Statistics Canada Totally Explained

Everything about Statcan totally explained

Statistics Canada (French: Statistique Canada) is the Canadian federal government department commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. The bureau is commonly called StatCan or StatsCan. It has regularly been considered the best statistical organization in the world by The Economist, Public Policy Forum and others.
Statistics is a federal responsibility in Canada and Statistics Canada produces statistics for all the provinces as well as the federal government. In addition to conducting about 350 active surveys on virtually all aspects of Canadian life, Statistics Canada undertakes a country-wide census every five years on the first and sixth year of each decade. By law, every household must complete the census form. The last Canadian census was held in May 2006, when an Internet version was made widely available for the first time. However, the Statscan website often requires users to pay a fee to view some data.

Leadership

The head of Statistics Canada is the Chief Statistician of Canada. The heads of Statistics Canada and the previous organization, the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, are:

Ivan P. Fellegi (1985 - present)
Martin B. Wilk (1980 - 1985)
James L. Fry (1980)
Peter G. Kirkham (1975 - 1980)
Sylvia Ostry (1972 - 1975)
Walter E. Duffett (1957 - 1972)
Herbert Marshall (1945 - 1956)
Sedley A. Cudmore (1942 - 1945)
Robert H. Coats (1918 - 1942)

Legislation

Statistics Canada is governed by:

Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada 1985

Publications

Statistics Canada publishes numerous documents covering a range of statistical information about Canada, including census data, economic and health indicators, immigration economics, income distribution, and social and justice conditions. A press release on April 24, 2006, indicated that "effective today, all electronic publications on Statistics Canada's Web site will be available free of charge." though these free publications are only overviews of the raw data, which can often be only available under CANSIM, a fee based service. Statistics Canada doesn't consider CANSIM to be part of its electronic publications, even though it's also available electronically.

Terms

Statistics Canada uses a variety of terms to designate regions in Canada for statistical purposes:

Census Agglomeration - Metropolitan areas where the core city is greater than 10,000 but smaller than 100,000 people

Census Metropolitan Area - Metropolitan areas where the core city is greater than 100,000 people

Census division - Collection of census subdivisions

Census subdivision - Cities, towns, municipalities, etc.

City
Chartered community - found in the Northwest Territories
County municipality - rural territories in Alberta
Community - villages in Prince Edward Island
Canton - Townships in Quebec
United cantons - Townships which have been united in Quebec
District municipality - Rural or urban territories of British Columbia
Hamlet - Small communities in the territories
Improvement district - Rural territories in Alberta
Indian government district - found in British Columbia
Inuit land - found in Quebec
Island municipality
Local government district - found in Manitoba
Municipality - Rural territories in Quebec
Municipal district - Rural territories in Alberta and Nova Scotia
Northern hamlet - found in Saskatchewan
Nisga'a land
Northern village - found in Saskatchewan and Quebec (Village nordique)
Nisga'a village - found in British Columbia
Parish - rural territories in Quebec (Parish municipalities) and New Brunswick
Indian reserve
Rural community
Regional district electoral area - Unorganized rural areas in British Columbia
Region
Regional municipality - At the CSD level, an amalgamation of a large region. Found in Alberta and Nova Scotia
Rural municipality - rural territories in Manitoba and Saskatchewan
Resort village - found in Saskatchewan
Indian settlement
Special area - rural territories in Alberta
Subdivision of county municipality - rural territories of Alberta
Settlement - small communities in the territories
Subdivision of unorganized - unorganized rural territories of Newfoundland and Labrador
Summer village - found in Alberta
Town
Township - At the CSD level, only in Ontario
Township and royalty - Rural territories in Prince Edward Island
Teslin land
Reserve lands - found in Quebec
Unorganized area
Ville - cities and towns in Quebec
Cree village - found in Quebec
Naksapi village
Village

Urban area

Designated place

References and notes

Further Information

Get more info on 'Statcan'.

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