How did the 2008-2010 recession and recovery compare with previous cycles?

The question above is answered in a feature article in the January 2011 edition of Canadian Economic Observer, published by Statistics Canada.


The article states that the recent recession was less severe than those in 1981-82 and 1990-1992, by most conventional measures.

The early stages of the recent recession had significant impact however, because output and employment contracted at a faster rate than in any post-war recession.


Compared to other major industrialized countries, Canada's decline in output was less pronounced and the subsequent recovery was more complete and quicker.


The article also shows how Statistics Canada determines whether an economy is in recession.

A summary of the article may be found in the January 13, 2011 edition of The Daily, published by Statistics Canada.

E-Stat for students and teachers

E-Stat, Statistics Canada's online learning tool for the educational community, is available on OPL's website. E-Stat allows you to create tables, graphs and maps using Stats Can's census and socioeconomic data.

There are two main sources of information that may be searched on E-Stat: the CANSIM database and the Census. CANSIM is Stats Can's online database of socioeconomic statistics, offering data on labour manufacturing, agriculture, health, investment, and much more. "CANSIM lets you track trends in virtually every aspect of Canadian life... As of the end of June 2010, over 3,000 tables accounting for over 42 million time series have been updated."

The census is a survey of population done at regular intervals. It is a snapshot of data at one point in time, unlike CANSIM which provides data at regular time intervals.

"CANSIM data in E-Stat are updated once a year during the summer and are free to registered educational institutions. The commercial CANSIM database is updated daily, and there is a charge per series." Retrieving commercial CANSIM data can be quite costly, so E-Stat is a great alternative when you don't have to have up-to-the minute data. For example, if you search for consumer price index data in December, you would only retrieve data up to May if the annual CANSIM update occurred in June. You would need to use other sources to find data for June to December.

Because E-Stat is designed for students and teachers, it is meant to be easy to use, but also flexible to allow data to be manipulated and then put in tables, charts or maps. Each page of the website contains a "Help using this page" feature which clearly describes how to proceed.

Two guides on E-Stat are particularly useful for beginners. Finding and Using Statistics is "especially for users needing a step-by-step review on how to find, read and use data, with quick tips on locating information on the Statistics Canada website." The CANSIM User Guide for E-Stat "walks you through each CANSIM screen and option."

Quoted material taken from www.statcan.gc.ca/estat/estat-eng.htm.

Canadian social and economic information

Two journals published by Statistics Canada provide a wealth of social and economic information. They may have just what is needed to add current statistics or analysis to a student's research paper. Decision makers might use the articles to develop programs that meet the needs of Canadians. According to Statistics Canada, Canadian Social Trends allows you to get the scoop on topical social issues, be on the forefront of emerging trends, and obtain accurate, first-hand Canadian data. Recent articles include:

• Who participates in active leisure?
• Online activities of Canadian boomers and seniors
• Caring for a parent who lives far away: The consequences

The second journal, Canadian Economic Observer, provides a thorough monthly economic briefing. Economic performance for the country, provinces and specific economic sectors is presented, along with topical and timely feature articles that highlight major issues and industries. Recent articles include:

• Differences in Canadian and US income levels, 1961-2008
• The evolution of the Canadian manufacturing sector
• The impact of recessions in the United States on Canada

Paper copies of the two journals are available at the Central Branch of OPL. They are also available on OPL's website as part of the Federal Depository Services Program, and on Statistics Canada's website.

Health in Canada

Statistics Canada has just introduced a new module available from its home page. Called Health in Canada the module features the most up-to-date statistics on the health of Canadians and the health care system.
Scroll down the page and view the sections: Health Indicators (data about a topic), Health Reports (articles on a topic), Health Subtopics (information by theme) and Health Profile, which features community-level data from a number of sources, including Statistics Canada's health surveys, administrative data, and the Census of population.
The application provides the latest statistics available for a selected health region (e.g. Oakville), provides the corresponding provincial data by default, and users can easily select any region of choice for comparison.

Use this information to:

• Find the latest health statistics available from a wide range of indicators for a specific region
• Quickly compare with provincial or national rates, other jurisdictions, peer groups, etc.
• Profile the overall health of a community.
• Toggle to census Community profile data for the same area.

Alcohol statistics: control and sale

Never say Statistics Canada is dry!
Market share for beer declined over last year, though beer is still by far the most popular alcoholic drink. Wine sales showed an increase, particularly sales of red wine. Dollar sales of red wine have more than doubled since 2000. For more interesting facts see The Daily

2011 Census Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada has created an online discussion forum to facilitate the exchange of comments between census and geography data users in order to explore and gather ideas and suggestions for the 2011 Census dissemination strategy. Any member of the public may post suggestions there regarding format and content of future census products.

Help for teachers on Census 2006

Just in time for Back to School, Statistics Canada has today released the 2006 Census Results Teacher's Kit. Based on results from the 2006 Census, these excellent kits are classroom ready and cover the following subjects: English, mathematics, social sciences, geography, history, family studies and technology. Suggested grade levels are intermediate and secondary (Grades 7 to 12) and all necessary materials and links to articles, photos, graphs and data are included.
Lesson 1 Exploring the effects of population change
Lesson 2 Meeting the needs of an aging population
Lesson 3 What is a family?
Lesson 4 Immigration: the changing face of Canada
Lesson 5 The First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples of Canada
Lessons 6, 7 and 8 will be released on 17 September.

Gas prices

If you want to know some interesting statistics about Canadians' use of energy read the following article from The Daily (Thursday, 14th August) Study: Over a barrel? Canada and the rising cost of energy. Some food for thought: 1. despite the steady increase of gas prices since 2002, our consumption of gas has gone up, and 2. We think of ourselves as being self-sufficient in energy, but Canada actually imports 19.8% of the energy it uses.

Canadian economic conditions, statistics and major events

The Canadian Economic Observer is Statistics Canada's flagship publication for Canadian economic statistics. Here are a few pointers to the wealth of information contained there. The July 2008 issue analyses current economic conditions and summarizes the major economic events that occurred in June. A separate statistical summary contains a wide range of tables and graphs on the principal economic indicators for Canada, the provinces and the major industrial nations. Recent Feature Articles contains a chronological index to feature articles from January 1990 to June 2008. Browse through this list to view the topics covered, such as cross border shopping, Canada-China trade, the gender divide in the labour force, household use of the Internet. To view one of the feature articles go to the Chronological Index available from the Canadian Economic Observer Main page
The Canadian Economic Observer, Historical Statistical Supplement contains annual historical data for all series reported monthly in Canadian Economic Observer (annual data up to 2007).

Spending Patterns in Canada

To read a post on what people are buying and where they are buying it in Canada, please check out a post from February 26, 2008 on the Resources for Small Business blog. It references Statistics Canada's 2006 data in a report called Spending Patterns in Canada. Also included in this post is information on doing business in Alberta (because spending growth is very high there).

Kudos for Statistics Canada from Profit Magazine

Look what I found while searching for information about Statistics Canada as a corporation :

5 GREAT SOURCES OF BUSINESS IDEAS :
WHERE TOP TRENDWATCHERS TURN TO STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE .....

Statistics Canada: The Economist calls it "the world's best statistical agency." At statcan.ca, you can dive into details from the census, 35D active surveys or The Doily e-newsletter on topics as diverse as Canada's slowing population growth and our skyrocketing blueberry consumption.....

I've looked for the quote in the Economist and have yet to retrieve it online in the recent past, however, it is probably true. Users just have to know how to search for business data efficiently and relevant marketing material is available at their fingertips. LMS

Retrieved from: A., K. ([YEAR]). 5 GREAT SOURCES OF BUSINESS IDEAS. Profit, 25(6), 43-43. Retrieved Saturday, May 05, 2007 from the Business Source Premier database.