ARCHIVED - RPP 2007-2008
Statistics Canada

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SECTION I: OVERVIEW

Minister's Portfolio Message

Canada's New Government is committed to fostering a strong, competitive economy that benefits Canada and all Canadians. To achieve this goal, I firmly believe that our government must create an environment that encourages and rewards people who work hard, that stimulates innovation, and that avoids unnecessary regulatory burden. By modernizing and improving Canada's marketplace frameworks, we will ensure stability and fairness while creating new opportunities and choices for businesses, consumers and all Canadians.

Over the past year, our government has taken significant steps to improve Canada's economy. Early in our mandate we presented Budget 2006, which contained measures aimed at improving our quality of life by building a strong economy that is equipped to lead in the 21st century. These measures focused on making Canada's tax system more competitive internationally, and outlined our commitments to reduce paper burden on businesses and to continue to support science and technology in Canada.

Last fall, we presented a long-term economic plan in the Economic and Fiscal Update. Advantage Canada: Building a Strong Economy for Canadians focused on creating five Canadian advantages that will give incentives for people and businesses to excel and to make Canada a world leader.

One of these proposed advantages, called the "Tax Advantage," will create conditions more favourable to business in Canada by effectively establishing the lowest tax rate on new business investment in the G7. As well, the "Entrepreneurial Advantage" will ease the regulatory and paperwork burden imposed on business by ensuring that regulations meet their intended goals at the least possible cost.

Through Advantage Canada, our government committed to supporting science and technology in Canada, and underscored some of the elements of a science and technology strategy that will sustain research excellence in Canada and increase the competitiveness of the Canadian economy.

Canada's New Government has repeatedly demonstrated that we are committed to getting things done for all Canadians. As we move forward, we will work more closely than ever with our stakeholders and the provincial and territorial governments, and we will continue to foster an environment where the marketplace functions as efficiently as possible, and keep encouraging investment in Canadian innovation and in research and development.

It gives me great pleasure to present the annual Report on Plans and Priorities for Statistics Canada, outlining their main initiatives, priorities, and expected outcomes for the upcoming year.

Maxime Bernier
Minister of Industry

Departmental Overview

Mandate, Roles and Responsibilities

Statistics Canada's mandate derives primarily from the Statistics Act. The Act requires the Department, under the direction of the Minister of Industry, to collect, compile, analyze and publish statistical information on the economic, social and general conditions of the country and its citizens. These activities are fundamentally important to an open, democratic society as it provides objective information to Canadians and their elected representatives on the evolution of our society and economy. The Department's information resources are also used by businesses, unions and non-profit organizations to make informed decisions.

Statistics Canada's mandate also provides for the coordination and leadership of the country's statistical system. This has led Statistics Canada to form many partnerships at the federal, provincial and territorial levels. These partnerships have benefited Canadians in many ways: improved data quality through more comparable survey methods; reduced response burden through the use of administrative records and data sharing; and the exchange of best practices among all participants are a few examples.

Department data are used for statutory and regulatory purposes including the distribution of federal funds to provinces (Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act); apportioning of federal-provincial tax revenues (Harmonized Sales Tax); indexing various types of federal payments to beneficiaries and income tax credits (Income Tax Act); determining areas of eligibility for supplementary benefits (Employment Insurance Act); determining the distribution of parliamentary seats among provinces and defining federal electoral districts (Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act); designating federal bilingual services areas (Official Languages Act); and measuring the prevalence of sub-populations which are the focus of the federal employment equity program (Employment Equity Act).

Planning Context

The gathering of information involves a partnership with all Canadians, in which Canadians contribute and benefit. Information is provided to Statistics Canada through surveys and access to administrative records. Statistics Canada compiles and analyzes this information and provides feedback through a myriad of information products.

New information needs

Historically, Statistics Canada's program has been structured to provide information on both the macro and micro-economy, and the socio-demographic structure of Canada. Statistical information has also been provided on Canada's public institutions and programs. This constitutes the Department's core program (Section IV, Table 4.3 is an alphabetical listing of the products that make up the core program). This information continues to be relevant and important; however, the Department must always ensure that it is responsive to the changing and complex requirements of new and emerging issues. New federal-provincial fiscal arrangements; the health of Canadians and the systems that support it; the factors affecting economic performance in the new knowledge-based economy; economic growth; the micro-economic factors affecting competitiveness; social cohesion; human development; global opportunities and challenges, as well as the outcomes of social programs are some of the areas requiring more information and analysis to assist public and private decision makers in understanding the issues they face.

Partnerships

Partnerships and cost-sharing arrangements with other departments, other jurisdictions and external organizations, have become an intrinsic aspect of program delivery. These relationships are key to the development of effective business plans. Statistics Canada will continue to foster these arrangements over the planning period, as they have proven to serve not only the needs of the stakeholders but also those of the national statistical system and the Canadian research community.

Public Commitments and Values

While an increasing share of the Department's information comes from existing administrative data, most of the statistical information is still collected from businesses and household surveys. Statistics Canada will continue make every effort to mine administrative records and to explore other means, such as electronic reporting, in an ongoing effort to minimize respondent burden.

Statistics Canada's values

Statistics Canada recognizes that survey respondents are its most valuable asset. It is their continued goodwill and cooperation that enables the Department to turn survey results into reliable information. As a result, the Department has two fundamental commitments to survey respondents:

• to protect the confidentiality of information provided to us and;
• to find innovative ways to reduce the time spent completing the surveys and, ideally, to use the Department's existing information to minimize the number of surveys.

The relevance of statistical information reflects the degree to which it meets the needs of clients. Information must shed light on the issues of most importance to those who use it. Statistics Canada is committed to producing information needed to support informed public debate, policy formulation, decision-making, and research.

In order to meet these requirements, the Department operates in a matrix management environment, such that the business lines (program activities) and functional (hierarchical) structure are interrelated (see Section III).

Planning Activities

The planning activities highlighted in the summary table below (see Departmental Priorities A) focus on those program areas which are above and beyond our core activities, where significant program changes are envisaged in the coming period. All of these will be subject to review and reporting using Statistics Canada's Quality Assurance Framework in the Departmental Performance Report.

Summary Information

Reason for existence - Statistics Canada enables Canadians to have access to high quality information about Canada's society, economy, institutions and environment that supports their decision-making and participation in the democratic process, markets and in their personal lives.

Table Summary Information

The following tables highlight the financial and human resources required to fulfill Statistics Canada's mandate. The following tables highlight the financial and human resources required to fulfill Statistics Canada's mandate.

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

Human Resources

The following two charts identify the Departmental priorities; the three major program areas of Statistics Canada; the planned spending and links the departmental priorities from Table A to the program areas of Table B.

The Data Gaps Initiative comprise sixteen research projects that are spread across the three program areas; seven in Economic Statistics; eight in Social Statistics and one in Census Statistics, with a current annual budget of $18.35 million.

Departmental Priorities – A

Departmental Priorities – B

* As a cost recovery project, the Aboriginal Peoples Survey budget is not included in the planned spending for the Census Statistics activity; plans are reported in the Census Program activity.

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