BR Newsletter

Amid all the discussion about the Census, I was recently asked if Statistics Canada had another database that would provide local neighbourhood data.  While there will never be a resource as rich and complete as a long-form based Census, the short answer to the question is “yes”.

The Small Area and Administrative Data Division (SAADD) of Statistics Canada produces tables based on information gathered from tax returns. The resulting sample is robust enough to be accurate at smaller geographic levels such as federal electoral districts, forward sortation areas (the first three characters of the postal code), and postal walks (letter carrier routes).  Be assured this Taxfiler data is always aggregated so individual information is kept confidential

While the information is limited to what can be gathered from a tax form, the dataset is more comprehensive than you might initially think.  In addition to the expected details – income distribution, labour and self-employment income levels – basic demographics are also covered such as age, gender and family characteristics. You can also access information which profiles charitable donors, RRSP contributors and the level of contribution room available.  Information on investment income, interest income, capital gains as well as migration estimates are also covered.

For a full list of all available data tables see the publication: Neighbourhood insights – Your guide to the statistical information packages available from Small Area and Administrative Data Division, Statistics Canada

While this information is updated annually it sometimes appears there is a two year delay in the release of the data.  2008 data is the most current available right now. If you think about it though, there is not much that can be done to make it more current. In the spring of 2010 you submited your tax information for 2009.  Only after the Canada Revenue Agency has done their tax business with the form, can statistical analysis take place.

Most of the income based tables are updated in November of each year.   So in November 2009, data covering 2008 was released.  This November the income data will be updated to 2009.  The family tables are generally not updated until the following spring.

The pricing of this data is a bit of a Gordian Knot especially if you are only interested in selected areas.  It is based on the number of tables you want and the number and size of the geographical areas you are interested in.  Pricing starts at around $75.00.   From there it is quite variable.  My best advice is to contact me at the QueryDesk with your data needs and I will let you know the details specific to your research.  I can even add you to our update list so you can be notified in November as soon as the updated results are available.

If your research budget is non existent there are a couple of low cost/no cost options for you.

You can access selected data from the Taxfiler database through CANSIM. See Tables: 111-0001..111-0041.  While it does not include local level detail, information by metropolitan area is available. The advantage of CANSIM is that you can gain instant access to specific data for only $3.00 per time series.  For more information on CANSIM see our CANSIM research guide.

The free option is the Canada Revenue Agency Locality code statistics page.  It provides data on income range and sources of income (e.g. employment, investment, self-employment, pension) by municipality.  While this information is no where near as robust as the Taxfiler database it is a free way to update the income profile of a community beyond the last Census.

The Taxfiler database is by no means even close to Census data but it does provide another option for local neighbourhood insights.

Please note: none of the above sources provide the names and addresses of wealthy households in Canada.  For that type of information you would need to contact a Mail List firm such as InfoCanada

The Internet can be a frustrating resource. There is constant pressure on webmasters to update their web sites and keep them current. While this is a wonderful imperative it can lay waste to otherwise useful content because it is arbitrarily deemed “too old”. It is estimated that the average lifespan of a web page is 45-75 days.  It is very likely that information you find useful today will not be accessible in 3 months..

Over the last 14 years I have watched as fantastic collections of information have vanished overnight. If information was valuable enough to be published in the first place, it should be given some regard at “update time”. Happily I am not alone in my opinion and efforts are being made to preserve an archive of the Internet.

Google itself offers a short-term solution to recently deceased pages. In the Google results page you will see in the bottom line of each citation a link called “cache”. This is a snapshot of the page the last time Google crawled the site. Given the frequency with which Google crawls the Internet these cached pages are usually no more than a few days old.

The Internet Archive is the most ambitious attempt to archive online content. The site collects publicly available Internet documents using a web crawler. You cannot keyword search the archive but if you know the website you are interested in you can search on the URL. The results will provide you with a list of archived dates available. By clicking on the dates you can access the content as it appeared at the time referenced.

Be forewarned however, sometimes authors and publishers express a desire for their documents not to be included in the archive either by tagging a file for robot exclusion or by contacting the Internet Archive directly. Therefore this resource does not always yield results.

The Canadian government has taken a more thorough approach to archiving its own content. Their strategy is based on two sites.

The first is the Electronic Collection which consists of books and periodicals published online in Canada by both government and non-government publishers. All Canadian publishers are required to deposit copies of their online publications with Library and Archives Canada (LAC). Currently the composition of the collection is 68% federal government, 29% commercial / non-commercial sources and 3% provincial government.

You can keyword search this resource to located documents. It is not only useful as an archive but it provides access to current online publications as well.

The second resource is the Government of Canada Web Archive. This site provides an archive of federal government web sites as a whole. You can search by keyword, by department name, and by URL. The archive however does not provide any content beyond pages requiring user input such as a search screen to a database or content requiring the user to pay.

The pages within the archive are clearly tagged with a bright green bar across the top so that you are well aware that you are looking at an older version of a web site. It should be noted that the content in this archive cannot be accessed via Google.

When you subscribe to our Stats Link Canada Source Lists we provide you with free archive services. If you come across a dead link, simply report it to us along with the reference Stats Link ID.  We will first search for a new live link for you. If that does not exist we will recover an archived copy of the poll, survey or report referenced and e-mail it to you.

Some statistical sources are quirky but if they have the one stat you are looking for they can be invaluable. Guess What They Said is one such resource.

This site is primarily a showcase of the Asking Canadians web panel. It publishes the results of topical questions in order to encourage you to request a free no-obligation quote on submitting your own questions for survey.

Some of these results are frivolous and appear to be intended as media filler. For example 600 Canadians who think Jennifer Aniston will find love were asked whether or not they feel the government is prepared for an “inevitable zombie invasion”. (I did not realize a zombie invasion was inevitable. I am pretty sure that scenario is not covered in my emergency preparedness kit!)

Other questions however are relevant such as the survey of Canadians on whether they use paper based phone books regularly or prefer the Internet, the survey of mothers of “tweens” on the type of breakfast cereal they buy for their children and the percentage of Canadians that are concerned about getting old.

You can browse both current and archived results. They are organized into six major groupings: Tech, Politics, Business, Sports and Entertainment and Lifestyle. You need to be careful when you consult certain question as the survey sample in some cases is very specific. For example body art enthusiasts were surveyed on their favourite movie of the summer of 2008

As this is primarily a marketing tool as opposed to a research resource the results have an interactive gimmick attached – you have to try to guess the results by sliding the answer bars to the appropriate percentage before they reveal the actual numbers. In a pinch you could even use this site as a party game! The site calculates the accuracy of your guess and compares it to the average accuracy score of everyone who tried the survey.

If you want to be part of this panel and participate in the surveys with the chance to win prizes see the Asking Canadians web site.

Admittedly this resource will be long shot for most researchers but if it covers any aspect of your market once it could prove helpful. We are now tracking the more serious results (sorry zombie-fearing Jennifer Aniston fans that does not include you) in our Stats Link Canada Source Lists.