Bilateral relationships with federal departments
Statistics Canada maintains close bilateral relationships with key federal departments and agencies, including Industry, Health, Human Resources Development, Environment, Agriculture, Transport, the Canadian Transportation Agency, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, Heritage, Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation, Citizenship and Immigration and Justice. These bilateral relationships foster an awareness of each other’s needs and information priorities.
Professional advisory committees
A network of professional advisory committees in major subject areas ensures the continuous review of the Agency’s statistical outputs and helps set priorities and foster program relevance.
Advisory Committee on Ethnocultural and Immigration Statistics
The mandate of this committee is to provide advice and guidance to Statistics Canada on the data, concepts and instruments it uses to collect, analyze, classify and disseminate information on immigration, citizenship, ethnocultural diversity, inclusion and religion statistics. The committee will also help Statistics Canada determine how it can most effectively and efficiently collect, analyze and disseminate disaggregated data on population groups, especially groups that are most likely to experience discrimination and exclusion. Additional information on this committee is available in the following section: Advisory Committee on Ethnocultural and Immigration Statistics.
Advisory Council on Ethics and Modernization of Microdata Access
The aim of the Advisory Council on Ethics and Modernization of Microdata Access is to provide Statistics Canada with the appropriate guidance on data access, privacy and data governance to maintain and support the data needs of Canadians. Additional information on this council, its members, and reports are available in the following section: Advisory Council on Ethics and Modernization of Microdata Access.
Canadian Centre for Energy Information External Advisory Committee
The purpose of the External Advisory Committee (EAC) is to contribute to the continuous review of the Canadian Centre for Energy Information (CCEI)’s statistical outputs, foster program relevance and recommend priorities to the Deputy-level Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Steering Committee, which provides the governance for the CCEI. Additional information on this committee is available in the following section: Canadian Centre for Energy Information External Advisory Committee.
Canadian Statistics Advisory Council
The Canadian Statistics Advisory Council (CSAC) provides the Chief Statistician and the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry with impartial and independent advice on matters concerning the overall quality of Canada's national statistical system which will help ensure that Statistics Canada remains one of the world's top statistical agencies. Additional information on this council and its members is available in the following section: Canadian Statistics Advisory Council.
Federal-Provincial-Territorial Consultative Council on Statistical Policy
The Federal-Provincial-Territorial Consultative Council on Statistical Policy and its subcommittees comprise a network of 13 provincial/territorial official representatives, who collaborate with Statistics Canada to determine data requirements, consult on current statistical activities and coordinate the dissemination of Statistics Canada's products to provincial and territorial governments.
Three special initiatives in the areas of health, education and justice statistics warrant mention.
Health:
Statistics Canada priorities are developed with the assistance of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Institute for Health Information. The Board comprises senior federal, provincial and private sector representatives including the Chief Statistician.
Education:
The Canadian Education Statistics Council is a joint creation of Statistics Canada and the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada. The Council, comprising the Chief Statistician and Provincial/Territorial Deputy Ministers of Education, advises the Chief Statistician on the Education Statistics Program at Statistics Canada.
Justice:
The Justice Information Council comprises federal and provincial Deputy Ministers responsible for justice policies and programs and the Chief Statistician. It provides advice to the Chief Statistician on the Justice Statistics Program at the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics within Statistics Canada.
Labour Force Survey Expert Panel
The Labour Force Survey Expert Panel is comprised of national and international experts from government, academia and non-governmental agencies who provide independent advice and guidance on the Labour Force Survey (LFS), one of Statistics Canada's most important statistical programs. The LFS provides a monthly snapshot of the Canadian labour market, and is used to calculate the national, provincial, territorial and regional employment and unemployment rates.
Technical Working Group on Natural Capital Accounting, Environmental-Economic Accounting, and Related Statistics
The Technical Working Group on Natural Capital Accounting, Environmental-Economic Accounting, and Related Statistics facilitates shared learnings, leverages expertise, solves common challenges, and works towards comparability of approaches on natural capital accounting and environmental-economic statistics. Additional information on this working group is available in the following section: Technical Working Group on Natural Capital Accounting, Environmental-Economic Accounting, and Related Statistics
Vital Statistics Council for Canada
The Vital Statistics Council for Canada is an advisory group composed of the heads of the vital statistics divisions and agencies of the provincial and territorial governments and Statistics Canada. The Council provides a forum for developing common approaches for collecting vital statistics data, sharing information with external parties and for facilitating problem solving by sharing experiences, research findings and expertise among the jurisdictions. Additional information on this council and its members is available in the following section: Vital Statistics Council for Canada.
Special program reviews
In addition to these avenues of consultation, the Agency conducts special program reviews (using focus groups or special consultations during program redesigns) to monitor the continued relevance of its products and to enhance its understanding of client needs.