet?

Include any involvement through the Internet in the past 12 months, whether you conducted part or all of your activities through the Internet.

Your answer should be based on what "being active through the Internet" means to you.

• Yes
• No

How often did you participate in group activities and meetings on the Internet?

Exclude group activities and meetings in person.

Would you say:

• At least once a week
• A few times a month
• Once a month
• Once or twice a year
• Not in the past year

How often did you participate in group activities and meetings in person?

Exclude group activities and meetings on the Internet.

Would you say:

• At least once a week
• A few times a month
• Once a month
• Once or twice a year
• Not in the past year

Change in group participation – past 5 years

Over the past five years, would you say that your involvement in organizations has increased, decreased, or stayed the same?

• Increased
• Decreased
• Stayed the same

Types of groups, organizations or associations most active in

What is the group, organization or association you are most active in?

If you are equally active in two or more groups, organizations or associations, select only one of these organizations.

• A sports or recreational organization
  e.g. a hockey league, health club or golf club
• A cultural, educational or hobby organization
  e.g. a theatre group, book club or bridge club
• A union or professional association
• A political party or group
• A religious-affiliated group
  Exclude regular attendance at your place of worship.
• A school group, neighbourhood, civic or community association
  e.g. parent-teacher association (PTA), alumni association, block parents or neighbourhood watch
• A humanitarian or charitable organization or service club
  e.g. Meals on Wheels, United Way, Unicef, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Distress Centre, Rotary Club, Red Cross
• A seniors' group
  e.g. seniors' club, recreational association or resource centre
• A youth organization
  e.g. Me to We, Scouts, Guides, Big Brothers or Big Sisters, YMCA or YWCA
• Ethnic or immigrant association or club
• An environmental club
  e.g. in the areas of conservation, ecology, the environment or animal rights
• Other type of group, organization or association

Length of time with organization

How long have you been involved with this organization?

Report number of years. Round to the nearest whole year, if necessary. If you have been involved for less than one year, enter 1.

Type of organization: {A sports or recreational organization/A cultural, educational or hobby organization/A union or professional association/A political party or group/A religious-affiliated group/A school group, neighbourhood, civic community association/A humanitarian or charitable organization or service club/A seniorʼs group/A youth organization/Ethnic or immigrant association or club/An environmental group/Other type}

'Involved' means being a member or participant of the organization.

• Number of years

Compared with last year, would you say that your involvement with this organization has increased, decreased, or stayed the same?

• Increased
• Decreased
• Stayed the same

Characteristics of people met through organizations

Of all the people you met through this organization, how many would you say have the following characteristics?

• All
• Most
• About half
• A few
• None
• Don't know

a. Have the same mother tongue as you

The mother tongue is the first language learned in childhood and still understood.

b. Are from an ethnic group that is visibly different from yours

c. Are the same sex as you

d. Are around the same age group as you

Base your answer on what "same age group" means to you.

Would you say that your involvement in this organization is primarily volunteering?

• Yes
• No

Voting

Now a few questions about your participation in political activities.

Did you vote in the last federal election?

The last federal election was held on October 21, 2019.

• Yes
• No

Were you eligible to vote in the last federal election?

• Yes
• No

What is the main reason you did not vote in the last federal election?

The last federal election was held on October 21, 2019.

• Own illness or disability
• Out of town or away from home
• Too busy
• Family obligations
• Conflicting work or school schedule
• Weather conditions
• Not interested
• Felt voting would not make a difference in election results
• Didn't like candidates or campaign issues
• Not on voters list, problems with ID requirements
• Too difficult, transportation problems, too far to travel, lines too long
• Forgot to vote
• Religious beliefs
• Not informed on political issues
• Undecided
• Did not vote to protest
• Other

How likely is it that you will vote in the next federal election?

Is it:

• Very likely
• Somewhat likely
• Not very likely
• Not at all likely
• Undecided

Did you vote in the last provincial election?

• Yes
• No

Were you eligible to vote in the last provincial election?

• Yes
• No

Did you vote in the last municipal or local election?

• Yes
• No

Were you eligible to vote in the last municipal or local election?

• Yes
• No

Engagement with politics

Generally speaking, how interested are you in politics?

e.g. international, national, provincial or municipal

Are you:

• Very interested
• Somewhat interested
• Not very interested
• Not at all interested

In the past 12 months, have you done any of the following activities?

• Yes
• No

a. Searched for information on a political issue

b. Volunteered for a political party

c. Expressed your views on an issue by contacting a newspaper or a politician

d. Expressed your views on a political or social issue through an Internet forum or news website

e. Signed a petition on paper

f. Signed an Internet petition

g. Boycotted or chosen a product for ethical reasons

In the past 12 months, have you attended a public meeting?

• Yes
• No

In the past 12 months, have you spoken out at a public meeting?

• Yes
• No

In the past 12 months, have you done any of the following activities?

• Yes
• No

a. Participated in a demonstration or march

b. Worn a badge, T-shirt or displayed a lawn sign in support of or opposition to a political or social cause

Media consumption

How frequently do you follow news and current affairs?

e.g., international, national, regional or local news and current affairs

Would you say:

• Daily
• Several times each week
• Several times each month
• Less than once a month
• Never

Canadians use a variety of sources to keep informed on news and current affairs.

Which media do you use to follow news and current affairs?

Select all that apply.

Is it:

• Newspapers
  Include print copy or online.
• Magazines
  Include print copy or online.
• Television
  Include conventional or online.
• Radio
  Include conventional or online.
• Internet
  e.g., social media, news aggregator sites, podcasts
• Other
  • Specify which type of media

Knowledge of Canadian history

How would you rate your knowledge of Canadian history?

Is it:

• Excellent
• Very good
• Good
• Fair
• Poor

Appreciation of national symbols

When thinking of Canadian identity, how important are the following symbols to you?

• Very important
• Somewhat important
• Not very important
• Not at all important

a. The Canadian flag

b. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

c. The art and culture of Indigenous people (First Nations, Métis and Inuit)

d. The national anthem "O Canada"

e. The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)

f. Hockey

When thinking of Canadian identity, what other symbol or image comes to mind?

Specify other symbol or image

Importance of Canadian institutions

In your opinion, how important are each of the following institutions to Canadian identity?

• Very important
• Somewhat important
• Not very important
• Not at all important

a. Arts and cultural institutions

Include theatres for live performances, museums, art museums, art galleries and planetariums.

b. Heritage sites and institutions

Include historic sites, historic buildings, botanical gardens, aquaria, zoological sites, national parks, provincial parks and reserves, conservancy sites and other conservation areas.

Shared values

The next questions ask about the extent to which you agree with a number of Canadian values.

To what extent do you personally agree with the following values?

• To a great extent
• To a moderate extent
• To a small extent
• Not at all

a. Human rights

b. Respect for the law

c. Gender equality

Gender equality means that diverse groups of women, men and non-binary people are able to participate fully in all spheres of Canadian life, contributing to an inclusive and democratic society.

d. English and French as Canada's official languages

e. Ethnic and cultural diversity

f. Respect for Indigenous (First Nations, Métis or Inuit) culture

And now some questions about how you feel Canadians in general share these same values.

To what extent do you feel that Canadians share the following values?

• To a great extent
• To a moderate extent
• To a small extent
• Not at all

a. Human rights

b. Respect for the law

c. Gender equality

Gender equality means that diverse groups of women, men and non-binary people are able to participate fully in all spheres of Canadian life, contributing to an inclusive and democratic society.

d. English and French as Canada's official languages

e. Ethnic and cultural diversity

f. Respect for Indigenous (First Nations, Métis or Inuit) culture

Labour market activities

Many of the following questions concern your activities last week.

Last week is from {REFBEGE} to {REFENDE}.

Last week, did you work at a job or business?

Select 'Yes' if you worked at least one hour:

• for pay (wages, salary, etc.)
• in self-employment.

Select 'No' if you:

• were away from work for the entire week for a reason such as vacation, illness, work schedule or layoff
• did not have a job or business.

• Yes
• No

Last week, did you have a job or business from which you were absent?

Select 'Yes' if you:

• were away from work for the entire week for a reason such as vacation, illness, parental leave or work schedule
• were self-employed with a business, but no work was available.

Select 'No' if you:

• did not have a job or business
• had a casual job, but no work was available.

• Yes
• No

What was the main reason you were absent from work last week?

• Vacation
• Own illness or disability
• Caring for own children
• Caring for elder relative
  60 years of age or older
• Maternity or parental leave
• Other personal or family responsibilities
• Labour dispute (strike or lockout)
  Employees only
• Temporary layoff due to business conditions
• Employees only
• Seasonal layoff
• Employees only
• Casual job, no work available
• Employees only
• Work schedule
  e.g., 10 days on, 10 days off, employees only
• Self-employed, no work available
• Self-employed only
• Seasonal business
• Excluding employees
• Other
  • Specify the main reason you were absent from work last week

Labour market activities

In the 4 weeks ending {REFENDE} did you do anything to find work?

• Yes
• No

Last week, did you have a job to start at a definite date in the future?

• Yes
• No

Will you start that job before or after {NMBEGE}?

• Before the date above
• On or after the date above

How many hours did you want to work per week?

Would it be:

• 30 or more
• Less than 30

Could you have worked last week?

• Yes
• No

What was the main reason that you were not available to work last week?

• Going to school
• Own illness or disability
• Caring for own children
• Caring for an elder relative
  60 years of age or older
• Vacation
• Other personal or family responsibilities
• Already has a job
• Other
  • Specify the main reason you were not available to work last week

Labour market activities

Were you an employee or self-employed?

Select 'Employee' if you worked:

• for pay (wages, salary, tips or commissions).

Select 'Self-employed' if you worked:

• for your own business, farm or professional practice
• as an independent contractor, painter, babysitter, etc.

• Employee
• Self-employed
• Working in a family business without pay

What was the full name of your business?

Enter the full name of the business. If there is no business name, enter the respondent's full name.

• Specify the full name of your business

For whom did you work?

Enter the full name of the company, business, government department or agency, or person.

• Specify who you worked for

What kind of business, industry or service was this?

Examples: new home construction, primary school, municipal police, wheat farm, retail shoe store, food wholesale, car parts factory, federal government

• Specify the kind of business, industry or service

The following questions refer to the work or occupation in which you spent most of your time.

What kind of work were you doing?

Examples: legal secretary, plumber, fishing guide, wood furniture assembler, secondary school teacher, computer programmer

• Specify the kind of work you were doing

What were your most important activities or duties?

Examples: prepared legal documents, installed residential plumbing, guided fishing parties, made wood furniture products, taught mathematics, developed software

• Specify your most important activities or duties

Number of weeks employed

For how many weeks during the past 12 months were you employed?

If you had multiple jobs in the past 12 months, please select the total number of weeks employed for all of the jobs you had.

Include the weeks you were employed but absent because you were on vacation, sick leave with pay, strike, lockout or maternity, paternity or parental leave.

• Number of weeks
  ‹‹‹ Select ›››
  • 1 to 52

Work activities – Hours worked

Did you have more than one paid job last week?

• Yes
• No

How many hours a week do you usually work at your job?

• Number of hours

How many hours a week do you usually work at your main job?

• Number of hours

How many hours a week do you usually work at your other jobs?

• Number of hours

Why do you usually work less than 30 hours a week?

Select all that apply.

• Own illness or disability
• Child care responsibilities
• Care responsibilities for an adult
• Other personal or family responsibilities
• Going to school
• Could only find part-time work
• Did not want full-time work
• Requirement of the work
• Other reason
  • Specify other reason

How many days a week do you usually work?

Include all jobs.

• Number of days
  ‹‹‹ Select ›››
  • 1 to 7

Which of the following best describes your usual work schedule at your {main job/job}?

On call means no prearranged schedules, but called as need arises, for example, a substitute teacher.

Irregular schedule is usually prearranged one week or more in advance, for example, pilots.

Is it:

• A regular daytime schedule or shift
• A regular evening shift
• A regular night shift
• A rotating shift
  A rotating shift is one that changes periodically from days to evenings or to nights.
• A split shift
  A split shift is one consisting of two or more distinct periods each day.
• A compressed work week
• On call or casual
• An irregular schedule
• Other type of schedule

Work family responsibilities

How satisfied are you with the balance between your {jobs/job} and home life?

Are you:

• Very satisfied
• Satisfied
• Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
• Dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied

Why are you dissatisfied?

Is it because you:

• Do not have enough time for family
  Include spouse or partner and children.
• Spend too much time on job
• Do not have enough time for other activities
  Exclude work or family related activities.
• Cannot find suitable employment
• Have employment related reasons
  Exclude spending too much time on job.
• Have health reasons
  Include sleep disorders
• Have family related reasons
  Exclude not enough time for family
• Other
  • Specify the other reason

Education

What is the highest certificate, diploma or degree that you have completed?

• Less than high school diploma or its equivalent
• High school diploma or a high school equivalency certificate
• Trades certificate or diploma
• CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma (other than trades certificates or diplomas)
• University certificate or diploma below the bachelor's level
• Bachelor's degree
  e.g. B.A., B.A. (Hons), B.Sc., B.Ed., LL.B.
• University certificate, diploma or degree above the bachelor's level

School attendance 

Are you currently attending a school, college, CEGEP or university?

Report only attendance for courses that can be used as credits towards a certificate, diploma or degree. Distance learning for credit is included.

• Yes
• No

What type of educational institution are you attending?

• Elementary, junior high school or high school
• Trade school, college, CEGEP or other non-university institution
• University

Are you enrolled as a full-time or part-time student?

Each educational institution classifies students as full-time or part-time depending on the type of program, and the number of courses, credits or hours of instruction.

• Full-time student
• Part-time student

Highest level of education

In what country was the institution that granted your highest certificate, diploma or degree located?

Specify the country according to current boundaries.

Select a country from the dropdown menu below. Type the first few letters to narrow down the choices.

Note: If the country is not listed, select "Other".

• 250 countries list
• Other
  • Specify country

In which province or territory was the institution that granted your highest certificate, diploma or degree located?

Specify the province or territory where your educational institution was physically located.

• Province or territory
  ‹‹‹ Select ›››
  • Alberta
  • British Columbia
  • Manitoba
  • New Brunswick
  • Newfoundland and Labrador
  • Northwest Territories
  • Nova Scotia
  • Nunavut
  • Ontario
  • Prince Edward Island
  • Quebec
  • Saskatchewan
  • Yukon

In what year did you complete your highest certificate, diploma or degree?

• Year

What was the major field of study of the highest certificate, diploma or degree you completed?

e.g., health care attendant, medical laboratory technology, early childhood education, civil engineering.

If you were in a trade or Journeyperson program, list the area of specialization. e.g., auto mechanics, hairstyling, carpentry.

• Field of study

Main activity of spouse or partner

The next few questions are about your {spouse/partner}'s main activity and education.

During the past 12 months, what was your {spouse/partner}'s main activity?

If the main activity was "sickness" or "short-term illness", indicate the usual main activity.

Was it:

• Working at a paid job or business
• Looking for paid work
• Going to school
• Caring for children
• Household work
• Retired
• Maternity, paternity or parental leave
• Long-term illness
• Volunteering or care-giving other than for children
• Other
  • Specify their main activity

Was {spouse/partner} enrolled as a full-time or part-time student?

• Full-time student
• Part-time student
• Both full-time and part-time student

Did {he/she} have a job or was {he/she} self-employed at any time during the past 12 months?

Include vacation, illness, strikes, lockouts and maternity or paternity leave.

• Yes
• No

Education of spouse or partner

What is the highest level of education that {he/she} has attained?

• Less than high school diploma or its equivalent
• High school diploma or a high school equivalency certificate
• Trades certificate or diploma
• College, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma (other than trades certificates or diplomas)
• University certificate or diploma below the bachelor's level
• Bachelor's degree
  e.g. B.A., B.A. (Hons), B.Sc., B.Ed., LL.B.
• University certificate, diploma or degree above the bachelor's level

Gender, birthplace and education of parents

The following questions ask about your parents' gender, birthplace and education.

What is the gender of your Parent A?

"Parent" refers to the legal father, mother or parent of the person. Because of the possibility of multiple parents and same sex parents, we refer to them as "parent A" and "B". It is up to you to decide which of your parents to list as A and which as B.

• Male
• Female
• Or please specify
  • Specify your Parent A's gender

Where was your Parent A born?

For parents who were born in Canada, select the option "Born in Canada." For parents who were born outside Canada, please select the option "Born outside Canada" and report the country of birth according to present boundaries. For adopted persons, please report the place of birth of their adoptive parents.

• Born in Canada
• Born outside Canada

Specify the country of birth for parent A

Select a country from the dropdown menu below. Type the first few letters to narrow down the choices.

Note: If the country is not listed, select "Other".

• 250 countries list
• Other
  • Specify country

What is the highest certificate, diploma or degree that your Parent A has completed?

• Less than high school diploma or its equivalent
• High school diploma or a high school equivalency certificate
• Trades certificate or diploma
• College, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma (other than trades certificates or diplomas)
• University certificate or diploma below the bachelor's level
• Bachelor's degree
  e.g. B.A., B.A. (Hons), B.Sc., B.Ed., LL.B.
• University certificate, diploma or degree above the bachelor's level
• Don't know

Gender, birthplace and education of parents

What is the gender of your Parent B?

"Parent" refers to the legal father, mother or parent of the person. Because of the possibility of multiple parents and same sex parents, we refer to them as "parent A" and "B". It is up to you to decide which of your parents to list as A and which as B.

• Male
• Female
• Or please specify
  • Specify your Parent B's gender

Where was your Parent B born?

For parents who were born in Canada, select the option "Born in Canada." For parents who were born outside Canada, please select the option "Born outside Canada" and report the country of birth according to present boundaries. For adopted persons, please report the place of birth of their adoptive parents.

• Born in Canada
• Born outside Canada

Specify your Parent B's country of birth

Select a country from the dropdown menu below. Type the first few letters to narrow down the choices.

Note: If the country is not listed, select "Other".

• 250 countries list
• Other
  • Specify country

What is the highest certificate, diploma or degree that your Parent B has completed?

• Less than high school diploma or its equivalent
• High school diploma or a high school equivalency certificate
• Trades certificate or diploma
• College, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma (other than trades certificates or diplomas)
• University certificate or diploma below the bachelor's level
• Bachelor's degree
  e.g. B.A., B.A. (Hons), B.Sc., B.Ed., LL.B.
• University certificate, diploma or degree above the bachelor's level
• Don't know

Birthplace of spouse or partner

In what country was your {spouse/partner} born?

Specify country of birth according to current boundaries.

Select a country from the dropdown menu below. Type the first few letters to narrow down the choices.

Note: If the country is not listed, select "Other".

• 250 countries list
• Other
  • Specify country

In which province or territory was your {spouse/partner} born?

Specify the province or territory according to current boundaries.

• Province or territory
  ‹‹‹ Select ›››
  • Alberta
  • British Columbia
  • Manitoba
  • New Brunswick
  • Newfoundland and Labrador
  • Northwest Territories
  • Nova Scotia
  • Nunavut
  • Ontario
  • Prince Edward Island
  • Quebec
  • Saskatchewan
  • Yukon

Place of birth, immigration and citizenship

Where were you born?

Specify place of birth according to present boundaries.

• Born in Canada
• Born outside Canada

Specify the province or territory

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

Select a country from the dropdown menu below. Type the first few letters to narrow down the choices.

Note: If the country is not listed, select "Other".

• 250 countries list
• Other
  • Specify other country

In what year did you first come to Canada to live?

If exact year is not known, enter best estimate.

• Year of arrival

Are you you now, or have you ever been a landed immigrant?

A 'landed immigrant' (permanent resident) is a person who has been granted the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities.

• Yes
• No

In what year did you first become a landed immigrant?

If exact year is not known, enter best estimate.

• Year of immigration

Of what country are you a citizen?

Are you a citizen of:

• Canada
• Another country

Is it:

• By birth
• By naturalization
  i.e., the process by which an immigrant is granted citizenship of Canada, under the Citizenship Act.

Select a country from the dropdown menu below. Type the first few letters to narrow down the choices.

Note: If the country is not listed, select "Other".

• 250 countries list
• Other
  • Specify other country

Ethnic origin

The following question is about your ethnic ancestry, heritage or background.

What were the ethnic or cultural origins of your ancestors?

• Canadian
• English
• French
• Scottish
• Irish
• German
• Italian
• Indigenous
  e.g., First Nations, Métis or Inuit
• Ukrainian
• Chinese
• Dutch
• Polish
• South Asian
  e.g., East Indian, Sri Lankan, Pakistani, Punjabi, etc.
• Jewish
• Portuguese
• Filipino
• Other
  • Specify the other ethnic or cultural origins of your ancestors

Ethnic origin of spouse or partner

What were the ethnic or cultural origins of your {spouse/partner}'s ancestors?

• Canadian
• English
• French
• Scottish
• Irish
• German
• Italian
• Indigenous
  e.g., First Nations, Métis or Inuit
• Ukrainian
• Chinese
• Dutch
• Polish
• South Asian
  e.g., East Indian, Sri Lankan, Pakistani, Punjabi, etc.
• Jewish
• Portuguese
• Filipino
• Other
  • Specify other ethnic or cultural origins of your {spouse/partner}'s ancestors

Aboriginal identity

Are you an Aboriginal person, that is, First Nations (North American Indian), Métis or Inuk (Inuit)?

Note: First Nations (North American Indian) includes Status and Non-Status Indians.

Would you say:

• No, not an Aboriginal person
  OR
• Yes, First Nation (North American Indian)
• Yes, Métis
• Yes, Inuk (Inuit)

Aboriginal identity of spouse or partner

Is your {spouse/partner} an Aboriginal person, that is, First Nations (North American Indian), Métis or Inuk (Inuit)?

Note: First Nations (North American Indian) includes Status and Non-Status Indians.

Would you say:

• No, not an Aboriginal person
• OR
• Yes, First Nation (North American Indian)
• Yes, Métis
• Yes, Inuk (Inuit)

Sociodemographic characteristics

The following question collects information in accordance with the Employment Equity Act and its Regulations and Guidelines to support programs that promote equal opportunity for everyone to share in the social, cultural, and economic life of Canada.

Are you:

• White
• South Asian
  e.g. East Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan
• Chinese
• Black
• Filipino
• Arab
• Latin American
• Southeast Asian
  e.g. Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Thai
• West Asian
  e.g. Iranian, Afghan
• Korean
• Japanese
• Other
  • Specify other racial or cultural group

Sociodemographic characteristics of partner or spouse

The following question asks about your spouse or partner.

The following question collects information in accordance with the Employment Equity Act and its Regulations and Guidelines to support programs that promote equal opportunity for everyone to share in the social, cultural, and economic life of Canada.

Is your spouse or partner:

• White
• South Asian
  e.g. East Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan
• Chinese
• Black
• Filipino
• Arab
• Latin American
• Southeast Asian
  e.g. Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Thai
• West Asian
  e.g. Iranian, Afghan
• Korean
• Japanese
• Other
  • Specify other racial or cultural group

Pride in Canadian achievements

How proud are you to be Canadian?

Are you:

• Very proud
• Proud
• Somewhat proud
• Not very proud
• Not proud at all
• No opinion

How proud are you to live in Canada?

Are you:

• Very proud
• Proud
• Somewhat proud
• Not very proud
• Not proud at all
• No opinion

How proud are you of Canada in each of the following?

• Very proud
• Proud
• Somewhat proud
• Not very proud
• Not proud at all
• No opinion

a. The way democracy works

b. Its political influence in the world

c. Canada's economic achievements

d. Its health care system

e. Its social safety net

The Canadian social safety net includes a broad spectrum of government programs—many run by the provinces—designed to give assistance to citizens. These include, but are not restricted to, education, employment insurance benefits, low-income support, the Canada and Quebec Pension plans, and many others.

f. Its scientific and technological achievements

g. Its achievements in sports

h. Its achievement in arts and literature

i. Canada's armed forces

j. Its history

k. Its treatment of all groups in society

l. Canada's Constitution

Sense of belonging

How would you describe your sense of belonging to the following?

• Very strong
• Somewhat strong
• Somewhat weak
• Very weak
• No opinion

a. To your local community {in Canada}

b. To your town or city {in Canada}

c. To your province {in Canada}

d. To Canada

e. To your country of origin

f. To people with the same ethnic or cultural background as you

g. To people with the same religion as you

h. To people who speak the same first language as you

i. To the online communities that you are most active in

Online communities include, but are not restricted to, social media groups such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Twitter, LinkedIn, online gaming.

Trust in people

The following questions are about your life in general and how you view other people.

Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you cannot be too careful in dealing with people?

• Most people can be trusted
• You cannot be too careful in dealing with people

Trust in different groups of people

Using a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 means "Cannot be trusted at all" and 5 means "Can be trusted completely", what is your level of trust in each of the following groups of people?

• Cannot be trusted at all 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Can be trusted completely 5

a. People in your family

b. People in your neighbourhood

c. People you work with

d. People you go to school with

e. People who speak a different language than you

f. People with a different religion than you

g. People with a different ethnic or cultural background than you

h. Strangers

Trust in neighbourhood people

How many people do you trust in your neighbourhood?

Is it:

• Most of the people
• Many of the people
• A few of the people
• Nobody

Return of lost money

If you lost a wallet or purse that contained two hundred dollars, how likely is it to be returned with the money in it, if it was found:

• Very likely
• Somewhat likely
• Not at all likely

a. By a neighbour

b. By a police officer

c. By a stranger

Confidence in institutions

Now, a few questions about the level of confidence you have in various institutions. Using a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 means "No confidence at all" and 5 means "A great deal of confidence", please answer the following questions.

How much confidence do you have in the following institutions?

• No confidence at all 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• A great deal of confidence 5

a. The police

b. The justice system and courts

c. The school system

d. Federal Parliament

e. Banks

f. Major corporations

g. Local merchants and business people

h. The Canadian media

Discrimination – Reasons for

In the 5 years before the Covid-19 pandemic, have you experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly by others in Canada because of any of the following?

Discrimination means treating people differently, negatively or adversely because of their race, age, religion, sex, etc.

Was it because of:

• Your age
• Your ethnicity or culture
• Your race or colour
• Your religion
• Your language
• Your physical appearance
  Include discrimination on the basis of weight, height, hair style or colour, clothing, jewelry, tattoos and other physical characteristics.
• Your sex
• Your gender identity or expression
  Include gender diverse identities such as transgender, two-spirit, or nonbinary.
• Your sexual orientation
• A physical or mental disability
• Some other reason
  OR
• Did not experience discrimination
  • Specify the other reason for discrimination

Discrimination – Types of situations

In what types of situations have you experienced discrimination in the 5 years before the Covid-19 pandemic?

Was it:

• In a store, bank or restaurant
• When attending school or classes
• At work or when applying for a job or promotion
• When dealing with the police
• When dealing with the courts
• When crossing the border into Canada
  Excludes incidences of discrimination upon leaving Canada.
• Any other situation
  • Specify this other situation

Discrimination – Reasons for

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, have you experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly by others in Canada because of any of the following?

Discrimination means treating people differently, negatively or adversely because of their race, age, religion, sex, etc.

Was it because of:

• Your age
• Your ethnicity or culture
• Your race or colour
• Your religion
• Your language
• Your physical appearance
  Include discrimination on the basis of weight, height, hair style or colour, clothing, jewelry, tattoos and other physical characteristics.
• Your sex
• Your gender identity or expression
  Include gender diverse identities such as transgender, two-spirit, or nonbinary.
• Your sexual orientation
• A physical or mental disability
• Some other reason
  OR
• Did not experience discrimination
  • Specify the other reason for discrimination

Discrimination – Types of situations

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, have you experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly by others in Canada because of any of the following?

Was it:

• In a store, bank or restaurant
• When attending school or classes
• At work or when applying for a job or promotion
• When dealing with the police
• When dealing with the courts
• When crossing the border into Canada
  Excludes incidences of discrimination upon leaving Canada.
• Any other situation
  • Specify this other situation

Self-rated mental health

In general, how would you rate your mental health?

Is it:

• Excellent
• Very good
• Good
• Fair
• Poor

General health

The following question is about health. By health, we mean not only the absence of disease or injury but also physical, mental and social well-being.

In general, how is your health?

Would you say:

• Excellent
• Very good
• Good
• Fair
• Poor

Life Satisfaction

Using a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 means "Very dissatisfied" and 10 means "Very satisfied", how do you feel about your life as a whole right now?

• 0 — Very dissatisfied
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10 — Very satisfied

Activities of daily living

The following questions are about difficulties you may have doing certain activities. Only difficulties or long-term conditions that have lasted or are expected to last for six months or more should be considered.

Seeing

Do you have any difficulty seeing?

Would you say:

• No
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

Do you wear glasses or contact lenses to improve your vision?

Would you say:

• Yes
• No
• Don't know

{With your glasses or contact lenses, which/Which} of the following best describes your ability to see?

Would you say:

• No diff
• iculty seeing
• Some difficulty seeing
• A lot of difficulty seeing
• Are-you legally blind
• Are-you blind
• Don't know

How often does this {difficulty seeing/seeing condition} limit your daily activities?

Would you say:

• Never
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

Hearing

Do you have any difficulty hearing?

Would you say:

• No
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

Do you use a hearing aid or cochlear implant?

Would you say:

• Yes
• No
• Don't know

{With your hearing aid or cochlear implant, which/Which} of the following best describes your ability to hear?

Would you say:

• No difficulty hearing
• Some difficulty hearing
• A lot of difficulty hearing
• You cannot hear at all
• Are-you Deaf
• Don't know

How often does this {difficulty hearing/hearing condition} limit your daily activities?

Would you say:

• Never
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

Physical activities

Do you have any difficulty walking, using stairs, using your hands or fingers or doing other physical activities?

Would you say:

• No
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

Mobility

The following questions are about your ability to move around, even when using an aid such as a cane.

How much difficulty do you have walking on a flat surface for 15 minutes without resting?

This refers to your regular walking pace. If you use an aid for minimal support such as a cane, walking stick or crutches, please answer this question based on your ability to walk when using these aids.

Would you say:

• No difficulty
• Some difficulty
• A lot of difficulty
• You cannot do at all
• Don't know

How much difficulty do you have walking up or down a flight of stairs, about 12 steps without resting?

This refers to your regular walking pace. If you use an aid for minimal support such as a cane, walking stick or crutches, please answer this question based on your ability to walk when using these aids.

Would you say:

• No difficulty
• Some difficulty
• A lot of difficulty
• You cannot do at all
• Don't know

How often {does this difficulty walking/does this difficulty using stairs/do these difficulties} limit your daily activities?

Would you say:

• Never
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

Flexibility

How much difficulty do you have bending down and picking up an object from the floor?

Would you say:

• No difficulty
• Some difficulty
• A lot of difficulty
• You cannot do at all
• Don't know

How much difficulty do you have reaching in any direction, for example, above your head?

Would you say:

• No difficulty
• Some difficulty
• A lot of difficulty
• You cannot do at all
• Don't know

How often {does this difficulty bending down and picking up an object/does this difficulty reaching/do these difficulties} limit your daily activities?

Would you say:

• Never
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

Dexterity

How much difficulty do you have using your fingers to grasp small objects like a pencil or scissors?

Would you say:

• No difficulty
• Some difficulty
• A lot of difficulty
• You cannot do at all
• Don't know

How often does this difficulty using your fingers limit your daily activities?

Would you say:

• Never
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

Pain

The following questions are about pain due to a long-term condition that has lasted or is expected to last for six months or more.

Do you have pain that is always present?

Would you say:

• Yes
• No
• Don't know

Do you {also} have periods of pain that reoccur from time to time?

Would you say:

• Yes
• No
• Don't know

How often does this pain limit your daily activities?

If you have both pain that is always present and pain that reoccurs from time to time, consider the pain that bothers {him/her} the most. If your pain is controlled by medication or therapy, please answer this question based on when you are using medication or therapy.

Would you say:

• Never
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

When you are experiencing this pain, how much difficulty do you have with your daily activities?

If you have both pain that is always present and pain that reoccurs from time to time, consider the pain that bothers {him/her} the most. If your pain is controlled by medication or therapy, please answer this question based on when you are using medication or therapy.

Would you say:

• No difficulty
• Some difficulty
• A lot of difficulty
• You cannot do most activities
• Don't know

Cognitive activities

Please answer only for difficulties or long-term conditions that have lasted or are expected to last for six months or more.

Do you have any difficulty learning, remembering or concentrating?

Would you say:

• No
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

Learning

Do you think you have a condition that makes it difficult in general for {him/her} to learn? This may include learning disabilities such as dyslexia, hyperactivity, attention problems, etc.

Would you say:

• Yes
• No
• Don't know

Has a teacher, doctor or other health care professional ever said that you had a learning disability?

Would you say:

• Yes
• No
• Don't know

How often are your daily activities limited by this condition?

Would you say:

• Never
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

How much difficulty do you have with your daily activities because of this condition?

Would you say:

• No difficulty
• Some difficulty
• A lot of difficulty
• You cannot do most activities
• Don't know

Developmental

Has a doctor, psychologist or other health care professional ever said that you had a developmental disability or disorder? This may include Down syndrome, autism, Asperger syndrome, mental impairment due to lack of oxygen at birth, etc.

Would you say:

• Yes
• No
• Don't know

How often are your daily activities limited by this condition?

Would you say:

• Never
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

How much difficulty do you have with your daily activities because of this condition?

Would you say:

• No difficulty
• Some difficulty
• A lot of difficulty
• You cannot do most activities
• Don't know

Memory

Do you have any ongoing memory problems or periods of confusion?

Exclude occasional forgetfulness such as not remembering where you put your keys.

Would you say:

• Yes
• No
• Don't know

How often are your daily activities limited by this problem?

If the problem is controlled by medication or therapy, please answer this question based on when you are using medication or therapy.

Would you say:

• Never
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

How much difficulty do you have with your daily activities because of this problem?

If the problem is controlled by medication or therapy, please answer this question based on when you are using medication or therapy.

Would you say:

• No difficulty
• Some difficulty
• A lot of difficulty
• You cannot do most activities
• Don't know

Mental health

Please remember that your answers will be kept strictly confidential.

Do you have any emotional, psychological or mental health conditions?

e.g., anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, anorexia, etc.

Would you say:

• No
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

How often are your daily activities limited by this condition?

If the condition is controlled by medication or therapy, please answer this question based on when you are using medication or therapy.

Would you say:

• Never
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

When you are experiencing this condition, how much difficulty do you have with your daily activities?

If the condition is controlled by medication or therapy, please answer this question based on when you are using medication or therapy.

Would you say:

• No difficulty
• Some difficulty
• A lot of difficulty
• You cannot do most activities
• Don't know

Other health condition

Do you have any other health problem or long-term condition that has lasted or is expected to last for six months or more?

Exclude any health problems previously reported.

Would you say:

• Yes
• No
• Don't know

How often does this health problem or long-term condition limit your daily activities?

If you have more than one other health problem or condition, please answer based on the health problem or condition that limits your daily activities the most.

Would you say:

• Never
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

Pain

The following questions are about pain due to a long-term condition that has lasted or is expected to last for six months or more.

Do you have pain that is always present?

Would you say:

• Yes
• No
• Don't know

Do you {also} have periods of pain that reoccur from time to time?

Would you say:

• Yes
• No
• Don't know

How often does this pain limit your daily activities?

If you have both pain that is always present and pain that reoccurs from time to time, consider the pain that bothers {him/her} the most. If your pain is controlled by medication or therapy, please answer this question based on when you are using medication or therapy.

Would you say:

• Never
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Always
• Don't know

When you are experiencing this pain, how much difficulty do you have with your daily activities?

If you have both pain that is always present and pain that reoccurs from time to time, consider the pain that bothers {him/her} the most. If your pain is controlled by medication or therapy, please answer this question based on when you are using medication or therapy.

Would you say:

• No difficulty
• Some difficulty
• A lot of difficulty
• You cannot do most activities
• Don't know

Dwelling

The following questions are about your housing characteristics.

What type of dwelling are you living in now?

If you are living in a condominium or seniors' housing, identify the type of building.

• Single detached house
• Semi-detached or double
  i.e., side by side
• Garden home, town-house or row house
• Duplex
  i.e. one above the other
• Low-rise apartment of less than 5 stories
• High-rise apartment of 5 or more stories
• Mobile home or trailer
• Other
  • Specify the type of dwelling

Ownership of dwelling

Do you, or another member of your household own or rent this dwelling?

• Owned by you or a member of this household, even if it is still being paid for
• Rented, even if no cash rent is paid

Is there a mortgage on this dwelling?

• Yes
• No

Renting of dwelling

Is your household's monthly rental payment reduced for any of the following reasons?

• Government subsidized housing
  Include federal, provincial and municipal programs.
• Any other reasons, such as services to landlord or company housing
• No reduced rent

Length of time lived in dwelling

How long have you lived in this dwelling?

Is it:

• Less than 6 months
• 6 months to less than 1 year
• 1 year to less than 3 years
• 3 years to less than 5 years
• 5 years to less than 10 years
• 10 years and over

Length of time lived in neighbourhood

How long have you lived in this neighbourhood?

Is it:

• Less than 6 months
• 6 months to less than 1 year
• 1 year to less than 3 years
• 3 years to less than 5 years
• 5 years to less than 10 years
• 10 years and over

Length of time lived in city or local community

How long have you lived in this city or local community?

Is it:

• Less than 6 months
• 6 months to less than 1 year
• 1 year to less than 3 years
• 3 years to less than 5 years
• 5 years to less than 10 years
• 10 years and over

Characteristics of immediate neighbourhood

Now a few questions about your immediate neighbourhood.

How many people do you know in your neighbourhood?

Is it:

• Most of the people
• Many of the people
• A few of the people
• None of the people

Would you say this neighbourhood is a place where neighbours help each other?

• Yes
• No
• Just moved in the area

In the past month, have you done a favour for a neighbour?

e.g., picking up the mail, watering plants, shovelling, lending tools or garden equipment, carrying things upstairs, feeding pets when neighbours go on holiday or shopping

• Yes
• No
• Just moved in the area

In the past month, have any of your neighbours done a favour for you?

• Yes
• No
• Just moved into the area

How many people in your neighbourhood do you know well enough to ask for a favour?

e.g., picking up the mail, watering plants, shovelling, lending tools or garden equipment, carrying things upstairs, feeding pets when you go on holiday or shopping

• None
• 1 to 5
• 6 to 10
• Over 10

Religion

What is your religion?

Specify your denomination or religion, even if you are not currently a practicing member of that group.

e.g. Roman Catholic, United Church, Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Muslim, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Greek Orthodox

Religion

To search for a religion, type the first few letters to narrow down the choices.

Note: If the religion is not listed, select "Other".

• list of 144 religions
• Other
  OR
• No religion

• Specify the religion

Not counting events such as weddings or funerals, during the past 12 months, how often did you participate in religious activities or attend religious services or meetings?

Exclude rites of passage such as weddings, funerals, baptisms, bar mitzvahs.

Was it:

• At least once a week
• At least once a month
• At least three times a year
• Once or twice a year
• Not at all

In the past 12 months, how often did you engage in religious or spiritual activities on your own?

Include prayer, meditation and other forms of worship taking place at home or in any other location.

Was it:

• At least once a day
• At least once a week
• At least once a month
• At least three times a year
• Once or twice a year
• Not at all

Religion – In childhood

What was your religion up until age 15?

Specify one denomination or religion only, even if you were not a practicing member of that group.

e.g., Roman Catholic, United Church, Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Muslim, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Greek Orthodox

• Same as current religion
• Different from current religion
• No religion

Religion

To search for a religion, type the first few letters to narrow down the choices.

Note: If the religion is not listed, select "Other".

• No religion
• Other - specify
• list of 144 religions

• Specify the religion

Importance of religion

How important are your religious or spiritual beliefs to the way you live your life?

Are they:

• Very important
• Somewhat important
• Not very important
• Not at all important

Language

Can you speak English or French well enough to conduct a conversation?

• English only
• French only
• Both English and French
• Neither English nor French

What language do you speak most often at home?

• English
• French
• Other
  • Specify other language

What is the language that you first learned at home in childhood and still understand?

If you no longer understand the first language learned, indicate the second language learned.

• English
• French
• Other
  • Specify other language

Veteran Identifier Question

Have you ever served in the Canadian military?

Canadian military service includes service with the Regular Force or Primary Reserve Force as an Officer or Non-Commissioned Member. It does not include service with the Cadets.

• Yes
• No