Interprovincial trade activities

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

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

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

OR

• Don’t know

OR

• None of the above

Food production activities

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

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

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

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

Safe Food for Canadians Regulations

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

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

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

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

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

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

Provide your best estimate.

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

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

Purchasing goods and services across provincial or territorial borders

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

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

Select all that apply.

• No obstacles experienced

OR

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

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

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

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

Select all that apply.

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

OR

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

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

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

Selling goods and services across provincial or territorial borders

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

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

Select all that apply.

• No obstacles experienced

OR

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

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

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

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

Select all that apply.

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

OR

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

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

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

Food safety regulations

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

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

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

Select all that apply.

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

OR

• None of the above

OR

• Don’t know

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

Transporting goods across provincial or territorial borders

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

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

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

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

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

• No obstacles experienced

OR

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Yes
• No
• Don’t know

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

Select all that apply.

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

OR

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

Canadian Free Trade Agreement

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Future interprovincial trade activities

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

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

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

OR

• Don’t know

OR

• None of the above

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

Future purchases of goods or services across provincial or territorial borders

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

Select all that apply.

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

Future sales of goods or services across provincial or territorial borders

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

Select all that apply.

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

Future transportation of goods across provincial or territorial borders

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

Select all that apply.

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

OR

• Don’t know

International trade activities

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

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

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

OR

• Don’t know

OR

• None of the above

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

International purchases of goods or services

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

Select all that apply.

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

Select all that apply.

• No obstacles experienced

OR

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

International sales of goods or services

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

Select all that apply.

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

Select all that apply.

• No obstacles experienced

OR

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

International transportation of goods

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

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

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

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

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

Select all that apply.

• No obstacles experienced

OR

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

OR

• Don’t know

Labour mobility in regulated occupations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

OR

• Don’t know

Hiring process for individuals from another province or territory

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

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

Select all that apply.

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

• No obstacles experienced

OR

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

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

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

OR

• None of the above

OR

• Don’t know

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

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

Select all that apply.

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

OR

• None of the above

OR

• Don’t know

Quality and accessibility of information on certification and licensing requirements

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

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

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

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

Persons working in trades

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Yes
• No
• Don’t know

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

Registered apprentices

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

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

• No obstacles experienced

OR

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

OR

• Don’t know

Red Seal trades

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

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

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

Date: May 2024

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

Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB):

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

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

Description of statistical activity:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reason for supplement:

While the Generic Privacy Impact Assessment^Footnote9 (PIA addresses most of the privacy and security risks related to statistical activities conducted by Statistics Canada, this supplement was developed to address the collection and use of sensitive information, combined with sociodemographic and other information collected from the Indigenous Peoples Survey (IPS). The sensitive data includes topics such as health care discrimination and access to health care services, trust in institutions, impacts of rising prices, and income. As is the case with all PIAs, Statistics Canada's privacy framework ensures that elements of privacy protection and privacy controls are documented and applied.

Necessity and Proportionality

The collection and use of personal information for the Survey Series on First Nations Peoples, Métis and Inuit can be justified against Statistics Canada's Necessity and Proportionality Framework:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mitigation factors:

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

The overall risk of harm to the survey respondents has been deemed manageable with existing Statistics Canada safeguards that are described in Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment, as well as with some additional measures. These include the following that are of particular importance in the context of this survey:

• To mitigate the risk of potential sensitivities, respondents will be provided access to a list of mental health resources within the electronic questionnaire as well as on the Information for Survey participants web page. .
• Respondents will be given the option to skip a question if they do not feel comfortable providing a response.
• Interviewers will be trained on and have access to information on mental health supports to provide to respondents who show signs of distress triggered by sensitive questions and to provide the option to skip sensitive questions.
• As for all surveys, respondents will be informed in the invitation email, within the questionnaire and on Statistics Canada's website of the nature of the survey and that participation is voluntary. Respondents will also be reminded in the invitation email that they participated in the IPS and agreed to participate in future surveys. The survey will be made available in the four official languages of Nunavut (Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, English and French), as required by the Nunavut Agreement.
• Variables that directly identify respondents will be separated from the data files in the first stage of data processing and placed in a secure location with controlled access. Variables that might indirectly identify respondents are examined and modified as necessary in order to protect the privacy and confidentiality of respondents. Individual responses will be grouped with those of others when reporting results. Individual responses and results for very small groups will never be published or shared with any outside government department or other organization. Careful analysis of the data and appropriate additional disclosure controls will be performed prior to the publication and sharing of data (in RDCs, etc.) to ensure that marginalized and vulnerable communities are not disproportionally impacted.

Conclusion:

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

Formal approval:

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

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

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

Date: March 2024

Program manager:

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

Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB):

Personal information collected through the Survey on Family Transitions is described in Statistics Canada’s “General Social Survey” Personal Information Bank. The Personal Information Bank refers to information collected through Statistics Canada’s ad hoc surveys, which are not part of the regular survey taking activities of the Agency. The General Social Survey covers rotating themes including: social support, time use; giving, volunteering and participating; victimization; families; and caregiving and care receiving. Personal information may include the first and last name and date of birth of each member of the household as reported by a member of the household; and the first and last name and date of birth of the selected respondent as reported by the selected respondent.

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

Description of statistical activity:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reason for supplement:

While the Generic Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) addresses most of the privacy and security risks related to statistical activities conducted by Statistics Canada, this supplement describes potential new risks associated with the collection, processing, and use of data related to some of the Survey on Family transitions (SFT) content, and the possible concerns of Canadians about the intrusiveness of the collection.

Though respondents must be aged 20-79, some questions may be particularly sensitive. The SFT will collect information about the respondents’ family life and trajectories, including some personal information regarding dates of family events, gender identity, sexual orientation, ex-spouses/ex-partners, children, and other family/household members. As is the case with all PIAs, Statistics Canada's privacy framework ensures that elements of privacy protection and privacy controls are documented and applied.

Necessity and Proportionality

The collection of personal information for the Survey on Family Transitions (SFT) can be justified against Statistics Canada’s Necessity and Proportionality Framework:

1. Necessity:

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

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

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

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

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

2. Effectiveness - Working assumptions:

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

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

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

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

3. Proportionality:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Alternatives:

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

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

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

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

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

Mitigation factors:

While some questions contained in the survey can be considered sensitive, the overall risk of harm to the survey respondents has been deemed manageable with existing Statistics Canada safeguards that are described in Statistics Canada’s Generic Privacy Impact Assessment, as well as with some additional measures. These include the following that are of particular importance in the context of this survey:

Sensitivity

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

Transparency and consent

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

Conclusion:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Date: March 2024

Program manager:

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

Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB):

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

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

Description of statistical activity:

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

Reason for supplement:

As with the Supplement to the Generic PIA for the Survey Series on People and their Communities – Participation and Experiences in Community Sports (Wave 4), while the Generic Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) addresses most of the privacy and security risks related to statistical activities conducted by Statistics Canada, this supplement was developed to address the collection and use of sensitive new content in Wave 5 of this survey series that includes information about respondents’ feelings towards others and their experiences with unfair treatment, racism and discrimination, combined with sociodemographic and other information collected from prior survey series waves. As is the case with all PIAs, Statistics Canada's privacy framework ensures that elements of privacy protection and privacy controls are documented and applied.

Necessity and Proportionality

The collection and use of personal information for Wave 5 of the Survey Series on People and their Communities – Social Cohesion and Experiences of Discrimination (SSPC-SCED) can be justified against Statistics Canada’s Necessity and Proportionality Framework^{Footnote 3}:

1. Necessity:

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

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

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

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

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

2. Effectiveness - Working assumptions:

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

3. Proportionality:

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

4. Alternatives:

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

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

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

Mitigation factors:

The overall risk of harm to the survey respondents has been deemed manageable with existing Statistics Canada safeguards that are described in Statistics Canada’s Generic Privacy Impact Assessment, including measures outlined in the Supplement to Statistics Canada’s Generic PIA for the Survey Series on People and their Communities – Participation and Experiences in Community Sports (Wave 4):

Resources

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

Consent

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

Confidentiality

Variables that directly identify respondents will be separated from the data files in the first stage of data processing and placed in a secure location with controlled access. Variables that might indirectly identify respondents are examined and modified as necessary in order to protect the privacy and confidentiality of respondents. Individual responses will be grouped with those of others when reporting results. Individual responses and results for very small groups will never be published or shared with government departments or agencies. Careful analysis of the data and appropriate additional disclosure controls will be performed prior to the publication and sharing of data (in RDCs, etc.) to ensure that marginalized and vulnerable communities are not disproportionally impacted.

Data linkage

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

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

Transparency

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

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

Conclusion:

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

The net cash income estimates in the Net Farm Income, Agriculture Economic Statistics, are the official Statistics Canada estimates. Other estimates of net cash income (farm cash receipts minus operating expenses) can be derived from the data from the Agriculture Division of Statistics Canada, namely data from the Agriculture Taxation Data Program (ATDP), the Farm Financial Survey (FFS) and the Census of Agriculture. It is important to understand coverage and conceptual differences when comparing data collected for different purposes. Adjustments are required to make these estimates comparable.

1. Conceptual differences

Note that the text below is based on the differences that existed for the 2020 reference year.

a) Net Farm Income: Agriculture Economic Statistics

The Agriculture Economic Statistics (AES) estimates include all agricultural businesses. These data are not available by farm type, sales classes, and sub-provincial regions or at the micro level.

Receipts and expenses are estimated by calendar year. They are recorded on a cash basis when the money is paid to, or disbursed by, the farmer.

AES receipts and expenses exclude: income earned from non-agricultural use of the farm (e.g., income from tourism activities on farm); income that farm operators or their families receive from other sources (e.g., wages and salaries from non-agricultural activities, and investment income); revenue or expenses from the sale or purchase of farm capital (real estate, machinery and equipment), although the interest paid on these purchases is included as an expense; capital payments where funds do not relate to current production and transfer payments (such as training allowances) directed to individuals; unlike the ATDP, FFS and Census of Agriculture, AES estimates exclude farm-to-farm transactions, unless they occur across provincial or national borders. Within a province, sales from one farm are considered an expense to another, thus offsetting each other.

b) Agriculture Taxation Data Program

The Agriculture Taxation Data Program (ATDP) is an annual census of unincorporated and incorporated tax-filer records designed to estimate a range of financial agricultural variables.

The target population consists of all unincorporated, incorporated and communal farms in Canada. For statistical purposes, the estimates presented cover both unincorporated farms and communal farming organizations with total farm operating revenues equal to or greater than $10,000 as well as incorporated farms with total farm operating revenues of $25,000 and over.

The estimates are published on a calendar year basis but no attempt is made to adjust data from agricultural corporations reporting data on a fiscal year that may not coincide with a calendar year.

The ATDP "Total Operating Revenues" include revenues from "Custom Work and Machine Rental" and "Rental Income," which are not included in the AES farm cash receipts.

c) Census of Agriculture

The Census of Agriculture (CEAG) is a census of individuals, businesses and organizations that produce agricultural products and report revenues or expenses for tax purposes to the Canada Revenue Agency. The questionnaire continues to ask for total receipts and total operating expenses although, starting in 2016, no questions are posed about detailed expenses. Data are generally provided on a calendar year basis, or for a complete fiscal year.

Unlike the AES, CEAG data on receipts include dividends received from co-operatives, Goods and Service Tax (GST) refunds, custom work receipts, and rebates received.

2. Comparison of estimates

Conceptual and methodological differences and data collection methods can result in misleading comparisons between AES receipts or expenses series and total income or expenses derived from ATDP, FFS or Census of Agriculture data. The exclusion of farm-to-farm transactions within a province in the AES and their inclusion in the ATDP, FFS and CEAG datasets is the main reason that comparisons are difficult. However, net cash income estimates (farm cash receipts minus operating expenses) are more directly comparable since, within a province, sales from one farm are an expense to another farm, and the two offset each other.

As is the case with farm-to-farm sales, some receipt items not included in the AES receipt series would tend to cancel each other out when deriving net cash income estimates from the various sources. For example, the exclusion of custom work receipts from AES receipts is compensated to a large extent in the net income estimates by the use of a net custom work estimate (custom work expenses minus custom work receipts) in the AES expense series. The subtraction of custom work receipts from custom work expenses is done in an attempt to minimize—in the aggregate—the presence in the AES of operating costs incurred by agricultural producers in providing custom work services. In a less precise manner, one could expect the ATDP estimates for the components of "miscellaneous revenue" and "miscellaneous farm expenses" not included in the AES series to offset each other to some degree.

The ATDP publishes average receipts and expenses only for farms reporting total farm operating revenues of $10,000 or more on their income tax return and agricultural corporations reporting total farm operating revenues of $25,000 and over, and for which 50% or more of their sales come from agricultural activities. For purposes of comparisons with the AES, estimations for the unincorporated farms reporting total operating revenues below $10,000 were used internally in spite of the lower quality of these estimates.

The AES includes establishments primarily engaged in growing cannabis under glass, protective cover or in open fields while these establishments are excluded in the CEAG or ATDP data.

3. Results

Table 1 — Net cash income comparison — Total

	2020
	AESTable 1 footnote1	ATDPTable 1 footnote 2	CEAG
	thousands of dollars
Newfoundland and Labrador	5,743	23,408	26,567
Prince Edward Island	99,770	122,948	120,589
Nova Scotia	10,293	88,248	84,858
New Brunswick	171,379	109,839	107,078
Quebec	1,807,904	2,200,891	2,115,720
Ontario	3,432,776	3,354,301	3,266,198
Manitoba	1,505,872	1,215,510	1,184,141
Saskatchewan	5,583,907	4,194,316	4,096,507
Alberta	2,907,566	3,092,450	3,193,317
British Columbia	412,778	591,372	588,458
Canada	15,937,987	14,993,281	14,783,433
Table 1 footnote 1 The Agriculture economic statistics (AES) covers all agricultural holdings including cannabis operations. For comparison purposes, the Canada total is the sum of the provincial totals. Return to Table 1 footnote 1 referrer Table 1 footnote 2 Adjusted to include unincorporated farms with total farm operating revenues lower than $10,000. Does not include agricultural corporations with total operating revenues below $25,000. Return to Table 1 footnote 2 referrer

Table 2 — Net cash income comparison — Absolute Difference

	2020
	ATDP - AESTable 2 footnote 1	CEAG - AESTable 2 Footnote 2
	thousands of dollars
Newfoundland and Labrador	17,665	20,824
Prince Edward Island	23,178	20,819
Nova Scotia	77,955	74,565
New Brunswick	-61,540	-64,301
Quebec	392,987	307,816
Ontario	-78,475	-166,578
Manitoba	-290,362	-321,731
Saskatchewan	-1,389,591	-1,487,400
Alberta	184,884	285,751
British Columbia	178,594	175,680
Canada	-944,707	-1,154,554
Footnote 1 Agriculture Taxation Data Program (ATDP) minus the Agriculture Economic Statistics (AES). Return to Table 2 footnote 1 referrer Footnote 2 Census of Agriculture (CEAG) minus the AES. Return to Table 2 footnote 2 referrer

Table 3 — Net cash income comparison — Relative Difference

	2020
	(ATDP - AES) / AESTable 3 Footnote 1	(CEAG - AES) / AESTable 3 Footnote 2
	percent
Newfoundland and Labrador	307.6	362.6
Prince Edward Island	23.2	20.9
Nova Scotia	757.4	724.4
New Brunswick	-35.9	-37.5
Quebec	21.7	17.0
Ontario	-2.3	-4.9
Manitoba	-19.3	-21.4
Saskatchewan	-24.9	-26.6
Alberta	6.4	9.8
British Columbia	43.3	42.6
Canada	-5.9	-7.2
Footnote 1 Agriculture Taxation Data Program (ATDP) minus the Agriculture Economic Statistics (AES) divided by the AES. Return to Table 3 footnote 1 referrer Footnote 2 Census of Agriculture (CEAG) minus the AES divided by the AES. Return to first Table 3 footnote 2 referrer

4. Conclusion

Comparing data collected for different purposes is not an easy task. It is extremely difficult to identify precisely what causes the discrepancies at the aggregate level. There will be always discrepancies due to differences in coverage, accounting methods, fiscal years as well as the edit, imputation and estimation methods of the survey, census or administrative data. These differences are often compounded in an estimate, such as net cash income, that is measured residually.

Contents

• Section 1: Overview
• Section 2: Risk Area Identification and Categorization
• Section 3: Analysis of the personal information elements for the program or activity
• Section 4: Flow of personal information for the program or activity
• Section 5: Privacy compliance analysis
  • Principle 1: Accountability
  • Principle 2: Limiting Collection
  • Principle 3: Direct Collection and Purpose Identification
  • Principle 4: Retention
  • Principle 5: Accuracy
  • Principle 6: Disposal
  • Principle 7: Limiting use
  • Principle 8: Limiting Disclosure
  • Principle 9: Safeguards
  • Principle 10: Openness
  • Principle 11: Individual Access
• Section 6: Threat and risk assessment
• Section 7: Summary of analysis and recommendations
• Section 8: Breach protocol
• Section 9: Supplementary Documents List
• Appendix 1 – PIA Summary
• Appendix 2 – Privacy Notice

Section 1: Overview

Responsible department: Statistics Canada

Chief Privacy Officer: Director, Office of Privacy Management and Information Coordination
Subject-matter manager: Director, Census Communications
Senior official: Assistant Chief Statistician, Corporate Strategy and Management
Legal authority: Financial Administration Act
Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB): Standard PIB – Public Communications, PRN 939, PSU 914

Project Description:

To improve respondent services, Statistics Canada is introducing a chatbot on its Census website as a new communications method. This automated communication and service channel aims to help Census respondents anonymously submit questions and obtain more timely responses in a positive and secure online experience. This technology will improve services and assist respondents in their questionnaire needs, in addition to creating a positive and secure online experience.

While Statistics Canada already provides a Contact us form^{Footnote 1} where users can submit questions, the chatbot will automatically provide answers instead of waiting the general 5 to 10 business days to receive a response.

The chatbot will be of particular value when Statistics Canada conducts census activities. During the 2021 Census collection cycle, the Census Help Line (CHL) received over 2 million calls. This unprecedented volume led to 1.2M not being answered due to limited resources. Equally, Statistics Canada's Respondent Relations Unit received 63,000 emails and 7,000 pieces of mail, five times the amount received in the previous census, and the social media (Web2Social) team received numerous complaints regarding the lack of immediate response, long phone queues, or dropped calls.

The chatbot does not collect any personal information and a privacy notice (see Appendix 2) statement will be provided to users at the beginning of the chat session instructing them not to share any personal information and advising users who nevertheless include PI, that it will be manually removed from chatbot transcripts. The chatbot will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect keywords to answer a user's question. If a user requires further assistance, the chatbot will transfer the conversation to a live chat agent. The chatbot was initially trained on extracted content from 2021 Census Questions and Answers (e.g., What is a census letter? Where can I find my secure access code?) and will keep training on new content that will be added as needed. As the chatbot does not make any administrative decisions on individuals, an Algorithmic Impact Assessment is not required.^{Footnote 2}

The chatbot software and licenses have been acquired by Statistics Canada from a service provider. It has been integrated into Statistics Canada's website structure in a development environment prior to being moved to its production environment on January 15, 2024. A full security assessment was completed on January 9, 2024, with a risk management input (RMI) assessed as very low.

Section 2: Risk Area Identification and Categorization

The following table below evaluates the aggregate risk of the proposed initiative against a suit of standard dimensions applicable to most Statistics Canada's programs and activities. The numbered risk scale is presented in ascending order: level 1 represents the lowest level of potential risk for the risk dimension the fourth level (4) represents the highest level of potential risk for the given risk dimension.

Applicable risk level for each dimension is in BOLD.

a) Type of program or activity	Risk scale
Program or activity that does NOT involve a decision about an identifiable individual	1
Administration of program or activity and services	2
Compliance or regulatory investigations and enforcement	3
Criminal investigation and enforcement or national security	4
b) Type of personal information involved and context	Risk scale
Only personal information, with no contextual sensitivities, collected directly from the individual or provided with the consent of the individual for disclosure under an authorized program.	1
Personal information, with no contextual sensitivities after the time of collection, provided by the individual with consent to also use personal information held by another source.	2
Social Insurance Number, medical, financial or other sensitive personal information or the context surrounding the personal information is sensitive. Personal information of minors, legally incompetent individuals or a representative acting on behalf of the individual.	3
Sensitive personal information, including detailed profiles, allegations or suspicions and bodily samples, or the context surrounding the personal information is particularly sensitive.	4
c) Program or activity partners and private sector involvement	Risk scale
Within the institution (among one or more programs within the same institution)	1
With other government institutions	2
With other institutions or a combination of federal, provincial or territorial, and municipal governments	3
With foreign governments, international organizations and/or private sector organizations	4
d) Duration of the program or activity	Risk scale
One-time program or activity	1
Short-term program (January 16, 2024 to June 28, 2024 for Behavioral Testing and from January 2026 to August 2026 for the 2026 Census of Population collection period).	2
Long-term program (long-term date / ongoing / no end date)	3
e) Program population*	Risk scale
The program's use of personal information for internal administrative purposes affects certain employees.	1
The program's use of personal information for internal administrative purposes affects all employees.	2
he program's use of personal information for external administrative purposes affects certain individuals.	3
The program's use of personal information for external administrative purposes affects all individuals for external administrative purposes.	4
* The program's use of personal information is not for administrative purposes. Information is collected for statistical purposes, under the authority of the Statistics Act.	N/A
f) Personal information transmission	Risk scale
The personal information is used within a closed system (i.e., no connections to the Internet, Intranet or any other system and the circulation of hardcopy documents is controlled).	1
The personal information is used in a system that has connections to at least one other system.	2
The personal information is transferred to portable devices or printed (USB key, diskette, laptop computer), transferred to a different medium or is printed.	3
The personal information is transmitted using wireless technologies.	4
g) Technology and privacy
Does the new or substantially modified program or activity involve implementation of a new electronic system or the use of a new application or software, including collaborative software (or groupware), to support the program or activity in terms of the creation, collection or handling of personal information? Yes. Power Microsoft Agent (chatbot) from Microsoft Dynamics is being implemented to facilitate a new communication method via chatbot to improve Statistic Canada's services and promote direct communication with data users and survey respondents.
Does the new or significantly modified activity or program require changes to IT legacy systems? Yes. Integrating Power Microsoft Agent (chatbot) from Microsoft Dynamics code into the website will require changes to our IT systems to enable integration of the code in the infrastructure.
Specific technological issues and privacy Does the new or substantially modified program or activity involve implementation of one or more of the following technologies: enhanced identification methods (e.g., biometric technology) surveillance automated personal information analysis, personal information comparison and knowledge discovery techniques No.
h) Potential risk that in the event of a privacy breach, there will be an impact on the individual or employee
Users will be advised to not provide any personal information when a chat session is opened. If provided, it will not be used and will be destroyed after three months. Therefore, the risk of some personal information being disclosed without proper authorization is very low, and the impact on the individual would be low.
i) Potential risk that in the event of a privacy breach, there will be an impact on the institution.
Users will be advised to not provide any personal information. If provided, it will not be used and will be destroyed after three months. Therefore, the risk of certain personal information being disclosed without proper authorization is very low, and the impact on the institution would be low.

Section 3: Analysis of the personal information elements for the program or activity

A privacy notice will inform users to not provide personal information when the chat starts. However, users might still provide personal information voluntarily. Such information could be anonymously retained by Statistics Canada for a three-month period in the form of transcripts for the purpose of assessing quality of the service and to meet user needs.

If users voluntarily share personal information despite the privacy notice, deemed employees from Respondent Relations will manually remove personal information from the transcript before being saved on Statistics Canada servers.

Necessity and Proportionality

While the chatbot is not intended to collect or use personal information and users are advised not to include any, some personal information could inadvertently be provided. The implementation of the chatbot can be justified against Statistics Canada's Necessity and Proportionality Framework:

1. Necessity: The chatbot will be a new communications method introduced on Statistics Canada website to improve respondent services by providing automated communication and service channels that will increase the agency's Census Program's efficiency by reducing the number of correspondence pieces to be treated by Statistics Canada employees. These improvements will also benefit Canadians by creating a positive, secure online experience and assist respondents in their 2026 Census of Population questionnaire needs.
2. Effectiveness - Working assumptions: The chatbot will allow live agents to focus on answering more complex questions in a timely manner and improve service standards. Moreover, the chatbot will help users fulfill their legal census obligation more quickly by submitting a question anonymously to the chatbot. Then, the chatbot will detect keywords and propose answers to users without using any personal information. The chatbot will create efficiency for Canadians and the agency.
3. Proportionality: While there is a potential for the agency to collect personal information, the benefits of having quick and efficient access to information to help Canadians complete the Census are highly valuable proportional to any privacy risks. The chatbot aims to improve and supplement the existing services provided to Canadians by creating a positive, secure online experience and assist respondents in their 2026 Census of Population questionnaire needs.
4. Alternatives: Unfortunately, there are no alternatives to automated services such as a chatbot. The method used in the past resulted in a high number of incoming calls and emails for the 2021 Census collection cycle to the CHL and Respondent Relations Unit of many of which were left unanswered due to lack of resources and unprecedented volumes. The chatbot will enable automation of Census program's services and efficiently provide answers to Canadian users. In the event the chatbot is not able to provide users with the information they need to fulfill their obligation towards the Census program, their request will be transferred to our Live Chat (CHL) to provide them with further assistance. Requests that require research or a personalized answer, such as complaints, will be transferred to a Respondent Relations agent that will work on a personalized response.

Section 4: Flow of personal information for the program or activity

Identify the source(s) of the personal information collected and/or how the personal information will be created.

When a user opens a chat session, they will be presented with a privacy notice statement and informed not to share any personal information before being prompted to ask a question. Once the question is submitted in the conversation window, the chatbot will analyze keywords to find a suitable answer to the user's question. Although users are advised to not provide any identifying personal information, they could voluntarily provide some.

Identify the internal and external uses and disclosures. Specifically, identify the areas, groups and individuals who will have access to or handle the personal information and to whom it will be provided or disclosed.

Information that users may voluntarily provide will not be used or disclosed, either internally or externally. Only deemed employees from Respondent Relations, Census Help Line (CHL) and the social media (Web2Social) are viewing and handling the data.

Identify where the personal information will transit and will be stored or retained.

During a chatbot session, any personal information that may be provided voluntarily by the user will transit through Statistics Canada's Microsoft Dynamics portal. The exchange will then be manually striped of any personal information and be stored on Statistics Canada's Cloud for a three-month period for the purpose of assessing quality of the service and to meet user needs.

Identify where areas, groups and individuals can access the personal information

When a chatbot user is redirected to a live chat CHL, Respondent Relations, Web2Social or recruitment agent, the agent in question and their supervisor will have access to that information.

During the three-month storage period, only supervisors and managers (four to six people) who need to consult the information for evaluation purposes will have access to the data.

Section 5: Privacy compliance analysis

As recommended by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner's Guide to the Privacy Impact Assessment Process, this chatbot has been assessed against the following principles that are based on the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data.

Principle 1: Accountability

Statistics Canada is responsible for all personal confidential information collected and used under authority of the Financial Administration Act. The agency is also responsible for all personal information under its control and has designated individuals who are accountable for the agency's compliance with the obligations of federal departments to respect privacy rights as described in sections 4 to 8 of the Privacy Act.

The Director of the Office of Privacy Management and Information Coordination is Statistics Canada's Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) and is accountable for the department's compliance with the principles contained in this document. The CPO is also responsible for the development of Statistics Canada's policies related to information, including all aspects of information classification, control, and access and for providing advice, guidance, and assistance in the implementation of information security measures.

The Chief Security Officer (CSO) is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Departmental Security Office, and for the development and administration of the security program for Statistics Canada.

The Respondent Relations, CHL and Web2Social teams and its managers, as directed by the Census Communications Director (Communications Branch), are responsible for applying all central agency and Statistics Canada policies related to the protection of privacy and personal information for this activity.

The Communications and Dissemination Branch is responsible for the entire Statistics Canada website.

An individual can address a challenge concerning compliance by Statistics Canada with the above principles.

Complaints may be addressed to:

Chief Privacy Officer
Statistics Canada
R.H. Coats Building, 2nd floor
100 Tunney's Pasture Driveway
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0T6
Telephone: 613-951-0466
E-mail: statcan.atip-aiprp.statcan@statcan.gc.ca

In addition, under the Privacy Act, individuals may make a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, who will undertake an investigation.

Principle 2: Limiting Collection

The authority to collect this information falls under the Financial Administration Act. Personal information will be not collected, but any that might be voluntarily provided by users will be protected under the Privacy Act. That information is included in the "Public Communications" Personal Information Bank.

The chatbot does not require the collection of personal information to provide is service to Canadians. As mentioned in previous section, users might voluntarily share personal information even if they have been informed not to at the beginning of the chat session.

Principle 3: Direct Collection and Purpose Identification

The purpose of the chatbot is to provide Canadians with a service that will increase Statistic Canada's Census Program's efficiency by helping respondents fulfill their legal census obligation more quickly and efficiently by anonymously submitting a question to the chatbot.

No personal information is asked or required from users to use the chatbot. Statistics Canada will not disclose personal information that might be provided by chatbot users. A privacy notice statement (Appendix 2) will be given to users instructing them to not share personal information when the chat session starts.

The conversation history will be used to improve Statistics Canada's services and to make information about the Census more accessible to the Canadian population. The data is used only by those individuals with a need-to-know including Respondent Relations, Social Media and recruitment agents and their supervisors to ensure the quality of the service provided and to meet user needs.

Consent will not be asked for because no personal information is collected, used or disclosed. Any personal information that might be voluntarily provided by a user will not be used, and the personal information will be manually removed from the conversation transcripts. Such transcripts will only be retained by Statistics Canada for a three-month period.

Principle 4: Retention

Personal information inputted by respondents will not be retained since the nature of the chatbot does not require the use of such information to provide users with an answer to their posed question. If users voluntarily include personal information, the information will be manually deleted from the conversation transcripts. These redacted transcripts will then be retained by Statistics Canada for a three-month period to improve services and to make information about the Census more accessible to the Canadian population.

Additionally, the Power Virtual Agent system (by Microsoft) will keep the conversation transcripts for a period of 28 days after which it will automatically be deleted. Microsoft has confirmed that it does not use the information to train, retrain, or improve their models.

Principle 5: Accuracy

Participants submit their own information electronically. Statistics Canada will not modify any of the submitted information, so inaccuracies should not occur. However, any errors that are brought to the attention of Statistics Canada by participants will be rectified immediately. If the chatbot provides the wrong answers based on faulty users' information, the chatbot will prompt the user to reformulate or specify his concerns in order to provide the proper information.

Statistics Canada will not alter any information that may be voluntarily submitted by users, and that information will be retained only for three months. Because that information is not required and will not be used or disclosed, its accuracy in the context of this activity is irrelevant.

Principle 6: Disposal

Voluntarily shared personal information will be in digital format. Disposal of such information will be done directly from the chatbot system.

Technology and privacy issues

• There will be no change to the business requirements. The same principles and guidelines applicable to email communication via Respondent Relations, the existing communication service, will be applied to chatbot.
• The existing communication tools, as well as the addition of chatbot, comply with privacy obligations.
• A privacy notice before using chatbot will notify users that their information will remain protected under the Privacy Act.

Principle 7: Limiting use

The information will be used to improve Statistics Canada's services and to make data more accessible to the Canadian population. The information is used only by Respondent Relations and Social Media agents and their supervisors to ensure the quality of the service provided and to meet user needs. However, the use of personal information is not required for the chatbot to operate.

Once the chatbot is launched, an automated message will appear to inform users not to share personal information.

Principle 8: Limiting Disclosure

Statistics Canada will not disclose personal information from the chatbot, without the consent of the respondent or unless as permitted by the Statistics Act. Access to any information obtained under the authority of the Statistics Act is restricted to employees who must swear an oath of confidentiality under the Act and who also have a need-to-know as part of their job duties.

Principle 9: Safeguards

Statistics Canada takes seriously its legal obligation to safeguard the personal information of all Canadians. The agency has had in place a framework of policies, directives, procedures and practices to safeguard protected information, including personal information, against loss, theft, unauthorized access or disclosure; they are supported by physical, organizational and technological measures that protect all the personal information that Statistics Canada holds.

Access will be restricted solely to Respondent Relations, CHL and Web2Social agents and supervisors located in the National Capital Region office. The information will be protected by existing mechanisms, such as the following:

• When logging into a work session on the computer, agents and supervisors must enter their protected, confidential username and password.
• Personal information voluntarily received from clients will pass through the site only to measure performance, productivity, and the quality of the service provided by Respondent Relations, CHL and Web2Social agents, and to answer users' questions. Briefly, the information will help measure accuracy of answers and it will allow us to remain at the dawn of new topics emerging to rehabilitate our content.
• The information will be stored only on Statistics Canada's internal platform; the information will not be disseminated or printed.
• Information passing over the Internet will be secured by HTTPS. It will then be stored on Statistics Canada's Cloud that meets the stronger IT security requirements. In addition, vulnerability analyses of the Census Chatbot have been conducted by Statistics Canada's Cyber Security Division. They completed a Security Assessment and Authorization (SA&A), and an interim Authority to Operate (iATO) was granted for a one-year period (Jan 2024-Jan 2025).
• The software used contains an option to hide the IP address, and that option will be used to prevent the storage of IP addresses.

Upon discovery of an actual or suspected privacy breach (however unlikely), the steps described in Section 8 would be taken.

Principle 10: Openness

Statistics Canada produces specific, easily accessible information about its policies and practices on the management and protection of personal information. Information on the use of personal information, in the form of a Privacy notice, can be read on the agency's website at www.statcan.gc.ca.

Summaries of approved privacy impact assessments are also available from the website, under "About Statistics Canada – Privacy Impact Assessments"

Information on the Statistics Canada website related to policies and procedures

The agency's Privacy Notice can be found under "About us – Terms and conditions and Privacy" on the Statistics Canada website, where there is also information about:

• the agency's Privacy Framework
• protecting confidential information and privacy at Statistics Canada;
• privacy-related policies and practices at Statistics Canada;
• what record linkage is and how it is used at Statistics Canada;
• Statistics Canada's Directive on Microdata Linkage;
• approved linkages at Statistics Canada, with their purpose, description and output

Statistics Canada's Trust Center also provides answers to questions on the security, privacy and confidentiality of personal information.

Contacts for further information

For further information about NetSupport, the contact person is:
Program Manager of the Business Integration, Collection, Planning, and Research Division
Statistics Canada
150 Tunney's Pasture Driveway
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0T6
Telephone: 902-220-9153
Email: Patrick.Ellis@statcan.gc.ca

Principle 11: Individual Access

The collection of personal information through the Census communications chatbot is described in the Personal Information Bank (Public Communications – PSU 914), which is published in Statistics Canada's Information about Programs and Information Holdings chapter.

Upon request, Statistics Canada will provide users with access to their personal information held by the agency.

If users wish to submit a formal request for access to their personal information under the Privacy Act, the contact person at Statistics Canada is:

Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator
Statistics Canada
R.H. Coats Building, 2nd floor
100 Tunney's Pasture Driveway
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0T6
Telephone: 613-951-0466
E-mail: statcan.atip-aiprp.statcan@statcan.gc.ca

Section 6: Threat and risk assessment

The purpose of this section is to assess the consultation for potential threats and risks that could compromise privacy. It outlines Statistics Canada's existing safeguards, the probability of occurrence of the threat, and the severity of the impact as it relates to the privacy and protection of participants' information.

Statistics Canada currently uses numerous safeguards to reduce threat probabilities. These safeguards are described in agency policies, practices, tools and/or techniques.

The ratings for threat probability, impact and residual risk are defined and presented as follows

Threat: An undesirable event with the potential to compromise privacy or breach data confidentiality.

Threat probability: The likelihood that the threat will occur, given Statistics Canada's existing safeguards. The threat probability is rated numerically.

• Level 1: The threat can only come about through the use of very specialized knowledge and/or costly specialized facilities and/or a sustained effort. The threat is unlikely to occur.
• Level 2: The threat requires some specialized knowledge and/or facilities and/or a special endeavour to create or take advantage of the threat opportunity. The threat is somewhat likely to occur.
• Level 3: The threat opportunity is widely available and can occur either intentionally or accidentally with little or no specialized knowledge and/or facilities. The threat is very likely to occur.

Impact: The effect on a participant's privacy in the event that a threat comes to fruition and their information is compromised. The level or degree of impact is expressed in terms of outcome severity as it relates to individual privacy.

• Level 1: Minor injury with no or minimal harm or embarrassment to the individual.
• Level 2: Moderate injury causing some harm or embarrassment to the individual, but with no direct negative effects.
• Level 3: Severe injury such as lasting harm or embarrassment that will have direct negative effects on an individual's career, reputation, financial position, safety, health or well-being.

Residual risk: A numeric rating is given following an evaluation and comparison of the threat probability and the impact on privacy.

Threat and Risk Assessment Grid

Chatbot on Statistics Canada's website

While the Chatbot does not collect personal information and users are instructed not to include any personal information in the chat, the following addresses any risks should any personal information be inadvertently or voluntarily included and compromised before it gets manually removed by deemed Respondent Relations employees.

Threats	Existing Statistics Canada Safeguards	Probability	Impact	Residual Risk	Assessment of Residual Risk
Environment: Risk associated with users' privacy – within Statistics Canada
Activity: access to chatbot
1. There is unauthorized access to NetSupport by a non-Statistics Canada employee.	Access to the Cloud on which chatbot is hosted is restricted to a small number of Statistics Canada employees and deemed employees of Shared Services Canada who provide services to Statistics Canada. IT security measures include protection by firewall, configuration and access via Statistics Canada's internal network on local Network B. Access to the system requires a username and password reserved for authorized employees of the Respondent Relations, CHL and Web2Social teams.	1	1	1	Acceptable
2. There is unauthorized access to NetSupport by a Statistics Canada employee.	IT security measures include access via Statistics Canada's internal network on local Network B. Access to the system requires a username and password reserved for authorized employees of the Respondent Relations, CHL and Web2Social teams. Also, employees are trained to lock their computers before leaving their offices.	1	1	1	Acceptable
3. There is unauthorized use or disclosure of personal information	Employees have been made aware of the importance of protecting personal information and must comply with the Directive on Access to Information and Privacy. They have a legal obligation to comply with the legislative requirements of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. If they fail to do comply, they are subject to the penalties set out in the legislation. Any employee who uses or discloses personal information in an unauthorized manner would receive additional training and may be subject to disciplinary follow-up.	1	1	1	Acceptable

Section 7: Summary of Analysis and Recommendations

A privacy impact assessment for the chatbot was conducted to determine if there were any privacy, confidentiality and security issues associated with the program, and if so, to make recommendations for their resolution or mitigation.

This document summarizes Statistics Canada's assessment of the privacy implications of the chatbot. It includes a review of the privacy principles as they apply to the program. Also included is an assessment of the risks to the privacy, confidentiality, and security of users' information.

This assessment did not identify any privacy risks that cannot be managed using existing safeguards.

Section 8: Breach protocol

The chatbot meets agency standards for both IT and physical security. It includes password protection for access to the database/tool, configuration and use of a firewall. For this reason, the threat and risk assessment (TRA) grid rates unauthorized access by either Statistics Canada employees or individuals outside Statistics Canada as low probability.

Upon discovery of an actual or suspected privacy breach (however unlikely), the following steps, in accordance with the Statistics Canada Information and Privacy Breach Protocol, would be taken:

• Immediate notification of the Chief Security Officer and the Chief Privacy Officer. Response could include suspending operation of the chatbot activities.
• In collaboration with Departmental Security and IT Security, there would be an internal investigation that would include recommendations to prevent any recurrence. Any investigation would document in detail the circumstances that gave rise to the privacy breach, and determine what information may have been breached, the impact of the breach, and what measures have been introduced to eliminate the risk of any subsequent breach.
• In the case of a "material privacy breach", in accordance with the TBS Directive on Privacy Practices, Statistics Canada would notify the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) and the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS). "Material breaches" are those involving sensitive personal information and that could reasonably be expected to cause serious injury or harm to the individual.
• Depending on the nature of the breach, impacted individuals would be provided with an explanation of the situation and the steps being taken to remove the information from the possession of those not authorized to have it. Individuals would also be informed that they have the right to file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC). The OPC and TBS would be informed of the individual(s) whose information was disclosed, the investigation and what actions have been taken to prevent a re-occurrence.

Section 9: Supplementary Documents List

Appendix 1 – PIA Summary
Appendix 2 – Privacy notice

Appendix 1 – PIA Summary

Census Chatbot
Privacy Impact Assessment Summary

Introduction

To improve respondent services, Statistics Canada is introducing a chatbot on its Census website as a new communications method. This automated communication and service channel aims to help Census respondents anonymously submit questions and obtain more timely responses in a positive and secure online experience. This technology will improve services and assist respondents in their questionnaire needs, in addition to creating a positive and secure online experience.

While Statistics Canada already provides a Contact us form^{Footnote 3} where users can submit questions, the chatbot will automatically provide answers instead of waiting the general 5 to 10 business days to receive a response.

Objective

A privacy impact assessment for Chatbot was conducted to determine if there were any privacy, confidentiality or security issues with this program and, if so, to make recommendations for their resolution or mitigation.

Description

The chatbot will be of particular value when Statistics Canada conducts census activities. During the 2021 Census collection cycle, the Census Help Line (CHL) received over 2 million calls. This unprecedented volume led to 1.2M not being answered due to limited resources. Equally, Statistics Canada's Respondent Relations Unit received 63,000 emails and 7,000 pieces of mail, five times the amount received in the previous census, and the social media (Web2Social) team received numerous complaints regarding the lack of immediate response, long phone queues, or dropped calls.

The chatbot does not collect any personal information and a privacy notice (see Appendix 2) statement will be provided to users at the beginning of the chat session instructing them not to share any personal information and advising users who nevertheless include PI, what will happen in such instances. The chatbot will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect keywords to answer a user's question. If a user requires further assistance, the chatbot will transfer the conversation to a live chat agent. The chatbot was initially trained on extracted content from 2021 Census Questions and Answers (e.g., What is a census letter? Where can I find my secure access code?) and will keep training on new content that will be added as needed. As the chatbot does not make any administrative decisions on individuals, an Algorithmic Impact Assessment is not required.

The chatbot software and licenses have been acquired by Statistics Canada from a service provider. It has been integrated into Statistics Canada's website structure in a development environment prior to being moved to its production environment on January 15, 2024. A full security assessment was completed on January 9, 2024 with a risk management input (RMI) assessed as a very low.

Risk Area Identification and Categorization

The PIA identifies the level of potential risk (level 1 is the lowest level of potential risk and level 4 is the highest) associated with the following risk areas:

a) Type of program or activity	Risk scale
Program or activity that does not involve a decision about an identifiable individual.	1
b) Type of personal information involved and context
Only personal information, with no contextual sensitivities, collected directly from the individual or provided with the consent of the individual for disclosure under an authorized program.	1
c) Program or activity partners and private sector involvement
Within the institution (among one or more programs within the same institution)	1
d) Duration of the program or activity
Long-term program or activity.	3
e) Program population
The program's use of personal information for external administrative purposes affects certain individuals.	3
f) Personal information transmission
The personal information is transmitted using wireless technologies.	4
g) Technology and privacy
Power Microsoft Agent (chatbot) from Microsoft Dynamics is being implemented to facilitate a new communication method via chatbot to improve Statistic Canada's services and promote direct communication with data users and survey respondents. Integrating Power Microsoft Agent (chatbot) from Microsoft Dynamics code into the website will require changes to our IT systems to enable integration of the code in the infrastructure. Specific technological issues and privacy
h) Potential risk that in the event of a privacy breach, there will be an impact on the individual or employee.
Users will be advised to not provide any personal information when a chat session is opened. If provided, it will not be used and will be destroyed after three months. Therefore, the risk of some personal information being disclosed without proper authorization is very low, and the impact on the individual would be low.
i) Potential risk that in the event of a privacy breach, there will be an impact on the institution.
Users will be advised to not provide any personal information. If provided, it will not be used and will be destroyed after three months. Therefore, the risk of certain personal information being disclosed without proper authorization is very low, and the impact on the institution would be low.

Conclusion

This assessment of the Chatbot did not identify any privacy risks that cannot be managed using existing safeguards.

Appendix 2 – Privacy Notice Statement

When the chatbot box opens a privacy notice will appear in a banner at the top of the chat window.

Shorter version of Privacy Notice for chatbot banner (600-character limit (with space)):

The chatbot is designed to assist you with general inquiries related to Census. Please do not include any personal information, such as your name, address, or other identifying information.

If you have any concerns or specific issues that require personalized assistance, we recommend reaching out to our dedicated support channels, where trained professionals will be happy to help you.

For more details, visit the Privacy section of (webpage name).

Detailed Privacy Notice available to respondents on (hyperlink to StatCan webpage):

The chatbot is designed to assist you with general inquiries related to Census. Please do not include any personal information, such as your name, address, or other identifying information, as it is not required for general inquiries related to the Census.

If nevertheless users decide to share personal information, such information would be manually removed from chatbot transcripts. These transcripts could be anonymously retained for a three-month period for service evaluation purposes in the form of a compilation for the purpose of assessing quality of the service and to meet user needs.

If you have any concerns or specific issues that require personalized assistance, we recommend reaching out to our dedicated support channels, where trained professionals will be happy to help you.

If you have questions, please visit our website at www.census.gc.ca where you can also chat online with us, or contact us at 1-833-835-2024. Respondents with access to TTY (for persons who have a hearing or speech impairment) should call 1-833-830-3109. Video relay services (VRS) can also be used.

Date: February 2024

Program manager: Director, Centre for Special Business Projects
Director General, Agriculture, Energy and Environment Statistics

Reference to Personal Information Bank (PIB):

In accordance with the Privacy Act, Statistics Canada is submitting an amendment to the institutional personal information bank (PIB) StatCan PPU 116, Sociodemographic Information on Business Primary Decision Makers to describe any personal information about individuals that work for, own or operate businesses, non-profits and other organizations as volunteers, employees, and/or primary decision-makers, collected in surveys or acquired administrative data for use in Statistics Canada’s Economic and Environmental Statistics programs operating under the authority of the Statistics Act.

Sociodemographic Information on Business Owners, Primary Decision Makers, Employees, and Volunteers

Description: This bank describes personal information that relates to individuals that work for, own or operate businesses, non-profits and other organizations as volunteers, employees, and/or primary decision-makers, collected in surveys or acquired administrative data for use in Statistics Canada’s Economic and Environmental Statistics programs operating under the authority of the Statistics Act. Personal information may include gender, sexual and gender diversity, First Nations (North American Indian), Métis, or Inuk (Inuit), visible minority, persons with a disability, citizenship and immigration status, education and age.
Class of Individuals: Business owners, primary decision makers, employees and volunteers of non-profits and other organizations or businesses that are included in Statistics Canada’s Economic and Environmental Statistics programs.
Purpose: The personal information is used to produce statistical data that help provide insight into various gaps in the economy for a variety of minority groups, and serves to inform evidence-based decisions on funding and support for specific groups of businesses, non-profits or other organizations. Personal information is collected pursuant to the Statistics Act (Sections 3, 7, 8).
Consistent Uses: When collected directly and with informed consent, identifiable sociodemographic personal information may be shared with provincial and territorial statistical agencies and other government organizations that have demonstrated a requirement to use the data, and as permitted under the provisions of Sections 11 or 12 of the Statistics Act.
Retention and Disposal Standards: Information is retained until it is no longer required for statistical purposes and then it is destroyed.
RDA Number: 2007/001
Related Record Number: To be assigned by Statistics Canada
TBS Registration: To be assigned by TBS
Bank Number: StatCan PPU 166

Description of statistical activity:

Under the authority of the Statistics Act^{Footnote 1}, Statistics Canada conducts the Canadian Survey on the Provision of Child Care Services (CSPCCS). This irregular voluntary survey is funded by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and its purpose is to collect information on the provision of child care services in Canada for children ages 12 and under at the national, provincial, and territorial levels. Information about staffing levels and training, services provided, enrollment and daily fees is collected from licensed and unlicensed home-based and centre-based child care providers. 

Starting with the 2024 survey cycle, four new sociodemographic questions pertaining to only home-based child care operators will be asked: 

• Gender
• First Nations (North American Indian), Métis, or Inuk (Inuit)
• Landed immigrant within the last 10 years 
• Person with a disability

Home-based child care operators make up approximately 69% of child care providers in Canada. They are often run and operated by the same individual and thus the sociodemographic questions will typically be answered directly by the individual to whom they pertain. 

Respondents have the option to select the response “Prefer not to answer” or “Don’t know” for the questions pertaining to the gender of the home operator, whether the home operator is First Nations, Métis, or Inuk (Inuit), whether the home operator is a landed immigrant to Canada in the last 10 years, and whether the home operator is a person with a disability. Further, the respondent may leave any of these questions unanswered and continue the survey. As such, the respondent may choose to answer these questions to the best of their knowledge or not. Furthermore, the survey respondent is instructed in the beginning of the questionnaire that the owner or operator of the child care service is the best person to respond to the survey.

Reason for supplement:

While the Generic Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) addresses most of the privacy and security risks related to statistical activities conducted by Statistics Canada, this supplement was conducted due to the potentially sensitive nature of the sociodemographic information about home child care operators. As is the case with all PIAs, Statistics Canada’s privacy framework ensures that elements of privacy protection and privacy controls are documented and applied.

Necessity and Proportionality

The collection of personal information for the Canadian Survey on the Provision of Child Care Services can be justified against Statistics Canada’s Necessity and Proportionality Framework: 

1. Necessity: Child care was included as part of Budget 2021 to support and create more high quality, affordable child care spaces across the country. The CSPCCS is funded by the $95 million that was previously allocated to child care data collection and research in Budget 2017^{Footnote 2} as data gaps exist in Canada in terms of profiles of home-based child care providers. Home-based providers service a wide range of child care needs, and it is important to understand whether they reflect the demographics of the population to whom their services are being provided. It is expected that building the capacity of the national child care sector will necessitate supporting diverse groups to develop their skills to take on greater leadership roles, building the entrepreneurial capacity and business skills of under-represented groups (such as Indigenous communities, women, immigrants and persons with disabilities), facilitating the sharing of industry experience, best practices and knowledge to help under-represented groups manage transformation, and reinforcing the child care sector by incorporating the views of a more diverse set of industry players. Better data, analysis and information can highlight inequities and promote fairness and inclusion in the delivery of programs, services, and policy decisions. 

   Collecting this data allows for baseline metrics of participation by underrepresented groups (i.e., to what extent are each of the groups represented among home-based child care providers and how does this compare to representation of the children served in the population?). 

   Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and other Government of Canada departments will use the resulting information to better understand the child care sector in order to make recommendations to policy departments regarding the development and support of child care programs in Canada. The information will also allow national, provincial and territorial governments as well as researchers to further support and foster collaboration in the child care sector. 

   Specifically, the sociodemographic information collected may help strengthen the sector by leading to the creation of policies that better reflect the diversity of Canadian communities, enhance collaboration across different jurisdictions, secure and support public trust in the sector, and improve client services. In addition, the data may be used to inform upcoming child care workforce strategies. 

   Questions on immigrant status and Indigenous identity of home-based child care providers contribute to an understanding of the Early Learning and Child Care Framework (ELCC) home-based workforce. The CSPCCS can provide insights into the intersection between low remuneration in this nearly entirely female field and its demographic characteristics of which nearly half are immigrants or non-permanent residents. Further, comparatively little information has been collected on Indigenous home-based child care providers. It is possible that this information may be relevant to gaining a better understanding of the supply of child care services across Canada. For example, the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework (IELCC) represents the Government of Canada and Indigenous peoples’ work to co-develop a transformative Indigenous framework that reflects the unique cultures, aspirations and needs of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children across Canada. Having information about the supply of Indigenous owned home-based child care services across Canada would be crucial to evaluate the effectiveness of the IELCC.

   Questions on gender and persons with disabilities provide a comprehensive view of the population of home-based child care operators. Understanding the gender distribution and prevalence of persons with disabilities among child care operators provides valuable insights on any disparities in the sector. For example, to what extent are each of these groups represented among home-based child care providers and how does this compare to representation of the children served in the population.

2. Effectiveness - Working assumptions: Although the survey is voluntary and the respondents have the option to select the response “Prefer not to answer” or “Don’t know”, it is expected that those that choose to provide the information will do so as accurately as possible. Further, the survey instructions identify the owner or operator of the child care service to be the best person to respond to the survey, increasing the likelihood of direct collection of personal information. When these questions are received by proxy, the small size of daycares is a factor, as it would be reasonably expected that any others at the daycare would be aware of this information, or would decline to respond or select “Prefer not to answer” or “Don’t know” in cases where they were not. 

3. Proportionality: The information will be collected to better understand participation in the sector by underrepresented population groups, allowing for the implementation of evidence-based policies in the child care sector to further encourage more widespread participation. The five sociodemographic variables represent the minimum required to best represent Canada’s diverse communities as determined by subject matter experts at Statistics Canada and ESDC and are only collected from home-based child care services which make up approximately 69% of child care providers in Canada. Practices in the child care sector vary significantly across the provinces and territories, necessitating good information for each jurisdiction. As such, the sample has been designed to support the production of quality estimates at the provincial and territorial level. Further, linking to Statistics Canada’s only linkable dataset that contains these types of variables – the Census of Population long-form, to which only a portion of Canadians were asked to respond – would result in a linkage rate that would be too low to meet Statistics Canada’s quality guidelines. 

   This effort ultimately aims to address inequalities and disparities affecting underrepresented population groups, allowing for a broader reach in participation across the child care sector and to foster future generations of child care operators. As such, the collection of the new sociodemographic information is considered proportional to the potential benefits.

4. Alternatives: The following alternative modes of collecting the sociodemographic information were considered, and due to their limitations, the voluntary collection of sociodemographic information about operators was identified as being the most efficient and effective method to achieve the identified needs.

   Direct collection from operators through additional screening questions: Despite potentially being more accurate, the addition of screening questions to validate that the survey respondent is also the business operator could be more burdensome on respondents, limiting the response rate and compromising the program’s ability to produce statistics about these minority groups that comply with Statistics Canada’s quality guidelines. 

   Linking the sociodemographic variables from other surveys or administrative files: Statistics Canada’s only linkable dataset that contains these types of variables is the Census of Population long-from to which only a portion of Canadians were asked to respond. As such, the linkage rate would be too low to meet Statistics Canada’s quality guidelines.

Mitigation factors:

The overall risk of harm to the survey respondents has been deemed manageable with existing Statistics Canada safeguards that are described in Statistics Canada’s Generic Privacy Impact Assessment, such as with the following measures:

• Respondents will be informed at the start of the questionnaire that it is voluntary, and that they have the right to refuse to provide any information. 
• Respondents have the option to select the response “Prefer not to answer” or “Don’t know” for the questions pertaining to gender, First Nations, Métis, or Inuk (Inuit), landed immigrant to Canada in the last 10 years, and person with a disability. 
• Respondents can leave the questions blank and proceed with the rest of the survey. 
• Respondents are instructed at the beginning of the questionnaire that the owner or operator of the child care service is the best person to respond to the survey.
• Statistics Canada will not attempt to re-identify any individuals from the personal information collected. 
• Statistics Canada will not publish any information that could allow the identification of any individuals. Additional suppressions will be performed on outputs to ensure any risk of re-identification is mitigated.

Conclusion:

This assessment concludes that the overall risk of harm has been deemed manageable with the abovementioned mitigations and existing Statistics Canada safeguards described in Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment.

• Introduction and document purpose
• Context: What is the Business Register?
• Data Integration Infrastructure Division business data products
  • 1. Canadian business counts (formerly Canadian business patterns)
  • 2. Custom aggregate data tables
    • Employment size ranges
    • Revenue ranges
    • Profit and non-profit data (December only)
    • Business type and public and private data (December only)
  • 3. Business Register microdata
• Other relevant information about the Business Register
  • Data variations caused by methodological changes, by year
• Data quality and limitations
  • Time series
  • Creations
  • Inactivation
  • North American Industry Classification System
• Key definitions found in Business Register Data
  • Statistical entities
    • Statistical enterprise
    • Statistical establishment
    • Statistical location
  • Employment
  • Employment size ranges
• Geography
  • Structure of the Standard Geographical Classification
    • (1) Province and territory
    • (2) Census division
    • (3) Census subdivision
  • Statistical Area Classification
  • Census metropolitan area and census agglomeration
  • Other geographies
  • Economic region
  • Census tract
  • Federal electoral district
  • Dissemination area
  • Forward sortation area
• “000” residue
• Industry codes: North American Industry Classification System
  • Revenue
• Contact us

Introduction and document purpose

This document is intended as a guide for external clients who use or seek to use information provided by the Data Integration Infrastructure Division (DIID) from Statistics Canada’s Business Register (BR).

These products include counts of active businesses by industry, geography and employment range, which can be obtained through statcan.gc.ca or through custom tabulations from the DIID on request.

Other products provided by DIID are the listings of businesses provided to provincial or territorial and federal departments under disclosure orders by the chief statistician authorized under the Statistics Act.

Please note that other Statistics Canada divisions also produce business demographic statistics.Notably, these include information from the Economic Analysis Division and the Centre for Special Business Projects.

DIID experts are available to provide further information on these products as well,or to refer to contacts in these divisions. However, they are not covered in this document.

Context: What is the Business Register?

The BR is Statistics Canada’s internal repository that keeps the baseline information about Canada’s businesses and institutions that is required for the agency’s statistical work.

The BR conceptualizes and maintains information for businesses and their individual operating entities as statistical units of observation. It also provides related statistical attributes, including the industrial activity classification; geographic location; and key measures of business size, such as the number of employees and annual revenues.

The BR is key to the compilation of coordinated, consistent and reliable information from Statistics Canada’s many economic data programs. It is the source of sampling frames for virtually all of the agency’s business and institutional surveys. Also, the BR provides the reference data and linkage keys needed to integrate and enable the use of business data from survey, administrative and other data sources across the Statistics Canada data ecosystem.

The BR can be used to produce business demography statistics, such as counts of active businesses, openings and closures, and other business dynamics.

Data sources and confidentiality

The BR is compiled and maintained primarily from administrative sources, through data Statistics Canada receives from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Through its own processes, including statistical enterprise profiling, survey data collection and data analysis, Statistics Canada builds on the CRA-provided data to provision a fully representative and up-to-date statistical frame of business entities and their operating locations.

All BR data, whether sourced from tax information or Statistics Canada’s own processes, are obtained and maintained by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act. Under the act,information related to individual businesses or information that can identify a specific business is strictly confidential and cannot be divulged, other than to a person employed or deemed to be employed by Statistics Canada. Under certain circumstances, specific variables are provided to federal and provincial government partners, as per the conditions outlined in the Statistics Act.

Data Integration Infrastructure Division business data products

Three categories of data products related to businesses are provided by DIID. In most cases, the coverage is restricted to businesses or government institutions meeting any of the following criteria:

• have an employee workforce for which they submit payroll remittances to the CRA.
• are incorporated under a federal or provincial act and have filed a federal corporate income tax form within the past three years.
• have at least $30,000 in annual revenues.

1. Canadian business counts (formerly Canadian business patterns)

The Canadian business counts (CBCs) are produced biannually every June and December and are released in August and February. This product can be used to compare the number of businesses across North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) categories, employment size ranges, provinces and territories, and census metropolitan areas (CMAs) and the census subdivisions (CSDs) within them, as well as all CSDs in Canada with 10 or more active businesses with employees. The following data tables are available to the public on the Statistics Canada website:

• business location counts with employees for Canada, by province, NAICS category and employment size range.
• business location counts without employees for Canada, by province and NAICS category.
• business location counts with employees by CMA, CSD, NAICS category and employment size range.

Website link: The Daily - In the news: Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin.

You can find all iterations of the CBC data product from the link above or through your web browser and search engine of choice using the following terms: “Canadian Business Counts” or “Canadian Business Patterns” (for historic counts).

2. Custom aggregate data tables

For all custom aggregate data table questions or orders, please email statcan.statisticalregisters-registresstatistiques.statcan@statcan.gc.ca.

Employment size ranges

• 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 census agglomeration (CA) or CMA
• Industry: NAICS-2 and NAICS-3
• Confidentiality measures: Rounding to the nearest five counts

Profit and non-profit data (December only)

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

Business type and public and private data (December only)

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

3. Business Register microdata

BR microdata files are provided to specific federal, provincial and territorial government departments or agencies under specific orders authorized by the Statistics Act. Under the terms of these orders, the use of this information is restricted to statistical or research purposes, and recipients must agree to strict protection of confidential information. Further information is available upon request.

For BR microdata questions or orders, please email statcan.statisticalregisters-registresstatistiques.statcan@statcan.gc.ca.

Other relevant information about the Business Register

Data variations caused by methodological changes, by year

Data are affected by not only business data, but also multiple conceptual and methodological factors, such as ingestion of new data sources; changes to activation, inactivation and reactivation rules; batch fixes and updates for NAICS; new NAICS classification vintages; and new geography vintages.  NAICS and geography are continuously updated, with major revisions every 5 years. These changes will take between 6-18 months to be reflected in our counts. Most recently in June 2022 counts, 2021 Census geographies replaced the 2016 geographies. NAICS 2022 replaced NAICS 2017 for the December 2022 counts.

Below is a list of major methodological changes in reverse chronological order. Please note that many smaller methodological changes occur on a regular basis.  Starting with the June 2022 counts, 2021 Census geographies replaced the 2016 geographies. NAICS 2017 was implemented with the December 2017 counts and has been replaced by NAICS 2022 for the December 2022 counts.

• With the December 2021 counts, refinements to the geographic coding of business locations were made, which may change the geographic classification of some businesses at low levels of geography. Generally, the reclassification is to nearby zones, resulting in only minor impacts on counts for CSDs. There are no impacts on the overall counts for CMAs and CSDs and, by extension, for provinces and territories.
• The December 2019 counts reflect a downward correction to the number of businesses, especially those without employees, because of new criteria for identifying businesses that had become inactive. Approximately 140,000 units are affected by this correction.
• Starting in December 2014, businesses without employees now cover all enterprises that meet one of the following criteria: is incorporated or shows at least $30,000 in revenue (non-taxable 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 combined in non-taxable and taxable revenue. These businesses will now be included and represent approximately 600,000 units. Business counts in NAICS sectors 53 (real estate and rental and leasing) and 62 (health care and social assistance) have the largest increases.
• In December 2014, a revision of the employer status on all units of the BR resulted in approximately 70,000 businesses with employees shifting to the businesses without employees category. This change is mostly noticeable in the smaller employment size ranges. Business counts in NAICS sectors 72 (accommodation and food services), 62 (health care and social assistance), 31–33 (manufacturing) and 44–45 (retail trade) see the largest decreases.
• There are two industrial classification categories introduced in 2014: unclassified, which is a new category for businesses that haven’t received a NAICS code, and classified, a category for businesses that 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 identified, because they’re in a separate category.
• A small portion of the increase in businesses in December 2013 is attributable to new rules regarding the acceptance of auto-coded NAICS codes, 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—it mostly affected non-employers across most sectors.
• A large increase in the June 2013 reference period is attributable to incorporated businesses that are now required to auto-code a NAICS code to record their tax form information with the CRA. The increase represents an accumulation of about two years of auto-coding. This change affects almost every sector and accounts for most of the growth in the data from December 2012 to June 2013.
• 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 NAICS sectors: 53 (real estate and rental and leasing), 44–45 (retail trade) and 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.
• 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 expand the ability to identify units that aren’t reporting any economic activity.
• 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 2007 reference period is based on the redesigned BR. 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 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 BR. The following NAICS sectors have been affected: 48–49 (transportation and warehousing), 53 (real estate and rental and leasing) and 54 (professional, scientific and technical services).
• In December 2000 and June 2005, the number of smaller businesses declined. The BR has analyzed new administrative sources to detect business closures more rapidly and accurately. This has resulted in the use of new signals that are now part of the processes to update the BR.

Data quality and limitations

The BR is largely based on the Business Number (BN) registration source as collected by the CRA.

Time series

Changes to the BR’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.

To view recent methodological changes, please refer to the Data variations caused by methodological changes, by year section above.

Creations

Generally, the creation of an entity on the BR occurs shortly after the business registers with CRA. The BN registrations are used to update the BR database weekly. Businesses with multiple locations may also be contacted or profiled to obtain the necessary information for the creation of location entities.

Inactivation

Businesses are assigned an inactive status on the BR when neither a tax payment nor payroll remittance has been made by these businesses for some time or following the closure of CRA tax accounts.

North American Industry 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 to 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 that

1. produces a homogeneous set of goods or services.
2. doesn’t cross provincial boundaries.
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 that

1. conducts economic activity at, or from, a single physical location or group of locations.
2. resides within the smallest standardized geographical area.
3. provides employment data at a minimum.

Employment

Source

Employment is based on both corporations’ payroll remittance and profiling and survey data. These data are 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 second 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 then distributed at the establishment and location levels based on the profiled employment distribution from the BR.

Employment size ranges

The following are the standard employment size ranges (nine) available in the BR:

• 0 (without employees)
• 1 to 4
• 5 to 9
• 10 to 19
• 20 to 49
• 50 to 99
• 100 to 199
• 200 to 499
• 500 and over.

Employment size ranges of 13 and 21 are also available upon request.

Employment size range 13:

• 0 (without employees)
• 1 to 4
• 5 to 9
• 10 to 19
• 20 to 49
• 50 to 99
• 100 to 199
• 200 to 499
• 500 to 999
• 1,000 to 1,499
• 1,500 to 2,499
• 2,500 to 4,999
• 5,000 and over.

Employment size range 21:

• 0 (without employees)
• 1 to 4
• 5 to 9
• 10 to 19
• 20 to 29
• 30 to 49
• 50 to 99
• 100 to 149
• 150 to 199
• 200 to 249
• 250 to 299
• 300 to 399
• 400 to 499
• 500 to 999
• 1,000 to 1,499
• 1,500 to 1,999
• 2,000 to 2,499
• 2,500 to 2,999
• 3,000 to 3,999
• 4,000 to 4,999
• 5,000 and over.

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

Note:

BR employment data should be used with caution. The methodology on the BR used to derive the number of employees for a given business is to select the second-highest monthly value from the last 12 months to reduce volatility for survey sampling. As well, the file contains employment size ranges, which can affect the ability to compile totals. For these reasons, employment data should be used with caveats when attempting to calculate an employment total for any given NAICS category or geography. It is more straightforward to use the data to compile aggregate counts of businesses by NAICS category, geography and employment size class.

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, data collection and compilation on this basis. It is intended primarily for the classification of statistical units such as locations.

A business is geolocated using its available address information. This geolocation process will aim to code the business at the most precise level possible. When insufficient address information exists, the postal code is used as a last resort. Since the postal code is designed by Canada Post to target the efficient delivery of the mail, there are situations where one postal code may not align exactly to the boundaries of a single SGC geographic unit. In such cases, a default SGC is selected for the business. The smaller and rural geographic units are more likely to be subject to this possibility.

For more detailed information, please visit Geographic classifications.

Structure of the Standard Geographical Classification

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

(1) Province and territory

The terms “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 counties and regional districts, or their equivalents. CDs are intermediate geographic areas between the province or territory level and the municipality (CSD).

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 or 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 because of actual changes in physical location, but because of changes in linkages between a specific CSD and a postal code.

Statistical Area Classification

The Statistical Area Classification (SAC) groups CSDs according to whether they are a component of a CMA, CA, or CMA and CA influenced zone (MIZ). The MIZ categorizes all CSDs in provinces and territories that are outside CMAs and CAs. CSDs within provinces that are outside CMAs and CAs are assigned to one of four categories according to the degree of influence (strong, moderate, weak or no influence) that the CMAs or CAs have on them. CSDs within territories that are outside CAs are assigned to a separate category.

The SAC is a variant of the SGC. CSDs form the lowest level of the classification variant. The next level consists of CMAs, CAs and MIZs, including the territories. The highest level consists of two categories that cover all Canada’s land mass:

• inside CMAs and CAs
• outside CMAs and CAs.

The SAC provides unique numeric identification (codes) for these hierarchically related geographic areas. It was established for the purpose of reporting statistics.

Census metropolitan area and census agglomeration

A CMA or 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 a 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 deemed rural areas.

Other geographies

Economic region

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

Census tract

A census tract is an 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

A federal electoral district is an area represented by a Member of Parliament elected to the House of Commons.

Dissemination area

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

Forward sortation area

A forward sortation area is an area composed of the first three digits of the postal code, which is a six-character code defined and maintained by Canada Post for the purpose of sorting and delivering mail.

“000” residue

Please note that codes have been created for residues. They consist of the province or 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 CD or CSD as determined by the SGC.

Industry codes: North American Industry Classification System

NAICS is an industry classification system developed by the statistical agencies of Canada, Mexico and the United States. It’s designed to provide common definitions of the industrial structure of the three countries and a common statistical framework to facilitate the analysis of the three 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.

For more detailed information, please visit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Canada.

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

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

North American Industry Classification System
Sectors	two digits
Sub-sectors	three digits
Industry groups	four digits
Industries	five digits
National industries	six digits

Revenue

These revenues are derived mostly from administrative files from the CRA. They are based on both corporations’ income tax revenues and goods and services tax (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 the 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 then distributed at the establishment and location levels based on the profiled revenue distribution from the BR.

Contact us

Dissemination Unit
Data Integration Infrastructure Division
Statistics Canada
Tunney’s Pasture
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0T6

statcan.statisticalregisters-registresstatistiques.statcan@statcan.gc.ca