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2009-10
Report on Plans and Priorities

Statistics Canada

The original version was signed by
The Honourable Tony Clement
Minister of Industry

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Table of Contents

1. Minister’s Portfolio Message
2. Chief Statistician’s Message
3. Section I Agency Overview
   1. 1.1 Summary Information
   2. 1.2 Planning Summary
4. Section II Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome
   1. 2.1 Economic Statistics (Program Activity 1)
   2. 2.2 Social Statistics (Program Activity 2)
   3. 2.3 Census, Demography and Aboriginal Statistics (Program Activity 3)
   4. 2.4 Internal Services: Management Services, Communications and Operational Infrastructure, and Methodology Services (Program Activity 4)
5. Section III Supplementary Information

Minister’s Portfolio Message

As Minister of Industry, I am committed to the long-term competitiveness and prosperity of our country. Canada has many economic advantages upon which we must continue to build if we are to set the right conditions for our long-term success. With this in mind, Industry Canada and its Portfolio partners are striving toward the development of an innovative economy with robust sectors and an efficient and competitive marketplace.

Our priorities remain aligned with Advantage Canada, the government’s long-term economic plan. Here, we set out clear objectives, including the reduction of taxes, the encouragement of entrepreneurship, and the development of a knowledge-based economy.

In the 2009–2010 Report on Plans and Priorities, we recognize that as we look to the year ahead we are entering a period of continued global economic uncertainty, one that demands clear and strategic action on the part of the government to ensure we accomplish the long-term goals we have set for ourselves. Our departmental priorities and initiatives will be guided by a balanced consideration of the demands of the global economic situation and our long-term vision for Canada’s growth and prosperity.

In Budget 2009 — Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the government has developed a clear and comprehensive response to the slowdown in the global economy, which is in keeping with the continuing objectives of Advantage Canada. The economic action plan addresses short-term realities, while setting in place the conditions to strengthen Canada’s economy for generations to come.

Industry Canada and its Portfolio partners are at the heart of the government’s strategy to stimulate the Canadian economy. We are taking steps to improve the competitiveness of Canada’s traditional economy by providing short-term support for key sectors such as the auto industry. We are ensuring that all regions of Canada prosper by supporting economic diversification. We are fostering small businesses by improving access to credit and encouraging growth through tax reductions and incentives. We are supporting measures to develop a highly skilled workforce through such means as expanding the Canada Graduate Scholarships program. At this time of intense international competition for the world’s best and brightest, government support is helping to attract and retain these individuals in Canada. We are positioning Canada as a leader in the global knowledge economy.

In the ongoing pursuit of our mandate, we will continue to focus on innovation as a means to develop a globally competitive economy. Our ultimate goal is to help Canadians continue to enjoy a quality of life that is envied throughout the world.

It is my pleasure to present this year’s Report on Plans and Priorities for Industry Canada and its Portfolio partners, which will outline in greater detail the priorities and pursuits in which we will be engaged in the year to come.

Tony Clement
Minister of Industry

Chief Statistician’s Message

Canadians need access to a trusted source of information about their country. Timely, accurate and relevant statistics and analysis are even more important in periods of economic stress when Canadians and their governments must make difficult decisions. Statistics Canada is totally committed to providing the best possible data.

Meeting this commitment means information evolving with the needs of the citizens. Next year, among other things, Statistics Canada will:

• introduce new measures for the services industries that now dominate the Canadian economy, and develop new information and tools to better understand strategies and decision making at the level of the individual firm;
• implement updated international standards to improve data quality and international comparisons;
• modernize key processes and computer systems to protect and enhance the quality of the information it produces, and to allow Canadians involved in its surveys the option of responding by Internet; and,
• build and test solid operational foundations for the Censuses of Population and Agriculture that will be conducted in 2011.

I invite readers to learn more about these and other initiatives in this report on Statistics Canada’s plans and priorities for the next three years. I also invite readers to benefit from the work of their national statistical agency by monitoring the results of our programs and analyses on our Web site (www.statcan.gc.ca).

The original version was signed by Munir A. Sheikh, Chief Statistician of Canada.

Section I Agency Overview

1.1 Summary Information

Raison d’être

Statistics Canada produces statistical data to help Canadians better understand their country—its population, resources, economy, society and culture.

Statistical information is crucial: it enables Canadians to make informed decisions and governments at all levels to develop appropriate policies. Among other things, statistical information is used to analyse economic performance, develop fiscal, monetary and foreign exchange policies, shape international trade negotiations, assess the cost-effectiveness of health care and education programs, monitor the justice system’s effectiveness and efficiency, select sites for schools and public transportation, and develop programs such as day care and subsidized housing.

Statistics Canada is committed to ensuring that its data are of the highest quality—in particular, that they are relevant, accurate, available promptly, accessible, easily interpreted and coherent. The Agency follows the highest technical standards in collecting information, and works neutrally and objectively, without interference or influence from outside parties. Statistics Canada also highly values the confidentiality of the information it collects, and the privacy of those who provide that information.

Responsibilities and Strategic Outcome

Statistics Canada's mandate derives primarily from the Statistics Act. The Act requires that the Agency collect, compile, analyse and publish statistical information on the economic, social and general conditions of the country and its citizens. The Act also requires that Statistics Canada co-ordinate the national statistical system, specifically to avoid duplication in the information collected by government. To this end, the Chief Statistician may enter into joint data-collection or -sharing agreements with provincial and territorial statistical agencies, as well as with federal, provincial and territorial government departments, subject to confidentiality guarantees for identifiable statistical information.

The Statistics Act specifically requires Statistics Canada to conduct a Census of Population and a Census of Agriculture every five years. The Act also gives the Agency substantial powers to request information for statistical purposes through surveys of Canadian businesses and households. By default, response to Statistics Canada’s surveys is mandatory under the Act; refusal to participate is subject to legal penalties. The Act includes provisions to make participation in data collection voluntary: Statistics Canada has done so generally with household data collection other than the Census of Population and the Labour Force Survey—the latter produces key economic data. The Census of Agriculture and all other surveys of businesses, including surveys of agricultural businesses, are mandatory.

Statistics Canada can also, by law, access all administrative records, including personal and business tax data, customs declarations, and birth and death records. Such records are critical sources of statistical information, which enable the Agency to reduce reporting burden on business and individual respondents. Statistics Canada is considered a leader among the world’s statistical agencies in reducing reporting burden by using administrative data.

These mechanisms help Statistics Canada achieve its long-standing strategic outcome, which is to ensure Canadians have access to objective, high-quality, non-partisan statistics, statistical products, services and analyses on Canada's economy and society that fulfill legal requirements, are relevant to policy formulation and decision makers, and are responsive to emerging issues.

1.2 Planning Summary

Agency Priorities for 2009/2010

To ensure the Agency’s continued relevance and efficiency, Statistics Canada has established 12 priorities for the coming year, as part of a multi-year plan:

• An historical revision of the Canadian National Accounts to bring them in line with updated international standards.
• A redesign of the Balance of Payments (Phase III) to update surveys of international financial transactions to meet revised international standards.
• Introduction of a General Business Panel Survey and an Integrated Business Database to track business strategies and link them with businesses’ performance over time.
• Development of Services Producer Price Indexes for the business services sector for better measurement of real output and productivity change. (This sector accounts for nearly 40% of gross domestic product.)
• Next steps of the Canadian Health Measures Survey to collect key health information—via direct physical measurement—and to create national baseline health data.
• A redesign of household surveys to address challenges to the household survey program, particularly rising costs, declining response rates, changing user needs and a need for flexible options for respondents.
• Development of a new Crime Severity Index that takes into account the volume of police-reported crime and the seriousness of each crime.
• Preparation for the 2011 Census of Population, including running a Census Test in May 2009.
• Preparation for the 2011 Census of Agriculture, including participation in the May 2009 Census Test.
• Continuation of the Collection Business Architecture initiative to modernize Statistics Canada’s data-collection processes.
• Implementing initiatives to support Public Service Renewal in accordance with the annual plan of the Clerk of the Privy Council.
• Strengthening the Agency’s internal audit function in accordance with Treasury Board policy.

Program Activity Architecture

Under its legislation, Statistics Canada has authority to collect and compile information on a wide array of subjects to meet the needs of its many stakeholders. Its statistical program is correspondingly wide-ranging.

To achieve its objectives, the Agency allocates the resources entrusted to it in accordance with its Program Activity Architecture. This framework of program activities and sub-activities reflects Government of Canada standards for transparent and accountable reporting. It was established by Statistics Canada, in conjunction with Treasury Board.

Statistics Canada’s activities are divided into three main program activities based on subject matter—Economic Statistics, Social Statistics, and Census, Demography and Aboriginal Statistics. A fourth program activity covers internal services. Within these groupings are the sub-activities, which correspond to the branch of the Agency’s organizational structure. Within the sub-activities groupings are a third level of activities, which correspond to the Agency’s divisions. The detailed Program Activity Architecture is shown below:

Figure 1 Program Activity Architecture

Financial and Human Resources

Statistics Canada's statistical program is funded from two sources: direct parliamentary appropriations and cost-recovery activities. In recent years, the Agency’s ‘respendable’ cost-recovery revenues—revenues the Agency is authorized to spend on the activity that generated them—have added more than $100 million to its total resources. A large portion of these respendable revenues are from federal departments to fund specific statistical projects. Statistics Canada assumes that cost-recovery revenues will remain in the same vicinity each year for the foreseeable future.

The bulk of Statistics Canada's resources come, of course, from direct parliamentary appropriations. The total planned spending and total planned human resources for the next three fiscal years are summarized in the following tables.

Financial Resources	2009/2010	2010/2011	2011/2012
($ thousands)	454,391	388,792	403,852

Human Resources	2009/2010	2010/2011	2011/2012
Full-time Equivalents	5,567	5,001	5,138

Note: Statistics Canada is empowered under the Statistics Act to directly hire temporary staff as interviewers and enumerators for its data-collection activities. Fluctuations in financial and human resources are primarily due to the Census, for which the peak period corresponds to the year in which the Census is conducted. Temporary staff are excluded from the table of full-time equivalents.

Both tables show the year-to-year variability in Statistics Canada’s resources, the result of the cyclical activity supporting the Census of Population and the Census of Agriculture. Funding typically peaks in the fiscal year in which the census is conducted.

The chart below shows funding by program activity: 66% of funding for 2009/2010 is accounted for by the Economic Statistics and Social Statistics program activities. The Census share is 17%, reflecting the low point in the census cycle.

Figure 2 Allocation of Funding by Program Activity, 2009/2010

The longer-term context is illustrated in the figure below, which shows Statistics Canada’s spending trend from 2005/2006 to 2011/2012.

Figure 3 Spending Trend, 2005/2006 to 2011/2012

Note: Fiscal years 2006/2007 and 2011/2012 are periods of peak Census expenditure. The spending trend shown here reflects approved expenditures. For the 2011 Census of Agriculture, funding has been approved through 2013/2014. For the 2011 Census of Population, it has been approved through 2009/2010.

Spending peaked in 2006/2007, when the 2006 Censuses of Population and Agriculture were conducted. It fell from 2007/2008 through to 2009/2010, as these activities wound down. Funding also decreased due to the Strategic Program Review and the 2007 Efficiency Savings. The sunsetting of several small initiatives also contributed to the fall in funding.

Funding has not been secured beyond 2009/2010 for the 2011 Census of Population. The rising funding in 2011/2012 reflects preparation for the 2011 Census of Population and Census of Agriculture. When full census funding has been secured, Statistics Canada expects spending in 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 to reach magnitudes similar to the equivalent point in the previous census cycle.

Planning Summary Tables

Total planned spending for each program activity, for each of the next three fiscal years, as well as expected results, are detailed below.

Table 1Planning Summary Table—Planned Spending and Expected Results

Program Activity	Expected Results	Forecast Spending ($ thousands)	Planned Spending ($ thousands)			Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
		2008/2009	2009/2010	2010/2011	2011/2012
Economic Statistics	Statistics produced by Statistics Canada are available through a wide range of easily accessible media formats and venues. Canadians are aware of the availability of these statistics and of their high quality, and of the professionalism and non-partisanship of Statistics Canada.	204,033	190,068	181,428	185,586	Statistics Canada program activities are linked to the Government Affairs Government of Canada Outcome Area.
Social Statistics		197,770	192,456	175,886	178,482
Census, Demography and Aboriginal Statistics		107,162	108,108	50,000	58,533
Internal Services	…	83,777	83,758	81,477	81,251	…
Budgetary Main Estimates (Gross)	…	592,742	574,391	488,792	503,852	…
Less: Respendable Revenue	…	130,000	120,000	100,000	100,000	…
Total Main Estimates	…	462,742	454,391	388,792	403,852	…
Adjustments1	…	32,747	0	0	0	…
Total Planned Spending	…	495,489	454,391	388,792	403,852	…
… not applicable 1. Adjustments are to accommodate approvals obtained since the release of the Main Estimates. Adjustments include Budget initiatives, Supplementary Estimates, etc. Note: Totals may differ within and between tables due to the rounding of amounts.

Performance indicators and targets are shown in the table below. These indicators result from an initiative, undertaken jointly with Treasury Board, to develop objective, empirical measures of the Agency’s success in meeting its strategic outcome. This is a challenging undertaking, given the diversity of Statistics Canada’s products and the high level of service provided by Agency staff. Trusted statistical information that is widely accessible is a complex product. The indicators and targets shown below reflect this complexity. By these and any other measures, the Agency will meet its strategic outcome.

Table 2Planning Summary Table—Performance Indicators and Targets

Performance Indicators	Targets
Use of statistical data and products by users (measured by Internet downloads, page views and other readership measures)	The Agency monitors the volume of data and other statistical products used by clients, and the readership of its flagship publications such as The Daily, Canadian Social Trends, Canadian Economic Observer, Perspectives on Labour and Income, Health Reports and the Canada Year Book. Dissemination volumes are analysed compared with historical baselines to ensure enhanced access by Canadians both globally and for individual products.
Citations of Statistics Canada statistical and analytical products (in major media, learned journals and other outlets)	The frequency of references to the Agency’s statistical data and analytical products indicate access by clients to relevant and trusted information. References are analysed and compared to a baseline year to ensure that a high degree of client interest and access continues.
Results of annual client satisfaction surveys	Client satisfaction surveys are conducted and ratings are monitored at the program and corporate levels to ensure that goals supporting the Agency’s Strategic Outcome are reached. The target is an average overall score of 4.0 on a scale of 0 to 5.0.
Results of ad hoc evaluations of the Agency by public and private institutions (such as internal audits, external audits, external evaluations and international appraisals)	To realize consistently high ratings and findings year over year.

Voted and Statutory Items

The table below shows: how Parliament has approved Statistics Canada resources; the changes in the resources derived from supplementary estimates and other authorities; and how funds were spent.

Table 3Voted and Statutory Items

Vote number or Statutory Item	Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording	2008/2009 Main Estimates1 ($ thousands)	2009/2010 Main Estimates1 ($ thousands)
95	Program expenditures	398,872	391,909
Statutory	Contributions to employee benefit plans	63,870	62,481
Total		462,742	454,391
1. Main Estimates amounts are presented net of respendable revenue. Note: Totals may differ within and between tables due to the rounding of amounts.

How Statistics Canada Meets Its Objectives

Statistics Canada has a well-developed, highly integrated planning system designed to track the evolving information needs of Canadians and enable the Agency to efficiently respond to those needs with products and services of high quality. Senior management provides strategic direction and continuing support to ensure Statistics Canada delivers its strategic outcomes.

The planning system enables the Agency to:

• identify Canadians’ emerging information needs, and determine their priority
• select new statistical program initiatives to best meet those needs
• generate efficiencies in information gathering, processing and dissemination
• integrate planning of long-term business operations with human resource and financial requirements
• continually assess each statistical program’s performance and risks and, where appropriate, to improve those programs.

These planning activities are carried out through several organizational components and processes.

Statistics Canada's stakeholder network: Crucial to Statistics Canada's success, the stakeholder network keeps the Agency abreast of evolving information needs and opportunities. Statistics Canada convenes several professional advisory committees in various program areas on program content as well as on products and services. The National Statistics Council sits at the summit of the advisory committee system. Statistics Canada consults with provincial and territorial governments through the Federal–Provincial–Territorial Consultative Council on Statistical Policy and various specialized committees under its aegis. Numerous bilateral committees link Statistics Canada to federal departments and agencies. The Agency also participates in numerous international standards-setting bodies. Information from those bodies informs management judgments on revising the Agency’s programs. The National Statistical Council provides high-level policy guidance to the statistical system and to the Agency’s Policy Committee; the council can exercise much influence on the Agency’s statistical program and its future directions.

Policy Committee: This committee heads the planning process. The top executive governance body at Statistics Canada, with final decision-making powers, it is headed by the Chief Statistician of Canada (the deputy head of the Agency) and seven Assistant Chief Statisticians (the assistant deputy ministers). The committee deals with all major issues affecting the Agency: it provides broad direction for the organization, approves specific types of transactions reserved for its consideration, and acts as the court of final resort for all decisions taken in the management of the Agency.

Management Committee Structure: Several management committees, chaired by assistant chief statisticians, deal with every important aspect of managing the Agency, providing open and candid discussion of management issues, building common understanding, and achieving consensus on how to deal with these issues and on policy recommendations to be made to the Policy Committee. These committees ensure that statistical business needs drive management processes.

Strategic Planning Cycle: This annual cycle, with a three- to five-year planning horizon, provides the framework for deciding what changes will be made to the Agency’s statistical program from one year to the next. It involves all managers and synthesizes information on user needs, program weaknesses and information gaps. This transparent process is based on consensus-building across the organization.

Features of this cycle that are important in managing and in planning the Agency’s statistical program operations are:

• an annual strategic planning conference to identify major corporate priorities to be adhered to in developing long-term planning proposals in the current planning round
• a requirement for program managers to identify their lowest priority program activities for possible reduction or cancellation and to propose efficiencies
• an invitation to program managers to submit new initiatives that would respond to user needs, especially in areas identified as corporate priorities
• a review and screening of long-term planning proposals by senior management review groups, called “syndicates”, which are headed by assistant chief statisticians
• an independent review of major systems proposals to ensure that they follow appropriate project management and design principles
• a senior management meeting of directors general and above to review and critique all proposals presented by syndicates
• Policy Committee decisions on all proposals based on their relevance to corporate priorities, the results of previous program reviews and funding available.

Human resources and business planning are integrated. At the outset, staff from the Human Resources Branch are involved in the planning cycle to identify the resource implications of all planning proposals put forth to ensure that Policy Committee decisions on them can be taken, based on all their resource requirements, costs and risks.

Program Evaluation Cycle: Every two years, each program is required to produce a report documenting its performance and laying out its future direction and proposals for change.

Every fourth year, each program supplements its biennial report with a more strategic review of its relevance and direction, including the results of consultations with its clients. These quadrennial reports may also offer planning proposals to respond to identified program weaknesses. The Policy Committee reviews these quadrennial reports. It may approve putting forward planning proposals identified in these reports for funding consideration in the planning cycle. A risk assessment is performed as part of the quadrennial evaluation; it follows the requirements of Statistics Canada’s Corporate Risk Framework (see section below on this), and focuses on the demand for and the supply of statistical capacity.

Risk Analysis and the Plans and Priorities for 2009/2010

Statistics Canada, like other organizations, must manage risk in an uncertain world. For a statistical agency, the key risks are security of data supply, usefulness of outputs and the challenges of running a large and complex organization. These three sources of risk are at the centre of the Agency’s Corporate Risk Framework.

At Statistics Canada, risk management is operationalized through several processes: the main one is internal program evaluation. In preparing quadrennial program reviews, program managers evaluate their own risk profile—assessing the likelihood and the potential impact of an unwanted event—and outline their plans to mitigate such risk. Risk management is also operationalized by consulting with advisory committees, tracking market feedback, and other central agencies conducting internal audits and reviews.

One of the Agency’s challenges is ensuring that its output continues to be relevant and useful. Many of the plans and priorities in 2009/2010 are aimed at improving the relevance of the national statistical program by producing new kinds of statistics policy makers need concerning the economy, the environment, health and the administration of justice, all current government priorities. There is also new investment for the 2011 Census of Population and the Census of Agriculture, both fundamental sources of statistical information for a wide variety of users across the country. The relevance of the national statistical program will be further enhanced by the release of additional statistics on the Aboriginal population.

Other program priorities address the usefulness of the Agency’s outputs. Quality is an overriding concern for Statistics Canada; the credibility and usefulness of its output depends on the actual and perceived quality of its statistics. To this end, new investments are being made to extend the coverage of producer price indexes in service industries, which is intended to improve the measurement of real output and productivity in the Canadian economy. As well, national accounting and balance of payments data are being revised to reflect new international standards. In addition, Statistics Canada has completed a comprehensive review of the quality assurance practices for nine of its most critical statistical programs and an exercise on sensitization on quality assurance to highlight areas in programs that may be exposed to quality risks. This quality assurance process has entered the next phase, namely institutionalizing the quality review at the Agency.

Other priorities address security of supply and the operation of the corporation. Investments in infrastructure are being made to modernize the collection process, to address the challenge of changing demographics in Statistics Canada’s own workforce, and to expand the internal audit function to better ensure the continued quality of Agency services.

Benefits for Canadians

Statistics Canada is meeting its strategic outcome. According to a 2007 public opinion survey conducted for the Agency by Environics Research Group:

• Almost 80% of all adults in Canada hold a positive impression of Statistics Canada, and feel that it contributes to the quality of life in Canada.
• Of Canadians who accessed the Internet, 1 in 4 claimed to have visited the Statistics Canada website at least once in the previous 12 months—a very large proportion.
• About 80% of those who visited the website indicated they found the information they sought.

In addition, Statistics Canada data are widely cited and used:

• 81% of the 311 Globe and Mail issues published within the past year contained one or more articles referencing Statistics Canada.
• 5.3 million Google pages referenced Statistics Canada (excluding Statistics Canada's own site).
• There were 19.8 million visits to Statistics Canada's website in 2007/2008
• There were over 2 million users of The Daily, the Agency’s daily information release. The Daily contains an average of five data releases per issue and is distributed some 245 times a year.
• There were 22 explicit references to Statistics Canada in the 2008 Federal Budget; 13 references in the Ontario Budget, and 9 in the British Columbia Budget.
• There were 15,500 subscribers to The Daily or its components.
• 576 publications on the C. D Howe Institute website contain one or more references to Statistics Canada.
• 230 pages on the Institute for Research on Public Policy website refer to Statistics Canada.
• Significant amounts of Statistics Canada data are republished by the United Nations, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, International Labour Organization, and the International Monetary Fund.
• 3,608 blog posts cite “Statistics Canada/Statistique Canada,” according to Technorati.

Section IIAnalysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome

The following section describes Statistics Canada’s plans and priorities and identifies the expected results, performance indicators and targets. This section also explains how Statistics Canada will achieve the expected results and presents the financial and non-financial resources that will be dedicated to each program activity.

This section contains a discussion of plans and priorities surrounding the following Program Activities:

• Economic Statistics
• Social Statistics
• Census, Demography and Aboriginal Statistics
• Internal Services

Additional information on Statistics Canada’s performance measurement framework and methodology can be found on the Agency’s website (www.statcan.gc.ca).

2.1Economic Statistics (Program Activity 1)

Program Activity: Economic Statistics
Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ thousands)
2009/2010		2010/2011		2011/2012
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
2,088	165,571	2,035	161,014	2,066	165,172
For expected results, performance indicators and targets, please refer to the Planning Summary Tables in Section 1 of this document.

Notes: Totals may differ within and between tables due to the rounding of amounts.
Planned Spending amounts are presented net of Respendable Revenue.

Program Activity Summary

The Economic Statistics Program produces a portrait of Canada’s economic structure (which sectors are important to the economy) and trends (which sectors are growing or declining). A more detailed description of these activities can be found at http://www.statcan.gc.ca/about-apercu/structure/paa-aap-eng.htm.

In 2009/2010, Statistics Canada’s Economic Statistics Program will continue to provide micro- and macroeconomic statistics and analyses on the entire spectrum of Canadian economic activity, both domestic and international. These statistics are used by governments in formulating monetary, fiscal and commercial policy and by businesses and citizens generally to analyze and assess different aspects of Canada’s economy. They are the means by which Canadians monitor the rate of inflation, economic growth and productivity change, international trade balances, changes in industrial structure, the effectiveness of agricultural and other sectoral policies and a wide range of other economic phenomena.

Planning Highlights

Data dissemination: In 2009/2010, the primary focus of the program will be to continue releasing high quality economic statistics in a timely fashion. The release dates for the main statistical series are announced about a year in advance. In the year ahead, there will be special emphasis on reviewing and updating statistical quality assurance procedures within the program; taking further steps to reduce response burden; improving coherence by working to ensure that most economic surveys use the common business register; and initiating a project to adapt Canada’s national economic accounts to meet new international standards.

Resource accounts: Another initiative is to improve the resource accounts produced at Statistics Canada. These accounts provide information on the stocks and flows of a number of important natural resources. Work is ongoing to improve the information on the supply and use of water resources: one of the most important environmental concerns in many parts of Canada. The objective is to have improved ongoing estimates of water supply-use for Canadians. New surveys, namely, Industrial Water Use Survey, Agricultural Water Use Survey and Survey of Drinking Water Plants, are filling important data gaps with respect to water use, availability and quality. The survey data on industrial and agricultural water use, for example, will be used to re-start the production of the water-use accounts, idle since the disappearance of Environment Canada’s industrial water use survey after 1996. The objective is to have the updated water use accounts available for analytical purposes by 2009. Initially, the planned applications of these accounts include calculating water-use intensities by various sectors and embodied water in trade. Work on these accounts is coordinated with other federal organizations such as Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada and Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. Preliminary estimates using improved methodologies and new survey activities will be released over the coming year.

The Economic Statistics Program has identified the following priorities:

• Historical Revision of the Canadian National Accounts
• Balance of Payments (BOP) Redesign Phase III
• General Business Panel Survey and Integrated Business Database
• Services Producer Price Indexes

Priority: Historical Revision of the Canadian National Accounts

The revised national accounts will be released in 2012. Canada will be among the first countries to incorporate changes from the new international recommendations for macroeconomic accounts. These recommendations were established by the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund in 2008. The revision will allow improvements in statistical methods and provide an opportunity to modify the accounts to better reflect the impacts of globalization on production and trade and better recognize the role of research and development in modern economies. The financial accounts will also be thoroughly reviewed and updated in the light of the current economic uncertainty.

Priority: Balance of Payments (BOP) Redesign Phase III

The third phase of the BOP redesign focuses on a complete revamping of the surveys of international financial transactions. The surveys and associated systems will be updated to align with the revised international macroeconomic accounts standards of 2008 as published by the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund. They will also incorporate changes required as Canadian corporations move to the international accounting standards in 2011. In addition, there will be an emphasis on improving the efficiency of the program, reducing respondent burden and ensuring the capacity to respond to any new data initiatives arising from the recent international financial turmoil.

This is a five-year project; the first year was completed in 2008/2009 and included a review of the programs in other countries as well as consultation with other federal government departments and delivery of an approved IT architecture.

Priority: General Business Panel Survey and Integrated Business Database

The long-term objective of the General Business Panel Survey (GBPS) and the Integrated Business Database (IBD) is to support the innovation, productivity and competitiveness policy agenda of the Canadian government. The pilot phase of this initiative includes a pilot longitudinal survey and a related database that together aim to provide policy-relevant evidence on business strategy issues. Key aspects of the long-term initiative are the tracking of firm performance over time, and the use of the database to provide information on performance and characteristics to minimize response burden. As part of the pilot GBPS, a Global Value Chains module survey will be conducted in 2009/2010. The survey will collect and tabulate high level estimates on the activities of Canadian firms in the area of global value chains.

The two-year pilot phase of this initiative covers 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 and was co-sponsored by Statistics Canada, Industry Canada and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. Long-term funding is currently being sought to transition from this pilot phase to a survey program.

Priority: Services Producer Price Indexes (SPPI)

Business services represent almost 40% of GDP compared to about 17% for government services and 11% for personal services. Overall, the services sector accounts for approximately two-thirds of GDP. The statistical system provides a very good estimation of the total output of the services sector and its composition at current prices. However, despite the importance of business services, price indexes for these industries represent a significant gap in the Canadian economic statistical system. This gap seriously affects the quality of real output and productivity change estimates. In 2006/2007, the Agency embarked on a 5 year project to develop services price indexes for approximately 30 broad business services categories. Together with the services price indexes already in publication, approximately 86% of the business service sector (34% of total GDP) will be covered.

Preliminary data collection has been ongoing for wholesaling margins, retailing margins, truck transportation, non-residential rent, and rental of other machinery and equipment including construction since fiscal year 2006/2007. The indexes will be published in fiscal year 2008/2009.

2.2Social Statistics (Program Activity 2)

Program Activity: Social Statistics
Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ thousands)
2009/2010		2010/2011		2011/2012
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
1,716	132,585	1,696	125,425	1,716	128,021
For expected results, performance indicators and targets, please refer to the Planning Summary Tables in Section 1 of this document.

Notes: Totals may differ within and between tables due to the rounding of amounts.
Planned Spending amounts are presented net of Respendable Revenue.

Program Activity Summary

The Social Statistics Program provides information on the economic and social characteristics of individuals, families and households in Canada. It includes measures of household income and expenditure; employment, unemployment and their associated costs and benefits; labour income and factors affecting labour supply; health and factors influencing it; and information on topics of specific social policy concern. This program encompasses the justice, health care, and education systems as well as cultural institutions and industries.

A more detailed description of these activities can be found at http://www.statcan.gc.ca/about-apercu/structure/paa-aap-eng.htm.

Planning Highlights

In 2009/2010, the primary focus of the Social Statistics Program will be to continue releasing high quality social statistics in a timely fashion, with the release dates for the main statistical series announced about a year in advance. In the year ahead, there will be special emphasis on a redesign of the household survey infrastructure to ensure the surveys provide quality data in an efficient and cost-effective manner, while remaining relevant and responsive to priorities specified by the sponsoring policy departments. Special attention will also be given to responding to the needs of data users for easier access to census and survey microdata. The Research Data Centres (RDC) have seen a significant expansion in a very short time, with over a thousand research projects presently underway. Initiatives are being undertaken to explore other means of access to these data including use of synthetic files to facilitate and speed up access, and the ability for researchers to remotely access the data from their computer. In all cases, the confidentiality of the microdata remains paramount.

The health statistics program continues in a phase of innovation. The initial cycle of data collection for the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) is nearly complete, and Budget 2008 provided funding to make this new survey ongoing. For the first time, the CHMS is providing baseline data on Canadians’ exposures to heavy metals, pesticides and other environmental biomarkers, as well as cardio-vascular and other risk factors. A third focus will therefore be on producing a range of analytical and technical results from the first cycle of the survey, and developing consensus plans for future cycles.

The Social Statistics Program has identified the following priorities:

• Canadian Health Measures Survey
• Household Survey Redesign
• New Crime Severity Index

Priority: Canadian Health Measures Survey

The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS), launched in March 2007, is collecting key information relevant to the health of Canadians by means of direct physical measurements such as blood pressure, height, weight and physical fitness. In addition, the survey collects blood and urine samples to test for infectious diseases, nutrition and environmental markers. The survey is collecting data and physical health measures over a two-year period from 5,500 Canadians aged 6 to 79 years of age in fifteen communities across Canada.

The resulting information will create national baseline data on the extent of major health concerns such as obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, exposure to infectious diseases and exposure to environmental contaminants. In addition, the survey will provide evidence about many diseases, such as hypertension, that may be undiagnosed among Canadians. In Australia, a similar survey conducted from 1999 to 2001 found that for every known case of diabetes, there was one undiagnosed case.

Priority: Household Survey Redesign

Over the last fifteen years, Statistics Canada has greatly improved its social survey program. It has added a number of key new surveys as part of its regular program. It has also increased the number of surveys done on a cost-recovery in order to provide other departments with the information needed to monitor the Canadian situation and establish relevant policies. The household survey program is facing challenges on a number of different fronts including declining response rates, increasing costs for reaching those who do not respond, decreasing effectiveness of random telephone dialing methods with the proliferation of cell phones, and increasing expectations for Internet response options. These challenges are faced by statistical agencies around the world. User needs are also evolving and there is an increased need for data on targeted groups with relatively large sample sizes.

These issues will be addressed over the next five years with the redesign of the household survey infrastructure. The development and integration of various sources to create survey frames is the cornerstone to the strategy. Offering multi-mode collection, particularly an Internet option, is also key to maintaining response rates, particularly among certain sub-groups of the population. Some processes in the survey collection may be adapted to provide efficiencies (for example load levelling of the collection processes, harmonization and use of generic tools). And finally, while access to micro-data has been expanded, more work needs to be done so that research on collected data is maximized.

The first year 2008/2009 included experimentation in a number of areas. Activities included developmental work for testing an Internet response option for the Labour Force Survey in 2009, the redesign of the Survey of Household Spending, and the harmonization of survey content and processes. Initial results are quite promising. Work was also done on frames and, in this case, adjustments to the initial direction are likely, including increased use of the Census, increased use of administrative records, and the development of an efficient survey frame.

Priority: New Crime Severity Index

The Crime Severity Index developed by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, in collaboration with police and justice partners, is a new measure for police-reported crime in Canada. The Index measures annual changes in the severity of police-reported crime by taking into account both the change in volume of a crime and the relative seriousness of that crime.

The index complements two existing measures of crime: the police-reported Crime Rate and victimization survey data. Police-reported crime has traditionally been measured by the Crime Rate, which is the total number of Criminal Code incidents expressed as a rate per 100,000 population. The Crime Rate measures the volume of crime reported to police, and can be affected by trends in the high-volume, less serious offenses such as mischief, minor thefts and disturbing the peace which make up the majority of offences reported. Trends in more serious crimes have less impact on the Crime Rate. The Crime Severity Index reduces the impact of high-volume, less serious offences, and gives added weight to more serious crimes.

Increasing the frequency of Victimization Survey: Currently, Statistics Canada conducts a victimization survey every five years, through the General Social Survey (GSS). While the next GSS will be conducted in 2009, various stakeholders have indicated a desire to consider undertaking a more frequent survey in order to have more current and relevant data available for policy and program analysis and development.

2.3Census, Demography and Aboriginal Statistics (Program Activity 3)

Program Activity: Census, Demography and Aboriginal Statistics
Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ thousands)
2009/2010		2010/2011		2011/2012
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
889	78,669	403	26,035	489	34,568
For expected results, performance indicators and targets, please refer to the Planning Summary Tables in Section 1 of this document.

Notes: Totals may differ within and between tables due to the rounding of amounts.
Planned Spending amounts are presented net of Respendable Revenue.

Program Activity Summary

The Census, Demography and Aboriginal Statistics Program provides information on the economic and social characteristics of individuals, families and households in Canada.

A detailed description of these activities can be found at http://www.statcan.gc.ca/about-apercu/structure/paa-aap-eng.htm.

Planning Highlights

The 2011 Census will be a key area of focus over the next three years. Through continuous improvement, the Census will remain responsive, efficient and relevant to the needs of decision makers who rely heavily on timely and quality results.

In fiscal year 2009/2010, Statistics Canada’s demographic statistics program will continue to provide annual population estimates based on census counts which are used as key input for determining federal government transfers to provincial and territorial governments for social programs in areas such as health and education. In 2008/2009 these transfer payments amounted to about $70 billion.

As well, the Aboriginal Statistics Program is releasing results for the off-reserve components of the Aboriginal Children’s Survey and the Aboriginal Peoples Survey. These will complement the 2006 Census results on the Aboriginal off-reserve population. Planning of the on-reserve components for these surveys continues. Discussions are underway with federal partners with regard to an appropriate governance model and methodology for the surveys on-reserve.

The Census, Demography and Aboriginal Statistics Program has identified the following priorities:

• 2011 Census of Population
• 2011 Census of Agriculture

Priority: 2011 Census of Population

In Canada, the Census of Population is conducted every five years. The Constitution Act requires that a Census be conducted in 2011. The results from a Census provide a snapshot of the population: its size and geographic distribution, as well as its demographic, socio-cultural and socio-economic characteristics. The Census is the only source of coherent and detailed information for small geographic areas. The data produced are used widely by all levels of government for policy planning and program administration. The Census is essential in anchoring population estimates that govern the annual allocation of billions of dollars in health and social transfers and equalization payments to provinces and territories (approximately $70 billion in fiscal year 2008/2009), as well as in determining electoral boundaries for democratic representation and reform.

The census short-form questionnaire is administered to 80% of all dwellings and collects basic information on population and dwelling counts, and a breakdown of the population by age, sex, relationship, marital status and the first language learned in childhood. The census long-form or “comprehensive” questionnaire is administered to 20% of all dwellings and provides information on mobility, ethnicity, labour, education, income, citizenship, immigration, transportation, and dwelling characteristics.

A key activity in preparing for the 2011 Census is the successful conduct of a fully integrated Census test in May 2009.  Its main objectives will be to evaluate the questionnaire in order to ensure relevant and good quality results, to test systems, procedures and processes, and to identify problem areas and solutions in advance of the 2011 Census.

Priority: 2011 Census of Agriculture

The Census of Agriculture is conducted to develop a statistical portrait of Canada's farms and its agricultural operators. The data provide users with a comprehensive picture of the major commodities of the agriculture industry while also supplying information on new or less common crops, livestock, finances and use of technology. The next Census will be conducted in May 2011. The immediate priority is the Census Test in May 2009. This is a joint effort with the Census of Population, and the main objectives are to evaluate the impact of content changes and to assess the new collection methodology of mailing the questionnaire to all farm operators rather than having direct delivery by census enumerators. Systems development and testing, along with frame enhancement, will continue.

2.4Internal Services: Management Services, Communications and Operational Infrastructure, and Methodology Services (Program Activity 4)

Program Activity: Internal Services
Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ thousands)
2009/2010		2010/2011		2011/2012
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
874	77,566	867	76,317	867	76,091

Notes: Totals may differ within and between tables due to the rounding of amounts.
Planned Spending amounts are presented net of Respendable Revenue.

Program Activity Summary

The long run effectiveness of national statistical offices depends on their ability to respond flexibly to changes in their environment. To this end, they must support analysis, innovation and experimentation, maintain a strong professional capacity, keep their operational infrastructure in a good state of repair, and remain responsive to client sponsored surveys. Organizational flexibility and responsiveness is greatly facilitated by the presence of effective internal services. These comprise management and technical sub-activities that support the Agency’s other program activities. These sub-activities are also subject to regular evaluation and renewal so as to maintain the Agency’s operational capacity in a high state of readiness.

Internal Services comprises the following functions:

• Management Services
• Communications and Operational Infrastructure
• Statistical Methodology

Management Services

This function comprises human resources; finance, planning and evaluation; and internal audit.

Planning Highlights

Statistics Canada is committed to strengthening departmental management practices, and uses the Management Accountability Framework (MAF) as a tool to advance its management priorities. In 2009/2010, work will continue on government-wide management priorities, including Public Service Renewal, the Federal Accountability Act and the Treasury Board Policy suite renewal. At the departmental level, the internal services agenda will continue to place priority on ensuring that a strong stewardship framework is in place and adhered to within the Agency.

Below are some of the ongoing management initiatives that continue to be addressed:

• Preparation for producing auditable financial statements
• Revisions to the Performance Management Program
• Employee engagement
• Integrated human resource planning
• Implementation of new Treasury Board financial management policy instruments
• Build on the action plan to address opportunities identified in the Management Accountability Framework evaluation results such as strengthening information management practices

In addition to these ongoing strategic activities, the Management Services function has identified two priorities:

• Public Service Renewal
• Internal Audit

Priority: Public Service Renewal

Public Service Renewal has been a major initiative of the federal government for the past two years. Each year, the Clerk updates the renewal plan to take into account current priorities and next steps in the renewal agenda. The pattern will repeat next year and Statistics Canada plans to modify its commitments to reflect those contained in the Clerk’s 2009/2010 Plan. The following five initiatives will continue to figure predominantly at Statistics Canada:

• Statistics Canada will continue to be challenged by demographics and the high number of staff leaving the work force due to retirement. To address this issue Statistics Canada will continue recruitment efforts at the postsecondary- and mid- level intake range in numbers identified via our planning model.
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• Statistics Canada has developed a Visible Minority Outreach Strategy and will continue these efforts in 2009/2010 to address the upwardly-revised 2009 Workforce Availability Data.
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• Recognizing the specialized work carried across the department, Statistics Canada will continue to recruit and hire individuals with specialized skill sets to ensure the agency remains at the forefront of statistics analysis and research and development.
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• Statistics Canada will actively manage the performance of all its employees by ensuring that discussions pertaining to performance and learning occur throughout the year.
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• Statistics Canada will continue to develop and monitor service standards for key human resource services such as staffing, compensation and classification.
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• Statistics Canada, following the lead of the Treasury Board Secretariat, will initiate a project that will analyse and reduce its web of rules.

These commitments will strengthen the Agency’s human capital and operating practices and thus will have an impact on Statistics Canada’s ability to serve Canadians.

Public Service Renewal efforts will be guided by the Chief Statistician and the Policy Committee and there will be regular reporting and tracking of progress against plans. In addition, renewal commitments will be embedded in the Performance Agreements of executives, including that of the Chief Statistician. An end of year report will be developed.

Priority: Internal Audit

The internal audit function is being strengthened in order to provide the level of assurance that the agency requires to ensure good management practices, i.e., evaluating the adequacy of internal controls and safeguarding of assets as well as satisfying the 2006 Treasury Board Secretariat Policy on Internal Audit. The Agency received funding to implement specific requirements of the Policy; however, the Agency itself is expected to finance an internal audit function that can provide sufficient audit coverage.

Renewal will place the internal audit function in a position to provide broad-based assurances to the Chief Statistician and departmental senior management about the effective operation of their internal control, risk management and governance frameworks. Moreover, these steps will continue to move Statistics Canada’s internal audit function towards general compliance with the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Standards and the new Policy on Internal Audit. The measures of success of these initiatives will be that the internal audit plan will address all areas of higher risk and significance and that audit coverage will be sufficient.

Communications and Operational Infrastructure

The communications and operations function comprises provision of a full range of external communication functions, including respondents, users, and media relations. It also administers the central and regional operational functions essential to the conduct of the Agency's statistical programs, including regional data collection and processing activities, marketing, publishing and electronic data dissemination.

Planning Highlights

A number of plans are currently being pursued:

• Implementation of Common Look and Feel 2.0 for the Internet: Statistics Canada is committed to ensuring its Web site meets requirements under Common Look and Feel (CLF 2.0) to improve accessibility to its information holdings for all Canadians.
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• Output Database Review: A strategic review of the three publicly-accessible databases to determine the potential for a more integrated solution to better serve the Agency’s clients and its own analytical and publishing processes.
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• Electronic Data Reporting: Following the 2006 Census of Population in which Canadians indicated their willingness to use the Internet to complete Statistics Canada questionnaires, work has continued to progress in offering two new secure web-based services for businesses, institutions, and households.
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• Collective bargaining with interviewers: Since the beginning of 2008, Statistics Canada has been actively engaged in collective bargaining with both the Office and Field bargaining units as the Collective Agreements for these groups has expired.

In addition to the above initiatives, the Communications and Operational Infrastructure function has identified one priority:

Priority: Collection Business Architecture (CBA)

The Collection Business Architecture (CBA) project is a key initiative in streamlining Statistics Canada's collection operations and infrastructure. Business Architecture is an emerging discipline used to produce business models that describe the state of an organization. These types of models are essential management tools for assessing opportunities for improvement and for supporting the process of change.

The modernization of collection systems in support of the CBA project began two years ago. Current systems are “rusting out” and are being replaced with new technologies that can provide the collection environment with a flexible, highly integrated, multi-site and multi-mode capability. For example, it is now possible to make full use of the collection capacity available across the country with systems that can move work quickly between sites, interviewers and modes—telephone, personal visit, Internet and mail. As well, collection activities require business continuity planning—to anticipate a disruption caused by adverse weather, for instance—and this is part of the requirements of the new technology.

In April 2008, a single centre of accountability was implemented for all collection-related activities. This change provides a more robust, timely and efficient collection service. In addition, there is also a single unit responsible for all activities relating to the planning, management and collection of business surveys. This change allows greater efficiency and more flexibility in the use of existing capacity.

In addition, all collection services and operations (such as mail outs, data capture, coding, and scanning) are under review. And research is being undertaken to address issues relating to the introduction of new modes of collection, factors affecting non-response, and items relating to facilitating response. Collection efficiency has a major impact on response rates—as response is greatly influenced by how efficiently respondents are contacted and by the various choices offered for responding to surveys. The proposed realignments will result in improved response rates across the board—while, at the same time, producing quality data in a cost-effective manner.

Methodology Services

The quality, credibility and cost-effectiveness of Statistics Canada’s data programs depend extensively on having sound statistical methods. These methods are the foundation of the Agency’s activities.

The responsibility for the development, implementation and continuous evaluation of statistical methods at Statistics Canada resides with its Methodology Services. This area provides a wide range of statistical services in all aspects of survey taking. The services include the selection of representative samples, the design and testing of questionnaires, the development of procedures for dealing with survey non‑response, the development and use of techniques to produce accurate, unbiased estimates along with indicators of quality, and the application of sophisticated disclosure protection measures to assure the confidentiality of individual respondents. In addition to providing statistical support services, Methodology Services also carries out research and development on new statistical techniques that are applicable to a wide range of the Agency’s data programs.

Planning Highlights

Statistics Canada puts a high priority on the use of scientifically recognized statistical techniques. The major activities the Methodology Services function over the next few years include the following:

On the Census side, the quality and content of the Address Register will be improved through a monthly process of address listing, which will benefit not only the Census but also the Labour Force Survey and the new household survey program. A second priority will be the completion of a major redevelopment of follow-up procedures that deal with cases of response errors in the Census questionnaires. These two initiatives will help improve the accuracy and operational efficiencies of the Census and related programs.

On the business survey side, Methodology Services will ensure that the sample allocation and estimation methods used in the production of statistics on employment, payroll and hours are optimized in order to produce reliable, unbiased average weekly earning estimates at sufficiently low levels of detail, while ensuring that users are aware of the quality of these estimates and the appropriateness of their use. This initiative leverages the extensive use of administrative data, which helps reduce business respondent burden and data collection costs.

On the household survey side, one of the most important priorities is the implementation of the new collection approach in the Survey of Household Spending, which will see major improvements in the distribution of interviewing workloads in Statistics Canada’s regional offices, a reduction in response burden for some respondents and an improvement in data quality.

To promote the development, utilization and sharing of statistical methods both within and outside Statistics Canada, Methodology Services will produce a number of scientific papers to be published in refereed journals and presented at various international fora. It will also produce the flagship publication titled Survey Methodology which appears twice a year. This journal is widely recognized as one of the leading journals of its kind in the world.

Sound statistical methodology is the cornerstone of Statistics Canada’s reputation as a world class statistical agency.

Section IIISupplementary Information

Green Procurement

For supplementary information on the Agency's green procurement, please visit: http:www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/rpp/st-ts-eng.asp.

Internal Audits

For supplementary information on the Agency's internal audits, please visit: http:www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/rpp/st-ts-eng.asp.

Evaluations

For supplementary information on the Agency's evaluations, please visit: http:www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/rpp/st-ts-eng.asp.

Sources of Respendable and Non-Respendable Revenue

For supplementary information on the Agency's sources of respendable and non-respendable revenue, please visit: http:www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/rpp/st-ts-eng.asp.

Summary of Capital Spending by Program Activity

For supplementary information on the Agency's capital spending by program activity, please visit: http:www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/rpp/st-ts-eng.asp.