2014 submissions

Extension of retention period; 2013 General Social Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participating: linking tax data from the T1 Personal File, T1 Family File and T4 Summary and Supplementary file. (047-2014)

Purpose: This amendment to the previously approved record linkage 045-2013. There is no change to the proposal other than the extension of the retention period.

The General Social Survey (GSS) program, established in 1985, conducts telephone surveys from a sample selected across the 10 provinces (excluding the Territories). The GSS is recognized for its regular collection of cross-sectional data that allows for trend analysis, and its capacity to test and develop new concepts that address emerging issues. Each year the GSS focuses on a different topic, such as family, victimization, social support and aging, and time use. A specific topic is usually repeated approximately every 5 years. The 2013 GSS will focus on Giving, Volunteering and Participating (GVP).

The 2013 GSS on GVP is the fifth iteration of a series of surveys that began with the 1997 National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (NSGVP). This survey is the result of a unique partnership of federal government departments and non-profit and voluntary organizations that includes Imagine Canada, Canadian Heritage, Health Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Statistics Canada and Volunteer Canada.

Previous iterations were overseen by the Special Surveys Division. The survey is now developed and conducted by the Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division. This survey is an important source of information on Canadian contributory behaviour, including giving, volunteering and participating.

By linking the 2013 GSS on GVP responses to personal tax files of respondents, and the tax files of all household members, more accurate income (personal and household), and claimed tax credits for charitable donations information will be obtained for respondents. At the same time, response burden will be minimized, and collection, data processing, and testing costs will be reduced.

Description: The 2013 GSS on GVP is a sample based survey with a cross-sectional design. Telephone surveys are conducted through computer assisted telephone interviews from a sample selected across the 10 Canadian provinces.

By linking data, we are aiming to obtain better quality data for income (personal and household) and tax credit information claimed for charitable donations.

Questions relating to income show rather high non-response rates, the incomes reported by respondents are usually rough estimates and donor imputation is used for partial and item non-response.

Since respondents do not always complete their own tax reports, it can be difficult for them to remember if they claimed a tax credit in their most recent tax report. Linking will allow getting such information without having to ask questions.

The information collected during the 2013 GSS on GVP will be linked to the personal tax records (T1, T1FF or T4) of respondents, and tax records of all household members.

Respondents will be notified of the planned linkage before and during the survey. Any respondents who object to the linkage of their data will have their objections recorded, and no linkage to their tax data will take place.

Output: The availability of the 2013 GSS on GVP analytical data file will be announced in The Daily. The analysis file will be made available to Statistics Canada researchers, and to deemed employees at the Statistics Canada Research Data Centres. All data will remain confidential and protected under the Statistics Act.

Along with the availability announcement of the analytical data file (in The Daily), only non-confidential aggregate statistics will be released.

Amendment for an extension of the Retention Period for BC Venture Capital Data, Industry Canada: The Impact of Angel Investment on Company Performance (054-2014)

Purpose: This project investigates the association between venture capital and angel investments (individuals that invest their own money in other people's businesses) and business performance in order to inform federal and provincial policy.

Description: This project investigates the extent to which risk capital investment is associated with improved business performance. The sample of risk-capital backed companies comes from three sources: (1) companies that have received investment as part of British Columbia's Venture Capital Program, which provides tax credits to encourage the investment of risk capital in small businesses; (2) National Angel Capital Organization Surveys of Angel Group Investments; and (3) venture-capital backed companies identified by Thomson One. These data are linked to financial and employment information maintained at Statistics Canada, and a database that identifies companies supported by the Industrial Research Assistance Program, to assess the performance of these risk capital back companies relative to the general firm population.

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. The information will be presented in the form of separate summary tables of regression analysis results relating to the impact of venture capital and angel investment on company performance, in addition to profiling tables.

Records from the BC Venture Capital Program and associated linkage keys will be destroyed on March 31, 2016. The linked analysis file, without the BC Venture Capital Program data, will be retained until no longer required, up to, November 15, 2021, at which time it will be destroyed. All direct business identifiers will be removed from the analysis file once linkage is complete, and placed in a separate linkage key file. The linkage key file, without the linkage keys for BC Venture Capital Program, will be retained until at least November 15, 2021 at which time it will be destroyed.

Longitudinal and International Study of Adults: Linkage to the Longitudinal Immigrant Database Landing File component (077-2014)

Purpose: To improve the quality of the data collected for the survey and to reduce response burden and survey costs.

The LISA is a voluntary, multi-topic, longitudinal, socioeconomic survey of households. The survey was designed to meet the key policy data needs of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) 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 respondents to the IMDB Landing File component, data from the time of immigration will be obtained for immigrant respondents. At the same time, response burden and respondent fatigue will be minimized. The linkage will add data which complements the education, family, work and income information collected.

Description: LISA includes every member of a selected household. The information collected on the LISA survey will be linked to each household member's IMDB Landing information when it exists. The data will be linked for the duration of the LISA survey (which has no pre-determined number of collection waves), or until the respondent is no longer participating in the survey.

Respondents to LISA are currently informed of potential for future linkages. Any respondents who object to the linkage will have their objection recorded and no linkage to the IMDB will take place.

Output: The linked file, with all personal identifiers removed, will be maintained, stored and retained in a secure location by ISD. This file will be retained indefinitely. A separate linking key file containing personal identifiers used in the administrative file linkage will be held in a different, secure location, and retained until the completion of processing of the final wave of the survey, after which it will be destroyed.

All information released outside of Statistics Canada will conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act.

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) – Update of Business Performance Evaluation Report (2015): (082-2014)

Purpose: To assess the effectiveness of ACOA's programs and activities and the usefulness of the Agency's efforts to assist small and medium-sized enterprises, and to determine more effective means of providing assistance to this business community. ACOA assists businesses by providing loans, as well as a broad range of programs and services, for purposes of establishing, expanding, or modernizing businesses, and for the development of human resources. Information resulting from the linkage will be used by ACOA to measure the performance of businesses which received financial assistance under the Agency's programs, and compare it to the performance of other firms in the Atlantic region. Employment dynamics, businesses entering and exiting, selected financial statistics, as well as measures of labour productivity will be analyzed. Findings from this assessment may be used by ACOA to improve assistance to businesses.

Description: A list of ACOA-assisted businesses will be linked to the following files: 2002 to 2012 Business Register, 2012 vintage Longitudinal Employment Analysis Program (LEAP) file, 2002 to 2012 Corporate Tax-General Index of Financial Information (GIFI), and 2002 to 2012 Research and Development in Canadian Industry database. The files will be linked using the Business Number (BN), Statistical Enterprise Number (SNUM) and the legal/operating name.

Output: Only non-confidential aggregate statistical outputs and analysis that conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. These will be in the form of statistical tables at the business sector and business size level for Atlantic Canada; as well, research and development estimates will be produced at the Canada level. ACOA will publish these results in their annual performance report to Parliament, which will be available on the ACOA website, and in research studies on topics such as entrepreneurial start-ups, employment patterns and growth in Atlantic Canada.

Community Futures Program's (CF) Regional Economic Contribution: Linkage of Client List to Business Tax and Employment Data, 2007 to 2012 (083-2014)

Purpose: To provide statistical information to support the assessment of the effectiveness of the Community Futures Program in assisting small- and medium-sized enterprises, by comparing the performance of enterprises that received financial assistance under the program to the performance of other unassisted enterprises in the same region. This information will be used by the regional development agencies (RDAs) which manage the CF programs to determine more effective means of providing assistance to their clients. Employment dynamics, enterprises entering and exiting, selected financial statistics, as well as measures of employment will be analyzed. Findings from this evaluation may be used by the regional agencies to improve assistance to enterprises.

Description: A list and updated lists of enterprises assisted by the Community Futures Program will be linked to the following files: 2007 to 2012 Business Register; 2007 to 2012 vintage Longitudinal Employment Analysis Program database (LEAP); and reference years 2007 to 2012 of the General Index of Financial Information (GIFI). Unassisted enterprises will also be linked to these files to provide comparative data.

Output: The outputs released outside of Statistics Canada will be non-confidential aggregate statistics and analyses that conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act. The information will be presented in the form of statistical tables, broken down by RDA region, industry sector and enterprise size.

The linked analysis file, containing the linkage keys and identifiers, will be retained until March 31, 2019, or until no longer required, at which time it will be destroyed.

Linkage of the 2013 General Social Survey (GSS) Cycle 27, Social Identity, and the Longitudinal Immigrant Database (090-2014)

Purpose: A record linkage between the 2013 General Social Survey (GSS) on Social Identity and the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) Longitudinal Immigrant Database (IMDB) would permit analysis of social outcomes (such as civic participation) of immigrants to Canada by entrance characteristics such as admission category (e.g. refugee, family class, etc.). The results from this record linkage would be used by Citizenship and Immigration Canada to support and evaluate immigrant policies and programs.

Description: The General Social Survey (GSS) on Social Identity provides detailed information on the social and civic integration of immigrants and ethno-cultural minorities into Canadian society. The Longitudinal Immigrant Database (IMDB) provides information on immigrants to Canada from 1980–2012 such as admission category and Low Income Measures.

The record linkage between the Landing File and the 2013 General Social Survey employed a hierarchical deterministic record linkage program developed by HSMD for the IMDB.

Only GSS respondents will be maintained for this record linkage.

Output: Only non-confidential aggregate statistical estimates that conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. Outputs for the Longitudinal Immigrant Database (IMDB) and the General Social Survey (GSS) on Social Identity linkage will include a collection of cross-tabulations between these two sources.

The linkage results including variables used to perform the record linkage such as personal identifiers and information used to measure the linkage quality will be destroyed by March 31, 2016 (or sooner if no longer required). All files will be kept on a server in a secure area. Access to these files is restricted to Statistics Canada employees and deemed employees of Statistics Canada whose assigned work activities require such access.

Examination of Sentencing Trends for Drug Offences (093-2014)

Purpose: The objective of this project is to link records from the UCR2 Survey and the ICCS to examine court case processing and outcomes for drug-related crime. This linkage will allow us to match police-reported incident records, including type of substance, with the corresponding charge records from the courts data. The reference period used for this linkage will be from 2008/2009 to 2011/12 for the ICCS and 2007 through 2012 for the UCR.

This record linkage project will contribute to the public good by increasing the confidence of the general public, as well as the police, the academic and justice communities in the measures of crime in Canada. Further, it is in the public interest to better understand if and how the consequences of being convicted of drug offences differs according to the type of drug involved.

Description: The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics is undertaking a project on drug-related offences in Canada, including the processing of drug offences by the courts.

The study will look at the outcome of drug-related charges laid by police services and processed in Canada's criminal courts. The information examined includes the decisions handed down by the courts; the average processing time (from the appearance to the conviction); the type and length of sentences imposed; and the aggravating or mitigating factors considered in determining the sentence (type of substance, type of offence, type of plea, age of offender, etc.).

As drug offences by specific drug types can at present only be identified through police-reported records, the proposed linkage will allow their identification in courts data.

Output: A data file will be produced containing court-based charge information with the imputed UCR2 violation code. Results of analysis of this file will be published in a Juristat Article (and accompanying article in The Daily) entitled Drug-related crime in Canada (scheduled for release in 1st quarter 2015). This report is intended to provide information on sentencing trends and patterns for drug-related offences by specific type of drug. A discussion of the results of this record linkage, including relevant methodology and record linkage considerations, will be included. Composite or linked files will be retained until no longer required, up to, March 31st, 2020, at which point they will be destroyed, in order for the file to be available for reference the next time a Juristat article examining trends in drug-related offences is published.

Linkage of the Census of Population 2006 to the Discharge Abstract Database, the Canadian Mortality Database and the Landing File for Purposes of the Longitudinal Health and Administrative Data (LHAD) Initiative (088-2014)

Purpose: To meet the requirements of the LHAD Initiative Research Agenda, the Census of Population 2006 (2a and 2b) will be linked to the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD), the Canadian Mortality Database (CMDB) and the Landing File (LF) to investigate the hospitalization patterns among: 1) Aboriginal groups; 2) immigrant groups; and 3) older adults. As well, there will be an assessment of the validity of the linked file for use in health services research.

As hospitals comprise the single largest share of all healthcare expenditures and costs continue to rise, understanding their patterns of use is critical. In particular, better understanding of the patterns of use among key sub-groups such as Aboriginal peoples and immigrants, who otherwise cannot be identified in administrative data, could assist policy makers in identifying groups at high risk for hospitalizations including those risks that are potentially modifiable via adaptive health services, public promotion, and prevention strategies.

Furthermore, given the richness of the Census data, the data will provide a first ever look at the potential differences in use among Aboriginal groups living on and not on reserve. This is critical information for health care planners, including those at the Federal level, responsible for the delivery of services to these communities.

Similarly, the linked data will provide a unique opportunity to investigate the critical differences of health services use patterns by country and region of birth, time since immigration, generational status and admission category (e.g. refugees). Policy makers require information on the utilization patterns of immigrants by all dimensions to inform their decision making.

Finally, better understanding the socio-demographic characteristics of older adults being hospitalized in acute care facilities, over and above the clinical factors related to their hospitalization, could inform policy makers on the need for more adaptive services outside of hospitals and inform healthcare planners on the potential resource load based on the demographic characteristics of the population they serve.

Description: The Census of Population 2006 (2a and 2b) will be linked to the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD), 2004/2005 to 2009/2010, the Canadian Mortality Database (CMDB), 2006 to 2010 and to the Landing File, 1980 to 2011.

The linked Census/DAD/CMDB/LF file will contain only those data items required to conduct the studies. All direct personal identifiers and addresses are removed from the analysis file. Personal identifiers used for linkage purposes, such as name, death registration number and health insurance number, are stored in separate files.

Output: The linked Census/DAD/CMDB/LF file will remain within Statistics Canada. All access to the linked microdata file will be restricted to Statistics Canada staff whose work activities require access. Only aggregate data that conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. Research papers based on analyses of the linked data will be submitted for publication in the Statistics Canada peer-reviewed quarterly, Health Reports, as well as in medical or epidemiological journals or released as a working paper in the Health Research Working Paper Series.

The linked analysis file will be retained until December 31, 2018, or until no longer required by Statistics Canada, at which point the continued retention of the file will be reviewed.

Canadian Forces Mental Health Survey (CFMHS) – 2013: Linkage to obtain information on Canadian Forces members' deployment history and medication use (055-2013)

Purpose: The CFMHS is a voluntary survey undertaken on behalf of the Department of National Defence (DND) of both regular members of the Canadian Forces and Reservists who have previously been deployed in support of Canada's mission in Afghanistan. Data collection began April 15th, 2013 and concluded August 30th, 2013. The survey was designed to meet the key policy data needs of the Directorate of Mental Health outlined by the Canadian Forces Health Services Group at DND.

The objectives of this survey are:

  • To assess the mental health status and functioning of CF members on both illness and positive mental health continuums through selected mental disorders, mental health problems, and well-being;
  • To assess timely, adequate, and appropriate access to and utilization of formal and informal mental health services and supports as well as perceived needs;
  • To evaluate changes in patterns of mental health and service use;
  • To evaluate the mental health impact of the CF work environment and deployments.

The objective of the linkage is to enhance response information from the Canadian Forces Mental Health Survey (CFMHS) with additional information provided by the Department of National Defence (DND) on deployment history and medication use contained in administrative files. By linking CFMHS responses to administrative records, the accuracy of deployment records and drug identification numbers will be high.

Description: This project involves two key record linkages. The proposed record linkage activities would permit the study on the effects of deployment on mental health as well as medication use. The linkages would consist of:

  • CFMHS Master file linked to Canadian Forces members' deployment history.
    These administrative data have been compiled by DND using their Central Computerized Pay System (CCPS) data and Canadian Forces Planning, Tasks and Operations (CFPO) system data. The CCPS data would only be used to determine length of deployment history. No income/wage data would be made available. The CFPO data would be used to determine if and where a deployment took place. If a deployment occurred, the month and year of departure as well as the total number of days deployed for each deployment will be linked.
  • CFMHS Master file linked to Canadian Forces Pharmacy System.
    This would be done using medication use data supplied by DND. Data would be grouped using a classification of medications previously approved for the 2012 Mental Health component of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). For each of 17 medication groups, DND would provide an indicator of usage as follows: 0 = No use of the medication for the past 12 months (prior to interview date); 1 = Usage in the past 12 months but no current use; 2 = Current use.

Output: The output of the linkage will be a linked analysis file containing all of the CFMHS variables, as well as the above noted deployment and medication information. Only non-confidential aggregate statistics and analyses conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada.

The availability of the linked CFMHS file will be announced in The Daily and made available to researchers at Statistics Canada's Research Data Centres.

Census of Agriculture Linkage to Taxation Data (064-2014)

Purpose: The Census of Agriculture and taxation data linkage will provide additional information to validate (and impute if necessary) total farm revenues and expenses, and to improve data quality of data in other parts of the questionnaire. Another application of the taxation data will be to identify new farms (“births” units) that had filed a tax declaration with Canada Revenue Agency but were not yet present on the most up-to-date version of the Business Register prior to Census of Agriculture day.

The proposed linkage builds on the feasibility study undertaken for the linkage the of 2011 Census of Agriculture and taxation data. The feasibility study showed that by using taxation data in place of farmers' responses to the Census of Agriculture questionnaire in production, Statistics Canada would be able to significantly reduce their response burden.

Description: Statistics Canada will link farm business taxation data from the Statement of Farming Activities of T1 and T3 taxfilers and the income statement and balance sheet information for T2 filers, as well as the T4 Summary report, to the Censuses of Agriculture, starting with the 2014 Census of Agriculture Test.

Output: Linkage results of the 2016 Census of Agriculture may be disseminated. The linkage will be use to validate total farm revenue and expenses, other content associated with these expense variables, and to identify new farms.

Upon project approval from the Treasury Board Secretariat, a new record linkage application for 2021 and beyond will seek approval to disseminate detailed farm operating expenses, delivering high-quality taxation replacement data.

Statistics Canada will retain the Census of Agriculture years and the Census of Agriculture Test years linked analysis files until no longer required, up to 3 years after linkage, at which time they will be destroyed.

Creation of a Derived Record Depository and Key Registry for the Purposes of the Social Data Linkage Environment (085-2014)

Purpose: The Social Data Linkage Environment (SDLE) builds on past record linkage experience to make possible a program of pan-Canadian socio-economic record linkage research. A well structured and regulated program of record linkage will increase the relevance of existing Statistics Canada surveys; substantially increase the use of administrative data; facilitate the integration of data from various social domains, such as health, education, justice and income thereby increasing the ability to analyse the impact of social determinants from any of these domains to the outcomes in other domains; reduce the burden on survey respondents by re-using already collected data; and maintain the highest data privacy and security standards.

A Derived Record Depository (DRD) and separate Key Registry will be created to reduce privacy risks and to improve the efficiency and quality of the linkages.

Statistics Canada has responsibility for securely storing and processing data files and for the production of analysis files needed to carry out approved research studies. SDLE research projects will involve the use of linked records, and in accordance with Statistics Canada's Directive on Record Linkage, approval by the Chief Statistician is required for each new linkage project.

Description: The DRD is created by linking various Statistics Canada data files for the purpose of producing a list of unique individuals. Each individual in the DRD is assigned an anonymous SDLE identifier. The identifier is randomly assigned and has no value outside of the SDLE. Some of the data files used for the DRD include the Census of Population and National Household Survey, T1 Personal Master Files (Tax), Canadian Child Tax Benefits files, Vital Statistics - Birth Database, Vital Statistics – Death Database, the Landed Immigrant File and the Indian Registry. Future updates to these files will be used for further updates to the DRD.

The DRD would initially be comprised of the following personal identifiers: Surnames; Given names; Date of birth; Sex; Marital status; Date of landing/immigration; Date of emigration; Date of death; Social Insurance Numbers (SIN), Temporary Taxation Numbers (TTN), Dependant Identification Numbers (DIN); Spouse's SIN/TTN; Dependant/Disabled individual SIN/TTN/DIN; Parent SIN/TTN; Health Information Numbers; Addresses; Address Registry Unique Identifier; Standard Geography Classification codes; Telephone numbers; Spouses' surname; Mother's surname; Father's surname; Alternate surname and a Statistics Canada generated sequential identification number for each individual identified through the annual DRD linkage process. Access to the DRD will be restricted to the Statistics Canada employees responsible for its development and maintenance.

Linkage of the DRD to administrative and survey databases held by Statistics Canada will be performed in a dedicated social domain record linkage environment (the “SDLE”). To ensure a high level of data security and privacy, the association of Statistics Canada-generated identification numbers from the DRD and the administrative and survey database Record Identifiers will be stored in a separate Key Registry, thus avoiding the need to store survey data with personal identifiers. For analytical studies, the associated SDLE Identifiers and the Record Identifiers will be used to link an individual's records within and among the databases in the SDLE. All such analytical studies will require prior linkage approval from Statistics Canada's Executive Management Board. Access to the Key Registry will be restricted to the Statistics Canada employees responsible for its development and maintenance and those responsible for the creation of linked analysis data files.

The Key Registry will contain linkage keys to permit linkage for approved studies to data files held at Statistics Canada. Some of these files include but are not limited to:

  • T1 Personal Master Files;
  • Canadian Child Tax Benefits files;
  • Longitudinal Immigration Database;
  • Vital Statistics - birth and death databases;
  • Sample portion of Census of Population (1991 onward);
  • National Household Survey (2011 onward);
  • National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth;
  • Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada;
  • Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics;
  • Youth in Transition Survey;
  • National Population Health Survey;
  • T1 Family File;
  • Clinical administrative databases (inpatient and outpatient hospital records, 1992 onward);
  • Canadian Cancer Registry;
  • Canadian Community Health Survey (all cycles);
  • Canadian Health Measures Survey (all cycles).

Output: No information from the DRD will be released outside of Statistics Canada. The DRD and Key Registry will be used exclusively to support the development of research files within the SDLE. Statistics Canada will retain the DRD and Key Registry files until it is determined that there is no further need for them.

Research projects will be approved on a study-by-study basis. These may be carried out as part of a research agenda initiated by Statistics Canada or in response to client requests. A summary of each approved study will be posted on the Statistics Canada web site.

Longitudinal Apprentices and Trades Qualifiers Database (065-2014)

Purpose: This initiative will create a set of linkable data files containing information on individuals enrolled in apprenticeship programs in Canada since 2002. The linkable data files will be used to examine issues pertaining to the completion of apprenticeship programs and the mobility and outcomes of apprentices and trades qualifiers.

Description: The sample for the linkage data files is comprised of individuals who were enrolled in apprenticeship programs, including trades qualifiers. Socio-demographic information on individuals, the apprenticeship program in which they are registered, and their status in the program, will be drawn from the Registered Apprenticeship Information System (RAIS) for the years from 2002 onward. This information will be linked to various administrative data bases. Specifically, job-level information will be drawn from the T4 file, individual-level information from the T1 Family File, T1 Personal Master File, T1 Historical File, T4E file, Employment Insurance Status Vector file, Record of Employment file, and Longitudinal Immigration Data file, and firm-level information from the Longitudinal Employment Analysis Program.

Business Numbers and SINs will be transformed into unique identifiers that will remain on the linkable files to facilitate longitudinal analyses. All Business Numbers (BNs), Social Insurance Numbers (SINs) and personal identifiers will be removed from the analytical files and stored in a separate location accessible only to Statistics Canada employees whose job duties require them to access this information.

Output: Methodological and analytical findings resulting from these linked data will be used to prepare research papers for publication in analytical reports, peer-reviewed scientific journals, CANSIM, for presentation at conferences, workshops and meetings.

Only aggregate statistics and analysis conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada.

Longitudinal and International Study of Adults: Business Register Linkage (044-2014)

Purpose: To improve the quality of the data collected for the survey and to reduce response burden and survey costs.

The Longitudinal and International Study of Adults (LISA) currently captures North-American Industrial Coding Sytem (NAICS) code for the primary employer of respondents who are currently employed, and for the most recent employer of respondents who are not currently employed.

The linkage of NAICS codes from the Business Register to LISA T4 data would improve the amount of data available on a respondent's industry of work when compared to their T4 information, as it would provide NAICS codes for all employers, rather than just the most recent employer.

The linkages will add retrospective data on industry of employment for all paid work for which respondents receive a T4, which complements retrospective education, family and work already collected in the survey.

Description: Data linkages will be made for all respondents (excluding those who object to the linkage statement). Business Number (BN), the legal name of the business, a flag indicating if the business has multiple operations/locations/provinces, the province(s) of operation, NAICS code(s), and the legal code (indicating the primary industry of the business) for all employers will be retrieved from the Business Register file.

A linkage will be made to T4 data for each collection year of the survey, and all previous calendar years going back to 2000. Only Statistics Canada employees directly involved in data processing in Income Statistics Division (ISD) will have access to the annual files and the linking key file containing personal identifiers.

Output: The linked file will be outputted as a microdata file (all personal and business identifiers will be removed) and will be maintained, stored and retained in a secure location by ISD. This file will be retained indefinitely. A separate linking key file containing personal and business identifiers used in the administrative file linkage will be held in a different, secure location, and retained for as long until it is no longer needed for the processing of the survey data, after which it will be destroyed. All information released outside of Statistics Canada will conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act.

Re-contact with the Saskatchewan justice system (052-2014)

Purpose: To determine the types of unique information required to create and support high quality indicators of re-contact within and across three criminal justice sectors. Whereas “contact” is defined as a documented official intervention (e.g. charge) against a person by a criminal justice agency/organization, a “re-contact” is defined as a subsequent contact signifying a new, official intervention by the agency/organization during a specified follow-up period.

The project will attempt to establish baseline metrics on re-contact with the justice system which can serve as a comparison group for assessing the impact of policies and programs which may be implemented in a particular jurisdiction. It will also provide the potential to be able to track emerging patterns of re-contact which may appear to be unique within a jurisdiction at a local level yet are more systematic in nature when evaluated at a higher level (e.g. national) of analysis.

Description: The record linkage will be used to support the development of re-contact indicators within and across the policing, courts and corrections sectors of justice.

The linkage will use records from three micro data surveys including those collected under the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR2) Survey, the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) and the Integrated Correctional Services Survey (ICSS).

The linkage will also use supplemental personal identifiers as provided by: several municipal police services in Saskatchewan and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for the years January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2013; the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice and Attorney General for the fiscal years 2006/2007 to 2012/2013; and, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Corrections for the fiscal years 2006/2007 to 2012/2013.

Output: Only non-confidential aggregate statistics and analyses conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. Access to linking keys and linked analysis file will be restricted to Statistics Canada employees whose assigned work activities require such access.

High-level and non-confidential findings may be reported in the form of presentations to various National Justice Statistics Initiative partners.

Statistics Canada will retain the linked analysis files until no longer required, up to, March 31, 2017, at which time the linked analysis files will be destroyed.

Business Performance Measurement of Various Programs for the Evaluation Directorate of the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) – 2006 to 2013 (053-2014)

Purpose: The purpose of this linkage is to support the evaluation of FedDev Ontario programs by producing objective measures of their economic impacts on the performance on their client enterprises. Total expenses, total revenue, profits, change in debt ratio, working capital ratio, employment, R&D employment, and wages will be aggregated for FedDev Ontario client businesses and for comparable non-client businesses.

Description: A list of firms that were clients of FedDev Ontario programs during the period 2009 to 2013 will be linked to the Business Register to obtain the Business Number and Statistical Enterprise Number, to enable linkage to payroll, tax, R&D and export data. In order to measure the effectiveness and the impact of FedDev Ontario financing services, a comparison group of non-client firms with similar characteristics will be selected. The two groups will be compared using several business performance indicators derived from financial, employment, R&D and export data.

Records of program clients and the businesses in the comparison group will be linked to the Payroll Deduction Account (PD7), T1 Unincorporated Business Tax Data, T2 Corporate Tax data, Research and Data in Canadian Industry data and Exporter data. The records will be linked using the Business Number and Statistical Enterprise Number. The resulting linked analysis file will enable longitudinal analysis of each cohort. This is a one-time linkage.

Output: Only non-confidential aggregate statistical outputs and analyses that conform to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Actwill be released outside of Statistics Canada. These will be in the form of profiling tables giving total expenses, total revenue, profits, debt ratio, working capital ratio, employment, R&D employment, wages, exports, export intensity and survival rates for client and non-client businesses. A technical report will be prepared, explaining the file matching processes and constraints and key issues related to the quality of the data.

Linkage to the Canadian Mortality Database for the purposes of the PeriOperative Ischemic Evaluation (POISE Trial) Study (031-2014)

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to inform on the longer term risks and benefits to the patients at risk of a perioperative cardiovascular event who underwent non-cardiac surgery and who participated in a blinded randomized controlled trial of the drug metoprolol CR versus a placebo.

Description: The POISE Trial was a blinded randomized controlled trial of the drug metoprolol CR versus a placebo of patients at risk of a perioperative cardiovascular event (i.e. patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease or with risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease) who underwent non-cardiac surgery. Patients received the study drug two to four hours prior to surgery and subsequently for 30 days. The goal of the current record linkage project is to determine the long-term (i.e., 1 year) impact of this study intervention. A total of 23 countries participate in POISE. This record linkage involves only the Canadian participants.

A file consisting of records of those 3,539 patients who participated in the study in Canada will be linked by Statistics Canada to the 2002 to 2009 Canadian Mortality Database and to the 1984 to 2012 longitudinal T1 Personal Master File. The longitudinal T1 Personal Master File contains no income data, only information indicating whether individuals were alive or dead (and if dead, the date of death), if they emigrated or immigrated, and if taxes were filed during the study period.

Patients participating in the study signed consent forms granting the principal investigator consent for linkage of their records to mortality information.

Output: No analysis or publication of the results of this linkage will be conducted by Statistics Canada. A mortality output file will be produced, containing the clinical trial study number, complete date of death (month, day and year) and cause(s) of death.

The mortality output file will be split by province or territory of death, and the records will be sent to the appropriate vital statistics registrars who, at their discretion, will release the information to the principal investigator at the McMaster University.

The principal investigator has undertaken to publish the study findings in the form of aggregate statistical outputs that will not result in the identification of individual patients. Results of the analysis of the data will be presented at medical meetings and papers will be submitted to peer-reviewed medical journals for publication.

Access at Statistics Canada to the identifiers, linking keys and mortality output files will be restricted to employees whose assigned work requires such access. At no time will the information from the longitudinal T1 Personal Master File leave Statistics Canada, except in the form of aggregate tables.The linkage key file and mortality output file will be retained until no longer required, up to December 31, 2019, at which time these files will be destroyed.

The financial characteristics of Refugee Claimants in Canada (007-2014)

Purpose: The objective of this initiative is to create a database that will support research on the income characteristics of individuals who made a refugee claim in Canada during the 1990s or 2000s. The proposed file will include all refugee claimants, including those who did not subsequently become permanent residents in Canada as well as those who did. The data file will support research on the sources and amounts of income that refugee claimants receive.

Description: The data file will provide new information on refugee claimants by drawing together information for the years 1994 onward from: the Temporary Residents file from Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division at Statistics Canada, the Linkage Control File (LCF) developed and maintained by the Household Survey Methodology Division at Statistics Canada, the T5007 file from the Tax Data Division (TDD) at Statistics Canada, the T1 Historical File from TDD at Statistics Canada, and the T1 Family File from Income Statistics Division at Statistics Canada.

Output: Analytical findings resulting from the linked data file will be used to prepare tabulations and research papers for publication.

Only aggregate statistics and analysis conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada. The output files will be retained by Statistics Canada until no longer required, up to, December 31, 2019, at which time they will be destroyed. All linkage keys and identifiers will be removed from the output files are retained separately, with access limited to Statistics Canada employees whose assigned work requires access to the file.

Linkage of the Industry Canada Database of Canadian Patents Filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) 2000-2011 to the Linkable File Environment (LFE) (015-2014)

Purpose: The purpose of this record linkage is provide Industry Canada researchers and other researchers the opportunity to carry out policy relevant research using the data in the Industry Canada Database of Canadian Patents Filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to the Linkable File Environment (LFE) and the data available in other databases that are in the LFE.

Description: This is a request to link the Industry Canada Database of Canadian Patents Filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) 2000-2011 to the Linkable File Environment (LFE).

Output: The linkable Industry Canada Database of Canadian Patents Filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will be housed at Statistics Canada's Centre for Special Business Project (CSBP). When a research project is formally approved by Statistics Canada, the CSBP will extract a researcher dataset from the LFE which will contain data for the variables that are listed in the research proposal for the population that has been specified. Access to the researcher datasets by external researchers will be facilitated and managed by Statistics Canada's Centre for Data Development and Economic Research (CDER).

Use of linkages between the 2001 and 2006 censuses and between the 2006 Census and the 2011 NHS/Census for analyses and projections of different population groups (006-2014)

Purpose: Existing linkages between the 2011 National Household Survey, 2011 Census and the 2006 Census (20% sample) and the linkage between the 2001 Census (20% sample) and 2006 Census (20% sample) would be used for analysis and projection purposes.

A number of Statistics Canada divisions—particularly the Demography Division, Social Analysis Division and Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division—would use the linkages to conduct analyses of various social phenomena, such as the ethnic mobility of Aboriginal people, analyses related to immigrants, and for any other analytical purpose that might require use of these data in the event that no other data source would enable such analyses.

The linkages would also be used to improve or create new parameters (inputs) to enhance the credibility and plausibility of assumptions and scenarios of demographic projections by microsimulation as part of the Demosim project (a microsimulation model created at Statistics Canada to produce projections of specific populations, such as visible minority groups or Aboriginal people), and to produce longitudinal socioeconomic indicators for immigrants and their descendants as part of an international project of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) working group chaired by Statistics Canada.

Description: The first file to be used would be the one from the record linkage between the 2006 Census long-form questionnaire (20% sample), the 2011 Census and the 2011 National Household Survey. The matched database used would be the one created as part of a previously approved project.

The second file used would be the one created from linking records between the long-form questionnaire of the 2006 Census (20% sample) and the long-form questionnaire of the 2001 Census (20% sample). Once again, the matched database used would be the one created as part of a previously approved project.

Output: Under the Demosim project, the data produced will be used to prepare projection assumptions and parameters. The data used in preparing these assumptions and parameters, produced at an aggregate level, would be released, along with the methods used to produce them, in the form of technical documentation and/or scientific articles. Under the UNECE working group, the matched file of the 2006 Census and 2011 NHS would be used to prepare socioeconomic indicators for immigrants and their descendants which may be released.

The results from the different analyses that might be conducted  may also be disseminated in the form of analytical reports or articles.

In all cases, the data would only be disseminated in their aggregate form, in accordance with the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act. The linked files and linking keys will be retained until December 31, 2024 or before if they are no longer useful, after which they will be destroyed. The linked files will be retained in a secure directory on one of the Demography Division servers. Only employees whose work requires it will have access to this directory for the entire life of the files.

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