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Data and Statistics

a guide to finding data and/or statistics of interest to students and scholars engaged in all kinds of research.

2016 Census Data and Documentation

For data about population, age, sex, dwellings, families, marital status, language, immigration and ethnocultural diversity, aboriginal peoples, education and labour, mobility and migration, language of work, income and housing.

Agriculture
Data
Documentation

2016 Census - Maps and geography

2011 Census and National Household Survey (NHS)

For data about population, age, sex, dwellings, families, marital status and language.

Agriculture
Data
Documentation

For data about immigration and ethnocultural diversity, aboriginal peoples, education and labour, mobility and migration, language of work, income and housing.

Data
Documentation
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2001 and 2006 Census

Agriculture
Census Data
Documentation
Agriculture
Census Data
Documentation
Maps and Geography
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Tutorials - Restricted interfaces for accessing or viewing Stat Can microdata

Canadian Census Analyser

The Canadian Census Analyser allows you to quickly extract data from census profiles, from 1961 to 2011, as well as access microdata from the census not available on Statistic Canada's website.

Odesi

Dalhousie does not subscribe to Odesi, but you can use it to do a variable search for Statistics Canada microdata available in the DLI collection. One important exception: microdata from many CORA opinion polls are available for download in Odesi.

SDA

SDA allows you to download microdata from Statistics Canada's survey, and also to create online cross-tabs.

Nesstar

Nesstar allows you to download microdata from Statistics Canada's survey, and also to create online cross-tabs.

Other Interfaces for Finding Data or Statistics

Google

Many datasets are publicly discoverable on Google. Try one of the following exercises to practice special search techniques such as using the site: and filetype:operators to do very effective searches.

Halifax Open Data Catalogue

The Halifax Open Data Catalogue contains many downloadable datasets of interest to the HRM community. The interface also allows you to filter and visualize data online.

Nova Scotia Open Data Portal

The Nova Scotia Open Data Portal contains many datasets. I recommend downloading these datasets, but it's also possible to do some data visualization online.

Stat Can's Census Profile and Data Tables

The census profiles are also available through the Census Analyser.

HRM data

You'll find links to a few more HRM resources on the Nova Scotia page.

Nova Scotia

You'll find links to a few more resources on the Nova Scotia page.

Maps and geography

Consider consulting the GISciences Centre for additional help and information.

See also GISciences Centre's Inhouse Data for more maps and files.

Nova Scotia Only
Statistic Canada

Interfaces for accessing or viewing Stat Can data

Beyond 20/20

When downloading census data from Statistics Canada's website, ".ivt" or Beyond 20/20 files are a better alternative to ".csv" or Excel files because you can easily format your table before exporting data back to Excel-compatible formats. Windows only.

Interactive Data Tables (formerly known as CANSIM tables)

CANSIM tables have been replaced by interactive data tables available on Statistics Canada's website which can be used to quickly view numbers online. Make sure to click on "Add/Remove" data to see all the options.