Manufacturing and Energy Division
Energy Section

I. Who should complete this questionnaire?

An engineer, a production manager, an operation manager or someone knowledgeable about the energy consumption and production process of this enterprise should complete thisquestionnaire.

II. Reporting instructions

Please report all quantities of energy commodities consumed from the 1st of January to the 31st of December, be they purchased or self-generated by the industrial establishment. Exclude energy used by contractors, common carriers and suppliers. Round all data to the nearest whole number. If you need assistance, please contact Statistics Canada at thetelephone number indicated on your questionnaire.

III. Retention

Please keep a copy of the completed questionnaire with your secure records until March 31, 2016.

IV. Definitions

Type of energy use

Amount consumed as fuel: The quantity of the energy commodity used to power the production process of the plant, which includes heating and transportation at theestablishment.

Amount consumed to produce steam for sale: The quantity of the energy commodity used in the production of steam that is delivered to another establishment, as per a sales contract or other understanding. Energy used in the production of steam that is then used internally in the production process isreported in the “amount consumed as fuel” column.

Amount consumed to produce electricity: The quantity of the energy commodity used to generate electricity either for the plant’s own use or for delivery to another establishment,as per a sales contract or other understanding.

Amount consumed for non-energy use: The quantity of the energy commodity used for other purposes than As Fuel in the plant production process or to Produce Electricity or Steam. Some examples of energy commodities used for non-energyuse are:

• Natural gas used as a reducing agent to produce direct reduced iron (DRI)
• Petroleum coke used as feed to reduce lead oxide in lead production
• Natural gas used as feed to produce hydrogen and ammonia
• Anthracite used as feed (as a reducing agent) to produce ferrosilicon and silicon metal

Type of energy commodity

Please report your energy use according to the following commodity definitions.

Section 1

Electricity: A form of energy generated by friction, induction or chemical change that is caused by the presence and motion of elementary-charged particles. The electricity that is consumed can either be received by the establishment (purchased) orproduced by the establishment (self-generated).

Natural gas: A mixture of hydrocarbons, comprised principally of methane (CH₄), originating in the gaseous phase or in solution with crude oil in porous geologic formations beneaththe earth’s surface.

Propane: A gaseous, straight-chained hydrocarbon. A colourless, paraffinic gas extracted from natural gas or refinery gas streams, consisting of molecules composed of three atoms of carbon and eight atoms of hydrogen (C₃H₈). Used primarily in residential and commercial heating and cooling,as transportation fuel and petrochemical feedstock.

Middle distillates

Diesel: All grades of distillate fuel used for diesel engines, including those with low sulphur content (lower than 0.05%). Does not include diesel used for transportation off theplant site.

Light fuel oil: A light petroleum distillate used for power burners. Includes fuel oil no. 2, fuel oil no. 3, furnace fuel oil,gas oils, and light industrial fuel.

Kerosene and other middle distillates: Includes kerosene (a light petroleum distillate that is used in space heaters, cook stoves and water heaters and is suitable for use as a light source when burned in wick-fed lamps; also known as stove oil), fuel oil no. 1, and mineral lamp oil. Does not include gasoline used for transportation off the plant site.

Heavy fuel oil (Canadian/Foreign): All grades of residual type fuels including those with low sulphur content. Usually used for steam and electric power generation and diesel motors.Includes heavy fuel oil nos. 4, 5, 6 and bunker C.

Wood and wood waste: Wood and wood energy used as fuel, including round wood (cord wood), lignin, wood scraps from furniture and window frame manufacturing, wood chips, bark, sawdust, shavings, lumber rejects, forest residues, charcoal and pulp waste from the operation of pulp mills, sawmills andplywood mills.

Spent pulping liquor (Black liquor): A recycled by-product formed during the pulping of wood in the paper-making process. It is primarily made up of lignin and other wood constituents and chemicals that are by-products of the manufacture of chemical pulp. It is burned As Fuel or in a recovery boiler which produces steam which can be used toproduce electricity.

Refuse: Solid or liquid waste materials used as a combustible energy source. This would include the burning of wastepaper, packing materials, garbage and other industrial, agricultural and urban refuse and is often used to generate electricity.Please specify type.

Steam: A gas resulting from the vaporization of a liquid or the sublimation of a solid, generated by condensing or non-condensing turbines. The steam that is consumed can either be produced by the establishment (self-generated) or receivedby the establishment (purchased).

Special note: the fuels used to generate steam within the establishment (self-generated) should be reported under “as fuel” for those fuels. For example, if 100 cubic metres of heavy fuel oil was used to produce steam, it should be includedunder “as fuel” for heavy fuel oil.

Statistics Canada is currently reviewing the ICE questionnaire and changes may be made in the future that will allow respondents to report for fuels used “to produce steam” separately from the “as fuel” component. To date, the self-generated steam values have not been made publiclyavailable, they are used for internal analysis only.

Section 2

Coal: A readily combustible, black or brownish-black rock-like substance, whose composition, including inherent moisture, consists of more than 50% by weight and 70% by volume of carbonaceous material. It is formed from plant remains that have been compacted, hardened, chemically altered and metamorphosed by heat and pressure over geologic timewithout access to air.

Bituminous coal (Canadian / Foreign): A dense, black coal, often with well-defined bands of bright and dull material with a moisture content usually less than 20 per cent. It has a higher heating value and higher volatile matter and ash content than sub-bituminous coal; the heating value of bituminous coal typically ranges from 23.3 to 30.2 terajoules per kilotonne. Used in making coke, in steam and electricity production, as well as in the production of steel. Metallurgical coal is typicallybituminous coal.

Sub-bituminous coal (Canadian / Foreign): A black coal used primarily for thermal generation. It has a high moisture content,between 15 and 40 percent by weight. Its sulphur content is typically quite low; its ash content is also usually low but volatilematter is usually high and can exceed 40% of the weight.Heating value varies from 16.3 terajoules per kilotonne to slightlyover 20.9 terajoules per kilotonne.

Lignite: Low-rank, brown coals which are distinctly brown and woody or claylike in appearance, and which contain relatively high moisture contents (between 30 and 70 percent of the fuel by weight). Used almost exclusively for electric powergeneration.

Anthracite: A hard, black, lustrous coal containing a high percentage of fixed carbon, a low percentage of volatile matter, little moisture content, low sulfur, low ash and a high heating value at or above 27.7 terajoules per kilotonne that burns with a nearly smokeless flame. Generally used in theproduction of steel.

Coal coke (Canadian/Foreign): A hard, porous product made from the carbonization (baking) of bituminous coal in ovens in substoichiometric atmosphere at high temperatures to the extent that the volatile matter of the coal is released and the coal passes through a “plastic stage” to become metallurgical coke. Often used as a fuel and a carbon input (reducing agent) in smelting iron ore in an integrated steel mill (blast furnace).Coke breeze and foundry coke are included in this category.

Coal by-products

Coal tar: Organic material separated from coke oven gas evolved during coking operations (a black and viscous liquid). This category includes pyridine, tar acids, naphthalene,creosote oil, and coal pitch.

Light coal oil: Condensable products (primarily benzene, toluene, xylene and solvent naphtha) obtained during distillation of the coke oven gas, following removal of the coaltar.

Coke oven gas: Obtained as a by-product of solid fuel carbonization and gasification operations carried out by cokeproducers and iron and steel plants.

Section 3

Petroleum coke (Canadian/Foreign): A final product, often called a “waste product”, of the petroleum refining process, which is the output of the refinery after all of the distillates and oils have been distilled from crude oil, leaving a product that has the appearance of coal. There are various types, e.g. “sponge”, “shot”, and “fluid” coke, which are differentiated according to size. Petroleum coke is a residue high in carbon content and low in hydrogen that is the final product of thermal decomposition in the condensation process in cracking. It is typically high in sulfur, low in volatile matter, low in ash and low in moisture. It may be sold as is or further purified by calcining for specialty uses, including anode production. It may also be burned as fuel in various processes, ranging from power plants to cement kilns. Heating value is typically around 40terajoules per kilotonne.

Refinery fuel gas: Any un-separated mixture of gases produced in refineries by distillation, cracking, reforming and other processes. The principal constituents are methane, ethane, ethylene, normal butane, butylenes, propane, propylene, etc. Also known as still gas. Still gas is used as arefinery fuel and a petrochemical feedstock.

Coke on catalyst (Catalyst coke): In many catalytic operations (e.g. catalytic cracking), carbon is deposited on the catalyst, thus deactivating the catalyst. The catalyst is reactivated by burning off the carbon, which is used as a fuel in the refining process. This carbon or coke is not recoverablein a concentrated form.

Bitumen emulsion (Orimulsion): A thick oil and water emulsion. It is made by mixing bitumen with about 30% water and a small amount of surfactant. Behaves similarly to fuel oiland was developed for industrial use.

Ethane: A normally gaseous, straight-chain hydrocarbon. A colourless, paraffinic gas extracted from natural gas or refinery gas streams, consisting of molecules composed of two atoms of carbon and six atoms of hydrogen (C₂H₆), used as petrochemical feedstock in production of chemicals andplastics and as a solvent in enhanced oil recovery process.

Butane: A normally gaseous hydrocarbon. A colourless, paraffinic gas extracted from natural gas or refinery gas streams, consisting of molecules composed of four atoms of carbon and ten atoms of hydrogen (C₄H₁₀), used primarily for blending in high-octane gasoline, for residential and commercial heating, and in the manufacture of chemicals andsynthetic rubber.

Naphtha: A feedstock destined primarily for the petrochemical industry (e.g. ethylene manufacture or aromatics production). Naphtha specialties comprise all finished products within the naphtha boiling range of 70-200°C that are used as paintthinners, cleaners or solvents. This also includes gas oil used as petrochemical feedstocks.

By-product gas: A mixture of hydrocarbons and hydrogen produced from chemical processes such as ethane cracking.

Flared gas: Gas that is being burned as a means of disposal to the environment usually when it contains odorous or toxic components. Flared gas should be reported as non-energyuse.

Section 4

Other: Any energy commodity consumed not otherwise identified on the questionnaire. Specify in the space providedalong with the unit of measure.

Section 5

Reasons for changes in energy consumption

This section aims to reduce the necessity for further inquiries. Statistics Canada compares responses to this questionnaire with those from previous years. Please indicate the reason(s) that best describe significant changes in your energy consumption from the previous year along withan explanation.

Section 6

Steam sales

If an energy commodity is used to generate steam for sale, please report, in gigajoules, the amount sold to externalclients.

V. Data-sharing Agreements

To reduce respondent burden, Statistics Canada has entered into data-sharing agreements with provincial and territorial statistical agencies and other government organizations, which have agreed to keep the data confidential and use them only for statistical purposes. Statistics Canada will only share data from this survey with those organizations that havedemonstrated a requirement to use the data.

Section 11 of the Statistics Act provides for the sharing of information with provincial and territorial statistical agencies that meet certain conditions. These agencies must have the legislative authority to collect the same information, on a mandatory basis, and the legislation must provide substantially the same provisions for confidentiality and penalties for disclosure of confidential information as the Statistics Act. Because these agencies have the legal authority to compel businesses to provide the same information, consent is not requested and businesses may not object to the sharing ofthe data.

For this survey, there are Section 11 agreements with the provincial and territorial statistical agencies of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon. The shared data will be limited to information pertaining to business establishments located within the jurisdiction ofthe respective province or territory.

Section 12 of the Statistics Act provides for the sharing of information with federal, provincial or territorial government organizations. Under Section 12, you may refuse to share your information with any of these organizations by writing a letter of objection to the Chief Statistician and returning it with the completed questionnaire. Please specify the organizationswith which you do not want to share your data.

For this survey, there are Section 12 agreements with the statistical agencies of Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, as well as with Natural Resources Canada, Environment Canada, National Energy Board, and Alberta Energy. For agreements with provincial and territorial government organizations, the shared data will be limited to business establishments located withinthe jurisdiction of the respective province or territory.

Unified Enterprise Survey - Annual

Reporting Guide

General Instructions

1. Reports Required

• Reports should be completed for Canadian activities and locations as described on the pre-printed label.

2. Dollar Amounts and Percentages

• All dollar amounts reported should be rounded to Thousands of canadian dollars (e.g., $6,555,444.00 should be rounded to $6,555);
• Percentages should be rounded (e.g., 37%, 76%, 94%);
• Your best estimates are acceptable when precise figures are not available;
• Pre-printed cell numbers are for identification purposes only.

3. Return of Questionnaire

By Mail to:
Statistics Canada,
150 Tunney’s Pasture Driveway, Distribution Center - SC-0702
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0T6
By Fax at:
toll free at 1-888-883-7999

Statistics Canada advises you that there could be a risk of disclosure during the facsimile or other electronic transmission. However, upon receipt of your information, Statistics Canada will provide the guaranteed level of protection afforded all information collected under the authority of the Statistics Act.

4. Questions?

If you have any questions, please call us toll free at 1-877-604-7828 or by e-mail at Invest@statcan.gc.ca

Data sharing Agreements
To reduce respondent burden, Statistics Canada has entered into data-sharing agreements with provincial and territorial statistical agencies and other government organizations, which have agreed to keep the data confidential and use them only for statistical purposes. Statistics Canada will only share data from this survey with those organizations that have demonstrated a requirement to use the data.

Section 11 of the Statistics Act provides for the sharing of information with provincial and territorial statistical agencies that meet certain conditions. These agencies must have the legislative authority to collect the same information, on a mandatory basis, and the legislation must provide substantially the same provisions for confidentiality and penalties for disclosure of confidential information as the Statistics Act. Because these agencies have the legal authority to compel businesses to provide the same information, consent is not requested and businesses may not object to the sharing of the data.

For this survey, there are Section 11 agreements with the provincial and territorial statistical agencies of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon.

The shared data will be limited to information pertaining to business establishments located within the jurisdiction of the respective province or territory.

Section 12 of the Statistics Act provides for the sharing of information with federal, provincial or territorial government organizations. Under Section 12, you may refuse to share your information with any of these organizations by writing a letter of objection to the Chief Statistician and returning it with the completed questionnaire. Please specify the organizations with which you do not want to share your data.

For this survey, there are Section 12 agreements with the statistical agencies of Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut as well as Natural Resources Canada, Environment Canada, the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Mines and Energy, the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources, the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, Manitoba Science, Technology Energy and Mines and the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, and the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Economy.

For agreements with provincial and territorial government organizations, the shared data will be limited to information pertaining to business establishments located within the jurisdiction of the respective province or territory.

Note that there is no right of refusal with respect to sharing the data with the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Economy for businesses also required to report under The Mineral Resources Act (Saskatchewan). The Saskatchewan Ministry of the Economy will use the information obtained from these businesses in accordance with the provisions of their Act.

Pre-Printed Label

Type of Ownership

Private – less than 50% of the voting rights are controlled by the government
Public – more than 50% of the voting rights are controlled by the government
specify – Federal, Provincial or Municipal

Fiscal Year End

For the purpose of this survey, please report information for your 12 month fiscal period for which the Final day occurs on or between April 1, 2013 - March 31, 2014 for 2013 and April 1, 2014 - March 31, 2015 for 2014.

The following are acceptable report periods for 2013:
May 2012 - April 2013 (04/13)
June 2012 - May 2013 (05/13)
July 2012 - June 2013 (06/13)
Aug. 2012 - July 2013 (07/13)
Sept. 2012 - Aug. 2013 (08/13)
Oct. 2012 - Sept. 2013 (09/13)
Nov. 2012 - Oct. 2013 (10/13)
Dec. 2012 - Nov. 2013 (11/13)
Jan. 2013 - Dec. 2013 (12/13)
Feb. 2013 - Jan. 2014 (01/14)
March 2013 - Feb. 2014 (02/14)
April 2013 - March 2014 (03/14)

The following are acceptable report periods for 2014:
May 2013 - April 2014 (04/14)
June 2013 - May 2014 (05/14)
July 2013 - June 2014 (06/14)
Aug. 2013 - July 2014 (07/14)
Sept. 2013 - Aug. 2014 (08/14)
Oct. 2013 - Sept. 2014 (09/14)
Nov. 2013 - Oct. 2014 (10/14)
Dec. 2013 - Nov. 2014 (11/14)
Jan. 2014 - Dec. 2014 (12/14)
Feb. 2014 - Jan. 2015 (01/15)
March 2014 - Feb. 2015 (02/15)
April 2014 - March 2015 (03/15)

Definitions

What are Capital Expenditures?

Capital Expenditures are the gross expenditures on fixed assets for use in the operations of your organization or for lease or rent to others.

Include:

• Cost of all new buildings, engineering, machinery and equipment which normally have a life of more than one year and are charged to fixed asset accounts
• Modifications, acquisitions and major renovations
• Capital costs such as feasibility studies, architectural, legal, installation and engineering fees
• Subsidies
• Capitalized interest charges on loans with which capital projects are financed
• Work done by own labour force
• Additions to work in progress

How to Treat Leases

• Include assets acquired for lease to others, either as a capital, financial or as an operating lease
• Exclude assets acquired as a lessee through either a capital, financial or an operating lease from others

Information for Government Departments

The following applies to government departments only:

• Include all capital expenditures without taking into account the capitalization threshold of your department;
• Grants and/or subsidies to outside entities (e.g., municipalities, agencies, institutions or businesses) are not to be included;
• Departments are requested to exclude from reported figures budgetary items pertaining to any departmental agency and proprietary crown corporation as they are surveyed separately;
• Federal departments are to report expenditures paid for by the department, regardless of which department awarded the contract;
• Provincial departments are to include any capital expenditures on construction (exclude outlays for land) or machinery and equipment, for use in Canada, financed from revolving funds, loans attached to revolving funds, other loans, the Consolidated Revenue Fund or special accounts.

Sections A and C: Capital Expenditures

Report the value of the projects expected to be put in place during the year. Include the gross expenditures (including subsidies) on fixed assets for use in the operations of your organization or for lease or rent to others. Include all capital costs such as feasibility studies, architectural, legal, installation and engineering fees as well as work done by your own labour force.

New Assets, Renovation, Retrofit (Column 1), includes both existing assets being upgraded and acquisitions of new assets

The following explanations are Not applicable to government departments:

• include - Capitalized interest charges on loans with which capital projects are financed
• exclude - If you are capitalizing your leased fixed assets as a lessee in accordance with the  Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants’ recommendations, please exclude the total of the capitalization of such leases during the year from capital expenditures

Leases

In accordance with the recommendations of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, leases are divided into two types, operating and capital. For the present, purchases of all capital assets whether for own use or for lease to others, either as a capital lease or as an operating lease should be reported Fin the appropriate place in Columns 1 or 2 Sections A and C. Assets acquired as a lessee through either a capital lease or operating lease from others should not be reported in these columns.

New assets acquired by means of a capital lease from others should not be included in Section A and C Columns 1 or 2.

The following applies to government departments only:

• grants and/or subsidies: to outside entities (e.g., municipalities, agencies, institutions orbusinesses), are not to be included
• departments are requested to exclude from reported figures budgetary items pertaining to any departmental agency and proprietary crown corporation as they are surveyed separately
• federal departments are to report expenditures paid for by their department, regardless of which department awarded the contract
• provincial departments are to include any capital expenditures on construction (exclude outlays for land) and/or machinery and equipment, for use in Canada, financed from revolving funds, loans attached torevolving funds, other loans, the Consolidated Revenue Fund or special accounts

Purchase of Used Canadian Assets (Column 2)

Definition: Used fixed assets may be defined as existing buildings, structures or machinery and equipment which have been previously used by another organization in Canada that you have acquired during the time period being reported on this questionnaire.

Explanation: The objective of our survey is to measure gross annual new acquisitions to fixed assets separately from the acquisition of gross annual used fixed assets in the Canadian economy as a whole.

Hence, the acquisition of a used fixed Canadian asset should be reported separately since such acquisitions would not change the aggregates of our domestic inventory of fixed assets, it would simply mean a transfer of assets within Canada from one organization to another.

Imports of used assets, on the other hand, should be included with the new assets (Column 1) because they are newly acquired for the Canadian economy.

Work in Progress:
Work in progress represents accumulated costs since the start of capital projects which are intended to be capitalized upon completion.

Typically capital investment includes any expenditure on an asset in which its’ life is greater than one year. Capital items charged to operating expenses are defined as expenditures which could have been capitalized as part of the fixed assets, but for various reasons, have been charged to current expenses.

Definitions

Land (Row 1)
Capital expenditures for land should include all costs associated with the purchase of the land that are not amortized or depreciated.

Residential Construction (Row 2)
Report the value of residential structures including the housing portion of multi-purpose projects and of townsites with the following Exceptions:

• buildings that have accommodation units without self-contained or exclusive use of bathroom and kitchen facilities (e.g., some student and senior citizen residences)
• the non-residential portion of multi-purpose projects and of townsites
• associated expenditures on services

The exceptions should be included in the appropriate construction (e.g., non-residential) asset.

Non-Residential Construction (Row 3) (excluding land purchase and residential construction)
Report the total cost incurred during the year of building and engineering construction (contract and by own employees) whether for your own use or rent to others. Include also:

• the cost of demolition of buildings, land servicing and of site-preparation
• leasehold and land improvements
• townsite facilities, such as streets, sewers, stores, schools
• oil or gas pipelines, including pipe and installation costs
• all preconstruction planning and design costs such as engineer and consulting fees and any materials supplied to construction contractors for installation, etc.

Machinery and Equipment (Row 4)
Report total cost incurred during the year of all new machinery, whether for your own use or for lease or rent to others. Any capitalized tooling should also be included. Include progress payments paid out before delivery in the year in which such payments are made. Receipts from the sale of your own fixed assets or allowance for scrap or trade-in should not be deducted from your total capital expenditures. Any balance owing or holdbacks should be reported in the year the cost is incurred.

Include:

• automobiles, trucks, professional and scientific equipment, office and store furniture and appliances
• computers (hardware and software), broadcasting, telecommunication and other information and communication technology equipment
• motors, generators, transformers
• any capitalized tooling expenses
• progress payments paid out before delivery in the year in which such payments are made
• any balance owing or holdbacks should be reported in the year the cost is incurred

Section B: Capacity Utilization (Manufacturing Companies only)

Capacity use (utilization) is calculated by taking the actual production level for an establishment (production can be measured in dollars or units) and dividing it by the establishment’s capacity production level.

Capacity production is defined as maximum production attainable under normal conditions.

To calculate capacity production, follow the establishment’s operating practices with respect to the use of productive facilities, overtime, workshifts, holidays, etc. For example, if your plant normally operates with one shift of eight hours a day five days a week then capacity will be calculated subject to these conditions and not on the hypothetical case of three shifts a day, seven days a week.

Example:
Plant “A” normally operates one shift a day, five days a week and given this operating pattern capacity production is 150 units of product “A” for the month. In that month actual production of product “A” was 125 units. The capacity utilization rate for plant “A” is (125/150) * 100 = 83%

Now suppose that plant “A” had to open a shift on Saturdays to satisfy an abnormal surge in demand for product “A”. Given this plant’s normal operating schedule, capacity production remains at 150 units. Actual production hasgrown to 160 units, so capacity utilization would be (160/150) * 100 = 107%.

Section D: Year over Year Variation of Capital Expenditures

Complete this section only if this report shows significant changes in Total capital expenditures over previous fiscal period. The intent of this section is to reduce possible further inquiries by clarifying the reason(s) for major changes in the capital expenditures reported.

If there has been a launch of a major project or expansion of an existing project, please provide the nature, location, and (if applicable) the name(s) / title(s) of the project in the comment section of the questionnaire.

The chart is a flow chart description of the Equalization certificate process, the parties involved in the certificate process and their roles during the process. It is set up in 3 columns. National Accounts Integration and Development Division (NAIDD) is labelled as the centre column and this division co-ordinates the certificate process. The outside left column is labelled as External Reviewers and the outside right column is labelled Data Supplying Divisions. The flow chart begins in the center column and the first box within the NAIDD column indicates that NAIDD requests data from DSDs using structured templates. From this point the process moves into the Data Supplying Divisions column. The first box in the DSD column shows that the DSDs prepare the data and from here the next step is then the internal quality assurance within the DSDs. From this step the data then are subject to the Director challenge and sign-off. The chart then shows that the completed templates are submitted back to NAIDD and this is illustrated with an arrow back into the centre column. At this point NAIDD conducts basic quality checks and then sends queries to DSDs based upon reviews. A bi-directional arrow between the NAIDD column and the Data Supplying Divisions column illustrates that queries and responses back to NAIDD may take place several times as the data are reviewed. The chart shows that as the certificate information is being finalized, NAIDD sends the certificate information for Work-in-Progress reviews. This is illustrated by the left column labelled External Reviewers. This movement into the External Reviewers column is labelled with a bi-directional arrow as Work-in-Progress reviews take place at different times. As these reviews are done NAIDD sends the external reviewer queries to the DSD who respond. This process continues bi-directionally until all reviews have been completed and all queries are adequately responded to. Work-in-Progress reviews that take place include: Focal point review in August, a first Department of Finance Review in September and a final Department of Finance review in November. Once all reviews have been completed and all queries responded to, the certificates are finalized and NAIDD obtains the Chief Statistician signature and finalized certificates are submitted to the Department of Finance by December 1.

Background

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the rate at which the prices of representative goods and services in a fixed consumer basket change over time. In order to accurately reflect changes in the market and in the behaviour of consumers, Statistics Canada periodically reviews and updates the concepts and methods applied to the various components of the CPI program.

The Travel Tours Index, part of the CPI, was updated with the September 2013 CPI release on October 18, 2013. The Travel Tours component accounts for 0.80% of the 2011 CPI basket by weight and belongs to the Recreation, education and reading index, which is a major component of the CPI.

Prior to this methodology review, the most popular holiday packages were priced according to travel agents’ records in three months of the year, from January to March. The index in other months carried forward the March value and did not change as no pricing was done in those months. The methodology review determined that a significant number of the most popular holiday packages change between March (which ends one collection period) and January (which begins the next collection period) for a given destination. This required a high rate of replacement of holiday packages in the pricing sample. Moreover, based on recent International Travel Survey results, it was clear that the nature of and level of expenditure on Canadians’ leisure trips abroad change significantly from season to season throughout the year.

The aims of this methodology review of the Travel Tours index were a reduction in the replacement rate during data collection and a more accurate reflection of the habits of consumers regarding the timing and nature of their holiday package trip purchases.

The Travel Tours Index Review

On October 18, 2013 with the release of the September 2013 CPI, the following changes were made to the index:

1. Pricing of holiday packages will occur every month so that the Travel Tours index better reflects the year-round pattern of travel tours purchases.
2. The sample of destinations was updated to better represent the most popular destinations of leisure trips purchased by Canadians. These destinations were identified using recent International Traveller Survey data (2005-2011). The destination regions  were extended from the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean to include European destinations; furthermore, two more U.S. destinations were added.
3. The pattern of pricing was changed to better reflect the time at which Canadians actually book their travel tours. Previously, prices were collected one month and four months prior to the departure date for each destination. This pattern was used to reflect the fact that consumers usually book and pay for their holiday packages ahead of time. This general strategy will be carried forward into the new methodology, with an important modification: an examination of booking patterns has indicated that it is better to collect prices two months in advance for American and Caribbean destinations and four months in advance for European destinations and cruise packages.
4. The outlet sample was reviewed and changed to be more representative of where consumers make their travel tour purchases. The new outlet sample is selected from Statistics Canada's Business Register (BR) from a target population of businesses classified by industry, using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS 2012) in code 561510 (Travel agencies).
5. The new outlet sample has increased in size. As before, an outlet sample of travel agencies is drawn from six major Canadian cities with an international airport. Holiday packages will also be priced through Internet databases to provide better coverage. For the Internet price collection, holiday packages will be selected separately from those chosen for travel agencies, allowing a much more diverse product sample to be used in the index calculation.

The updated methodology better reflects the changing consumption patterns and product characteristics of travel tours. It should be noted that the introduction of monthly pricing to a series that has previously been stationary for a large part of the year brings with it increased volatility. In particular, the indicators of change (either 1-month change or 12-month change) no longer remain at the same values for each of the months in the April to December period. Destinations and outlets are now updated more frequently. This regular update process is more effective in capturing changes to the products purchased by consumers, in a more timely fashion.