CCHS - Mental Health

Question

Will there will be a PUMF available for the CCHS Mental Health (2012)?

Answer

Data from the CCHS – Mental health are available in CANSIM tables : CANSIM table105-1101. If you're interested in the PUMF, Canadian Community Health Survey: Mental Health, it will anticipated to be released “Spring 2014”.

Woodstock Ontario Population

Question

The data for NHS and Census 2011 for Woodstock, Ontario shows that the Census Agglomeration has about 400 more people than does the Population Centre, and they are mapped differently. Since the CA was larger (in terms of geography), it’s easy to accept that the population is higher. But, since I didn’t know what the Population Centre was, I went to the Illustrated Glossary (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/92-195-x/2011001/geo/pop/def-eng.htm) and found that “Population centre population includes all population living in the cores, secondary cores and fringes of census metropolitan areas (CMAs) and census agglomerations (CAs), as well as the population living in population centres outside CMAs and CAs.”

Why are there more people in the Woodstock Ontario census agglomeration than in the Woodstock Ontario population centre, and why aren’t the boundaries the same?

Answer

The census explains that – we are looking for a more detailed comparison between the two, but population centres are based on contiguous (connected) blocks, whereas CMAs and CAs are based on Census Subdivisions (CSDs) which are much larger and can include both urban and rural areas.

So Woodstock, Ontario Census Agglomeration has a higher count as it can include one or more rural areas in it, while Population Centre is “urban” only.

Saskatchewan Population Projection Data

Question

I have a request from a grad student for population projection data for Saskatchewan at the CMA/CA level. Is this info available without resorting to a custom tabulation?

Answer

We have the Population Projections for Canada, Provinces and Territories : <http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/91-520-x/91-520-x2010001-eng.htm>. For sub-provincial level, you are looking at Annual Demographic Estimates: Subprovincial Areas <http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?catno=91-214-X&lang=eng>.

Customized assumptions and scenarios are always available on request. Those interested should contact the client services unit of Statistics Canada's Demography Division.

NHS Suppressed Data

Question

I have a researcher looking for data on “The Narrows 49, IRI” (Manitoba 19 065). [Incidentally for librarians, you have to search for “The Narrows”, as a search for “Narrows” will not find it.] The user would like to know if “not available” is the final answer, or if Statistics Canada might consider custom data for specific topics or variables? Would this depend on whether it is a confidentiality issue, or a data quality issue? Is there someone that users should contact directly to inquire about such possibilities?

Answer

if an area is not released in the standard product line, it is still be possible to request it via custom tabulation, of course that is cost recoverable. The custom tab would include, as I understood, areas that were suppressed, with detailed notes.

Custom tabulations from the 100% database are available for census years 1971 to 2011 and from the 20% database for census years 1971 to 2006. They are produced to meet the needs of individual users, according to their exact requirements in terms of content, geography, format and output medium. This includes the derivation of new variables and the creation of custom geographies. http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?lang=eng&catno=97C0001

2011 Survey of Household Spending

Question

The 2011 Survey of Household Spending tables that were recently released have household characteristic information but no expenditure information. Will we be getting tables with the expenditure information?

Answer

The standard tables are no longer produced starting with SHS-R 2011, only CANSIM numbers will be offered.

Imputation Rates vs. Global Non-Response Rates

Question

What is the relationship between global non-response rates and imputation rates for specific sets of variables?

To quote the 2011 NHS Ethnic Origin Reference Guide:
"The imputation rates for the NHS Ethnic origin variable are similar to those of the 2006 Census (see Table 1). The NHS imputation rate for Ethnic origin at the national level is 5.8% which compares with the 2006 Census imputation rate for ethnic origin of 5.9%."

Does this suggest that the NHS data and 2006 Census data are of comparable quality at the national level for ethnic origin? If the global non-response rate (again, at the national level) is higher that the imputation rate for a given set of variables (and it was for all the groups of variables in the Reference Guides), what exactly does that mean?

Answer

Yes, the NHS data and 2006 Census data are of comparable quality at the national level for ethnic origin - as the client quoted directly from the Ethnic Origin Reference Guide below.

The GNR global non-response rate is an important measure of the quality of NHS estimates. It combines household and item non-response. This measure is used for the 2011 Census, just as it was in 2006 for dissemination of the Census, including the long form. In the specific case of the NHS, the global non-response rate is weighted to take account of the initial sample and the subsample used in non-response follow-up. It is calculated and presented for each geographic area.

The National Household Survey User Guide provides more detail - Chapter 6 would be of particular interest. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/ref/nhs-enm_guide/guide_5-eng.cfm#A_6_3

Imputation replaces missing, invalid or inconsistent responses with plausible values after non-response follow-up has occurred. The National Household Survey User Guide provides more information on data processing: http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/ref/nhs-enm_guide/index-eng.cfm

Irish Immigration Statistics

Question

I am working with a PhD student who is looking for long time series for Irish immigration to Canada, going back as far as possible (even back to the 19th Century) and I have a few questions.

The 1966 to 1996 period is well covered by the Citizenship and Immigration statistics archives (http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/202/301/immigration_statistics-ef/index.html). When looking for older statistics, I went to Historical Statistics of Canada which referred me to the Immigration statisticsannual publication by the CIC which provided me with the stats for the 1956 to 1966 period

This leaves me with 3 main questions:

1) After 1996 things are not that clear (at least not to me). CANSIM does provide a table (Immigrants to Canada, by country of last permanent residence #051-0006) but that table does not provide stats for Irish immigrants as those would be lumped under “Other Europe”. IS there another source to obtain that breakdown? I looked at the CIC website and more specifically at their Canada Facts and Figures 2012 document. That document presents data for the 2002 to 2012 period for “Permanent Residents by source country” and Ireland is listed as one of the countries. Would that number be equivalent to the number of immigrants by country of last residence? Even it that is the same number, that still leaves the 1997 to 2002 period uncovered, how can we obtain those stats?

2) For pre 1956 stats, I saw that the Canada Year Book would present tables going back to 1906 and I did find those numbers in the publication. However, the first edition of Historical Statistics of Canada seems to imply that, before 1956, immigrants were asked about their ethnic origin (or racial origin even earlier) rather than their country of last residence or country of origin. Can someone confirm this? The Canada Year Book tables do not have any explanatory notes and the language that they use for immigrant origins seems to change every so often.

3) And finally, for pre 1906 statistics, the essay in Historical Statistics of Canada (first edition) mentions various sources including, for the 1852 to 1959 period, the Annual Report 1959-60 of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. Does anyone know if that report actually has immigration statistics for the whole period and, if so, does it provide statistics by country of origin or ethnic origin?
Answer

For historical data

Table 075-0022  offers Historical statistics, country of birth of other British-born and foreign-born population, *Terminated* every 10 years (foreign-born persons unless otherwise noted): <http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a05?lang=eng&id=0750022&pattern 07500 22&searchTypeByValue=1&p2=35> (Data from the Census of Pop) Immigrant population by place of birth and period of immigration (2006 Census) <http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/demo24a-eng.htm>

For the early period (1867-1920s or so). You and your researcher may not like the answer although I am truly surprised these figures have not been compiled *somewhere.*

The CIC or its equivalent would be found in the documentation generated via administrative processes. For the early period, your information should be contained in the annual reports of the departments responsible for immigration and those reports will be found in the Sessional Papers of the Parliament of Canada. The Department of Agriculture was responsible for immigration from 1869-1892; the Department of the Interior was responsible for immigration from 1892 until 1917 when a Department of Immigration and Colonization was established.

The Sessional Papers were published as a discrete set from 1867-1925. You have to go to the series for each year and, using the Table of Contents/Index, find the SP number for the department you seek and then grab the appropriate volume. The Table of Contents/Index will give you a SP number and should also tell you the volume in which it will be found. From 1925-1929, only the Annual Reports were published (in a discrete series entitled "Departmental Annual Reports" with, however, the same binding and they are usually found on the shelves right after the earlier run of SPs). Thereafter, you need to look at departmental publications. A couple of years ago, I had my gov doc students find 1940s and 1950s immigration stats by country of origin and seem to recall it was an easy task as the department produced them in an annual report of some sort.

Note that many of the SPs have been digitized and can be found in, I think, Canadiana and the Internet Archive but, as the tools of discovery are not really that good, it might actually be easier to use the paper.

I checked the 1896 SPs at random and found the figures for 1895 in Annexes to the Dept. of the Interior’s Annual Report. It is Sessional Paper 13 and the report is a long one. Appended to the report are Annexes, which include reports of immigration agents from the principal ports (I saw one for Halifax and one for Quebec during my 10 minute perusal). Annex No. 2, for instance, is the report of the Halifax Agent of the ‘Dominion Government Immigration Agency’ and I found tables there, most of them broken down by origin (‘English,’ ‘Scotch,’ “Irish,’ and ‘other’).

You should consider, however, that the dates sought will impact upon the search and, possibly, the quality of the information. Prior to 1921, there was one Ireland and it was a part of the UK. Figures from that period tend to break down UK immigration and group the rest into “other.” If you need Irish immigration from, say, 1924, you may find one figure for “Ireland” (what we know as Northern Ireland) and another, either lumped in with “other” or, if you're lucky, found separately under “Ireland” (what we would call today Eire). You may also have problems with the accuracy of the figures as they pertain to intended destination -- attempts seem to have been made to clarify and to classify but a great many immigrants passed through Canada on their way to the US and the Agents made mention of this.