Longitudinal and International Study of Adults: Linkage to Personal Tax, Pension Plans in Canada and T1 Family Files
2011 National Household Survey Linkage to T1 Personal Income Tax and Canada Child Tax Benefit Files for the Income Question
Longitudinal Immigration Database Re-design and Updates, and Creation of a Linkage Control File
Census of Population and National Household Survey Linkage
Unmet Health Care Needs and Adverse Outcomes for Patients with Chronic Disease
2011 Farm Environmental Management Survey (FEMS): Linkage to the 2011 Census of Agriculture
Birth Outcomes and Infant Mortality among Children Born to Immigrant Mothers in Canada: Analysis of Linked Birth, Stillbirth and Mortality Data, 2001 to 2005-2006
Group Crime and Networks of Co-offenders: Linkage of the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, 1995 to 2010
Pension Coverage Study: Linkage of Pension Plans in Canada to Personal Income Tax Files
Apprenticeship Training and Labour Market Outcomes
Gross Flows of Workers Into and Out of Industries in Newfoundland and Labrador, 2000 to 2008
Longitudinal and International Study of Adults: Linkage to Personal Tax, Pension Plans in Canada and T1 Family Files
Purpose: The Longitudinal and International Study of Adults (LISA) is new annual voluntary, multi-topic, longitudinal, socioeconomic survey of households. LISA will contribute to understanding how major life experiences interact with each other and impact on educational, employment and financial outcomes.
The survey was designed to meet the key policy data needs of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada in the domains of education and training, family health, income and employment. The results will inform all levels of government as they develop services to better meet the challenges of Canada’s society and economy in the 21st century. Researchers, educators, learning institutions and organizations will also use the results of the survey to develop more-effective policies, services and programs for the people most in need.
By linking the LISA responses to personal tax and pension files, highly accurate income, employment and pension information will be obtained for each respondent. At the same time, response burden and respondent fatigue will be minimized. The linkages will add retrospective income and pension data which complement retrospective education, family and work information collected from respondents to the survey.
Description: LISA includes every member of a selected household. The information collected on the LISA survey will be linked to each household member’s T1 and T4 personal tax information, the Pension Plans in Canada (PPIC) database, and the T1 Family File (T1FF). Both retrospective and current data will be linked, for the duration of the LISA survey or until the respondent is no longer participating in the survey: T1 2010 onward; T4 1990 onward; PPIC 1998 onward; and T1FF 1982 onward.
Respondents to LISA will be notified of the planned linkage during the survey. Any respondents who object to the linkage will have their objection recorded and no linkage to their tax and pension data will take place.
Upon completion of the linkage, the respondents’ Social Insurance Numbers and other personal identifiers will be removed from the linked analysis file and retained in separate files, retained for the duration of LISA processing.
Output: Only aggregate statistics and analyses that conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada.
Access to the linking keys and files containing personal identifiers will be restricted to Statistics Canada employees whose assigned work activities require such access. These files will be retained until they are no longer required for the processing of the LISA survey, at which time they will be destroyed. The linked analysis file will be retained indefinitely.
The availability of the linked analysis file will be announced in The Daily. Research reports will be generated on topics such as family welfare, the financial security of seniors, and the economic outcomes of workers with varying educational and skill levels.
2011 National Household Survey Linkage to T1 Personal Income Tax and Canada Child Tax Benefit Files for the Income Question
Purpose: To obtain information on the income of respondents to the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS). The NHS requires detailed information on twelve different sources of income, total income, as well as income taxes paid, and accurate reporting requires that respondents consult their own personal records. Linking the NHS records to the T1 personal tax and Canada Child Tax Benefit files for those respondents who agreed to linkage reduces their response burden and improves the data quality. The NHS income data are used, among other data sources, to measure total income, after-tax income, disposable income and the Market-Basket Measure of low-income.
Description: For respondents who gave permission, information on income sources, total income and taxes paid is linked from their 2010 T1 personal income tax records and 2010 Canada Child Tax Benefit records to their responses to the NHS. No linkage occurs for NHS respondents who did not consent; those respondents were requested to complete the income question on the 2011 NHS questionnaire.
Output: Only aggregate statistical estimates and analyses conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act are released outside of Statistics Canada. The linked NHS, tax and CCTB information are used to produce income estimates for dissemination as part of the NHS product line. Outputs for the NHS include a wide range of analysis and standard data tables, as well as custom tabulations.
The linked NHS edit and imputation file will be retained indefinitely. The linking key file, containing personal identifiers, will be kept until June 2015, or until no longer required, at which time it will be destroyed. All files are password-protected and kept on a server in a secure area. Access to the linking keys and linked NHS edit and imputation file is restricted to Statistics Canada employees whose assigned work activities require such access.
Longitudinal Immigration Database Re-design and Updates, and Creation of a Linkage Control File
Purpose: The Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB) enables the federal and provincial governments involved in immigration issues and programs, as well as the research community and immigrant settlement agencies in Canada, to conduct research regarding the selection of immigrants, their settlement patterns and their economic integration into Canadian society.
The IMDB is the only source of data that can support research on the impact of immigration policy levers such as the category of admission, selection criteria and special admissions program, on economic outcomes, and is the only source of longitudinal data with a sufficient sample of immigrants to examine settlement trajectories and integration patterns over time and by characteristics at arrival and selection criteria.
To reduce linkage processing time and improve quality, a Linkage Control File containing over 35 million individuals' names, Social Insurance Numbers (SINs), dates of birth and other personal information will be constructed from linked personal tax information.
Description: An Immigrant file is constructed from Citizenship and Immigration Canada's (CIC) immigration and immigrant landing administrative files, as well as information from the Government of Quebec on selection of immigrants to that province. These files will cover the period 1980 to 2014. The Linkage Control File is constructed by linking the annual T1 Family Files (from individuals' tax returns and Canada Child Tax Benefit records) from 1982 onward until the 2014 processing year.
The Immigrant file is linked to the Linkage Control File to obtain SINs, then to the T1 Family File (T1FF) to obtain family, employer and income information. Once an individual immigrant's data have been successfully matched for the first time, the record will be retained in the IMDB and be matched annually to the T1FF.
The following information on non-immigrants will also be added to the IMDB: the number of non-immigrants in each immigrant's family, and the number of non-immigrants employed in the industry of each immigrant's employer.
Once these files have been linked, all names and SINs are removed from the IMDB analysis file and stored in a separate linking key file. The Linkage Control File is also stored separately from the IMDB analysis file. An immigration indicator and landing information are added annually to the Longitudinal Administrative Databank (LAD) analysis file maintained by Statistics Canada.
Output: Only aggregate statistics and analysis conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. These will be in the form of tables on income distribution, interprovincial mobility, industry of employment, and provincial indicators produced for CIC, as well as other federal and provincial organizations. On request, multivariate analyses and statistical tables will be produced from the IMDB analysis file for researchers. All access to the analysis file will be on Statistics Canada premises and will be restricted to only those employees and deemed employees of Statistics Canada whose assigned work duties require such access.
The IMDB analysis file, containing immigration data for 1980 to 2014 and T1FF information for 1982 to 2014, will be retained until at least July 2016. At that time, Policy Committee will be requested to review the IMDB linkage program, to assess its continued relevancy to immigration policy development. The IMDB linkage key file will also be retained until at least July 2016, to facilitate future updates to the IMDB analysis file, subject to Policy Committee approval. The immigration indicator and landing information are retained indefinitely on the LAD.
The Linkage Control File will be retained indefinitely and will be registered with the Treasury Board of Canada as a Personal Information Bank (PIB); the IMDB and the LAD are also registered as PIBs.
Census of Population and National Household Survey Linkage
Purpose: The Census of Population is designed to provide basic information about the demographic and social characteristics of all people living in Canada. The National Household Survey (NHS) complements the data collected on the Census by providing greatly detailed information on the demographic, social and economic characteristics of people in Canada, as well as providing information about the housing units in which they live, collected from a 33% sample of the population.
By linking the Census and the NHS, starting with the 2011 Census year, it will be possible to use available information from one survey to compensate for non-response to the other, as well as to maximise consistency of common Census and NHS demographic and language variables and, as a result, produce data of the highest possible quality.
Description: The responses to the 2011 Census of Population and the 2011 NHS will be matched for each household, using a geographical identifier which consists of province, census division, collection unit and visitation record line number. The responses to the 2011 Census from each person in a household will be matched to the NHS responses for the same household, using variables such as name, sex, date of birth, age and marital status to match the individual records. The only exception to this pertains to any cases in which Census respondents explicitly refused to complete a questionnaire; these cases will be excluded from the linkage process.
Demographic and language information from the 2011 NHS will be added to the 2011 Census database, and vice versa, to replace missing information.
Output: Only aggregate statistical estimates that conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. The linked information from the 2011 Census of Population and 2011 NHS will be used to produce estimates for dissemination as part of the product line from each survey. Outputs for the Census and the NHS will include a wide range of analysis and standard data tables, as well as custom tabulations.
The linked Census and NHS analysis databases for each census cycle will be retained indefinitely. For the 2011 Census cycle, the linking key file, containing unique frame identifiers, personal identifiers and a quality measure of the person-level linkage, will be kept until March 31, 2013, or until no longer required, at which time it will be destroyed. All files will be password-protected and kept on a server in a secure area. Access to the linking keys and linked analysis databases is restricted to Statistics Canada employees whose assigned work activities require such access.
Unmet Health Care Needs and Adverse Outcomes for Patients with Chronic Disease
Purpose: The specific objectives of this project are to:
- Determine if unmet health care needs amongst patients with chronic disease are associated with increased health resource use (number of all-cause and cause-specific hospitalizations, length of stay and hospital readmission rates).
- Determine the association between unmet health care needs and adverse health outcomes (all-cause and cause-specific hospitalizations, readmission, in-hospital mortality) among patients with chronic disease.
Description: A major objective of a public healthcare system is to identify more efficient and equitable methods to deliver treatment/care to those with chronic conditions. Despite the availability of effective treatments, many Canadians still do not receive optimal care for these conditions. This may be a result of a number of factors including reduced access to health services or barriers to care. The identification of potential barriers to care and determining if these barriers result in poor health outcomes have important implications when discussing strategies to optimize care and ultimately reduce health care costs amongst chronic disease populations.
The study requires that records of respondents to the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) be linked to hospitalization records. The files from cycle 1.1 (2000-2001), cycle 1.2 (2002), and cycle 2.1 (2003) of the CCHS have been linked to hospitalization records for the years 1994-1995 to 2002-2003. Only those records of survey respondents who granted consent to link their data were used in the linkage.
Individuals with chronic disease (including number and type) will be identified using CCHS data based on responses in the “Chronic Condition” module. Responses to questions related to unmet healthcare needs will identify those who have experienced barriers to care and those who have not. To assess the potential impact and outcomes of unmet needs, individuals will be “followed” over time using hospitalization records to assess hospital-related outcomes including all-cause hospitalization, disease-specific hospitalization and length of stay.
Output: The analysis is being conducted as part of research related to doctoral studies. The results will also be published in peer-reviewed journal articles.
2011 Farm Environmental Management Survey (FEMS): Linkage to the 2011 Census of Agriculture
Purpose: To provide current information on national agri-environmental conditions and risks, as well as on-farm beneficial management practices (BMPs). BMPs are farming practices which have been scientifically proven to reduce the impact of agricultural activities on soil and water resources while maintaining the economic viability of the industry.
Linkage of the 2011 Farm Environmental Management Survey (FEMS) to the 2011Census of Agriculture will enable analysis of the steps farms are taking to minimize the impact of farming on the environment.
The linkage will provide critical information for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)’s agri-environmental targets established under the Growing Forward Policy Framework. The linked data will be key inputs to AAFC’s National Agri-Environmental Health Analysis and Reporting Program which, through models, provides the agriculture industry, decision-makers and the Canadian public with information on the environmental performance of Canadian agriculture.
In addition, the linkage reduces the response burden on farmers, as information on farm operations and socio-economic variables collected on the Census of Agriculture will not be collected on the FEMS questionnaire.
Description: The 2011 FEMS will be linked to the 2011 Census of Agriculture, using the Farm Register number, to obtain information on farm operations, such as area farmed, number of livestock, expenditures for fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides and fungicides, and socio-economic factors. Once the linkage is complete, all direct identifiers, including name, address, telephone number and Farm Register number, will be removed from the linked analysis file.
Output: 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. Aggregate statistics will be produced from the linked analysis file by Statistics Canada for AAFC and other clients. Findings will be published in Statistics Canada’s research papers and survey reports and by AAFC.
The linked analysis file, stripped of identifiers, will be retained indefinitely by Statistics Canada.
Birth Outcomes and Infant Mortality among Children Born to Immigrant Mothers in Canada: Analysis of Linked Birth, Stillbirth and Mortality Data, 2001 to 2005-2006
Purpose: To provide a profile of perinatal health, by analysis of birth weight, length of gestation and infant mortality, among children born to immigrant mothers in Canada, in comparison to the children of Canadian-born mothers. The individual and neighborhood characteristics associated with various birth outcomes and infant mortality will be assessed in order to identify risk factors for adverse outcomes.
Description: The analysis file contains the results of five annual linkages, commencing with linkage of the 2001 Canadian Birth Database (CBDB) to the records of infant deaths (that is, deaths of children under age 1 year) in the 2001-2002 Canadian Mortality Database (CMDB), and of each subsequent data year, finishing with linkage of the 2005 CBDB to the 2005-2006 CMDB. Data from the 2001 to 2005 Canadian Stillbirth Database have also been added to the linked birth/mortality file.
The final birth/mortality analysis file contains linked birth/infant mortality records and stillbirth records, as well as birth records which did not link to an infant death. All direct personal identifiers and addresses were removed from the analysis file and stored in a separate linkage key file following completion of the linkage. Coded Census Dissemination Area/Enumeration Area is the lowest level of geography on the linked analysis file. Each record includes a random Statistics Canada identification number.
Output: Only aggregate statistics and analytical output conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. Access to the linkage key file is restricted to Statistics Canada employees whose work activities require such access. Results of this study will be communicated through publication in peer-reviewed journals, including Statistics Canada's Health Reports.
The results of this Canadian research will be compared with similar research on immigrant and non-immigrant groups in the United States and other OECD countries (for example, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain). The linked analysis file and linkage key file will be retained until December 2012, at which time they will be destroyed.
Group Crime and Networks of Co-offenders: Linkage of the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, 1995 to 2010
Purpose: To quantify the prevalence of group crime and networks of co-offenders involved in criminal activity in Canada. The research will provide information on the characteristics of group crime and networks of co-offenders, including the extent to which co-offending groups are organized entities or transient opportunistic phenomena, and the involvement of younger, less experienced offenders in co-offending with older, more experienced offenders. Escalation of the frequency and seriousness of criminal activity will also be examined. Research on patterns of group crime and criminal networks is a major interest of members of the National Justice Statistics Initiative, and the findings will enable them to better formulate crime prevention policies and programs.
Description: This will be the first large-scale study in Canada of group crime and the development of co-offending networks over time. For each individual who had at least one police-reported criminal offence, records in the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR2) will be linked across reference years 1995 to 2010. Upon completion of the linkage, the linking keys will be removed from the linked analysis file and replaced by randomly-generated study identifiers.
Output: Only aggregate statistics and analyses conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. Access to the linking keys and linked analysis file will be restricted to Statistics Canada employees whose assigned work activities require such access.
The results of the linkage will be announced in The Daily in the form of a technical report or as part of the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics’ Juristat publication series. Findings may also be reported by the researchers in the form of conference presentations and scholarly publications.
Statistics Canada will retain the linked analysis file until March 31, 2015, or until no longer required, at which time the linked analysis file will be destroyed.
Pension Coverage Study: Linkage of Pension Plans in Canada to Personal Income Tax Files
Purpose: An aging population has placed the Canadian retirement income system under intense scrutiny. Employer pensions can be key to the economic security of retired Canadians, and have important impacts on the functioning of the Canadian economy and the stability of the financial system. Pension reform has emerged as a topic of heightened interest on the public policy agenda, both in Canada and elsewhere in the world. Key questions in the recent pension reform debate focus on pension coverage and the potential erosion of the Canadian defined-benefit pension system in favour of defined-contribution arrangements. Statistics on pension plan terms and conditions are critical to shed light on the debate, as is an understanding of pension coverage of the Canadian population.
This linkage project combines information on pension plan characteristics with individual members’ socioeconomic information, which will enable research that is currently not possible. Among the key policy questions that can be addressed with the linked database is: Do members of registered pension plans have the same socioeconomic characteristics as non-members?
In addition to addressing this and other key research questions, the linkage will improve the quality of the Canadian employer pension statistics and enhance coherence between data sources.
Description: The Pension Plans in Canada database and the T1 Family File will be linked via the T4 (Statement of Remuneration Paid) file, which contains both the pension plan registration number and employees’ Social Insurance Numbers (SIN). Records from both pension plan members and non-members will be retained on the linked file. The linkage will commence with data from the 2008 tax year and be repeated annually on an indefinite basis.
Random study identification numbers will be attached to each record in the pension coverage analysis file, to replace the pension plan registration numbers and SIN. These identifiers will be stored on a separate linking key file, to enhance privacy protection. This will facilitate annual updates to the pension coverage analysis file, enabling the file to be used for both cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis.
Output: The linked pension coverage analysis file will be used to research pension coverage in the Canadian population and to evaluate and improve the quality of data on pension plans. Only aggregate statistics and analysis conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. The linked pension coverage analysis file and linking key file will be retained indefinitely by Statistics Canada, until no longer required, at which time they will be destroyed.
Apprenticeship Training and Labour Market Outcomes
Purpose: To assess the economic returns to former apprentices of their training. Earnings outcomes and employment stability will be compared for those who completed an apprenticeship program, those who discontinued their participation in such training, and those who qualified for trade certification without enrolling in an apprenticeship training program.
Existing shortages in the skilled trades are expected to worsen as retirements of skilled tradespersons increase in Canada’s aging population. The Training and Apprenticeship Division of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship will conduct research to fill the knowledge gap on the returns to apprenticeship training and how that training can be improved, as well as the impact of the Red Seal Interprovincial Standards Program for skilled trades. The research results may be used to strengthen the design of apprenticeship training programs, ensuring that they meet the labour market needs of apprentices, employers and industry.
Description: The study cohort will be constructed from information on apprentices who responded to the 2007 National Apprenticeship Survey, as well as from records in the Registered Apprenticeship Information System (RAIS) for reporting years 2002 to 2004 and 2008. The RAIS will also provide information on trade qualifiers for the same reporting years. The records of apprenticeship completers, discontinuers and trade qualifiers in the cohort will be linked to the 2002 to 2009 T1 Family File (T1FF) and the 2002 to 2009 Longitudinal Immigration Database to create a longitudinal analysis database of former apprentices. Only data on apprentices and trade qualifiers that match to the T1FF will be retained on the linked analysis file; unmatched records will be discarded.
Output: The output will be a linked apprenticeship analysis file that contains apprenticeship training and demographic information, trade, immigration information, and earnings, employment, mobility, charitable donations and receipt of social assistance or workers compensation payments. Only aggregate statistics and analysis conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada.
All direct personal identifiers and linking keys will be removed from the linked analysis file once linkage has been completed by Statistics Canada employees. Access to the direct personal identifiers, linking keys, and the linked analysis file will be restricted to Statistics Canada employees whose assigned work activities require access. The linked analysis file will be retained by Statistics Canada until at least September 2016, or until no longer required, at which time it will be destroyed.
Gross Flows of Workers Into and Out of Industries in Newfoundland and Labrador, 2000 to 2008
Purpose: To estimate the supply of workers in the Newfoundland and Labrador labour market, particularly the replacement demand, that is, the workers needed to replace those who are no longer employed in the province. The focus will be on three groups: stayers (workers employed in the same industry for one or more years), leavers (workers who leave the labour market or industry) and entrants (workers entering the labour market, including those returning to the workforce).
Description: The annual T1 Family File (T1FF) records of tax-filers who lived in Newfoundland and Labrador for at least one year from 2000 to 2008 will be selected for this research study. The T1FF records will be linked over this period using Social Insurance Numbers (SIN) to produce a longitudinal analysis file. All direct identifiers, including the SINs, will be removed from the analysis file following completion of the linkage.
The linkage and analysis will be conducted by Statistics Canada staff on the agency’s premises.
Output: Only aggregate statistics and analysis conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. Research findings will be used by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to enhance their labour market policies. To support on-going analysis, the linked analysis file will be retained at Statistics Canada until April 30, 2013, at which time it will be destroyed.