Question:
I have a PhD student who would like to have access to the microdata for the following three databases:
Business Register (BR), (http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=1105)
Exporter Register Database, (http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&Id=24132)
Survey of Innovation and Business Strategies (SIBS) (http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=5171)
As these are all business-related sources I am inclined to think that the microdata would only be available at CDER. I checked their website and could only find is the SIBS.
Are the other two available at CDER? Also, is there any other way to obtain access to some of the data without going thorough CDER which is probably prohibitively expensive for my student? I noticed this guide to the BR (https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/statistical-programs/document/1105_D2_T1_V3) which mentions a Business Register System (BRS) and a Browsing Module. How does one get access to this?
Answer:
CDER indeed provides access to business microdata, including the ones listed below. To provide some context on Statistics Canada’s data access standards, please visit “Access to microdata”. For more data-specific questions, I encourage your student to contact CDER directly.
To our best knowledge, BRS is not provided to general public. Business microdata are highly confidential and the access is granted on a need-to-know basis. This means only researchers with approved project by STC are able to access these data.
To provide data-specific recommendations, I would encourage the researcher(s) to contact CDER directly. A drafted proposal would be a good start to place their research questions in context.
