Release date: April 20, 2021 (Previous notice)
Introduction
The consultation in question was related to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Canada revision for 2022. The revised classification will be NAICS Canada 2022 Version 1.0.
NAICS Canada is Statistics Canada's primary classifications for industries and is widely used throughout business programs at Statistics Canada, in academia, and in business.
Statistics Canada updates NAICS Canada on a 5-year revision cycle. The next revisions to this classification is scheduled to be released in January, 2022.
The purpose of the consultation was to solicit input from users of NAICS Canada on revisions for the classification. These revisions may include any element of the classification including the structure of the classification, wording of definitions, and examples and exclusions attached to classes. The input of business, government, academia and private citizens in updating NAICS Canada is valued so that it meets the needs of users.
This report summarizes the feedback received from the consultation. The consultation process and period is described below.
Consultation overview
The purpose of the consultation was to solicit comments from data producers and users, representatives of business associations, government bodies at the federal, provincial and local levels, academics and researchers and all other interested parties to submit proposals for the revision to NAICS Canada. The revised version will be called NAICS Canada 2022 Version 1.0. User input is highly valued by Statistics Canada in updating NAICS Canada so that it continues to meet user needs.
The consultation was conducted electronically through public announcements that described the upcoming NAICS Canada revision, listed the types of inputs sought, provided a timeline for the consultation and gave contact information for users to make submissions and contact Statistics Canada with questions and comments. The announcements were disseminated through the Statistics Canada's website (Consulting Canadians and DDSM), and Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Reddit, as well as GCConnex.
The type of feedback requested included any proposed changes to NAICS Canada and how they classify industries. These might be changes to the structure of the classification (i.e. addition of classes or deletion of classes), changes to the wording of definitions, and changes to examples, inclusion and exclusions.
Interested parties were invited to submit written proposals to Statistics Canada. The official public consultation period started in November 2019 and closed at the end of June 2020.
Statistics Canada received responses by e-mail. These responses consisted of written descriptions of the desired changed to NAICS Canada for 2022, including structures, definitions, examples, inclusions, and exclusions.
Summary of Feedback
Staff from the Centre for Statistical and Data Standards (formerly Office of Privacy Management and Information Coordination) at Statistics Canada managed the responses to the public consultation announcement. These responses were all received by e-mail.
For NAICS Canada 2022, we received proposals from 6 different parties. This included 1 provincial government statistical agency, two federal government departments, 1 federal government agency, 1 provincial agency, and 1 non-profit association. The issues identified in the external proposals included a large number of requests for changes to examples covering a broad range of NAICS classes (none requiring structural changes to NAICS), requests for changes to an array of occupations within NAICS, structural changes to agricultural classes to provide more detailed classes, and changes to the treatment of non-profit organizations. In addition to these external requests there were about 140 internal requests for changes to NAICS that included structural changes to the NAICS governing Internet retail and Internet broadcasting, as well as numerous non-structural changes affecting definitions, examples, inclusions, and exclusions in a large number of NAICS classes.
Next steps
Statistics Canada is still in the process of reviewing proposals for NAICS Canada 2022. It is expected that this work will be completed by the beginning of April 2021. A public notice containing the final approved proposal for changes will be available by June 2021. NAICS Canada 2022 Version 1.0 will be released in January 2022.