Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Open Data Portals

The following municipal open data portals may be of interest:

Regina: http://www.regina.ca/residents/open-government/

Quebec City (in French): http://donnees.ville.quebec.qc.ca/demarche.aspx

Montreal (in French):  http://donnees.ville.montreal.qc.ca/

Interested individuals may also find the community information database of use: http://www.cid-bdc.ca/welcome-bienvenue and the datalibre resource page: http://datalibre.ca/links-resources/

Agricultural Data: Crop Type

Question

I have a student looking for agricultural data for the Sainte -Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier for 2001 and 2006. More specifically, they are looking for crops by type.

Answer

The information sought can be retrieved at the following link: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/95-629-x/2007000/4123849-eng.htm

Monday, March 26, 2012

Updated Products - International Merchandise Trade Data by CommodityClassification

Hello,

International Merchandise Trade Data by Commodity Classification

2011
2010 - Revised
2009 - Revised

International Merchandise Trade Data by Commodity Classification data are now available on the DLI FTP and website. This was a scheduled revision.

WEB:

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/dli-ild/data-donnees/ftp/can-trade-commerce-eng.htm

Friday, March 9, 2012

Opinion Poll Data

Question

Can anyone suggest a source for the following:

  • the influence business has on policy making

  • opinions on lobbyists / lobbying

  • opinions on politicians and the way policy decisions are made

  • the perceived impact of lobbying on legislation/ regulations


Answer

The Environics Focus Canada (EFC)  polls (accessed through the Canadian Opinion Research Archive) contains historical and current public opinion on politicians and political issues. Perhaps it includes lobbying as well.

http://130.15.161.245:82/webview/

Sangster Award 2012

Are you a young Canadian doctoral student or have you earned your Ph.D. within the past three years? Do you work in a data-intensive environment? Are you interested in traveling to Taipei, Taiwan in October, 2012, to participate in a conference on advancing science and technology? Then the Sangster Award may be your ticket!

Established by the Canadian National Committee for CODATA, the $3000 Sangster Award covers the expenses for a young scientist or recent graduate to attend an international conference and present his or her work to peers from all over the world.  This year's conference is themed "Open Data for Science and Society in a Connected World.”

Application information, additional award details and a Sangster Award poster are available from the Canadian National Committee for CODATA's Web site http://www.codata.org/canada/sangster. Be sure to apply (to codata@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca) before the 31 March 2012 deadline.

New CIHI report

The Canadian Population Health Initiative (CPHI) of the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is pleased to release Urban Physical Environments and Health Inequalities: A Scoping Review of Interventions, the second report in a two-part series focused on urban physical environments. The first report in the series, Urban Physical Environments and Health Inequalities, presented analyses on outdoor air pollution and heat extremes and their relationship to socio-economic status and health. In the second report, we explore interventions in urban physical environments and their potential to mitigate health inequalities.

The first section of the report showcases a range of interventions and their respective characteristics, with a particular emphasis on the state of evaluation of the interventions found during our scoping efforts. In the second section, we introduce a framework that clarifies the components of an equity lens and look at how the concept of equity has been integrated into various interventions. This framework will be useful to those who want to enrich their understanding of equity as a concept and to those who are interested in building equity into activities intended to improve health and urban physical environments.

The report can be downloaded at the following link:  here.

 

2011 Census Population and Dwelling Counts

 The 2011 Census Dissemination Project is pleased to announce the official release of the 2011 Census population and dwelling counts.


Wednesday, February 8, 2012,  sees the official release, via the Internet, of the first data from the 2011 Census, covering the population and dwelling counts. All standard products are available free of charge.


This release presents the population counts, counts for total private dwellings and counts for private dwellings occupied by usual residents. The levels of geography vary amongst the expansive list of products being released. Coverage ranges from Canada, provinces and territories down to the dissemination block. Information is also available for land area, population density; population rank and percentage change from 2006.


These data can be accessed through a variety of gateways:


Users can enter through The Daily.




  • Users can click on the Census button at the top of the right-hand navigation bar of the Statistics Canada website home page (enter through the various rotating postings within 'Census news') or directly from the variety of links and feature buttons on the 2011 Census web module home page.


Information within the web module is organized into broad display/product categories, featuring: by topic, data products, analytical products, reference materials and geography.


By topic offers links to the comprehensive suite of 2011 Census standard products associated with each of the 2011 Census releases beginning with the 2011 Census population and dwelling counts.


Data products offer population and dwelling counts for a wide range of standard geographic areas, available either in the Population and Dwelling Count Highlight Tables, 2011 Census or in the Census Profile. The Visual Census facilitates the analysis and comparison of the changing demographic and socio composition of selected geographic areas across Canada through graphs and charts. The new Census Data Navigator allows the user to navigate through Canada, provinces, territories, census divisions and census subdivisions to obtain population and dwelling counts from the 2011 Census.


Analytical products offer links to the analytical document (The Canadian Population in 2011: Population Counts and Growth) and the three Census in Brief articles (Population growth in Canada: From 1851 to 2061, Canada's rural population since 1851 and The census: A tool for planning at the local level). A new analytical product called Focus on Geography Series also provides data and highlights on key topics found in the 2011 Census analytical document and Census in Brief articles for various levels of geography.


Reference materials cover various aspects of the census and are intended to support the use of census data. Specifically, Reference products include: Census Dictionary (geography portion for now), Overview of the Census, Preview of Census Products and Services, along with additional reference information. The link to the Results of the 92-year question provides the results from the 2011 Census where Canadians were provided with the opportunity to make an informed decision about the release of their name-identified census information. The Statistics Act permits name-identified census information to be transferred to Library and Archives Canada and made publicly available after 92 years, in other words, in the year 2103.


Geography offers links to the 2011 Census geographic products: Maps (reference maps, thematic maps, GeoSearch); reference documents (Catalogue, Illustrated Glossary, Reference guides, Interim List of Changes, Working papers); Spatial information products (Road Network File, Boundary files) and Attribute information products (GeoSuite, Geographic Attribute File, Correspondence files).


The 2011 Census web module home page also promotes/presents:


Direct access to the Census Profile for major cities in each province and territory.




  • 'Did you know...' highlights for the release (based on the analytical document).

  • Summary table of the 2011 Census population and dwelling counts for Canada, provinces and territories (right-hand side bar).

  • Feature buttons for direct links to some key products and to the 'Chat with an expert' module announcing the live chat session with a demography expert on February 13, 2012, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EST.

  • Video centre – contains the 'Population and Dwelling Counts – Highlights' video presentation.

  • Stay connected – links to Statistics Canada's social media initiatives including the mobile version of the Census Profile.

Demographic Information for Edmonton-Ellerslie Riding

Question

A researcher is looking for demographic information on the residents living in the riding of Edmonton-Ellerslie. Edmonton-Ellerslie is a riding which is represented within the Alberta provincial government. A map of it can be found here: http://www.elections.ab.ca/public%20website/files/maps/ED33_EDMONTON_ELLERSLIE_400.pdf

They are interested in knowing the residents' demograpics (e.g. income, ethnic background, average age, etc.).

Answer

This is a Provincial Riding. Here's a link to a PED (Provincial Electoral District) Profile for Alberta based on the 2006 census results.  http://www.finance.alberta.ca/aboutalberta/ped_profiles/2008_profiles/2008%20All%20PED%20Summaries.pdf

Of note, BCStats does the same for the provincial ridings ahead of elections. http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/StatisticsBySubject/Census/2006Census/ProvincialElectoralDistricts.aspx

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Defining Rural

Question

A researcher is  trying to define "Rural" using a Statistics Canada definition that will work in rural and northern areas. Any suggestions?

Answer

A Statistics Canada document that may be of assistance is  “Definitions of Rural”; it provides alternative definitions for “rural”.

It is available at http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/21-601-m/2002061/4224867-eng.pdf

Census Tract Profiles for 1951

Question

Is it possible to locate the CT profiles of Toronto for the 1951 Census in electronic format?

Answer
Here is a link to the .pdf scan of the 1951 Profile Series for Toronto at the CT level:   http://prod.library.utoronto.ca:8090/datalib/data/cc51/cc51pr_toronto.pdf.  

.csv's of these Toronto tables are expected to be released in the near future.