2021 Census of Population: Indigenous Peoples and Housing - Video transcript
(The Statistics Canada wordmark, the Canada wordmark, and the title: “2021 Census of Population: Indigenous Peoples and Housing” are on screen)
(Darren Lezubski is on screen)
(Slide of webinar title page)
Welcome everyone, bienvenue. I'm so glad you were able to join us today. As Elen has indicated, this is the fifth release of the 2021 Census of Population. And we will be focusing on thea Indigenous and Housing data that was released last week.
(Slide on screen with the 2021 Census release schedule)
But I do want to just spend a few moments highlighting the fact that there will be additional census releases in October and November, and those releases will add to the Census' opportunity to provide more comprehensive data on-- to paint the picture of Canadians: the demographic, their socioeconomic characteristics.
So please stay tuned for future National Census webinars.
(A slide showing the overview of what will be discussed is shown)
Before we delve into the subject, per se, today, I'll spend a few moments just talking about what we're going to cover and we'll spend a few moments just clarifying whom exactly the census collects information for.
So today's topic and the, sort of, target population that's the census. I'm going to spend some time sort of identifying and describing some of the main concepts that are associated with the release from last week, and these are, sort of, the means of identifying and being able to use and understand the information that's released, accurately and effectively. We'll talk about some key indicators that were part of the findings.
Again, as Elen has alluded to, I encourage you to ask questions in the chat, If you have additional questions with respect to any of the findings that were released last week. And I will definitely make sure that after today's lecture I will spend some time quickly giving you a brief introduction to Statistics Canada's website.
So we'll navigate what some of the data sources, some of the resources that are available to you to use, and to help demystify some of the intimidation that people may have with respect to finding information on Statistics Canada's website. And then I will definitely make sure that there is time for the moderated discussion at the end.
So that you can have your questions-- hopefully have your questions answered by the subject matter experts.
(Slide outlining the 2021 Census target population is shown)
So before, as I said, before we delve into the details of the release, I just want to clearly clarify and put context in terms of whom the census collects information for.
So the census is conducted every five years. It's one of Statistics Canada's biggest, if not our biggest, endeavour. And by definition a census is a complete enumeration of the entire population at a point in time.
So in this respect, the census of Canada, the census of population collects information on all Canadian citizens, whether they're Canadian citizens by birth, or by naturalization, or landed immigrants, permanent residents. As well as-- for the last 20 or so years, we collect data on non-permanent residents in Canada at the time of the census.
We also collect information on Canadians who may not actually be in Canada at the time of the census, so this could include government employees or embassy staff who are posted outside Canada, they're still counted within the population, the census of population. The members of Canadian Armed Forces who may be stationed outside Canada, as well as crew members, family members who may be on merchant vessels and things of that nature. Again, outside Canada at the time of the census.
(A slide continuing on the 2021 Census target population is shown)
And then once we're clear on who is collected, information that is collected. And as I alluded to non-permanent residents.
So that refers to refugee claimants, as well as their families. And permit holders, so students or work permit holders are considered non-permanent residents, but they are included in the census count. There are some exclusions, obviously representatives from other countries, whether they be government or military personnel, who are in Canada at the time of the census are not counted, not included as part of the census. And anyone who happens to be visiting Canada from outside Canada, is not a resident of Canada would also not be included in the population counts.
(Slide of Indigenous Peoples topic title page)
So that's a very quick discussion in terms of who the target, who the population, and who the target population of the sensitive population refers to. So today we're going to start as, as your guide, we have two main topics we have Indigenous population, Indigenous peoples data, and we have housing data.
So we'll start with the housing data. The Census of Population collects information, and that information is used to derive and to provide summary and detailed information with respect to providing a portrait of the Indigenous population in Canada. And one of the best ways to start our understanding is to try and understand how that information is grouped or classified.
(A slide outlining Indigenous group variable is shown)
So one of the first sort of beginning points is to think about who fall within the group of Indigenous persons.
So in this case, Indigenous persons in Canada refer to First Nations, Métis and Inuk. And that information has -- on the side note, people within those three groups may be included in one or more of the specific groups, but the basic definition and classification is derived from the Constitution Act of 1982, the section 35.
(A slide outlining Registered or Treaty Indian status variable is shown)
One of the things that becomes apparent as you're starting to look at the Indigenous data, is there are different ways of classifying and defining different segments within the Indigenous population. We're going to highlight a couple of those different approaches that are included in census data. For example, the census affords us the opportunity to have data on registered or treaty Indian status persons.
This is referring to persons who are members of a First Nations band who under the who are under the Indian Act, as-- as well as those who have signed treaties with the crown.
(A slide outlining membership in a First Nation or Indian Band variable is shown)
In addition to that, we can also classify or sort of describe populations as whether they are members of a First Nations or Indian band, and in this regard, this refers to members who are or are not members of the first nation band. And I wanted to highlight at this stage that-- a little bit later I'll talk about the impact that COVID had on the data collection for the 2021 census-- but it's just helpful to note that this variable, membership in First Nations or Indian band, is one of the estimates associated with-- or the estimates associated with this variable are more likely to have been affected by incomplete enumeration of certain reserves and settlements as part of the 2021 census.
(A slide outlining Indigenous identity variable is shown)
So those are just a couple of examples of how the Indigenous data can be classified. There are also two main ways that the data is often reported, and that is through Indigenous identity and Indigenous ancestry. And perhaps one of the most common ways that Indigenous data is reported is through those who identify themselves as an Indigenous person or First Nation, Métis and Inuit. And data for these questions are derived from three specific questions asked on the census form. So this is, generally, one of the most common ways of reporting Indigenous data.
(A slide outlining Indigenous ancestry variable is shown)
In addition to that, there's also a measure that has been used historically, and is still available as part of the census, which is Indigenous ancestry, and this refers to people who may have heritage or ancestry with persons who are Indigenous persons of Canada, grandparent or further back. I will note, as we alluded to at the beginning of the session, where there are a couple of data releases to come from the 2021 census. I will note that the release last week did not include Indigenous ancestry data, that information will be released as part of the October release, where ethnicity data is going to be released. So those are some quick, sort of, descriptions of the different ways that Indigenous data is classified, and to whom it refers to.
(A slide outlining membership in a Métis organization or settlement variable is shown)
I will highlight, if you're not aware of it, people may be aware, that there were two new questions pertaining to the Indigenous population on the 2021 census. And the first question asks whether people were members of a Métis organization. And the second question asked for, with respect to Inuit land and land entitlement agreements and-- just as an aside, the census is an ever-evolving data collection tool. And we can look to try and identify data gaps that are identified by the population, by our data users. And so the census, in this case, these new questions are trying to identify and provide additional information about the Indigenous population, particularly in the Inuit population, for service providers, policy development and things of that nature.
So the first new question, as I alluded to, is a question that allows us to now differentiate between Métis or members of a Métis organization, in this case these would be organizations that signed the Canada Métis Nation Accord, in 2017. As opposed to, or as a comparison to Métis who are not members of those organizations.
(A slide outlining enrollment under an Inuit land claims agreement variable is shown)
And the second new question on the census was with respect to enrolment under Inuit land claims agreement, and again this is-- the effort here is to try and fill some data gaps and provide additional information to-- to governments and service providers with respect to the number of people who are enroled or entitled to enrol in the various agreements.
(A slide outlining residence on or off reserve variable is shown)
So when we look at the Indigenous population, we've talked about the different characterizations of the population. We can also use the census. One of the strengths of census data is that it affords us the opportunity to look at small levels of geography and one of the variables or pieces of information that's available from the census is to be able to distinguish, particularly among first nations, be able to distinguish residents on or off reserve. And this is a variable that focuses, as the census does for most Canadians and we'll talk a little bit about this when we get into the housing data, the census is collecting information for people where their usual place of residence is. And so data from the census affords us to-- to determine the number of Indigenous people who are living on and off reserve. There are a host of different, there's actually eight different types of census subdivisions, essentially municipalities. Census subdivisions that are associated or affiliated with First Nations communities or Indian bands, that are classified as reserve or not reserve. And so you see on the slide here the list and the different characterizations the types of census subdivisions associated with reserve and off reserve data.
(A slide outlining the incompletely enumerated reserves and settlements is shown)
I sort of alluded to, very briefly, about the challenge that COVID presented, and in 2021 there is a particular challenge associated with conducting the census amid the COVID pandemic. In addition to the COVID pandemic we also experienced forest fires and a host of other issues that-- that proved to be challenging for data collection. And because of these factors, enumeration could not be completed on 63 of the 1026 census subdivisions that are classified as First Nations reserves.
So this is a caveat that data users should be aware of. Despite the challenges associated with the data collection, the census still remains the main source of comprehensive information at the community level for Indigenous population in Canada, as well as providing robust data for the Métis and Inuit population as well. This is an important caveat to consideration that we want people data users to be aware of.
And again I'll just remind people that if they have questions, please, I encourage you to post your questions in the chat and hopefully we'll be able to address them during the moderated discussion.
(A slide outlining residence inside or outside Inuit Nunangat variable is shown)
There is also consideration with respect to the Inuit population, in terms of the census affording us the opportunity to describe the different regions within what is called the-- the Inuit Nunangat area or Homeland of the First Nations or the Inuit of Canada. And within that, there are basically four regions that are sort of highlighted, that data is available from the census. The first is a Nunatsiavut, Nunavik, Nunavut and Inuvialuit. And if we have any of our Inuit brothers and sisters are attending today, I hope the pronunciations were-- were passable. But again, the-- the focus here is to highlight the fact that the census provides information that allows us to characterize these regions within the Inuit Nunangat territory.
(A slide showing a chart of the Indigenous population by province and proportion of the population is shown)
So quickly, before we move on, I just want to highlight some of the key findings that we identified from the 2021 census.
So for those of you who may be using e-readers-- Statistics Canada is trying to be as inclusive as possible-- so I will simply describe what's on the screen.
So we have a bar graph that is showing the number of Indigenous population by province, as well as the percentage distribution as a proportion of the provincial population, in 2016 and 2021. The data reveals that in 2021 over 1.8 million Indigenous people form the population in Canada, and the Indigenous population now accounts for 5% of the total population of Canada, up from 4.9% in 2016. Ontario had the largest Indigenous population of all the provinces and territories in 2021, followed by British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba. As a percentage or a proportion of the population, Indigenous populations form a large share of the total population in the territories, for example almost 86% in Nunavut, almost half in the Northwest Territories, and-- and almost 23% in Yukon. Among provinces and territories, Manitoba and Saskatchewan had the largest proportion of-- the largest percentage of Indigenous population in 2021.
(A slide showing a population pyramid of the distribution of Indigenous and non-Indigenous population by age and gender is shown)
In additional findings, so on the screen we have a population pyramid, showing the Indigenous and non-indigenous population for Men+ and Women+ by age categories. And population pyramids are demographic tools that allow us to see the shape and distribution of the population. We know that the continuing trend is that the Indigenous population, as is noted in previous censuses, is much younger than the non-indigenous population, average age of the Indigenous population in 2021 was 36.4-- 33.6 years compared to 41.8 years for the non-indigenous population. And as the slide notes, there is a substantial number of the young Indigenous population.
But we also should note and draw attention to the fact that the share of Indigenous population age 65 years of age and over is continuing to grow. And from 2020-- from 2016-2021, the share of Indigenous population 65 years of age and over, it rose from 7.3% to 9.3% of the population.
(A slide showing a map with the Indigenous population in the census metropolitan areas is shown)
And then finally, we'll talk-- on the screen right now is a map of Canada showing the large urban centers, or census Metropolitan areas, cities of $100,000 or more, with the largest Indigenous population. And in this respect we're seeing, as the data shows, the-- more than 800,000 Indigenous persons lived in large urban centers in 2021. Winnipeg had the largest indigenous-- urban indigenous population in Canada, 102,000 persons, followed by Edmonton and Vancouver.
So that is a quick highlight of some of the key findings from the results of the release last week.
(A slide outlining the Indigenous Peoples Survey is shown)
Before we leave the discussion of the Indigenous population, we do just want to remind you that if you're looking for additional information, Statistics Canada does conduct the Indigenous Peoples Survey. And the Indigenous Peoples Survey is a complement to the centrist-- to the census data and affords us to provide, or affords us to produce information that focuses on social and economic characteristics of the Indigenous population that includes education, employment, language, but it also includes topics such as health and access to services for our First Nations persons off reserve for Métis and for Inuit population. So I would encourage you to look at that, in conjunction with the census, as, one of the data sources that we encourage people to be familiar with, with respect to the Indigenous population.
(Title slide of Housing topic)
So that's a quick overview of the Indigenous data that was released, I am going to now shift gears and talk a little bit about the housing data that was released. We'll talk a little bit about some of the findings as well. And then I will spend a few moments going over the website. First thing that I like to highlight, with respect to when we're talking about housing, is that the census collects information on housing for private dwellings and collective dwellings. And unless otherwise stated, much of the data, much of the public tables that are released on Statistics Canada's website, and much of the data pertaining to the discussion here today, is going to be referring to population in private dwellings. And in this respect, you'll see as I go through the different concepts, there's sort of two broad ways of thinking about the housing data, which is part of the census, which is: dwelling characteristics, dwelling characteristics often describe or provide information on the actual physical attributes of a dwelling unit or living of living quarters. So we'll talk about room size and bedroom size, and, condition and things of that nature.
So there's one component of dwelling characteristics. The other sort of broad component or aspect to the housing data from the census is household characteristics, and these are characteristics that are referring to the persons-- the person or persons that are living within a private household.
So we'll talk a little bit about some of those key characteristics that the census provides information on. And at the end, we'll talk about not just the variables, but some of the important housing indicators that afford us the opportunity to assess the condition and housing need within Canada or within communities across-- across the country.
So the first variable, or first concept, we'll sort of highlight is the concept of dwelling categories.
(A slide outlining dwelling categories concept is shown)
And as I said, we have data on private dwellings and collective dwellings. And a clear definition of what exactly a private dwelling refers to in terms of the requirements or items required to be classified As a living quarter: separate entrance and things of that nature. So the census is quite clear in terms of how we are defining these units.
(A slide outlining dwelling condition concept is shown)
In addition to, as I said, the attributes that are associated with physical dwelling units, one of the measures included in the census that has historically been collected, and it continues to be collected, is information that affords us the opportunity to understand the condition of the housing stock in Canada. And in that regard, housing condition is characterized by-- in the census by three main classifications that we identify, or respondents identify. Housing that requires just regular maintenance. This is housing that is generally deemed to be in good condition. Housing that requires minor repairs, and housing that is deemed to be required major repairs. So these are dwellings that might have plumbing or electrical issues, these are structural issues, really substantial conditions with respect to the dwelling unit.
So that's one of the variables that has been historically collected in the census and again perfor-- affords us the opportunity to assess housing stock in Canada.
(A slide outlining period of construction concept is shown)
In addition to condition, the census also collects information on period of construction. And as you see on the slide, in terms of how period of construction of dwelling units are classified, it refers to the period in which a building was completed. Excuse me. Pardon me. It refers to the period in which a period-- the dwelling was constructed, or it may actually be referring to when substantial modifications or conversion took place. And again, when you conjunct-- when you join the information on condition by age, it's a good indicator of the type of housing stock; what is happening historically, and what is currently the situation with respect to the housing stock in Canada.
(A slide outlining condominium status concept is shown)
We also have information that refers to, and we'll talk a little bit later, when we talk about households and household type. Households and the characteristics of households can often be defined by things such as tenure and household type.
So the census also affords us the opportunity to collect information on things like condominium status. These are private dwellings that are part of a condominium development. They may not necessarily be owner occupied, as the findings and the data showed last week, substantial number of condominium developments are actually occupied by renters. But the census affords us the opportunity to have information on condominium status in Canada, by community.
(A slide outlining rooms and bedrooms concept is shown)
And we also, again talking about the attributes of the private dwellings, the census provides information on the number of rooms, and the number of bedrooms.
And one of the things I'll talk about a little bit later, and hopefully some of you may have questions with respect to this during the moderated discussion, is a key indicator of housing in Canada, which is called the core housing need, we'll talk about it shortly. But one of the factors that goes into core housing need is crowding, and whether households are in suitable housing, with respect to the number of bedrooms given the size of the household.
So the census collects information on the number of rooms in private dwellings, as well as the number of bedrooms in private dwellings. And again, clearly define how we're characterizing or counting or distinguishing between a room and a bedroom, so that the counts can be as precise as possible. Excuse me.
(A slide outlining value (owner estimated) concept is shown)
And finally, well not finally, but one of the other characteristics-- this is pertinent only to owner occupied dwellings, and we'll talk about tenure and the difference between renters and owners shortly. But one of the variables that is available from the census is a estimated value, if the owner of an occupied property were to be selling that property, the census collects information on the estimated value of that property.
So again, it comes down to understanding the stock, the housing stock within Canada as a nation, and how that varies and differs among different communities.
(A slide outlining household concept is shown)
So I sort of alluded to beginning about this whole notion of the housing data from the census generally focuses on dwelling characteristics, and then also focuses on household characteristics. And so households can be characterized as either a single individual living alone, or a group of persons, or their family or non-family. We won't go into the discussion of household type in this session. You're welcome to post it in the chat, and I encourage you to look at the data set, to see the type of information that's available by household type.
So for example, households census family or non census family households, and the distinction there between people living alone, or people living with roommates who they're not related to, as opposed to people living with people who they're related to by blood, marriage, or adoption. But in this respect again, we're highlighting the fact that the characteristics of the household are going to be reflective of the person or people in the household, and it's going to be true for collective dwellings as well as private dwellings. Although our focus today and for much of the census data is private dwellings.
(A slide outlining tenure concept is shown)
And so, one of the characteristics that a household can have, or a household member, or household family can have, is whether they own or rent their dwelling. And within that characterization we can even refine it further by homeowners with or without mortgage, or renters in private rental housing or subsidized housing. We'll talk briefly, very briefly, about how subsidized housing is characterized, how it's defined, and the fact that the census affords us the opportunity to-- to track, to measure the growth, or the decline, or the change in subsidized housing across Canada.
So household tenure is a crucial measure that allows us to see, as one of the key findings from last week highlighted, is that the rate of home ownership-- I don't want to get too far ahead of myself-- the rate of home ownership in Canada is declining.
So we'll talk briefly about that in a moment when we talk about the findings.
(A slide outlining household maintainer concept is shown)
But tenure, as well as household maintainer, so whom is responsible among the household members for paying the primary costs of the household. Who's responsible, if you're an owner occupied household, who is responsible for paying the mortgage. If you're a renter household, who's responsible for paying the rent, who's responsible for paying the taxes, electricity bills, whatever it might be.
So the census allows us to identify whom the household maintainer or maintainers are within households, and those characteristics of the household maintainer.
(A slide outlining shelter cost concept is shown)
And then we also collect information on shelter cost and shelter cost ratio. And earlier I talked a little bit about a concept called core housing need, well one of the factors in core housing need is condition, another factor in core housing need is crowding or suitability, and a third factor in core housing are households spending too much on their shelter. And so the census affords us the opportunity to collect detailed information on how much, as a portion of total household income, owners or renters are spending on their dwellings, their household.
(A slide outlining shelter-cost-to-income ratio measure is shown)
And the key measure in this respect, particularly in the context of understanding affordability, is-- in conjunction with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation-- the effort to try to determine how many households are spending, for example, 30% or more of their household income on shelter costs. The census provides data on those households, provides data on household spending more than 50% of their income on shelter costs. And this is a way of identifying households that may be in need, households that are experiencing affordability issues. And this is true for both renters and homeowners.
(A slide outlining housing suitability concept is shown)
And then as I said, housing suitability comes back to the notion, particularly in the context of national occupancy standards, think about the number of bedrooms in a household, think about the household size, are there sufficient bedrooms for the household size, or is there an example of crowding? And this is again, part of the context of understanding the housing need within Canada.
So housing reality-- suitability assesses the number of bedrooms per household, based on household characteristics: number of persons, age of those persons, is it appropriate for certain children of certain ages to be sharing a room, things of that nature. Those are part of the National occupancy standard.
(A slide outlining persons per room indicator is shown)
And the number of persons is a way-- one of the key indicators, much like shelter costs and shelter-- shelter to income ratio. The number of persons per room is one of the key indicators of measuring, assessing, quantifying housing crowding.
(A slide outlining core housing need concept is shown)
And then finally, all of those measures: suitability, affordability, adequacy, condition, all of those measures are-- sort of lead to a key indicator of housing condition in Canada and housing need in Canada, which is the core housing need.
So core housing need refers to households that are falling below any of those indicators that we've alluded to; housing adequacy, housing affordability, housing suitability, are they spend too much on household-- at their household as part of their income, et cetera.
(A slide continuing on core housing need concept is shown)
One of the key considerations-- we may have people posing questions in the chat for our subject matter experts-- is just clarifying who is and who is not applicable under the concept of core housing.
There are some segments of the population that are excluded or not included in the core housing concept, for example, only private, non-farm, reserved-- non-reserve and owner occupied dwellings with incomes less than 0 would not be assessed. You have a certain segment of the population. 15 to 29-year-olds that are excluded from the core housing need assessment, because their need might be deemed to be a temporary condition.
So there's those considerations, those caveats that are associated with using the core housing need data and using it accurately and correctly.
(A slide outlining subsidized housing concept is shown)
And then finally the census, as I said, affords us the opportunity to not just have data on owners/ renters, but owners with mortgage, owners without mortgage, renters, renters in private housing, renters in subsidized housing.
So subsidized housing affords us the opportunity to get information and to track and change how the housing stock is changing. And in this case, housing, subsidized housing could refer to, as the slide indicates, rent-geared to income housing, social housing, public housing, and non-profit housing, et cetera.
So again, another important characteristic of tracking and changing-- the changing nature of housing stock in Canada.
(A slide showing a chart of the homeownership rate and key findings is shown)
So just quickly before we move on to a quick review of the website, I just wanted to highlight some of the main findings that were part of the release last week.
So again, for those who may be using e-readers or-- or maybe persons with disabilities with respect to sight, there is-- the slide is showing a line graph, and this is a line graph that's showing the rate of homeownership in Canada since 1971, to the most recent census 2021. And it shows that household-- home ownership has actually declined since 2021. And while there are 10 million households in Canada that are homeowners, the number of renters actually grew faster than homeowners between 2021-- 2011 and 2021. And as a result, when home ownership declines, conversely, renter households increase.
(A slide showing a chart of percentage of recently built dwellings that are rented and key findings is shown)
The second finding of some of the findings we'll highlight today is the distribution of renters by buildings and period of construction.
So the decline in home ownership, in many respects, reflects, sort of, new construction trends in the past decade, particularly related to densification of urban centers.
So for those in rural communities, they may not necessarily be as prevalent. But for those in large urban centers, I think you may have witnessed and seen a trend towards more housing in the downtown or inner city core. And much of those are new construction that are actually occupied by renter households. And as a result of the growth of the number of apartments, apartment units since 2016, the number of renters in new housing stock has actually gone up and is now the highest as-- except for those dwelling units built prior to 1961-1970.
And we're not going to get into it in this discussion, but you can also start to look to see from different age categories, different age cohorts, who are most likely or least likely to be living in new construction; who is most likely to be living in downtowns, as opposed to suburban or rural settings.
So this is one of the opportunities that the census affords us, the opportunities to track and to measure and to see the trends with respect to these changing nature of housing.
(A slide showing a map of Canada with rate of core housing need and key findings is shown)
And then the final slide I'll talk about before I jump in, and this, for those of you using e-readers, is we have a map showing Canada and the percentage of households in core housing need.
So again, refer back to what I was referring to: households that are in crowded condition, households that may be in unsuitable or inadequate housing with respect to condition, in need of a a major repair, or households that may be spending too much, 30% or more of their household income on shelter are classified or deemed to be in core housing need. And the 2021 census is showing that the rate of core housing need actually declined between 2021 and 2016. Homeowners or renters are much more likely to be in poor housing need than renters. But you'll see that the rates, other than Alberta, declined across the country.
And so you might have-- this might afford us the opportunity to have some interesting discussion in the moderated section about what are the implications, what are the numbers pointing to, and is there a impact of COVID that might be factoring into some of these results.
(Title slide of web tour)
So with that, I'm going to stop lecturing. And I am going to go to Statistics Canada's website. I'm going to spend about 5 to 10 minutes just quickly showing you some of the key considerations, with respect to the release from last week, some shortcuts in terms of being able to find some of the information. And then we will turn it over to Elen, and we will have the moderated discussion.
(The homepage of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
So just give me one moment while I figure out how to use technology again, and could someone be so kind as to confirm my-- the screen is showing StatsCan website.
[Elen] Looks great, Darren. [Darren] Perfect, thank you very much.
So as I said, I will very briefly-- I'm not going to spend a lot of time-- but one of the things that I do want to do is-- and this is-- someone who works with the data and works with clients and data users, we often hear people say, well the website is a little bit difficult to navigate.
So one of the reasons we love doing these sessions is because we want people to be able to find and to use the data as accurately and as effectively as possible.
So I'm going to spend a few moments just talking about how you can go about finding the census data on our website. If you'll note, along the top of the banner of the StatsCan there are, what I call, tabs. And the fifth one in is the census tab.
So I'm going to encourage you go to the census.
Some of you may be very familiar with census, StatsCan website, some of you may be new to it. I encourage you to come to the StatsCan website regularly and just delve into the immense amount of information that we have available.
(The main Census of population page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
So if I click on the census tab and go to the census home page, you'll see that we have some key findings from last week's release Indigenous population, percentage of Indigenous population, scroll across and look at additional variables. You can change the geographical area, the default is Canada, but you can change the geographical area to be more reflective of your community, your province, your territory. I'm in Manitoba, so I might want to look at some of the key highlights with respect to the Manitoba data released last week.
(The 2021 Census of Population key indicators by geography for Manitoba page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
You can also look at some indicators, as a very quick glance, and you can refine again that geographic level to whatever level, provincial or territorial level, as well as refining the topics that you might be particularly interested in.
So one of the things that is helpful is-- is helping people filter or narrow their search, so that's not so overwhelming.
So if I, for instance, wanted to find Indigenous people data, I can click here and submit, and this data will show me some of the key highlights and again, if I'm interested in Manitoba I can refine that by refine my search. So that's a very quick sort of introduction.
(The main Census of population page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
I'll just go back to the census population page. I am cognizant of the time, I won't spend too much time, but I do want to make sure we cover a few key data points that are on the site. You'll also see some key infographics, interactive charts, housing for example, the housing data we have an interactive chart that provides opportunity to look at the data by housing suitability by the housing indicators I indicated: housing suitability, housing affordability, housing condition. That's one of the new tools on our website. But I want to draw your attention to some techniques or some tips that can help you find your way around the information a little bit quicker.
So we have a tab that has census data, we have a tab that has census analysis. When we talk about census analysis, we're talking about information that has some analysis associated with it.
So for example, the daily articles-- if you're not familiar with the daily, the daily is Statistics Canada's daily newsletter, hence the name: the daily newsletter. And articles that are specific to the release last week will be highlighted under the census analysis tab. Census reference tab is a crucially important one, I'll spend a few moments talking about it. Because even though people sometimes don't like to hear this, it is crucially important that you be familiar with the concepts, the terms, the definitions, and we have reference material like the census dictionary, user guides, that can be extremely helpful to make sure that you're using the data accurately and effectively.
So there's no shortcut. But being familiar with the reference material is going to pay off in the long run, because you're going to know, you're going to be comfortable, you're going to be confident that you're using the data accurately, that you're interpreting the data accurately. And one of the things that I like to highlight, census geography and census of agriculture, we won't talk about census of agriculture today. If we go to the census data tab, which is usually the first step that most people will be using when they come to try and find census information.
(The 2021 Census of population data products page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
If I click on it, you'll see that it provides different options in terms of profiles.
So census profiles are usually, sort of, the first introduction to census data that most data users use. It is, as its name implies, a profile of a particular community and it shows you the different variables.
So I'll show you that briefly. We also have data tables and tables are a little more detailed, they'll cross tabulate variables, whereas a profile is simply just a flat file of variables by geography. We have interactive charts, we have infographics, thematic maps. There's no thematic maps for this release, but there will be and there are thematic maps occasionally from some of the different releases, key indicators and things of that nature.
So and you can again scroll through and look at the data tables, data profiles. We'll start by looking at the profiles.
(The 2021 Census of Population Census profile page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
I'll spend just a few moments, for those who are not familiar with it, I want you to be able to recognize how it can be used.
So we have a page that comes up here, you can browse by some selected geographies, you can search you can type up. If I, for example, if I type in Vancouver, and if I spell it correctly, there will be some options. You click the loop, the Search button, you'll get different geographical areas that contain the word Vancouver. One of the things that's helpful-- and we do offer navigation websites aside from census workshops-- but one of the things that's helpful if you're becoming familiar with census data is just recognizing the standard geographical classification in which the data is, sort of, reported in and provided. And so you'll be able to start to distinguish the difference between a census metropolitan area and a census subdivision, and things of that nature. In this case, we've been keeping it a rather high level.
So I'm going to select Vancouver census Metropolitan area, which is the city of Vancouver and the surrounding municipalities.
(The 2021 Census of Population Census profile page for Vancouver of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
And we'll just click on Vancouver and you'll get an indication of the type of information that's available from the profile, and it's for the geography. You can refine your search.
So you'll see all of the information that's been released so far will be generally included in the profile. You can refine your search by adding and removing and selecting whether you want data for the total population, for Men+, Women+, whether you want counts or rates. And maybe you only want the housing data, you can refine your search and simplify. You can also add different geographical communities.
So if I wanted to compare Vancouver to Kelowna. And if I spell Kelowna correctly. I wanted to compare Vancouver to Kelowna. Again, I would want to be comparing apples to oranges. So I'm going to compare the Kelowna census Metropolitan area.
(The 2021 Census of Population Census profile page for both Vancouver and Kelowna of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
I'm simply going to select it, and now we've got two geographies, and you can go up to five. This is a new feature from the 2021 census in the profile, where we can add multiple geographies. And it affords us the opportunity for very quickly to compare and look how the different geographical areas differ for different variables and things of that nature. That's a census profile, and many of the census data users use the census profile as sort of the springboard, the initial step into the StatsCan data. I only have a few more minutes, I've gone over-- I don't want to go over, I want to make sure to leave time for the discussion. So I just want to highlight one of the other factors.
(The main Census of population page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
And this is going to go back to the home page, I want to go back to census, I'm going to select census home page. And I want to show you a nice little shortcut, because people always appreciate shortcuts.
(The 2021 Census of population topics page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
And if you go to the census topics, census topics will highlight and anything that has been released to date will have the-- will be underscored, you'll be able to click it. And anything that is to be released is not active yet. But one of the nice things about this feature is, if I am a little overwhelmed, but I know I want information just on housing, I can select housing and all the information that's going to be reported is just specific to that topic or that release.
(The 2021 Census of population housing topic page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
I can look at the data products, I can look at the analytical products. So for example-- I didn't get a chance to show you and I won't have time-- But if I wanted to see which analytical products were released associated with the housing data, I could see that there's two of them. One of them that provides an article or analysis on housing conditions among First Nations, Métis and Inuit people in Canada. And one of them, just an overview of the findings from the 2021 census, with respect to changes in tenure changes in home ownership, changes in affordability, things of that nature.
So it's a nice little shortcut if you're overwhelmed and you're just trying to narrow down your search, the census topic option is a, or can be a very effective way to, sort of, find the information you're looking for in a much quicker way about it.
(The main Census of population page of the Statistics Canada website is shown)
I'm cognizant of the time. I-- I don't know if there's other features that-- that you'd particularly-- I mean there, as I said, there are-- it features an infographic with respect to core housing need in Canada, there's an infographic with respect to First Nations people, and Métis, and Inuit in Canada. I'm going to encourage you to please visit StatsCan's website. And if you do have questions, at the end of this presentation there is a contact information. We, as Statistics Canada employees, are always happy to help and always happy to help you find information that you're looking for.
(The Canada wordmark is on screen)