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SECTION IV: OTHER INFORMATION

The performance of a national statistical agency is multidimensional. Different audiences are interested in different dimensions of performance. Statistics Canada recognizes its responsibility to report on dimensions of performance not visible from outside the Agency.

The dimensions of quality are overlapping and interrelated. There is no effective model for bringing all the characteristics of quality together into a single indicator. Each dimension has to be adequately managed if information is to be fit for use. Failure in any one dimension can destroy the usefulness of the information.

Financial performance is monitored at a broad level through financial management information systems to provide information on expenditures and program efficiency, and on costs by program, organizational unit, and function. These systems are supported by a framework of financial policies and procedures, cost recording systems, and internal financial performance measures.

Respondent burden and respondent relations more generally are monitored in a variety of ways. These include direct measurement of the number of respondent hours required to complete Statistics Canada surveys, identifying and exploiting alternative information sources (e.g. administrative data), developing alternative means of reporting and collecting information (e.g. data reporting through user-friendly electronic means), and through feedback obtained from respondents.

Human resource management is monitored through regular employee feedback from internal and public service-wide surveys, exit and turnover rates, knowledge transfer, exit interviews, as well as through Biennial (every second year) and Quadrennial (every fourth year) Program Reports from every program.

Table 4.1: Performance Monitoring Measures and Indicators: Statistics Canada's Quality Assurance Framework

Performance Measures:	Performance Indicators:
Relevance: Use of statistics in policy formulation and decision making The production of new statistical information in areas required to formulate policy and to make decisions The production of knowledge that contributes to an understanding of Canada's economic and social history, trends and issues The extent to which statistical information serves to address the purposes for which it was produced and fills the needs of users Information Quality: The timely release of high quality statistical information Statistics which adhere to recognised national and international standards Availability of quality descriptors and technical notes Statistics which are accessible to Canadians Maintenance of a national statistical knowledge infrastructure: Controlled Respondent Burden Maximum use of administrative data Use of modern methods and technologies Skilled and responsive staff	Program Relevance Support to policy decision making The production of new statistical information Program improvements resulting from user feedback Accuracy of information Survey coverage (mission critical surveys*) Sampling error (mission critical surveys) Response rates (mission critical surveys) Statistical revision patterns Timeliness of Information Measures of elapsed time between reference period and release dates Accessibility of Information Access to information products and services including: Media citations Internet connections Website services Client contacts with Regional Offices Sales Partnerships Client satisfaction measurements. Interpretability of Information Availability of quality descriptors and technical notes The availability of meta data Coherence of Information Use of Classification Standards (mission critical surveys) Maintenance of a National Statistical Knowledge Infrastructure Calculated respondent burden Use of administrative data in lieu of surveys Alternative means of reporting and collecting data Employee Opinion survey Employee turnover rates Investments in employee training
* Mission critical surveys: The Agency has identified as "departmental mission critical programs" those that provide key current socio-economic indicators. These are: the Labour Force Survey, the Consumer Price Index, the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing, International Trade Statistics, Monthly Wholesale/Retail Trade Survey, the Quarterly Gross Domestic Product, the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (income component), the Quarterly Financial Survey and the Industrial Product Price Index. See also Table 4.2.
For further information on the Quality Assurance Framework, please follow this link: http://www.statcan.ca:8096/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=12-586-X&CHROPG=1

Table 4.2: Alphabetical Listing of Statistics Canada's Core products

Aboriginal Peoples Survey and Statistical Training Program	Income & Expenditure Accounts (GDP)
Adult Corrections Survey	Industrial Product Price Index
Adult Criminal Court Survey	Infrastructure
Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALLS)	Institutional Surveys
Air Statistics (sub-annual and annual) - Civil Aviation - Traffic	Inter-Provincial Wholesale Commodity Survey (every two years)
Analysis and Reporting	International Investment Position
Annual Special Studies (varied topics)	International Travel Survey (ITS)
Annual Business Service Industries	Joint Canada/US Population Health Survey
Annual Consumer Service Industries	Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Annual Crop Statistics	Legal Aid Survey
Annual Energy Surveys	Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants
Annual Family Violence Report / GSS Victimization	Machinery and Equipment
Annual Financial Statistics	Marine Statistics (Sub-annual and Annual)
Annual Government Financial Statistics (SNA)	Migration Estimates
Annual Homicide Survey	Minority/Second Language Education at the Post-Secondary Level
Annual Income and Prices Statistics	Minority/Second Language Education in Elementary and Secondary Schools
Annual I-O Tables at Constant Prices	Monthly Energy Surveys
Annual Livestock Statistics	Monthly GDP by Industry
Annual Police Administration Survey	Monthly Manufacturing Commodity Surveys
Annual Property Service Industries	Monthly New Motor Vehicle Survey
Annual Provincial Input Output Tables	Monthly Restaurants, Caterers and Taverns Survey (MRCTS)
Annual Retail Trade Survey	Monthly Retail Trade Survey
Annual Science and technology surveys	Monthly Survey of Manufacturing
Annual Survey of Manufacturing and Forestry	Monthly Wholesale Trade Survey
Annual Telecommunications and broadcasting statistics	Motion Picture Laboratory Operations, Production and Post-Production Annual Survey
Annual Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR)	Motion Picture Theatres Annual Survey
Annual Wholesale Trade Survey	National Graduate Survey (NGS)
Balance of Payments	National Wealth and Capital Stock
Balance Sheet and Financial Flows	New Housing Price Index
Biennial Courts Revenues, Expenditures and Personnel Survey	Non-Profit Institutions Satellite Account
Biennial Prosecutions Resources, Expenditures and Personnel Survey	Non-Residential Construction Price Index
Book Publishing Biennial Survey	Pan Canadian Education Indicator project
Business Register	Pension Plans in Canada Survey
Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering, and Participating (CSGVP)	Performing Arts Survey
Canadian Cancer Registry	Periodicals Publishing Biennial Survey
Canadian Travel Survey (CTS)	Population Estimates and Projections
Capital Expenditures	Post-Secondary Education Participation Survey (PEPS)
Census of Agriculture	Post-Secondary Faculty
Census of Population 2001 & 2006	Post-Secondary Finances
Census of Trusteed Pension Funds and Quarterly Estimates of Trusteed Pension Funds	Provincial Economic Accounts
Civil Courts Survey	Quarterly Financial Survey
Consumer Price Index (CPI)	Quarterly Government Financial Statistics (SNA)
Corporations Returns Act	Quarterly Retail Commodity Survey
Culture Trade and Investment	Rail, Bus, Urban Transit, Fuel (Sub-annual and Annual)
Current Investment Indicators -includes building permits.	Services Producer Price Indexes
Education Analysis, including Pan Canadian Education Research Agenda and CESC-SSHRC Education Research Initiative	Small Business Finance Statistics
Education and Training Services Industry Data	Sound Recording Survey
Education Price Index	Sub-Annual Crop Statistics
Electric Power Capabilities & Load	Sub-Annual Farm Income and Prices Statistics
Elementary/Secondary Enrolment	Sub-Annual Livestock Statistics
Elementary/Secondary School Finances	Survey of Employment, Payrolls, and Hours
Elementary/Secondary Teachers	Survey of Financial Security
Enhanced Student Information System (ESIS)	Survey of Household Spending (SHS)
Environmental Accounts and Surveys	Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID)
Exporter Registry	Survey of Suppliers of Business Financing
Family and Labour Studies Health Analysis and Measurement Business and Labour Market Analysis Socio-Economic Analysis and Modeling	Tax Data
Farm Input Price Index	Tourism analysis: Travelogue and Tourism Statistical Digest
Film, Video and Audio Visual Production and Distribution Annual Survey	Transition Home Survey
General Social Survey (GSS)	Trucking, Vehicles, Taxis, Couriers (Sub-annual and annual)
Geography Standards	Tuition Fee and Living Accommodation Costs at Canadian Universities
Government Expenditures on Culture Annual Survey	Union Wage Rate Indexes for Major Construction Trade
Government Financial Statistics (FMS-GFS)	Vital Statistics
Graduations at the Secondary Level	Workplace and Employee Survey
Health Surveys	Youth Court Survey
Heritage Institutions Biennial Survey	Youth Custody and Community Services Survey
Imports/Export and Balance of Trade

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