Page 56 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 1

IPS57 Eric Rancourt
it is important to have solid frameworks on which to stand, whether it is for
subject matter, methodology, standards, governance, data stewardship,
communication or any other area of expertise. This paper considers the case
of methodology at Statistics Canada.

2. Modernization at Statistics Canada
Over the last few years, society has evolved to become a digital world
where data is a center piece to decision making and everyday life. Nowadays,
people are providing and receiving information through their cellular phones
and other devices almost on a continuous basis. This data revolution has
dramatically altered the statistical landscape and left NSOs with little choice
but to change their methods of operation. As the traditional approaches are
not sustainable to meet information needs in a rapidly changing environment,
Statistics Canada has embarked on a modernization agenda (Arora, 2018) built
around five pillars:
• A more user-centric approach to data needs;
• Increased and much more dynamic collaboration with partners;
• Using leading-edge methods;
• Providing capacity-building support to other actors of the national
statistical system;
• A modern workforce and workplace that are suited to the times and
more flexible to changing contexts.

This agenda is being partly implemented through pathfinder projects
aimed at adopting new approaches to producing information, all the while
moving forward in order to learn by doing. Four program areas have been
identified as pathfinders:
• Measuring aspects of cannabis consumption (in the pre- and post-
legalisation context);
• Producing housing statistics (based on administrative data from cities
integrated with information already available at Statistics Canada);
• Enhancing the measurement of tourism-related activities (using
alternative data for levels of expenses and movement of people);
• Increasing the output of statistics to better assess low-carbon
economy (by better integrating more sources of data).

These ground-breaking programs have all been undertaken and the
results each has produced are paving the way for Statistics Canada’s
modernization in various other areas.

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