The objective of the Survey of Innovation and Business Strategy is to collect information on the strategic decisions, innovation activities, operational tactics and global value chain activities of businesses in Canada. The results from this survey will be used by governments to better understand the impact of business strategy and innovation decisions, and operational adaptations on the Canadian economy including business competitiveness, efficiency and productivity. This will enable governments to develop policies intended to improve Canada's industrial productivity and competitiveness.
Collection period:
Pre-contact: From November 10 to December 6, 2022
Main Survey: From January 17 to March 31, 2023
Collection methods:
Pre-contact: Telephone interview
Survey: Electronic questionnaire
Survey participation:
Mandatory under the Statistics Act
Confidentiality
Data are collected under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, Chapter S-19.
By law, Statistics Canada is prohibited from releasing any information it collects that could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent, or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Statistics Canada will use the information from this survey for statistical purposes only.
Data sharing agreements and record linkage
Data sharing agreements
To reduce the response burden, Statistics Canada has entered into data sharing agreements with provincial and territorial statistical agencies and other government organizations. These organizations have agreed to keep the data confidential and to use them for statistical purposes only.
Section 11 of the Statistics Act provides for the sharing of information with provincial and territorial statistical agencies that meet certain conditions. These agencies must have the legislative authority to collect the same information, on a mandatory basis, and the legislation must provide substantially the same provisions for confidentiality and penalties for disclosure of confidential information as the Statistics Act. Because these agencies have the legal authority to compel businesses to provide the same information, consent is not requested and businesses may not object to the sharing of the data.
For this survey, there are Section 11 agreements with the provincial and territorial statistical agencies of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon.
The shared data will be limited to information pertaining to business enterprises located within the jurisdiction of the respective province or territory.
Section 12 of the Statistics Act provides for the sharing of information with federal, provincial or territorial government organizations. For this survey, there are Section 12 agreements with the statistical agencies of Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade as well as with the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
Record linkage
To enhance the data from this survey and to reduce the response burden, Statistics Canada may combine the information you provide with data from other surveys or administrative sources.
Topics covered in the survey
The survey asks questions about
- business strategies, structure and ownership
- skills and training
- main market and competitive landscape
- innovation
- expenditures and obstacles on innovation activities
- advanced technology use
- business practices
- imports and exports
- purchased goods or services
- employment in Canada and abroad
- locating activities into Canada
- sales
- majority-owned foreign affiliate statistics
- intellectual property assets
Published data
Statistics Canada publishes the results of its surveys in many formats. To find all the documents related to this survey, follow the links below and type the name of the survey in the search engine located at the left of your screen to filter the results.
Data: You will find tables, profiles of a community or region, thematic maps, public use microdata files, and data visualization tools.
Analysis: You will have direct access to Stats in brief (e.g., releases from The Daily, fact sheets), articles and reports, and journals and periodicals.