Marriages and Divorces by Conjugal Status

Question

A student has found the number of married people by opposite sex and same sex from the 2011 and 2006 Census and is wondering if the number is available annually and at the provincial level. She is also wondering if data on divorce of opposite sex and same sex is available.

It appears that Justice Canada took over Vital Statistics from StatsCan and at that point, all that lovely marriage and divorce data disappeared

Answer

Thank you for your question on the number of married people by opposite sex and same sex.

These numbers are not available annually. The census, every five years, is providing numbers on these topics, and the 2016 Census data on opposite-same sex married people will be disseminated on August 2nd, 2017. 

The census does provide some breakdowns at the provincial-territorial level as well as for census metropolitan areas, such as in this table produced with 2011 Census data: http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/tbt-tt/Rp-eng.cfm?TABID=2&LANG=E&A=R&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=01&GL=-1&GID=1098904&GK=1&GRP=1&O=D&PID=102574&PRID=0&PTYPE=101955&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2011&THEME=89&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=&D1=0&D2=0&D3=0&D4=0&D5=0&D6=0 

No data is available from Statistics Canada on divorces as this program was terminated back in 2008.

For the Vital Statistics question, I can confirm this with subject matter but from what I gather, it appears that Statistics Canada underwent a strategic review in 2008. As such, Statistics Canada made the decision to discontinue the collection and dissemination of national marriage and divorce data. 

The Department of Justice Canada is responsible for collecting the divorce data through the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings and, as such, has the divorce data (www.justice.gc.ca). Data on marriages are still being collected by the provincial and territorial vital statistics registrars.

2011 census (was re: Codebook for 2011 census master file?)

Question

Does the above document (Codebook for 2011 census master file) exist anywhere, or a record layout? 

I have a user who needs to be able to link individuals in families, to find the age ranges of oldest child in a household, second oldest, and so on. I assume that something of the sort would be possible from the census master file, but I am, of course, prepared to be wrong. If so, is there any other potential for this kind of information?

Answer

Took some hunting down but we got a copy of the zero count codebooks for the 2011 Census from the RDC program.

Because of file size, I have been unable to send them via email.

I have saved a copy on the EFT, available here :
MAD_PUMF_FMGD_DAM/Root/3901_Census-Pop_Recens-Pop/2011

2001 & 2006 Census in 2011 Boundaries

Question

I have a researcher who wishes to obtain census variables from the 2001 and 2006 census, adjusted for 2011 census boundaries (dissemination area & census tract level). She wants population and dwelling type.

I see that Geosuite can provide 2001 in 2006 and 2006 in 2011 for population by census tract, but (I think) that’s it. Am I missing any other available resource, or, can her request be produced on a custom basis?

Answer

You might want to look at SimplyMap. I believe it provides “adjusted” Census Data for 2001 and 2006 at 2011 boundaries.

NHS and 2011 census -- common questions

Question

I was asked a question about the differences between the 2011 census and previous censuses with respect to questions on language. The major difference between the 2011 and 2006 census on language was that the language of work question was relegated to the NHS.

1. How were the responses to questions that appeared in both the 2011 and the NHS handled?

a) Were the NHS responses ignored for common variables?b) Why were they asked twice in any case, since the census was still compulsory?c) If they were asked twice, what happened if the responses were different between the two surveys?d) For NHS datasets that include variables that appeared in both surveys (e.g., age groups), were the NHS responses used, or the census responses?

2. Are NHS response rates for individual questions available, as opposed to the global response rates for particular geographies?

Answer

1. How were the responses to questions that appeared in both the 2011 Census and the NHS handled?

(a) Were the NHS responses ignored for common variables?

When responses for both questionnaires were processed, there was a harmonization procedure applied.

When the household was the same for both the Census and NHS, some rules were put in place to compare the number of fields responded for the common variables (i.e. demography and languages).

- First step: demography variables were compared. If the number of fields responded on the Census was better than the NHS, the Census responses were kept for both the Census and NHS (i.e. Census demography responses were copied to NHS, so the original NHS responses were not retained). Otherwise, original responses were kept for both questionnaires.

- Second step: if responses to demography variables were copied to NHS then the number of fields responded for language variables on the Census and NHS were compared. If the number of fields responded was higher on the Census than the NHS, the Census language responses were kept for both the Census and NHS (i.e. Census language responses were copied to NHS, so the original NHS responses were not retained). Otherwise, original responses for languages were kept for both questionnaires. If original demography responses were kept on both questionnaires, then original language responses were also kept.

The copy of responses from Census to NHS occurred for very few questionnaires. About 5.9% of persons on the NHS database had their demography responses modified and 1.2% had their language responses modified.

When the households were not the same for both the Census and NHS, the original responses were kept for both questionnaires.


(b) Why were they asked twice in any case, since the census was still compulsory?

The decision was made to conduct the voluntary NHS during the same period as the census in order to take advantage of census resources and infrastructure such as collection management systems and employees. Questions planned for the long-form remained unchanged, including the language questions, for logistical and methodological reasons given the late decisions to change the 2011 program. Persons selected for the NHS and who responded to the census on the Internet were given the opportunity to complete the NHS online immediately after finishing the census questionnaire. When they did follow-on with the NHS, responses to common variables were automatically copied over and were then the same for both surveys. When they did not follow-on with the NHS right away, they were again offered to respond at a later time and if they did accept to respond to the NHS, a second set of responses was then obtained for the common variables. Other persons selected in the NHS sample chose to respond to the Census on paper. They were later contacted again and offered to complete the NHS and if they did accept to respond to the NHS, a second set of responses was then obtained for the common variables.


(c) If they were asked twice, what happened if the responses were
different between the two surveys?

Please see answer to question (a).


(d) For NHS datasets that include variables that appeared in both
surveys (e.g., age groups), were the NHS responses used, or the
census responses?

Please see answer to question (a).

Regarding response rates:

Response rates for individual questions are NOT available.
Imputation rates for individual questions are available in the different Census / NHS references guides at the national, provincial and territorial levels. They are not available for lower levels of geography.
The imputation rate is the proportion of respondents who did not answer a given question or whose response is deemed invalid and for which a value was imputed. Imputation improves data quality by reducing the gaps caused by non-response.

2011 NHS Reference guide for Language questions
http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/ref/guides/99-010-x/99-010-x2011007-eng.cfm#a5

2011 Census Topics and Release Dates

The 2011 Census Dissemination Project is pleased to announce the 2011 Census topics and release dates.

From the Statistics Canada home page, users can find this information under the ‘Census' header and can access the 2011 Census module (topics/dates presented under ‘Quick links' in the right-hand side bar) or through ‘Latest census data' (census dissemination web module – 2011 Census topics and release dates in left-hand side bar and featured in ‘Spotlight').

Thank you.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012
• Population and dwelling counts

Tuesday, May 29, 2012
• Age and sex

Wednesday, September 19, 2012
• Families, households and marital status
• Structural type of dwelling and collectives

Wednesday, October 24, 2012
• Language