Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Economic Value of Sugar Maple Trees

Question

I have a grad student who was once able to obtain the economic value of sugar maples (the tree and NOT the product) for Ontario. It used to be available on the MNR website and with changes happening at the forestry portfolio -the information has moved around a bit and is no where to be found at the moment. Is there anyway to obtain this information?

Answer

CANSIM Table may be a starting point Table 303-0064 Lumber production, shipments and stocks, by Canada and provinces. This will provide information on the general classification hardwood which includes other species than maple. Setting the actual value of a maple tree is based on the stumpage fees charged by the province or private land owner. For example, the GAZETTE OFFICIELLE DU QUÉBEC, March 30, 2007, Vol. 139, No. 13A http://www2.publicationsduquebec.gouv.qc.ca/dynamicSearch/telecharge.php?type=1&file=8080.PDFthat outlines stumpage rates by species for 2007 – 2008.

I would use the following keywords and phrase when searching for the value of sugar maple trees for non-maple syrup economic values.

Tuition Rates for International Undergraduate Students

Question

I'm assisting a student who is looking for tuition rates for foreign/international undergraduate students in Canada, reaching back further in time than CANSIM table 477-0023 includes. I understand that this data comes from the TLAC survey. However, although the information page on Stats Can's website indicates that this survey has been collected since the 1970's, the FTP site only seems to have the most recent version of it. Where might I find international tuition rates for Canadian postsecondary institutions going back to the 1970's, or at least the 1990's?

Answer

If you go to the TLAC data, there are historical tables that go back to the early 1970's. The table is named rather cryptically on the DLI FTP site, but is Table 9E, as shown below, providing Tuition Fees for Foreign Students,1972-2013. However, the earliest date of data for the TLAC that the DLI has is in Tables 1-4 1993-1994.xls You can access it from the website as well as on the FTP site (available in a .zip file).
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/dli-ild/data-donnees/ftp/tlac-fssuc-eng.htm

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Intercensal Estimates

Question

For CANSIM Table 051-0001 <http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a26?lang=eng&retrLang=eng&id=0510001&paSer=&pattern=&stByVal=1&p1=1&p2=-1&tabMode=dataTable&csid=> Footnote 1 references Postcensal estimates are based on the 2006 Census counts, etc. I am assuming for earlier years it is for the closest preceding Census? I think I understand why only 2006 is referenced as the default display only displays years post 2006. Am I correct in interpreting that 1999--by way of example- would be rebased based on the 1996 Census? 

Answer

Intercensal estimates are estimates of population for reference dates between two censuses. For 1999, it would be between 1996 and 2001. They are produced following each census in order to reconcile previous postcensal estimates with the new census counts adjusted for CNU, thus assuring the internal consistency of the estimation system.

Please refer to section 1.2.1 for more detail <http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/91-528-x/2011001/ch/ch1-eng.htm>.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Sales Data

Question

I am looking for data on sales for different industries (2-digit SIC codes only) in Canada, ideally for the years 2000-2012. Is this data available at the RDC?

Answer

From Industry Canada you have Canadian Trade By Industry (SIC Codes) http://www.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrkti/tdst/tdo/tdo.php?lang=30&productType=SIC SIC data, however, no longer being updated. There is also Trade By Industry (NAICS) http://www.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrkti/tdst/tdo/tdo.php?lang=30&productType=NAICS module based on NAICS code to obtain latest industry data.


The classification version in use at Statistics Canada is the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Canada 2012. You have concordances between classifications available at the following site: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/concepts/concordances-classifications-eng.htm

Friday, December 14, 2012

Federal departmental websites

Question

Just looked at <ic.gc.ca> and noticed some significant, and less than wonderful, changes to this site. It seems to only list current (2011-2012) publications and the 'meaty' information that we rely on as librarians is harder to find. Can anyone shed light on this?

Answer
Listing only current publications is a standard that all government websites are supposed to be moving towards. The current federal government web standards emphasize that only "current" or recent information should be available on government websites; older information should only be available in designated "archives" (what those are exactly wasn't made particularly clear). Or at least, the web standards that were current eight months ago emphasized including only current or recent information (CLF2 and WCAG [Common Look and Feel for the Internet 2 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines]).

It certainly looks different though. Try looking under "Forms, reports, guides" just under the red maple leaf at the top. Then look at the twin menus "Find, about" and select "Reports and statistics" on the "Find" side plus a topic. That brings up reports from many dates, with the older reports labelled "ARCHIVED." Archived reports have appeared on the Statistics Canada website for quite a while already.

I did a search, filtered the results by type (Reports and statistics again), sorted by date, and found the the oldest item retrieved dates from 2001. It's not apparent, I guess you have to work harder to find older content. It's impossible to know whether everything is still there without a significant investment in time so I'll leave it at that.

I think your meatier information resources can be found by opening up the link at the bottom for Publications. There you've got a rich menu on a large variety of topics etc. Industry Canada had a rich trove of working papers and I don't see a direct link to these. I did use the term in the Search box and found listings. But I'm not sure of the file path as set up on the new site.

The Govt. has been revamping its sites for a long time. Usually the substance is still there but the navigation of the site changes.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Locked PCCF Files

Question

I've found the PCCF files ‘locked’. Did I miss the info about this? I had already downloaded one that is requested, but am wondering about others.

Answer

We are currently in discussions with Canada Post to gain access to Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF) for DLI member institutions. As identified in the DLI Licence, the expectation is that DLI Contacts will make their patrons aware of the licence agreement before distributing the data.

We would like to provide more information to Canada Post as to how the DLI licence is being enforced at DLI member institutions. If you could provide to us a detailed description as to how your institution is enforcing the DLI Licence, that would be greatly appreciated and help us in the process of ensuring continued access to the PCCF data.

New Brunswick Health regions

Question

I have a researcher hoping to get population numbers by language for New Brunswick Health Regions. I’m able to find a list of localities included in the different health regions by going to the health profile page for NB (http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/health-sante/82-228/search-recherche/lst/page.cfm?Lang=E&GeoLevel=PR&GeoCode=13), by selecting a region, and then by clicking on “Hierarchy”. Is there a more straight forward way to access this data?

Geographical codes instead of names would be especially useful. Is there a list of subdivision codes by health region for NB? Or do the health regions actually completely correspond to census divisions in NB? Here’s the map of the 2011 Health Regions for NB: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-583-x/2011001/article/11480-eng.pdf

Answer

The census tables from the 2006 and 2001 censuses are at the following page: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-402-x/2011001/cen-eng.htm. They are in B20/20 format.