DB Level Census Data

Question:
I have a grad student and faculty member who want to examine detailed census data at the DB level, from 2016, 2011 (NHS) and 2006, to analyze neighbourhood change over time. They have already looked at the DA level data available in the CHASS Census Analyser, which seems to stop at the DA level.

I know in theory that this data at the DB level would be available to a researcher at the RDC, but I also suspect that one needs a quite well defined research proposal to gain admission to RDC data. At this stage these researchers want to browse the data to see where interesting investigations may be revealed, so I’m not sure they would qualify at this stage for RDC.

I am suspecting that the available census/nhs pumfs would provide no greater granularity than the CHASS system, but I’m not sure of this, so *please* advise me on the best course of action at this point. We have, in the past, had researchers purchase a custom tab for a neighbourhood larger than the DB but smaller than the FSAs, but that might be expensive if a number of neighbourhoods are included in the request. I’m leaning toward sending them to consult at RDC, but am happy to learn from you what else I might do to enable these researchers.

Answer:
I’ve consulted with subject matter to get their opinion on what might be the best course of action and they’ve given me the following:

“The CHASS Census Analyser is not a product supported by STATCAN so we cannot speak to the geography level which is available there. However, the PUMFs would not go beyond DA either.

We would recommend having a look at the standard profiles at the DA level available on our website. From there, if the client would like to narrow down an area it would have to be processed by one of our Data Service Centres.

I’m not familiar with how exactly the RDC would process the request but I assume, they too would need a more directed demand for DBs and reasoning.

Here are some links to the standard DA profiles for the years requested:
2006 [http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/datasets/Index-eng.cfm?Temporal=2006&Theme=-1&VNAMEE=&GA=53087&S=0]
2011 [http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/datasets/Index-eng.cfm?Temporal=2011&Theme=-1&VNAMEE=&GA=53087&S=0]
2016 [http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/datasets/Index-eng.cfm?Temporal=2016&Theme=-1&VNAMEE=&GA=53087&S=0]”

My suggestion would be to a) take a look at these standard profiles and see if they help at all, and if not, b) contact the RDC to see about the possibility of accessing the data through there. If time is of an issue, the custom tabulation route will probably be faster, however more costly.

Canadian Forces Surveys

Question:
Do we have access to the following Statistics Canada surveys, and particularly the raw data-sets?

• Canadian Forces Mental Health Survey (CFMHS), released 2014
• Life After Service Survey (LASS), released 2017
• Canadian Armed Forces Transition and Well-being Survey (CAFTWS), released 2018

Answer:

Unfortunately, there are no PUMFs available for any of these files.

As you’ve mentioned, all three are available via the RDC program. However, two of them are also available via RTRA.

• Canadian Forces Mental Health Survey (CFMHS)
• CFMHS 2013
• Life After Service Survey (LASS)
• LASS 2013

If you would like more information or have any questions about the RTRA application process and guidelines, please contact statcan.madrtra-damadtr.statcan@canada.ca and we will be happy to assist.

Financial Performance Indicators

Question

The FPI product - on the main product page http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?catno=61-224-XCB&lang=eng it states at the bottom:

"Free access
This product may also be accessible for free at these libraries.

These data are available at no additional charge to Canadian educational institutions participating in the Data Liberation Initiative."

Does this mean that I can hand over this product to someone outside of the University community?

What has happened - an employee of a company not associated in any way with the University called StatCan talked to a representative who in turn gave them my name and contact information. I'm a little confused - can I give it to her or not?

Answer

External clients may use the DSP copy of Financial Performance Indicators but they are not authorised to use the DLI copy of this product. The DSP copy has national level data whereas the DLI copy also includes lower levels of geography. The DLI copy is covered under the DLI licence and may therefore only be used by authorised users.

Thank you for letting us know that an external user was referred to you by the National Contact Centre, we will look into this. Generally, only members of the academic community would be referred to the DLI Contact in a member institution for information about a DLI product. I suspect that in this case the intention was to refer the user to a DSP library.

Levels of Access to Data

Question

Could someone please remind me of the levels of access to data on the STC website? I know (or think I know) there are essentially three (open and unrestricted, DLI, and STC only) but I forget how to tell, while on campus, which tables will not be accessible from off-campus if not logged in to our proxy server. I think it's the level of geographic detail that is the deciding factor, but I can never remember what that is (nor can I find such an explanation anywhere on the STC website). Could someone please enlighten me?

Answer

If you go to the 2006 topic-based tabulations (ex. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/tbt/Lp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=0&PRID=0&PTYPE=88971,97154&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2006&THEME=73&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=) and click on Detailed results link, the access level for each table on the page will appear.

• Tables labelled Level=Public are freely accessible to everyone on the StatCan website



• Tables labelled Level=Partner are available through the DSP and the DLI via the StatCan website (IP recognition is used to grant access)



• Tables labelled Level=Restricted are available through the DLI and stored on our FTP site (these include Dissemination Area level tables and Commutting flow tables)

I hope that this answers your question. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you need further clarification.