Question:
I have a researcher wanting to use the CCHS PUMFs to look at the sexual identity variable, but even though the question has been asked in the Socio-Demographic portion of the questionnaire since Cycle 2.1 and reports have been published citing the data (such as https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/040615/dq040615b-eng.htm) neither of us can find this variable in any file other than the 2015-16 cycle. I hope we are not just missing something, but perhaps there is a reason this information was not made part of the PUMF files?
Answer:
I’ve received the following response from subject matter:
“In the past, the subject matter team preparing the PUMFs for release considered the sexual orientation concept as an indirect identifier and chose not to include it with the file. In 2015-2016, our team requested to the Microdata Release Committee to allow us to add the variable to our 2015-2016 PUMF. They agreed that the risk of disclosure was low and approved the addition of the variable. We will continue to assess the risk, but I imagine we will continue with the release of that variable going forward.”
