LibGuides: Data and Statistics: Canadian Data

Sources of Data - By Subject

To expand your search, you can visit the following pages:

Statistics Canada's subject page
Pick a subject to navigate to a specialized portal or hub.
Statistics Canada's Survey by Subjects
Pick a subject to find a list of Statistics Canada surveys strongly linked with the subject.
Canadian Census Page
Explore the Canadian Census 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.
DLI and RDC Page
Learn about the DLI and RDC programs to find and access Canadian microdata.

Business and Industry

Canadian Cluster Data
Interesting data on the contribution of clusters of traded industries to regional and national economies.
Canadian Industry Statistics
Analyses industry data on many economic indicators using the most recent data from Statistics Canada
SME Benchmarking Tool
From Industry Canada - View financial performance data by industry.
Industry Canada - Trade Data Online
Canada and/or provinces, and/or trading partners data for imports, exports, domestic market, manufacturing shipments, trade balance.

Economy and Finances

Bank of Canada
Interest and exchange rates, price indices, monetary indicators and statistics.
Canadian Metropolitan Outlook - Halifax
Overview and forecasts for the Halifax economy from the Conference Board of Canada.
RBC Economics Research
Provides analysis and forecasts of the Canadian economy and financial markets. Also included are the indicators for the United States and key international markets.
Finances of the Nation
From the Canadian Tax Foundation.

First Nations

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada - Research and Statistics
Includes demographic projections, fact sheets, population by gender and residence.
First Nation Profiles
From Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.
Focus on Geography Series 2021
Data on Indigenous Peoples, Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity, Education, Labour, Income and Housing at different levels of geography.
Indigenous Statistics Portal
Stat Can subject portal.

Health

COVID-19: A Data Perspective
Statistics Canada data portal for COVID data. Explore the dashboards under "Highlights" or click on "All COVID-19 releases" for a searchable list of data tables, data publications, etc.
Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey (CADUMS)
Summaries available from Health Canada, microdata available in SDA (see Canadian Datasets).
Health Statistics LibGuide
For a comprehensive resource outlining the best places to find health statistics, see our LibGuide for that topic.
Statistics Canada - Health Statistics
Portal of Statistics Canada Health Statistics.
Statistics Canada - Health Profiles - 2013
Use the "Browse" pull-down menu to select Nova Scotia. Explore the Health Indicators instead of the Health Profiles for more recent health data.
Statistics Canada - Health Regions
Reference maps (PDF) and boundary files (geospatial software) for health regions by province. Click on the most recent entry, select "Table of Contents".
Statistics Canada - Health Trends
Comparable time-series data for a range of health indicators from a number of sources including the Canadian Community Health Survey, Vital Statistics, and Canadian Cancer Registry (last released in 2014).

Housing, Income, and Poverty

CMHC Data Tables
These tables provide an overview of housing conditions and trends in Canada and in each province and Census Metropolitan Area, including housing construction, prices, and sales; rental market trends; mortgage lending; and housing stock.
Income Statistics
Annual data from the Canada Revenue Agency, including by Census Subdivision.
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The annual Income Statistics reports use tables of data to create a profile of Canadian taxpayers.

Final Statistics - Sample Data
Detailed profiles of Canadian taxfilers based on a stratified random sample of individual tax returns

Interim Statistics - Universe Data
Preliminary statistics based on the universe of all returns filed and processed during a given tax year. This usually represents about 97% of all returns filed
Focus on Geography Series 2021
Data on Indigenous Peoples, Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity, Education, Labour, Income and Housing at different levels of geography.
Royal LePage House Price Survey
Comprehensive reports from Halifax to the national market. Links to data tables are provided at the end of many releases.

Immigration

Citizenship and Immigration Statistics
Contains annual statistical information, quarterly administrative data releases, and a 1966 to 1996 statistics archive.
Focus on Geography Series 2021
Data on Indigenous Peoples, Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity, Education, Labour, Income and Housing at different levels of geography.

Politics, Voting and Opinion Polls

Canadian Opinion Research Archive (CORA)
As of December 2017, you can download the microdata of many Canadian opinion polls in Odesi. Select "CORA" or "Public Opinion Polls" under "Collections".
Canadian Opinion Research Archive (CORA) - Canadian Election Studies and Other Polls
Why people vote the way they do ... what does and does not change during the campaign and from one election to another.
Ipsos Canada
Free access to Canadian opinion polls about voting intentions and some other topics.

Transportation

North American Transportation Statistics database
Includes Canada, USA, Mexico.
Urban Transportation Indicators 2016
Includes indicators for several Canadian cities including Halifax.

Other

Atlantic Data Stream
Gives access to "full water quality datasets collected by 23 monitoring groups from Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia."
Canadian Astronomy Data Centre
"The CADC's data collection, along with its world-leading cloud infrastructure for astronomy, provides a unique resource for data-intensive astrophysical research."
Data on Racialized Populations
Guide providing a "starting point for researchers investigating topics about anti-racism and the impact of racism."
National Climate Data and Information Archive
"Access historical weather, climate data, and related information for numerous locations across Canada. "
National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI)
Find out about pollutant releases and transfers by postal code.
Women in Canada: A Gender-based Statistical Report: 2015
Comprehensive portrait of women in Canada today including their demographic profile, family status, health, educational attainment, labour force characteristics, and income levels, as well as their involvement in criminal activity as both perpetrators and victims.
Urban Data Centre
"The mission of the Canadian Urban Data Catalogue (CUDC) is to provide awareness of the vast array of urban and non-urban Canadian data by providing an open catalogue of Canadian datasets."

Tips for Citing Statistical Sources

How to Cite Statistics Canada Products
Statistics Canada's guides to citing Statistics Canada data. The 2021 guide includes APA examples.
Citing guide for Statistics Canada and other statistical sources
Guide from Simon Fraser University's library.
Data citation: APA 7 style guide
Guide from uOttawa's library with advanced examples such as how to cite microdata from Statistics Canada.

Canadian Portals

Alberta Open Data Portal
"Search a listing of Government of Alberta open datasets."
Community Information Database
Click on "Start Mapping" or on "Get Data" to find numbers from the 2011 census. Community profiles have data from the 2006 census.
Re3Data
Collections of research data including Canadian scientific and medical data sets from the National Research Council of Canada.
Open Government - Open Data Portal
Provides a "single-window" to data already published by individual departments and agencies on their public websites.
Statistics Canada - Statistics by Subject
Pick a subject to navigate to a specialized portal or hub.
Statistics Canada - Surveys by Subject
Pick a subject to find a list of Statistics Canada surveys strongly linked with the subject.

Maps and geography

GIS Centre

Consider consulting the GIS Centre for additional help and information. See also GISciences Centre's In-house Data and the geospatial data page for more maps and geospatial data.

GIS Centre
The GIS Centre on the fifth floor of the Killam Library, provides support for Geographic Information Sciences research and teaching. It is the largest library based GISciences Centre in Canada.
GIS Centre's Internal Data
Collection of restricted datasets available to the Dalhousie community.
Geospatial Data page
List of helpful resources for finding geospatial data.

Nova Scotia Only

To expand your search, consult the Nova Scotia section of the Geospatial Data page.

2021 Halifax Urban Census Tract Maps
Census Tract reference maps (PDFs) for Halifax from the 2021 census. Make sure to also download the inset maps.
2016 Halifax Urban Census Tract Map
Census Tract reference maps (PDFs) for Halifax from the 2016 Census. Make sure to also download the inset map.
Dal Libraries Census of Population 2016 page
2016 PDF DA maps and ADA maps for Nova Scotia, and 2016 census documentation

Handout about 2016 PDF maps for Nova Scotia
How to interpret the geographical codes and where to download the maps.

Explore HRM
Apply layers to identify features such as fire stations, zoning, wet lands, etc.
GeoNOVA
"the Province of Nova Scotia's gateway to geographic information about Nova Scotia."
Nova Scotia Civic Address File
Searching and mapping.

Canada

2021 Census - Maps and Geography
Collection of links to census geography products including reference (PDF) maps, boundary files (geospatial software), agriculture boundary files, etc.
Census page
More on census geography prior to 2021.
Scholars GeoPortal
Download boundary files from current and historical Canadian censuses.
Scholars GeoPortal - 2016 Census Tract Boundaries - Halifax example (slides and screen recordings)
Short demonstration (with no audio) on how to download a shapefile of Halifax census tracts in Scholars GeoPortal.
Health Regions
Reference maps (PDF) and boundary files (geospatial software) for health regions by province. Click on the most recent entry, select "Table of Contents".
Census of Agriculture - Reference Maps
PDF maps for the census of agriculture.

Historical Datasets

StatCan InfoGuide on Historical Resources
"This guide lists sources of historical statistics produced by Statistics Canada and its predecessor agencies."
Historical Statistics of Canada, 2nd Ed.
Contains about 1,088 statistical tables on the social, economic and institutional conditions of Canada from the start of the Confederation in 1867 to the mid-1970s.
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Two formats are offered:

* text as HTML pages and all tables as individual spreadsheets in comma separated value files (csv) (which allows online viewing or downloading)

* PDF files containing both text and tables (the 22 sections are accessible as 22 individual PDF files).
Baldwin-Green Study: Canada - U.S. Census of Industry 1867-1940
Canadian and US manufacturing industries at the 2-digit SIC code level for census years 1900 to 1940. The Canadian figures start at 1870.
Canada Yearbook Historical Collection
Covers the first century of Canada's history, from 1867 to 1967, with historical text, tables, charts and maps.
Canada Year Book Tables
Selected statistics from 1907 to 1967 at ten year intervals.
Historical Canadian Macroeconomic Dataset 1871-1994
Includes GNP, implicit price deflator, population, real GNP, per capita GNP, government expenditures, exports, imports, money suppy, bond yields, investment expenditures, current account balance.
Inflation Calculator from 1914 to the present
From the Bank of Canada, based on Statistics Canada's CPI data.

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