Draft

Creating a Modern Framework for an

Independent National Statistical Office
The following document summarizes changes to the Statistics Act, to the government policy framework,
and to machinery of government that are proposed in order to establish the independence of Statistics
Canada as a modern statistical office and to update and extend some provisions of the statistical law.
Proposed changes to the Statistics Act reflect guidance from: 1) the Fundamental Principles of Official
Statistics adopted by the United Nations General Assembly which were endorsed by Canada; 2) the
Recommendation on Good Statistical Practice endorsed by the Council of Ministers of the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and binding on Canada; 3) the Generic Statistical
Law developed by the Conference of European Statisticians under the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe; and 4) Review of Legal Frameworks for Statistical Agencies, commissioned by
Statistics Canada and conducted by Mr. Don Royce which looked at legislative provisions in the
statistical laws of Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the
Netherlands. The recommendations also reflect an informal review of the Statistics Act by the OECD
(see Appendix A), and discussions with the National Statistics Council (NSC) at its meeting in October
2015 and with an NSC working group during the fall of 2015. The NSC advises the Chief Statistician on
matters of statistical policy and program.
In essence, while the legislative changes proposed with respect to the creation of legal independence
may seem extensive, they, in fact, simply codify in law what has been the practice in Canada for many
years. Changes are also proposed to update the various penalties prescribed in the law, notably to
remove all jail term penalties for refusal to respond to a survey or provide access to records. It is also
proposed to update some fines that were expressed in 1970 dollars and to recognize other offences that
can impede the operations of Statistics Canada.
Finally, some additional changes are proposed to the Statistics Act to streamline the law in order to
allow Statistics Canada to create greater value for Canadians from its information holdings, and to
create greater transparency and accountability for Statistics Canada before parliament and the Canadian
public.
In the spirit of modernization and in response to the Governments priority to open data and increased
access to quality data for evidence-based decision making, Statistics Canada supports increased sharing
of data and greater use of administrative data across government. Based on the principle of asking
Canadians only once for information, therefore reducing the burden placed on Canadians and Canadian
businesses, this paper proposes the adoption of a federal policy framework for national statistics.
Finally, this document proposes changes to the machinery of government. In the view of Statistics
Canada, current practices and recent changes to the machinery of government represent the greatest
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threat to Statistics Canadas effective independence as well as its ability to protect the confidentiality of
its information holdings. These issues should be addressed urgently.

Modernizing the Statistics Act to establish institutional independence

and address known issues
The following changes are proposed to the Statistics Act.
Preamble
The revised Statistics Act should begin with a preamble that establishes the context in which the law is
being written (see Appendix B). Key points to be made:

The Census and statistics are a federal jurisdiction and Statistics Canada is to be an organization
that, while primarily federally funded, serves the information needs of the entire nation: all
Canadians, all levels of government, businesses, academic and civil society.
Statistics Canada is a key institution in the democratic process. It informs the electorate of the
state of the nation aiding citizens in choosing their governments, and in holding those
governments to account. It underlies meaningful public policy debate.
Statistics Canada information supports the evidence-based development, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation of public policy at all levels of government.
Statistics Canada information supports informed private decision-making by businesses and
individuals as they open plants or stores, choose careers, invest or make a myriad of other life
choices.
To achieve these goals, Statistics Canada must be trusted. Its information must be seen as
relevant to current issues, of high quality, equally available to all, and free of bias. It must have
a strong reputation for the protection of the private information entrusted by Canadians to its
care.
To be trusted, Statistics Canada must operate transparently, with strongly protected
professional independence and be held accountable in public forums.
The provincial and territorial statistical offices play a key role in the national statistical system.
Statistics Canada must work collaboratively with the statistical offices to ensure that the needs
of both national and provincial/territorial governments are met.
The operations of Statistics Canada should impose the least possible burden and cost on
Canadians and their institutions. To this end, Statistics Canada should avoid requesting
information already available through administrative files held by other government
departments or institutions and should actively share information with others that have the
authority to collect it. Statistics Canada itself must only use information for statistical purposes.

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Definitions
The absence of a definition of a Census of Population in the existing Statistics Act has resulted in some
unusual judicial interpretations of the law. The revised Act should establish that a Census of Population
is a compilation at a point in time and at the greatest practical level of geographic detail, for the entire
population, of their number as well as their demographic, cultural, social and economic characteristics,
as well as the characteristics of their families, their households and their housing, however this
information is acquired, including through the use of sampling.
Duties of Statistics Canada
All of the mandate elements in the existing legislation have stood the test of time, although the
language should be modernized and made as general as possible. Noticeably lacking from the current
mandate is the common and important practice of integrating data both within and across economic,
social and environmental domains. This should be added to the key elements of the mandate. The
current features of the mandate promoting sharing and coordination of statistical activity are
particularly important.
The requirement to collect, compile, integrate, abstract, analyze and publish should further require that
this be done in a manner informed by recognized international standards and best practices.
Some additional elements should be added for clarity.
Statistics Canada should be given an explicit mandate to represent Canada internationally on statistical
matters, to negotiate international statistical standards and classifications to be used in Canada, to
participate in the development of international statistical infrastructure, to engage in co-development of
statistical tools with other national statistical offices including cost sharing, and to provide, in
concertation with the international development agency, technical assistance to the developing world.
Subject to the confidentiality provisions of the Act, Statistics Canada should be given a mandate to
promote public policy research by ensuring access by researchers to all forms of data, including data of
other institutions, in secure premises across Canada and internationally.
Statistics Canada should be required to publish information on the sources, methods and procedures
employed in the production of its statistics.
Throughout this document, it will be proposed that Statistics Canada, in the interests of transparency,
be required to publish information about its programs and activities. The method of publication should
be such that publishing gives rise to no significant delays that would impede the effectiveness of the
organization. Publication in printed form or in the Canada Gazette would give rise to substantial delays.
Internet access is now sufficiently ubiquitous that publication on the Agencys World Wide Web site
should be viewed as sufficient.
The Minister and the Chief Statistician
It is generally agreed the Chief Statistician needs a high level of engagement with federal deputy
ministers to be effective in supplying statistical information that is responsive to current policy needs. It
is also generally agreed that a status of agent of parliament would be a significant barrier to this
engagement. It is therefore proposed that Statistics Canada continue to report to Parliament through a
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Minister. However, to create independence the distribution of powers between the Minister and the
Chief Statistician needs to be altered. In essence, the Minister and the Government need to have broad
authority over what programs Statistics Canada conducts, subject to transparency in exercising this
authority and the limitations established in the Act itself. The Chief Statistician must have final authority
over how these programs are executed.
At present, the Statistics Act assigns powers under the Act with respect to confidentiality directly to the
Chief Statistician. All others are assigned to the Minister and delegated to the Chief Statistician as would
be the case for other deputy heads.
To reinforce the independence of the Chief Statistician, those powers that are required for execution of
the statistical program and that are recognized internationally as key to the professional independence
of the national statistical office should be assigned directly to the Chief Statistician. Therefore, all
decisions concerning methods, procedures for collection and processing data, storage, analysis, and
dissemination (see UN Fundamental Principles and OECD recommendations on good statistical practice)
should be taken by the Chief Statistician alone.
The Minister would retain the authority to direct the Chief Statistician in other matters. However, to
reinforce independence, in cases where there is disagreement, this direction should be written and the
Chief Statistician should have the right to publicly state that he/she is acting under the direction of the
Minister.
Selection and appointment of the Chief Statistician
There is a widely held view that the Chief Statistician should be selected through a search process that
emphasizes strong professional qualifications, led by a search panel of persons that would be viewed as
apolitical, that recommends two or more suitable candidates for consideration by the government.
At present, the Chief Statistician is appointed for an indefinite period, at pleasure. Appointing the
Chief Statistician for a fixed, but renewable, term of seven years on good behaviour, would reinforce
the independence of the incumbent.
Advice and accountability
Increasing the independence for the Chief Statistician and Statistics Canada requires that there also be
greater public scrutiny of the Agency.
At present, while Statistics Canada maintains a National Statistics Council to advise the Chief Statistician,
the Council has no specific function and lacks public visibility. The Council should be established in the
Act itself, remaining advisory to the Chief Statistician, but required to present a periodic report to
Parliament on its view of the state of Statistics Canada and its role in the national statistical system.
The Chief Statistician should also be required to table in Parliament, no less than once every four years,
a report that provides his/her views on the state of the national statistical system and a strategic plan
for the Agency laying out statistical program priorities, the capacity of the agency to address those
priorities, the actions that will be taken to address any deficiency in capacity, and actions being taken to
increase the agencys cost effectiveness and improve the stewardship of resources entrusted to it.

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Transparency
Critical decisions taken by the Chief Statistician affecting privacy and confidentiality should be
documented and made public (i.e. through publishing on the Agencys web site). These decisions
include those prescribing an instrument for data collection (paper or electronic questionnaire), those
prescribing the voluntary or mandatory nature of a data collection, those requesting administrative data
files from other organizations, those authorizing linkage of administrative and survey data to other
administrative and/or survey data, and those exercising discretionary authority to disclose respondent
data and the justifications for so doing. As a general rule, no document concerning the operations or
findings of Statistics Canada that would not normally be published, should be withheld from public
disclosure unless confidential under the provisions of the Statistics Act.
Temporary employees
The provisions of the current Act are useful in facilitating operations and managing costs. However,
since they involve operations and engage matters of independence and protection of confidentiality, the
powers should be assigned to the Chief Statistician.
Statistics Canada uses the provisions of the current Act to permit researchers to access confidential
microdata for statistical research purposes. Direct provision should be made for this purpose.
Researcher access to confidential microdata for statistical purposes
To extract the greatest possible value for Canadians from the information holdings of Statistics Canada,
academic and policy researchers require access to confidential information holdings for statistical
purposes.
In the interests of transparency, Statistics Canada needs provisions in the Statistics Act that allow the
Chief Statistician, at his discretion, to recognize external researchers, domestic and foreign, as deemed
employees of Statistics for purposes of conducting specific research projects using confidential
information holdings exclusively for statistical purposes. These researchers would be sworn under the
Statistics Act to protect the confidentiality of information to which they have access and would be
subject to the penalties prescribed in the Act for any wilful breach of confidentiality.
Statistics Canada has, over the course of the last 20 years, developed, in collaboration with academic
and granting councils, a network of Research Data Centres. These data centres, located on university
premises, are effectively offices of Statistics Canada and staffed by Statistics Canada employees. Access
to confidential information holdings is provided in these data centres. Other organizationsfederal,
provincial government and otherrecognize that these data centres offer a secure environment in
which to make confidential files of their own accessible to researchers for statistical purposes. The Act
should specifically authorize Statistics Canada to provide this service to other organizations for statistical
purposes only and without the other organization necessarily providing the file to Statistics Canada for
the agencys own use.
Finally, it is not always possible for Statistics Canada to open a facility of its own at each site at which it
wishes to make a confidential file available for statistical use by researchers. This is particularly true in
the case of international researchers. The Act should allow the Chief Statistician, at his discretion, to
authorize any site as a secure site for purposes of providing access to confidential information files
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subject to specific and published criteria being met by the site. These sites would be subject to audits by
Statistics Canada to ensure that they meet the appropriate security requirements.
Access to analytical and statistical information
Statistical information is a public good and should be freely available. Absent any issue of data quality,
and subject to the confidentiality provisions of the Act, Statistics Canada should be required to publish
without cost for every analytical or statistical program or project, a range of standard products using the
most cost effective means available. The Agency should also be required, subject to recovery of its
costs, to produce in a timely manner customized products from its analytical and statistical programs
and projects on request while identifying quality issues and respecting the confidentiality provisions of
the Act. Statistics Canada should be prohibited from placing any restrictions or levying any charges on
redistribution of its data by others.
Level playing field
Currently Statistics Canada, under very strict guidelines and with the permission of the Clerk of the Privy
Council, grants advance release to Departments where the data may require rapid policy response by a
Minister. This practice is not consistent with international advice and best practices. Other than for
purposes of quality assurance, consideration should be given to reversing the practice of granting
privileged access to final estimates.
Oath of office
Provisions should be maintained in the current form except for the new extension to researchers.
Prescription of forms
Today, any survey conducted by Statistics Canada may use a variety of modes of collection, including
interviewer questioning in person or by phone, internet-based electronic questionnaires, stand-alone
electronic questionnaires, print questionnaires, direct measurement (weighing, blood tests, wearing of
data collection devices, data collection devices in vehicles, authorization to acquire data from service
providers, etc.). It is no longer sensible, or even possible, to attempt to prescribe the individual tools
used. The core issue is the information to be collected and the means to be used which is where the
public interest lies. This section should be limited to the direct collection of information by Statistics
Canada from individuals or organizations and should require prescription of the information to be
collected, the modes by which the various items of information will be collected. Since the development
of these information collection specifications goes to methodological issues, the power should be vested
in the Chief Statistician directly, rather than the Minister. There should be a requirement to publish
orders prescribing information collections. The only efficient form of publication would be publication
on Statistics Canadas web site.
Mandatory and voluntary surveys
The wording of the current section is potentially confusing. The section should be re-written, first to
assign the responsibility for exercising any discretion with respect to the mandatory or voluntary nature
of a survey to the Chief Statistician since this is a methodological issue affecting data quality. Second,
the section should state that any Census of Population or Agriculture, and any surveys conducted
coincident with a Census of Population or Agriculture, must be conducted on a fully mandatory basis.
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Third, the section should state that any other survey conducted by Statistics Canada is to be conducted
on a mandatory basis, however, the Chief Statistician has the discretion to order that a survey be
conducted, in whole or in part, on a voluntary basis where the time burden on respondents or the
sensitivity of the questions to be asked of respondents so justify. Other than the case of a Census, the
mandatory or voluntary nature of a survey is to be established by an order of the Chief Statistician, with
the order to be published on Statistics Canadas web site.
Discrimination
The purpose of section 9(1) of the Act is unclear. However, as originally debated in Parliament, this
section relates to the requirement to use information for statistical purposes only. It is suggested that
this is be moved to section 3, under mandate, to clarify that the information collected by Statistics
Canada can only be used for statistical purposes. Section 9 (2) establishes the right of Statistics Canada
to use sampling in its statistical programs. It could be argued that the use of sampling is so obvious as to
be unnecessary. Perhaps the section should prescribe that the Chief Statistician, who again should make
all methodological choices, should deploy internationally recognized statistical best practices to achieve
necessary levels of data quality at acceptable costs, including the use of sampling.
Agreements with provinces and territories
These provisions (sections 10 and 11) continue to be relevant as they work to reduce the total burden
on the Canadian population of the combined statistical activities of the federal, provincial and territorial
governments. Combined, the national statistical system can inform evidenced-based decision making at
all levels of government with the free flow of data between governments for statistical purposes.
Generally provisions allow Statistics Canada and the provinces and territories to work together in an
integrated way. It is important, however, to ensure that departments and organizations outside the
statistical system dont restrict access to data they may hold. Unreasonable impositions should not be
imposed that restrict or prevent the flow of information for statistical purposes.
Statistics Canada can use the services of provincial officers (section 10), who must take the oath of
secrecy and are subject to penalties for wrongful disclosure of confidential information. This section
currently requires that an arrangement be entered into by the Minister with the province; the
requirements associated to deemed employees under section 10 should be the same as those for
federal officers (section 5). In addition, the current Act has been interpreted as requiring that provincial
and territorial officers provide a service to Statistics Canada and to access the information on Statistics
Canada premises. Provincial and territorial officers should be able to access confidential information
without providing a service to Statistics Canada, as long as the data is used for statistical purposes and
accessed on secure premises.
Section 11 ensures that Statistics Canada can enter into a data-sharing agreement with a
provincial/territorial statistical agency that has a statistics act similar to the federal one. These
agreements allow for the exchange of confidential information between Statistics Canada and the
statistical agencies. It is therefore possible for Statistics Canada to provide confidential information to
the provincial or territorial statistical agency, and to receive from the statistical agencies information
that they collected.

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It is appropriate that these agreements be at the ministerial level, but the level of authority required
should be ministerial alone and not require an order in council.
Data sharing
These provisions (section 12) continue to be relevant and contribute to the overall efficiency of
statistical activity in Canada. Since they concern confidentiality, the powers of this section should be
attributed directly to the Chief Statistician.
Access to records
This section is a critical section for the future operations and health of the national statistical system.
What Statistics Canada believes the section says, and needs it to say, is that the Agency can require any
organization to provide any data file in its possession, that originates with that organization, to Statistics
Canada for statistical purposes. This would include, without restricting the generality of the provision,
such things as: building permit records and property evaluation records from municipal governments;
health insurance records, motor vehicle registration and vital statistics records from provincial
government departments; and electrical service billing files, credit card transaction files, cellular
telephone transaction files, point of sale product code scanner transaction files and internet search
transaction files.
Statistics Canada believes--given that Census and Statistics is a federal jurisdiction under the
Constitution Act and that Statistics Act is an exercise of that jurisdiction--the provisions of the Statistics
Act take precedence over any legislation of lower jurisdictions purporting to limit access to these data.
Statistics Canada would like the Act to further clarify that compensation for the costs of supply of any
information requested under this section would be limited to the material and direct costs of that
supply.
The Act might further clarify that, other than a general requirement to use information obtained under
this provision strictly for statistical purposes and to protect the confidentiality of identifiable
information, suppliers cannot impose additional restrictions on Statistics Canadas handling and use of
information thus obtained.
The Act contains a variety of specific provisions giving the Agency access to specific data such as tax
returns, justice statistics, and customs records. If these specific provisions are necessary, and they may
well be, it needs to be made clear that the specific provisions are not intended to limit in any way the
general provision.
Data collection not a breach of copyright
Where Statistics Canada gathers information required in its programs from a public information source,
there is no requirement for prior notice to the publisher and the act of gathering information shall not
be viewed as a breach of copyright or of conditions of authorized use associated with the public
information source. Since Statistics Canada has the authority to gather any type of information, this is
simply a question of achieving the greatest possible efficiency and reducing burden on respondents.

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Secrecy, confidentiality and disclosure

Statistics Canada would not like to see any change in the provisions of the current section 17 of the Act
as it pertains to information collected from individuals. This information should be held strictly
confidential once collected and should not be disclosed, directly or indirectly, accept as provided in
other sections of the Act. It would however be a useful clarification for the Act to specify that, however
the information was obtained by Statistics Canada, information that is already in the public domain is
not protected by the provisions of the Act. For example, information already rendered public by a
business would not become confidential in Statistics Canadas hands by virtue of being provided on a
questionnaire.
The provision as it affects businesses is more problematic. Most goods producing industries in Canada
and many service industries are, at either the provincial or national level, dominated by a small number
of large firms. Current confidentiality rules embedded in the Act, and as implemented by Statistics
Canada, make it impossible for the Agency to publish detailed information at the sub-national and subprovincial levels. Many issues, including increasingly pressing environmental issues, cannot be analyzed
at the national level. Confidentiality rules are therefore undermining the value of the information
collected for the development, implementation, and evaluation of public policies, not to mention
private sector decision-making.
While Statistics Canada is not seeking to be able to publish identified data for individual businesses
(except as discussed elsewhere in this document) it recommends the Act be modified to state that
identifiable data can be published by Statistics Canada when, in the judgment of the Chief Statistician,
doing so is justified by the potential public benefit. Such an approach would be consistent with the
other piece of legislation under which Statistics Canada operates, the Corporations Returns Act which
authorizes the Agency to published identified information about the degree of foreign ownership of
Canadian businesses because of the perceived public benefit of this information being available.
All information obtained from Canadian governments or publicly funded institutions should be held to
be non-confidential.
The provisions of the current Act are extremely useful in ensuring the efficient collection of information.
Just as section 13 allows Statistics Canada to benefit from information gathered by other federal
departments, section 17 allows Statistics Canada to provide to other departments information that they
have the authority to collect on their own. Section 17 (2) d allows disclosure of any information that
could be so-disclosed under any statutory or other law. Even though Statistics Canada is exempted
from the application of the Privacy Act with regard to disclosure, the courts have interpreted section 17
(2) d as overriding that exemption, effecting replacing the disclosure rules of the Statistics Act with
those of the Privacy Act. While this interpretation is disputed, in the interests of protecting the
confidentiality of Statistics Canadas information holdings, this interpretation should be explicitly
excluded in this section.
A number of departments of the federal government have been meeting to discuss the feasibility of
developing a shared registry of Canadian businesses that could be used by all departments. Statistics
Canada operates a business register for its statistical purposes that contains much, if not all, of the
information that would be required, and has sophisticated operational procedures in place for
maintaining this information. Section 17 (2) f should be revised to permit Statistics Canada to provide
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registry information to federal and provincial government departments. The list of data elements
permitted to be disclosed would need to be expanded somewhat to include, among other things,
business numbers and other relevant administrative system identifiers.
As Statistics Canada makes greater use of administrative data, the provincial and territorial statistical
agencies find themselves with less shared information because section 11 only provides for the sharing
of information collected by Statistics Canada, and as such, does not cover administrative data. A new
paragraph could be added, allowing the Chief Statistician to disclose administrative data to statistical
agencies that have a statistics act containing similar provisions with regards to the right to compel the
collection of information and the protection of confidential information.
Privileged information
Provisions of the current Act prohibiting use of confidential information in Statistics Canadas possession
in any proceeding is vitally important to securing candid respondent cooperation with survey and other
data collection and must be retained.
Transfer to the Public Archives of historical Census records to support genealogical and other research
Records for censuses prior to 1911 were routinely de-classified and transferred to the Public Archives for
genealogical research. Censuses from 1911 to 2006 were conducted under legislation that made the
Census information confidential without any provision for this information being eventually declassified
and transferred to the Archives for research purposes. There was, just prior to the 2006 Census a
significant controversy about this situation. The Statistics Act was amended to allow the declassification
and transfer of records for all censuses from 1911 to 2001. However, provisions were included in the
Act that, for future censuses, Canadians would be asked to give their consent for the transfer of these
records. The proportion of Canadians giving their consent has been lower than anticipated and concern
has been expressed by genealogists. The reasons for Canadians withholding consent are not necessarily
due to disagreement. Some Canadians did not reach that point in the questionnaire or chose not to
answer at all which is taken as a no. In some cases, the parent completing the form chose not to
answer as they did not want to speak for their children.
These provisions were to be reviewed by Parliament to determine how Canadians responded and
whether further change is required. This review has not yet occurred.
When the Act was modified, Statistics Canadas management at that time argued against automatic
transfer of all records without consent after a fixed period on the grounds that such automatic
disclosure might undermine the willingness of Canadians to cooperate with the Census.
Statistics Canada has not found that the automatic transfer of Census records after a sufficiently long
period has had any deleterious effect on cooperation with the Census. Statistics Canada would prefer a
period that is longer than the maximum life expectancy of Canadians which would be higher than the
arbitrary 92 years used for the censuses from 1911 to 2001. However, the 92-year period would be
acceptable given that concern over this issue has been entirely absent from our dialogue with Canadians
around recent censuses.

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Census of Population
The provisions of the current Act with respect to the Census of Population have not weathered well the
test of time, nor do they provide a good framework for developing a modern and cost-effective
approach to the very expensive process of conducting a Census.
Various court decisions have noted the absence of a definition of a census of population and have
turned to dictionaries to determine what is legitimate content, concluding, inter alia, that a census must
collect only that information necessary to count the population (i.e. should not include cultural, social,
economic or other characteristics). Similarly, since the conventional definition of a census is a complete
enumeration, courts have argued that sampling is not allowed in a census.
To avoid this problem, it was proposed above that the term census of population be given the
meaning that it has had historically in Canada and in international prescription of the need for a regular
census of population: A census of population is a periodic enumeration of the population, including
information for their demographic, cultural, social and economic characteristics, their families and
households, and their housing. The enumeration may be accomplished by any combination of survey
and other data sources and may involve the use of sampling.
Recognizing the constitutional use of census of population data to ensure representation by population
and in the constitutional amending formula, the Act should provide that methods used should ensure
the highest possible quality of population counts and associated demographic characteristics (i.e. those
necessary to determine the population of voting in any given area).
The Act should provide that the census be conducted at five year intervals and that the extent and range
of information collected should be comparable to that collected in previous censuses held since 1986.
The Act should provide that the content of each census should be the object of extensive consultation
with all levels of government, businesses, other stakeholders and the public at large. Decision related to
content could rest with the Chief Statistician or with the Government given that the burden on the
population of census collection requires some external oversight. Currently there is no international
consistency in this regard.
Except as noted above, the Chief Statistician should have discretion on the method of assembling the
required information using existing data sources wherever possible and employing sampling methods to
secure data of acceptable quality while managing costs.
Census of Agriculture
Parallel changes to those recommended for the Census of Population should be made to those affecting
the Census of Agriculture. The census of agriculture is justified in Canada because: there continues to be
a significant number of small family farms; agriculture continues to be a major object of government
policy; the census helps to maintain the quality of annual and sub-annual agriculture statistics program;
and small area data for agriculture is important to both agricultural and environmental policy. The
industry continues to trend toward a much smaller number of larger, often incorporated, farms. At
some point, the Census of Agriculture may no longer be required. The provision in the current Act that
would allow the government to forego a five-year census of agriculture is unhelpful since, if required at
all, a census of agriculture would need to be conducted every five years.

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General statistics
As an enumeration of possible topics for statistical investigation, the one contained in the current Act is
quite broad, and broader still depending on how one defines the topics enumerated. Potentially, the
list is broad enough that Statistics Canada could conduct a Census under the general provisions of the
Act, but, in the absence of definitions, virtually any information collection could be questioned in whole
or part. Ideally, a broader and more generic statement would provide flexibility going forward. Should
such an enumeration be deemed necessary, however, Statistics Canada would propose the addition of
the topic environment as one of great importance but presently omitted.
If a more generic statement were viable, it could draw inspiration from the following text in the UN
Fundamental Principles:
Official statistics provide an indispensable element in the information system of a democratic society,
serving the Government, the economy and the public with data about the economic, demographic, social
and environmental situation.

Forms
This section needs to be revised to reflect the fact that, in addition to interviewer questioning and paper
forms, Statistics Canada also uses Internet based questionnaires and may use other devices in future.
The section needs to establish that whatever mode is used, an obligation exists for the respondent to
reply.
False statement and divulgation of confidential information by employees
This section is important in creating a culture of professionalism in Statistics Canada and in reassuring
Canadians that the Agency takes seriously its responsibility to protect the confidentiality of respondent
information. The potential fine was set in 1970 dollars. Statistics Canada proposes that it be reset in
equivalent 2015 dollars and some provision made for indexing the amount of the fine in future.
False statement or refusal to participate by a respondent
The principal utility of this section is in establishing consequences for refusal to participate in a Census
or a mandatory survey. Statistics Canada has never requested prosecution for provision of false
information. Statistics Canada has only requested prosecution for refusal to participate in a Census of
Population. It is a widely held view that the jail term penalty envisioned in this is disproportionate to
the offence and should be removed. With only one known exception, and in an exceptional context, the
courts have never applied the jail term penalty. The fine prescribed, even though originally set in 1970
dollars, remains sufficiently large to be dissuasive for most individuals.
Refusal to grant access to records by a respondent
This provision is primarily applicable to large businesses. Unlike a single household or individual in a
population survey, a single business respondent can, by refusing cooperation, significantly undermine
the accuracy of critically important economic indicators. A jail term still seems inappropriate as a
penalty for a business refusal. However, the financial penalty needs to be reframed in a way that 1)
makes it scale to a punitive level for each size of business without making it disproportionate for any size

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of business, and 2) makes it cumulate for each successive period (say month) during which data is not
supplied in a timely way.
Leaving notice and denial of access
The existing provision regarding leaving of notice is important and should be retained. An additional
section is required establishing that, in the case of a multiple dwelling, any owner, agent of the owner,
or owner association that impedes the work of a Statistics Canada employee by denying access to a
premises or by providing false information regarding occupancy of the premises commits an offence
with penalties identical to those of someone refusing to grant access to records. A further section is
required for refusal of access to institutions such as residential care facilities.
Disclosing of secret information and personification of a Statistics Canada employee
Fines in these sections are stated in 1970s dollars. They should be restated in equivalent 2015 dollars
and indexed going forward. This provision should apply to contractors as well as actual and deemed
employees of Statistics Canada.

Creating a Government of Canada Policy Framework on Official Statistics

In the spirit of modernization and in response to the Governments priority to open data and increased
access to quality data for evidence-based decision making, Statistics Canada supports increased sharing
of data and greater use of administrative data across the federal government. Based on the principle of
asking Canadians only once for information and making the greatest use of existing information, and
therefore reducing the burden placed on Canadians and Canadian businesses, Statistics Canada
proposes the development of a federal national statistics policy that would set out the following
provisions:
Obligation to provide access to administrative data
Government policy should affirm a commitment to collecting information only once from Canadians,
their businesses and their institutions. Once collected, the information should be shared among those
departments that have the need and authority to obtain it. In this spirit, the policy should require
departments to provide Statistics Canada with access to administrative in their hands (those data that
do not engage national security) and preclude imposition of restrictions on the use of those records by
Statistics Canada that would limit their value.
Obligation to consider requests for collection of additional information
Often existing administrative data could be made significantly more useful for statistical purposes if
some additional information were collected. Serious consideration by other departments of such
requests from Statistics Canada should be stipulated in the policy. Possibly a venue should be created
for review of such requests.

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Amendments to the Memorandum to Cabinet process

The policy should adopt a best practice from Ireland that requires departments submitting a proposal
for program change or introduction to consult with the national statistical office. This consultation
would cover three points. First, would the change result in a loss of administrative information on which
Statistics Canada is critically dependent? The point here is not that the statistical impact should prevent
the change, but rather that Statistics Canada should be given the time, and, if applicable, the resources,
to adapt to the change. Second, does the new or changed program provide Statistics Canada with a
statistical opportunity and would small adaptations to the program design or data collection plans
increase the benefit to the statistical system? Here again the object is not to be delay but to maximize
benefits. Third, does all of the data exist to develop, implement, operate and evaluate the proposed
program, and, if not, how can it be efficiently created. An affirmation that this consultation has
occurred and a summary of its conclusions could be appended to each MC.

Modifying the Machinery of Government

In terms of real impact on the independence of Statistics Canada, machinery of government issues are
currently the most important. Statistics Canada is proposing three modifications.
Recovery of control of Statistics Canadas informatics infrastructure
Reliable, effective, timely and affordable supply of informatics infrastructure (data centres, networks,
and telecommunications) is essential to Statistics Canadas operations and innovation. During the
period that Statistics Canada controlled its own informatics infrastructure this supply was seamless, all
four requirements were met and protection of respondent confidentiality could be assured. This is no
longer the case. Dependence on Shared Services Canada impedes the Agencys ability to deliver its
program, to innovate and to protect the confidentiality of respondent data. For all intents and
purposes, Shared Services Canada has an effective veto on any program or initiative undertaken by
Statistics Canada through its ability to deny informatics support.
Statistics Canada is not aware of any developed country where the national statistical office does not
have control of its informatics infrastructure. Moreover, Statistics Canada is aware of two instances
where a proposal was made to include the national statistical office in a centralized informatics
initiative: in the United Kingdom and in Australia. In both, after consideration of the imperative of the
independence of the national statistical office and of guarantees of the confidentiality of respondent
data, the national statistical offices were appropriately exempted from inclusion in the centralization
initiative. In a similar vein, in Canada on January 13, 2016, the Courts Administration Service and the
Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada, arguing their need for independence and confidentiality,
were granted an exemption from mandatory use of Shared Services Canada by Order-in-Council. Agents
of Parliament, such as the Auditor-General, Official Languages Commissioner, and the Privacy
Commissioner, were exempted from the inception of Shared Services Canada from mandatory use of
that departments services, presumably also for reasons of independence.

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Statistics Canada proposes that control over its informatics infrastructure be returned to Statistics
Canada, at least with respect to its statistical operations. Funding transferred by Statistics Canada to
Shared Services Canada would be returned to Statistics Canada, minus adjustments for efficiencies
already harvested by the government when these funds were in Shared Services Canadas hands and
minus adjustments for any back office functions that would continue to be provided by Shared Services
Canada. Statistics Canada would hire its own personnel for the operation of its informatics
infrastructure to give effect to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act. Statistics Canada
would need one-time funding to update its on-site data centre as a result of Shared Services Canadas
decision not to invest in that data centre in recent years.
Relationship to a Portfolio department
In order to preserve the independence of Statistics Canada, it is necessary that Statistics Canada have
direct communication with its Minister on matters concerning statistical programs or policies. Given the
relatively small size of the Statistics Canada file and the degree of independence of the Chief Statistician,
it makes sense that Statistics Canada fall within a portfolio. However, consideration may want to be
given as to which portfolio is most appropriate. Furthermore, consideration could be given to including
in the Ministers order-in-council that they are also the Minister of National Statistics, rather than simply
attributing responsibility for Statistics Canada to an existing minister.
Compensation
The pay at risk concept and its administration is inconsistent with the independence of the Chief
Statistician and the statistical office. An approach similar to that used for the President of the Public
Service Commission would be appropriate.

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Appendix A

CANADIAN STATISTICS ACT AND THE OECD RECOMMENDATION ON GOOD

STATISTICAL PRACTICE
INFORMAL ASSESSMENT BY THE OECD STATISTICS DIRECTORATE

14 January 2016

Introduction
In November 2015, the OECD Council adopted the OECD Recommendation on Good Statistical
Practice with the aim of providing guidance and indications of good practices to Adherents for the
formulation of their statistical policy. In the context of a possible update of its statistical legislation,
Statistics Canada requested assessment of the Canadian Statistics Act, adopted in 1985 and regularly
amended since then, against the Recommendation.
The present assessment is of an informal nature. Its focus is solely on the Canadian Statistics Act and
does not include the practices implemented by Statistics Canada or any other producer of official statistics
in Canada although in some instances reference is made to good practices in Canada or elsewhere. The
review follows the structure of the OECD Recommendation with twelve specific recommendations. The
assessment is without prejudice to any future formal review of Canadas implementation of the OECD
Recommendation.
Assessment
Recommendation 1. Put in place a clear legal and institutional framework for official statistics which
should in particular provide:
i) details as to the organisation of the NSS, the legal status and role of the NSO, as well as the legal
status, functions, relationship, rights and responsibilities of other institutions within the NSS;
ii) a clear mandate for institutions of the NSS to collect data for statistical purposes.
Ad i) A well-functioning national system for statistics requires a stable and transparent legal basis. The
legal base for statistics should contain laws and regulations under which the national statistical system
operates. Good practices in OECD member countries indicate national legislation involving a
comprehensive and coherent statistical law that is periodically revised and amended. A national statistical
law is considered to be comprehensive and coherent when it regulates all or most of the following domains:

Organisation of the national statistical system as a whole;

Legal status, functions, rights and responsibilities of each institution within the national statistical
system, in particular of the national statistical office;

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Appendix A

Coverage of statistical activities;

Independence of the national statistical office and the position of the chief statistician;
Relationship between the national statistical office and respondents;
Access to administrative records;
Release practices and principles of dissemination of data;
Budget issues: availability and sufficiency of resources for financing statistical programmes,
salaries, population censuses etc., responsibilities for budget issues;
International statistical cooperation; and
Co-ordination within the countrys statistical system.

The current Canadian Statistics Act, adopted in 1985 (Revised Statutes of Canada) and amended on a
regular basis since then, covers most of these matters.
The law provides a strong legal and institutional framework in that it determines clearly the procedures
for the organisation of statistical activities in Canada, including the role of Statistics Canada, and the right
and responsibilities of the main actors of the National Statistical System, namely, the Minister of Industry,
Science and Technology (a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada), the Chief Statistician, the
statistical agency (Statistics Canada), the respondents, and other government offices, such as the Ministry
of National Revenue, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency
Preparedness. The Statistics Act covers all legal entities as well as individuals.
In addition to the subjects mentioned, Section 19 of the Act assigns responsibility to Statistics Canada
for undertaking a population census every five years, and Section 20 directs Statistics Canada to conduct
an agricultural census every ten years. The Act also determines strong procedures to protect confidentiality,
including sanctions in the case of breaking the commitment to safeguard individual information from
respondents.
Section 22 of the Act directs the Chief Statistician to produce statistics on a detailed list of subjects:
Without limiting the duties of Statistics Canada under Section 3 or affecting any of its powers or duties in
respect of any specific statistics that may otherwise be authorised or required under this Act, the Chief
Statistician shall, under the direction of the Minister, collect, compile, analyse, abstract and publish statistics
in relation to all or any of the following matters in Canada: (a) population; (b) agriculture; (c) health and
welfare; (d) law enforcement, the administration of justice and corrections; (e) government and business
finance; (f) immigration and emigration; (g) education; (h) labour and employment, (i) commerce with
other countries; (j) prices and the cost of living; (k) forestry;, fishing and trapping; (l) mines, quarries and
wells; (m) manufacturing; (n) construction; (o) transportation, storage and communication; (p) electric
power, gas and water utilities; (q) wholesale and retail trade; (r) finance, insurance and real estate; (s) public
administration; (t) community, business and personal services, and (u) any other matters prescribed by the
Minister of by the Governor in Council.
Ad ii) The Statistics Act gives a clear mandate to Statistics Canada in collecting data for statistical
purposes:

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Appendix A

Subsection 3(a) gives a mandate to Statistics Canada to collect, compile, analyse, abstract, and
publish statistical information relating to commercial, industrial, financial, social, economic and
general activities and conditions of the people of Canada.
Subsection 3(c) gives responsibility to Statistics Canada to take the census of population of Canada
and the census of agriculture of Canada as provided in this Act. An Order is necessary to prescribe
dates and questionnaire (the form) for each population census.
According to subsection 23(2), it is mandatory to provide individual information to Statistics Canada
Subject to Section 8, a person to whom a form is sent pursuant to subsection (1) shall answer the
inquiries thereon and return the form and answers to Statistics Canada properly certified as accurate,
not later than the time prescribed thereof by the Minister and indicated on the form or not later than
such extended time as may be allowed in the discretion of the Minister.

In addition, the Canadian Statistics Act gives Statistics Canada the authority to compel respondents to
comply with data request, to enforce mandatory reporting requirements whenever necessary, and to
prescribe penalties for non-responses:

Section 23: (1) In lieu of or in addition to using agents or employees for the collection of statistics
under this Act, the Minister may prescribe that a form be sent to a person from whom information
authorized to be obtained under this Act is sought. (2) Subject to Section 8, a person to whom a form
is sent pursuant to subsection (1) shall answer the inquiries thereon and return the form and answers
to Statistics Canada properly certified as accurate, not later than the time prescribed therefore by the
Minister and indicated on the form or not later than such extended time as may be allowed in the
discretion of the Minister.
Section 31 establishes sanctions in case of false or unlawful information: Every person who,
without lawful excuse, (a) refuses or neglects to answer, or wilfully answers falsely, any question
requisite for obtaining any information sought in respect of the objects if this Act or pertinent thereto
that has been asked of him by any person employed or deemed to be employed under this Act, or
(b) refuses or neglects to furnish any information or to fill in to the best of its knowledge and belief
any schedule or form that the person has been required to fill in, and to return the same when and as
required of him pursuant to this Act, or knowingly gives false or misleading information or practices
any other deception thereunder is, for every refusal or neglect, or false answer or deception, guilty
of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both.
Section 32 establishes sanctions in the case of refusal in granting access to records: Every person
(a) who, having the custody or charge of any documents or records that are maintained in any
department or in any municipal office, corporation, business or organisation, from which
information sought in respect of the objects if this Act can be obtained or that would aid in the
completion or correction of the information, refuses or neglects to grant access to the information to
any person authorised for the purpose by the Chief Statistician, or (b) who otherwise in any way
wilfully obstructs or seeks to obstruct any person employed in the execution of any duty under this
Act is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand
dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both.
Section 33 compels respondents to comply with data requests: (1) The leaving, by an enumerator,
agent of other person employed, or deemed to be employed under this Act, or the delivery by the

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Appendix A

post office at any house of any schedule or form purporting to be issued pursuant to this Act, and
having thereon a notice requiring that it be filled in and signed within a stated time by the occupant
of the house, or in his absence by some other member of the family, is, as against the occupant, a
sufficient requirement so to fill in and sigh the schedule or form notwithstanding that the occupant
is not named in the notice, or personally served therewith. (2) The leaving, by an enumerator, agent
of other person employed, or deemed to be employed under this Act, at the office or other place of
business of any person or the delivery by the post office to any person or his agent, of any schedule
or form purporting to be issued pursuant to this Act, and having thereon a notice requiring that it be
filled in and signed within a stated time, is, as against the person, a sufficient requirement so to fill
in and sigh the schedule or form, and if so required in the notice, to mail the schedule or form within
a stated time to Statistics Canada.
Recommendation 2. Ensure professional independence of National Statistical Authorities. To this
end, Adherents should ensure that the National Statistical Authorities:
i) are professionally independent from other policy, regulatory or administrative departments and
bodies, as well as from private sector operators, considering that professional independence of the
producers of official statistics is essential for the production and the dissemination of objective
statistics;
ii) have the exclusive authority, as part of their professional independence, to decide on statistical
methods and dissemination;
iii) are protected, through the inclusion of explicit provisions in statistics legislation, from political
and other interference in developing, compiling and disseminating official statistics.
The professional independence of the Canadian statistical authorities, notably Statistics Canada and its
Chief Statistician, from policy, regulatory or administrative departments and bodies is not explicitly
guaranteed by the Canadian Statistics Act. There is no explicit reference to independence of statistical
authorities in the law, either professional or institutional.
The law contains a number of explicit provisions regarding the role of Government, in particular the
Minister, in collection, compilation and dissemination of official statistics:

Section 7: The Minister may, by order, prescribe such rules, instructions, schedules and forms as
the Minister deems requisite for conducting the work and business of Statistics Canada, the
collecting, compiling, and publishing of statistics and other information and the taking of any census
authorized by this Act.
Section 8: The Minister may, by order, authorize the obtaining, for a particular purpose, of
information, other than information for a census of population or agriculture, on a voluntary basis,
but where such information is requested Section 31 does not apply in respect of a refusal or neglect
to furnish the information.
Section 21: The Governor in Council shall, by order, prescribe the questions to be asked in any
Census taken by Statistics Canada ().
Subsection 9(2) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Minister may authorize the use of
sampling methods for the collection of statistics.

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Appendix A

Subsection 5(1): The Minister may employ, in the manner authorized by law, such commissioners,
enumerators, agents or other persons as are necessary to collect for Statistics Canada such statistics
and information as the Minister deems useful and in the public interest relating to such commercial,
industrial, financial, social, economic and other activities as the Minister may determine, and the
duties of the commissioners, enumerators, agents or other persons shall be those duties prescribed
by the Minister.
Subsection 4(2), on the duties of the Chief Statistician: The Chief Statistician shall, under the
direction of the Minister, (a) advise on matters pertaining to statistical programs of the departments
and agencies of the Government of Canada, and confer with those departments and agencies to that
end; and (b) supervise generally the administration of this Act and control the operations and staff
of Statistics Canada.

Section 4(2) describes the matters of authority and competences of the Chief Statistician: The Chief
Statistician shall, under the direction of the Minister, (a) advise on matters pertaining to statistical
programmes of the departments and agencies of the Government of Canada, and confer with those
departments and agencies to that end; and (b) supervise generally the administration of this Act and control
the operations and staff of Statistics Canada.
The terms of reporting to the Minister are established in subsection 4(3): In each fiscal year the Chief
Statistician shall make a report to the Minister with regard to the activities of Statistics Canada in the
preceding fiscal year and the report made hereunder shall be included in the Ministers annual report to
Parliament as a separate part thereof.
These Sections have been interpreted as authorising a possible intervention of the Minister only in coordination with the Chief Statistician and since the creation of Statistics Canada, the Canadian Statistics
Act has allowed the maintenance of a longstanding tradition of operating at arms length from
governments1. However, the text of the law does not explicitly refer to professional independence of
Statistics Canada as an institution, and provides no specific indication that the Chief statistician is the sole
responsible for the decisions regarding the collection, production, and dissemination of official statistics.
Indeed, according to the law, the Minister can be directly involved in important decisions on data collection,
compilation and dissemination, as shown by Sections 7 and 21. The Act could be interpreted as giving the
final word on basic statistical decisions to the Minister in case of disagreement with the Chief Statistician.
In this context, a clear distinction between professional and administrative independence would appear
desirable, as well as explicit provisions that govern the relationship between the Chief Statistician and the
Minister in charge. This is even more important as, since 1965, Canadas Chief Statistician has the rank of
deputy minister, which puts him/her at the heart of the policy planning process and ensure him/her access
to administrative public bodies.

_________________
1

However, in June 2010, the Government of Canada decided to abandon the mandatory long-form population census,
implemented in 1971 against the opinion of the Chief Statistician. The ensuing public debate about this direct
intervention of a Minister in a technical statistical matter had negative effects on the credibility and public image of
Canadian Statistics.

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Appendix A
Professional independence also relates to the procedures for the appointment of the Chief Statistician
and the termination of his/her term (including potential dismissal). Good practice in OECD countries
suggests that these processes are spelled out by law. The Canadian Statistics Act does not provide a clear
and detailed description of these procedures. While subsection 4(1) establishes that the Governor in
Council may appoint an officer called the Chief Statistician of Canada to be the deputy of the Minister for
the purposes of this Act and to hold office during pleasure, there is no specific provision on the
mechanisms for the termination of his/her term, his/her resignation, or his/her dismissal. It follows that the
Chief Statistician serves an unlimited term, which ends with his/her resignation or removal from office.
Some OECD member countries introduced a fixed term for the Chief Statistician with the aim of
strengthening the professional independence. However, provisions vary from country to country and there
is no single best practice.
In some countries, National Statistics Councils, in addition to their advisory role on matters of statistical
substance and quality, are explicitly mandated to oversee professional independence and impartiality of the
National Statistical Office. The nature and composition of such a Council, and the reporting arrangements
for the NSO are often provided by law.
Recommendation 3. Ensure adequacy of human financial and technical resources available to the
National Statistical Authorities for the production and dissemination of official statistics. To this end,
Adherents should ensure that the resources are:
i) sufficient to allow National Statistical Authorities to meet their commitment to quality, and to
meet professional standards thereby fulfilling their role as providers of reliable, relevant and
accessible data for national and international use;
ii) adequate to produce a minimum core set of data, to be defined nationally or internationally, to
monitor the economy, society and the environment.
The Canadian Statistics Act does not contain any explicit provision as to the availability and sufficiency
of resources for financing statistical programmes, to support staff training, to develop computing resources,
and to implement innovation. This corresponds to practice to statistical legislation in many other countries
although certain Codes of Statistical Practice (for example in Europe) that have the force of law do contain
provisions regarding resources.
Recommendation 4. Protect the privacy of data providers (including individuals, households,
enterprises, administrations, and all levels of government) and guarantee by law the confidentiality
of the individual information provided and its use for statistical purposes only.
Confidentiality of individual information is guaranteed by the Canadian Statistics Act. The law
determines strong procedures to ensure full protection of the privacy of data providers from any potential
disclosure without consent. According to the Section 6, Statistics Canada employees responsible for the
management of individual information sign a solemn confidentiality commitment, agreeing not to disclose
statistical information. Subsection 17 (1;b) establishes that no person who has been sworn under Section
6 shall disclose or knowingly cause to be disclosed, by any means, any information obtained under this Act

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Appendix A
in such a manner that it is possible from the disclosure to relate the particulars obtained from any individual
person, business or organisation.
Subsection 18(2) states that no person sworn under Section 6 shall by an order of any court, tribunal or
other body be required in any proceedings whatever to give oral testimony or to produce any return,
document or record with respect to any information obtained in the course of administering this Act.
As regards information from the population census, subsection 18.1(1) states that the information
contained in the returns of each census of population taken between 1910 and 2005 is no longer subject of
Sections 17 and 18 ninety-two years after the census is taken, and subsection 18.1(2) introduces a release
by consent ninety-two years after the census for census undertaken after 2006: the information contained
in the returns of each census of population taken in 2006 or later is no longer subject to Sections 17 and 18
ninety-two years after the census is taken, but only if the person to whom the information relates consents,
at the time of the census, to the release of the information ninety-two years later.
Section 30 of the Canadian Statistics Act determines sanctions in case of a break in the commitment to
safeguard a respondents information: Every person who, after taking the oath set out in subsection 6(1),
(a) deserts from his duty, or wilfully makes any false declaration, statement or return in the performance of
his duties, (b) in the pretended performance of his duties, obtains or seeks to obtain information that the
person is not duly authorised to obtain, or (c) contravenes subsection 17(1) is guilty of an offence and liable
on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding six months or to both.
According to subsection 17(2), the Chief Statistician is allowed to authorise, with consent, the disclosure
of a list of specific information.
Recommendation 5. Ensure the right to access administrative sources to produce official statistics.
To this end, Adherents should ensure that:
i) National Statistical Authorities have the right to access administrative data for the regular
production of official statistics and to use them in the interest of ensuring quality of official statistics,
raising the analytical value of official statistics, reducing burden on survey respondents and reducing
the cost of statistical programmes;
ii) National Statistical Authorities co-operate with owners of administrative records as regards
their statistical quality and have authority to influence their design to ensure they are fit for statistical
purposes.
Administrative sources represent an important source of information for statistical purposes. Their use
requires that the statistical agency is free to choose the sources of data, and that this choice is based on
sound consideration of quality, timeliness, cost and the burden on respondents.
Under the Canadian Statistics Act, Statistics Canada has the legal right to access and use administrative
data for statistical purposes. The law regulates the access by Statistics Canada to administrative data from
provincial and territorial statistical offices (Sections 10 and 13), as well as the agreements in place for
sharing information between the federal and local statistical authorities and

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Appendix A
government department, municipal government, academics, etc. (Sections 11 and 12), avoiding duplication,
and minimising burden on respondent.
Section 13 provides Statistics Canada with access to records held by departments of municipal offices,
corporations, business or organisation, for statistical purposes only: A person having a custody or charge
of any documents or records that are maintained in any department or in any municipal office, corporation,
business or organisation, from which information sought in respect of the objects of this Act can be obtained
or that would aim in the completion or correction of this information, shall grant access thereto for those
purposes to a person authorised by the Chief Statistician to obtain that information or aid in the completion
or correction of that information.
Section 10 and Section 13 provide access to records from provinces, local governments, business and
institutions. Section 10 states that (1) The Minister may enter into any arrangement with the government
of a province providing for any matter necessary or convenient for the purpose of carrying out or giving
effect to this Act, and in particular for all or any of the following matters: (a) the execution by provincial
officers of any power or duty conferred or imposed on any officer pursuant to this Act; (b) the collection
by any provincial department or provincial officer of any statistical or other information required for the
purpose of this Act; and (c) the supplying of statistical information by any provincial department or
provincial officer to the Chief Statistician. (2) All provincial officers executing any power or duty conferred
or imposed on any officer pursuant this Act, in pursuance of any arrangement entered into under this
Section, shall, for the purposes of the execution of that power or duty, be deemed to be employed under
this Act.
Section 11 regulates agreements for data exchange between provincial statistical agencies and the
Minister, and guarantees confidentiality of individual information: (1) The Minister may, with the approval
of Governor in Council and subject to this Section, enter into an agreement with the government of a
province for the exchange with, or transmission to, a statistical agency of the province of (a) replies to any
specific statistical inquiries; (b) replies to any specific classes of information collected under this Act; and
(c) any tabulations or analyses based on replies referred to in paragraph (a) or (b). (2) An agreement with a
province for the purposes of this Section shall apply only in respect of a statistical agency of the province
(a) that has statutory authority to collect the information that is intended to be exchanged or transmitted
pursuant to the agreement from a respondent who is subject to statutory penalties for refusing or neglecting
to furnish information to the agency or for falsifying information furnished by him to the agency; (b) that
is prohibited by law from disclosing any information of a kind that Statistics Canada, its officers and
employees would be prohibited from disclosing under Section 17, if the information were furnished to
Statistics Canada; and (c) whose officers and employees are subject to statutory penalties for the disclosing
of any information of the kind described in paragraph (b), subject to exceptions authorizes by law that are
substantially the same as those provided under Section 17. (3) Except in respect of information described
in subsection 17(2), no agreement entered into under this Section applies to any reply made to or
information collected by Statistics Canada or an agency of the government of a province before the date
that the agreement was entered into or is to have effect, whichever is the later date. (4) Where any
information in respect of which an agreement under this Section applies is collected by Statistics Canada
from a respondent, Statistics Canada shall, when collecting information, advise the respondent of the names
of any statistical agencies in respect of which the Minister has an agreement under

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Appendix A
this Section and to which the information received from the respondent may be communicated under that
agreement.
Section 12 regulates the agreements for sharing information between Statistics Canada and federal,
provincial, territorial government agencies or corporations: (1) The Minister may enter into an agreement
with any department or municipal or other corporation for the sharing of information collected from a
respondent by either Statistics Canada or the department or corporation on behalf of both of them and for
the subsequent tabulation publication based on that information. (2) An agreement under subsection (1)
shall provide that (a) the respondent be informed by notice that the information is being collected on behalf
of Statistics Canada and the department or corporation, as the case may be; and (b) where the respondent
gives notices in writing to the Chief Statistician that the respondent objects to the sharing of the information
by Statistics Canada, the information not to be shared with the department or corporation is authorized by
law to require the respondent to provide that information. (3) Information shared pursuant to this Section
may, subject to subsection (2), include replies to original inquiries and supplementary information provided
by a respondent to Statistics Canada or the department or corporation.
Section 24 gives the Chief Statistician access to tax information at the federal level: For the purpose of
this Act and subject to Section 17, (a) the Chief Statistician or any person authorized by the Chief
Statistician to do so may inspect and have access to any returns, certificates, statements, documents or other
records obtained on behalf of the Minister of National Revenue for the purposes of the Income Tax Act or
Part IX of the Excise Tax Act, and (b) the Minister of National Revenue shall cause the returns, certificates,
statements, documents or other records to be made available to the Chief Statistician or person authorized
by the Chief Statistician to inspect the records in such manner and at such times as the Governor in Council
may prescribe on the recommendations of the Minister and the Minister of National Revenue.
Section 25 gives authority to the Chief Statistician to access import and export records collected by the
Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness: For the purposes of this Act and subject to Section
17, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness shall cause to be sent to the Chief Statistician
returns of imports and exports into and from Canada and details of the means of transportation used therefor,
in such manner and at such times as the Governor in Council may prescribe on the recommendation of the
Minister and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.
Sections 26 to 28 give access to Statistics Canada to administrative records related to justice and crime
statistics.
Although the Canadian Statistics Act guarantees for Statistics Canada an effective access to
administrative records, best practices identified in OECD member countries suggest that the statistical
legislation could also ensure that the National Statistics Office has the right to collaborate with owners of
administrative records as regards the design of administrative records, in order to make data more suitable
for statistical purposes, and to improve the quality of information.
Recommendation 6. Ensure the impartiality, objectivity and transparency of official statistics,
through the development, production and dissemination by the National Statistical Authorities of
statistics respecting scientific independence put in place in an objective, professional and transparent

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Appendix A
manner in which all users are treated equitably. Equitable treatment implies in particular equal
access to data by all users.
An impartial statistical office must have the discretion to make decisions about statistical sources,
statistical methods, and dissemination without intervention by higher or political authorities and must
operate in a transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably.
Equal access and equitable treatment of all users is also recommended by the OECD Recommendation.
Canadas Statistics Act makes no specific reference to equal access and in this respect resembles statistical
legislation in many other OECD countries where equal access resides in statistical practice or regulations
rather than legislation. For instance, it is good practice that any procedure or arrangement related to access
to official statistics prior to their public release is made public. There are, however, some countries (e.g.,
Turkey, Slovenia, Greece) where equal access to official statistics for all users is even stipulated by law.
Recommendation 7. Employ sound methodology and commit to professional standards used in the
production of official statistics. To this end, Adherents should:
i) apply appropriate statistical procedures and methods, including a stated revisions policy;
ii) strive to adhere to international norms and standards, such as methodological manuals
developed by the United Nations Statistical Commission or by the OECD, and international
classifications in the statistics collected by the OECD.
The Statistics Act makes no reference to international standards which is in line with many other
countries. Without there being specific legal provisions, it is generally recognised that Statistics Canada
adheres to international norms and standards for the production and dissemination of official statistics.
Indeed, Statistics Canada has long been an active promoter of sound statistical standards and practices at
the international level.
Recommendation 8. Commit to the quality of statistical outputs and processes, in particular to key
quality dimensions as defined in national and international quality assessment frameworks, for
instance in the Quality Framework and Guidelines for OECD Statistical Activities: timeliness and
punctuality (statistics are released in a timely and punctual manner); relevance (statistics meet the
needs of users); accuracy (statistics accurately and reliably portray reality); credibility (confidence
is placed by users in statistical products); coherence and comparability (statistics are consistent
internally, over time and in space and it is possible to combine and make joint use of related data
from different sources); and interpretability and accessibility (see Recommendation 9).
There is no specific provision as regards the commitment to quality of statistical outputs and processes
in the Canadian Statistics Act. However, in practice, Statistics Canada has a long tradition of continuous
quality improvement, features an active quality management policy at all levels of data collection,
processing and dissemination, and has implemented a Quality Assurance Framework. Appropriate quality
guidelines are publicly available and are regularly updated.
Recommendation 9. Ensure user-friendly data access and dissemination, so that statistics are
presented in a clear and understandable form, released in a suitable and convenient manner,

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Appendix A
including in machine-readable form (open data), can be found easily, and are available and
accessible on an impartial basis with supporting metadata and guidance. This also entails a
commitment to respond to major misinterpretations of data by users.
The Canadian Statistics Act does not explicitly regulate the dissemination of official Canadian statistics.
However, Statistics Canada has developed appropriate tools for the dissemination of data and detailed
metadata through different channels, including Internet, online database, and paper publications.
Recommendation 10. Establish responsibilities for co-ordination of statistical activities within the
NSS. To this end, Adherents should ensure that:
i) the co-ordination of statistical activities among statistical producers is done through the use of
standard concepts and classifications and avoids the duplication of effort;
ii) responsibilities for such co-ordination function are clearly laid out and anchored in statistical
legislation.
The role and responsibilities of Statistics Canada for the co-ordination of statistical activities within the
National Statistical System are well established in the Canadian Statistics Act: Section 3 enumerates the
functions of Statistics Canada, and includes (e) generally, to promote and develop integrated social and
economic statistics pertaining to the whole of Canada and to each of the provinces thereof and to coordinate
plans for the integration of those statistics. While the coordination of statistical activities could be
perceived as less important in a centralised statistical system such as in Canada, it remains a key element
to ensure consistency of official statistics.
Among the statistical activities set out to Statistics Canada by the Statistics Act, Section 3 gives clear
duties to collaborate with departments of government in the collection, compilation and publication of
statistical information, including statistics derived from the activities of those departments (...) (subsection
3b); to promote the avoidance of duplication in the information collected by departments of government
()(subsection 3d), and generally to promote and develop integrated social and economic statistics
pertaining the whole of Canada and to each of the provinces thereof and to coordinate plans for the
integration of those statistics (subsection 3e).
Recommendation 11. Commit to international co-operation. To this end, Adherents should:
i) encourage statistical producers to achieve common goals in statistics jointly with the statistical
producers in other countries and with international organisations, with a view to developing
internationally comparable statistics, to designing international standards and to exchanging
information on good practice.
ii) provide the necessary data for the OECDs reporting system and analytical work, in compliance
with international statistical standards as recognised by the OECD and preferably using the
Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange method/standard in particular for domains with
internationally agreed Data Structure Definitions (DSDs).
Ad i) In most OECD member countries, international cooperation is often not subject to the statistical
legislation, but relies on specific legal instruments or agreements between countries, such as a

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Appendix A
Memorandum of Understanding or Letter of Intent, or on active participation in joint projects with other
countries or with international organisations.
International statistical cooperation, i.e. bilateral cooperation and cooperation with international
organisations, is well-established at Statistics Canada in practice but is not laid down by the Canadian
Statistics Act.
Ad ii) While statistical cooperation with international organisations is not explicitly regulated by the
Canadian Statistics Act, Statistics Canada regularly actively participates in OECD meetings and contributes
actively to the definition and design of international norms, and provides complete and timely statistics to
the OECD.
A commitment to international statistical cooperation could be introduced in the legislation with the aim
to identify Statistics Canada as the main counterpart for statistical relationships with international
organisations.
Recommendation 12. Encourage exploring innovative methods as well as new and alternative data
sources as inputs for official statistics, and in particular encourage statistical agencies to actively
explore possibilities to use new data sources (including large datasets owned by the private sector),
or to combine existing and new data sources as input for official statistics. At the same time, these
opportunities are weighted against the limits of using modern information technologies and the need
to maintain the quality of official statistics.
The Canadian Statistics Act does not include any Section or subsection on innovation in collecting data.
While data collection from statistical surveys and from administrative sources are well regulated by the
law, articulation of both survey and administrative data for the production of official statistics is not
covered. Research on new sources and new methods of official statistics, including the use of data from the
private sector, or the combination of data from statistical surveys and administrative data could be
encouraged by the legislation.
The National Statistical System might also benefit from introduction in the legislation of wording as
regards agreements between owners of private data and producers of official statistics, as private data are
increasingly used in the production official statistics.

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Appendix B
Draft Preamble
Whereas representation by population in the electoral systems of system and the application of
the constitutional amending formula require periodic censuses of the population of Canada;
Whereas citizens of Canada, to choose their governments, require high quality, comprehensive
and integrated information on the state and development of their economy, society and
environment;
Whereas the governments of Canada require high quality, relevant information to support
evidence-based development, implementation, administration and evaluation of public policies
and programs;
Whereas private citizens, their businesses and organizations, require high quality, comprehensive
and integrated information on their economy, society and environment to participate in public
policy debate and to guide their private decision-making;
Recognizing that the government of Canada has jurisdiction over the census and statistics and
must establish a national statistical office to build and lead the national statistical system;
Recognizing that the credibility of the national statistical office requires its strict neutrality on
policy issues and complete professional independence in the execution of its duties;
Recognizing that professional independence of the national statistical office must be balanced by
accountability before Parliament and transparency in its operations;
Recognizing that the provincial and territorial statistical offices play an important role in the
national statistical system;
Requiring that the national statistical office while accomplishing its mandate minimize the
financial cost and the burden of reporting it imposes on Canadians and their institutions by
making the greatest possible use of information already in the hands of governments and other
institutions; and
Requiring that, to promote willing and truthful public participation in the national statistical
offices data collection, information collected from individuals for statistical purposes be held in
the strictest confidence by the national statistical office;
The Parliament of Canada enacts as follows:

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