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Canadian Initiative on Social Statistics

A Joint Initiative of SSHRC and Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada has earned the reputation of being the "best statistical office in the world," according to The Economist. In large part, this reputation has been earned through the rich and unique set of data collection instruments and data sets that Statistics Canada has developed in recent years.

These data sets and surveys cover a broad range of issues, all of concern to Canadian society. Unfortunately, however, a great deal of this valuable data is not fully exploited.

Quite simply, Canada lacks a national capacity to fully analyse these data. Compounding this problem — basically a problem of training — those researchers who clearly do have the expertise to work with social statistics lack easy access to the detailed micro-data currently available at Statistics Canada.

Against this backdrop lies a pressing need for current social statistics to sustain the increasing demand for evidence-based decision-making.

Clearly, something needs to be done.

A National Task Force

To address this problem, SSHRC and Statistics Canada decided in January 1998 to create a National Task Force made up of leading Canadian researchers and statisticians. The mandate of the Task Force was to study a number of broad issues revolving around the use of large-scale quantitative databases (primarily those of Statistics Canada). It was also to review the barriers that hamper or prevent the full utilization of data.

Understanding the Barriers

Very quickly, the Task Force members identified three main barriers to the optimal use of Canadian social statistics:

• A lack of trained researchers in the field of quantitative analysis and the need to train new researchers and therefore to build "la relève";

• A lack of access for researchers working outside Statistics Canada to the detailed micro-data collected by the national agency;

• A lack of effective linkages between researchers and those involved in public policy development.

Some examples of StatsCan data sets and surveys:

National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY)
Longitudinal Youth in Transition Survey (YITS)
Longitudinal Administrative Databank
Survey of Financial Security (SFS)
Workplace and Employee Survey
General Social Survey (GSS)
1997 National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating
Household Internet Use Survey
National Graduate Survey
National Population Health Survey
Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID)

The Action Plan

In its final report to SSHRC and Statistics Canada in January 1999, the Task Force made several recommendations. Taken together, these recommendations make a cogent case for implementing measures that would build an integrated research system in social statistics having the following three objectives:

• Promote research and training on issues that make full use of social statistics. This will be achieved through programs of research support and training that will increase the number of researchers engaged in quantitative research and build "la relève" for the new millennium;

• Facilitate access to Statistics Canada’s detailed micro-data through the implementation of a System of Research Data Centres across the country; and

• Maximise the research and public policy interface by developing a dissemination and communications strategy that strengthens the linkages between the policy makers and the community of researchers.

Financial Considerations

Full implementation of the report's recommendations is estimated to require an annual budget of $20M.

Next Steps

In the coming year, SSHRC and Statistics Canada will seek to secure the necessary resources to put the recommendations of the Task Force into action through a co-operative project: the Canadian Initiative on Social Statistics (CISS). In developing this project, SSHRC and Statistics Canada will be consulting with research and policy communities across the country. The aim is to begin the implementation of the CISS in the year 2000.

For more information, comments or suggestions about the Canadian Initiative on Social Statistics, please contact Hélène Régnier at 613-992-5148 or at helene.regnier@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.

To download the final report of the Task Force:

1. Download (free of charge) and install Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer.

2. Download the Final Report of the Joint Working Group of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Statistics Canada on the Advancement of Research Using Social Statistics.

3. Exit your browser and open Adobe Acrobat Reader.

4. Click on File, Open and choose the directory in which you have saved the report file.