CANSIM

ISR Training Committee

January 21, 2011

CANSIM

• CANSIM is Statistics Canada's key socioeconomic database

• Updated daily

• Provides fast and easy access to a large range of the latest statistics available in Canada (from StatsCan)

CANSIM

• Aggregated statistics– For underlying data, check the Survey link – is

it available through DLI?– Suppression still occurs (i.e., not all numbers

may be available)

• Periodicity (annual, quarterly, monthly, etc) and longevity (from when to when) vary with the Table/Series

CANSIM

• Table Series Dimensions/Vectors (V-number)– If using CANSIM on STC website, it is often

the V-number that you will want to enter into CANSIM @ CHASS (unless you want a complete series or table – WARNING: these can be LARGE!!)

CANSIMCANSIM is used by market researchers, analysts, economists, business professionals, professors, and the general public in order to:

– Track trends – Analyze market potential – Study economic activity – Make investment decisions – Evaluate social conditions – Conduct feasibility studies – Forecast economic conditions – Plan programs or services – Profile demographics

CANSIMCANSIM features:• Over 35 million time series & thousands of tables • Reliable, timely data from a trusted source • Search by text, table number or time series number • Browse by subject or survey number • Table directory • Various download formats • Preview Button• Online user guide

CANSIM• Subjects include:

– Aboriginal peoples

– Agriculture

– Business, consumer and property services

– Business performance and ownership

– Children and youth

– Construction

– Crime and justice

– Culture and leisure

– Economic accounts

– Education, training and learning

– Energy

– Environment

CANSIM• Subjects include (cont’d):

– Ethnic diversity and immigration

– Families, households and housing

– Government

– Health

– Income, pensions, spending and wealth

– Information and communications technology

– International trade

– Labour

– Languages

– Manufacturing

– Population and demography

CANSIM• Subjects include (cont’d):

– Prices and price indexes

– Retail and wholesale

– Science and technology

– Seniors

– Society and community

– Transportation

– Travel and tourism

CANSIM – 2 Access Points

CANSIM on STC website

• Pay for retrieval– (except for most health

tables)

• More intuitive (?)• New or infrequent users• On the StatsCan website

anyway

CANSIM @ CHASS

• Free access to data• Less intuitive (?)• Know exactly what you

want/Experienced users

Accessing CANSIM (StatsCan)

• Go to the StatsCan (STC) website (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html)

• Select Analysts and researchers

• Select CANSIM ($)• Tip: within a Table, if there’s a long list of possibilities

from which to choose, select “view checklist”, choose your option(s), then click on “return to pick list”

CANSIM @ CHASS

• For UW Faculty, Staff, and Students

Accessing CANSIM @ CHASS

• From the Library’s home page,

• Click on E-Data under Resources for Research

• Click on CANSIM (under Access to Data)

• Click on CANSIM Multidimensional @ CHASS Main Menu

Accessing CANSIM @ CHASS

• Choose the search/retrieval option you need – if you already know the table or series you

want, you can access them directly through one of the bottom three options

Accessing CANSIM @ CHASS

• Search or browse for the table – If searching text, fill in the form, selecting

appropriate options, and click on the Submit button

• NB: there is a new “suggested text” search

– if browsing, click on the + to open up the subtopics and then click on the subtopic to get a list of available tables

Accessing CANSIM @ CHASS

• Retrieving the information – When you have a table (or list of tables), click

on “by dimensions” next to the table you want – Select options – Click on the submit button – Select the series you want (by clicking the box

beside the series or on select all)

Accessing CANSIM @ CHASS

• Retrieving the information (cont’d)– Click on the “Add selected to the Series Cart”

button – Fill in the form – Click on the “Retrieve all the Series from the

Cart” button

A Note about E-Stat

• This is the educational version of CANSIM• It is updated only once per year, during the

summer• It contains the real numbers, exactly the same

as CANSIM, but frozen at a point in time• Useful for assignments when you don’t want the

numbers (i.e., the answer) to change!

Questions

To get an idea of each of the access methods, look for the following using both methods. Try browsing and searching. Think about what might work best in different circumstances.

1. Motor vehicle sales for Ontario2. How many 15-year-old males were admitted to a

correctional facility in Ontario in 2006/2007? From what survey does this information come?

Questions (cont’d)

3. Have more men or women been killed by lightning from 2000-2007? Why?

4. In 2007, to what radio station format did fisheries workers typically listen?

5. How many people in the Waterloo-Wellington Health Integration Network have diabetes? From which survey does this information come?