Changes to the Industrial Product Price Index and Raw Materials Price Index (2013)

What are the changes?

Statistics Canada is undertaking two important initiatives for the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) program and the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI).

  1. Update the IPPI basket to 2010 (2010=100)
    The basket must be changed from time to time to reflect changes in the Canadian economy. Statistics Canada will update the relative importance of basket items to reflect 2010 production values of Canadian manufacturers.
  2. Adopting the North American Product Classification System
    As with any index, prices are grouped into distinct classes in order to be able to aggregate price data. Since the 1980s, the product classification system used by the IPPI has been the Principal Commodity Group (PCG). Changes in the economy require that classification systems be updated periodically. The IPPI will adopt the North American Product Classification System (NAPCS) developed by Canada, the United States and Mexico. Moreover, the NAPCS will be adopted by all Statistics Canada programs that have a product dimension. For more information about NAPCS, please consult the Product classifications page.

Why these changes are undertaken?

There are several benefits to converting to NAPCS:

  • All Statistics Canada programs having a product dimension will adopt NAPCS. As a result, Statistics Canada data will be coherent and consistent.
  • Some products that are produced in Canada today did not exist in the 1980s when the PCG system was created. Converting to a new classification system will allow products to be classified more accurately.
  • Statistical programs in the United States and Mexico may also release data on the basis of NAPCS. If so, this will allow easier international comparisons of data products.

When will these changes take effect?

The NAPCS classification will be adopted with the release of the next basket update, which will be published in late 2013.

How will these changes affect users?

  • CANSIM vector change
    The current vectors will be terminated and new vectors will be created, as with any basket update.
  • Reduction in the number of indexes
    The PCG classification has approximately 1,000 categories; NAPCS has approximately 700. As a result, many current index series will no longer be estimated after 2013. However, although the PCG classification had more categories, approximately one-third of the indexes have been suppressed because there is currently little production of these commodities in the Canadian economy.
  • Special aggregates will be discontinued
    Special aggregates (such as Stage of Processing) will no longer be produced after 2013. Appendix C lists the special aggregates that will be discontinued.
  • Monthly Publication will be discontinued
    The monthly publication (62-011) will cease as all the information currently in the publication can also be found on CANSIM at no charge. These changes will take place at the end of 2013.

    To help you to understand the changes, please consult these documents:

    1. Appendix A: NAPCS structure – This table will not be published because the NAPCS structure can be found on CANSIM in tables 329-0074, 329-0075, 329-0076 and 329-0077 for the IPPI and 330-0008 for the RMPI.
    2. Appendix B: PCG–NAPCS CANSIM vector concordance table
      Even though the classification system is changing, some commodities have a unique class in both the PCG and NAPCS systems. Thus, price indexes for these commodities will continue to be produced after 2013.This concordance table lists boththe old and new CANSIM vector numbers.
    3. Appendix C: Discontinued special aggregates
      This table lists all of the special aggregates that will be discontinued after 2013.

For more information about NAPCS or any information about future implementation of this classification system, please see the Product classifications page.

For more information about IPPI, please see the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) page. Data are available on CANSIM, Statistics Canada's socioeconomic database.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of the IPPI, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 613-951-8116; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).

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