The Real LF-Census informs Neighbourhood Research in Canada

GIS Day Carleton UniversityWednesday, November 17 2010MacOdrum Library (the main and only library) in Room 235

Presenter: Tracey P. Lauriault, tlauriau@gmail.com Knowledge Contributors: Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre, Acacia Consulting and Research, Community Social Data Strategy (CSDS)

Table of Contents

• The Census• How Long has it been Long?• If it goes we loose - Local Scale Research• Example 1: Pilot Atlas of the Risk of Homelessness• Example 2: Community Social Data Strategy (CSDS)• Actions• Contact

The Census

Why do we take a Census?

“under the modern system, it is nothing less than a great periodical stocktaking of the people and of their affairs,

designed to show from the widest possible angle the state that has been reached in the general progress of the nation” (Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1924:xi). “Fundamentally the importance of the census hinges

upon its enumeration and analysis of the human element or man – power of the country – the people

themselves – the basic asset of every state.” (Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1924:xii).

The Nation's Navigation System

“Thus the Census rounds out and completed the scheme of information by which as by a chart the government directs the affairs of the nations. Without the census,

it would be literal truth to say that legislation and administration would be carried on in the dark – that

there would be no means of knowing whether the country was on the road to success or disaster, or what

constituted the norm or standard of its progress in almost any particular.” (Dominion Bureau of Statistics,

1924:xii).

A Victorian Era Institution

Lower Canada, 182?

Lower Canada, 1824

Lower Canada, 182?

1843

1850 1851

BNA Act, 1867

Statistics Act 1971

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/Statute/S/S-19.pdf

Major Legislative Requirements

• Canada Health Act• Food and Drug Act• Canada Pension Plan Act• Old Age Security Act• Canada Student Loans Act• Canada Student Financial Assistance Act• Employment Equity Act• Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Act• Employment Insurance Act• Indian Act• Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act• Social Sciences and Humanities Research

Council Act• Official Languages Act• Canada Council for the Arts Act• Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act• Railway Relocation and Crossing Act• Canada Transportation Act• War Veterans Allowance Act

• Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Act

• National Housing Act• Income Tax Act• Canadian Multiculturalism Act• Citizenship Act• Youth Criminal Justice Act• Canadian Human Rights Act• Canada Elections Act• Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act• Funding for Diagnostic and Medical

Equipment Act• Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum

Resources Accord Implementation Act• Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and

Labrador Additional Fiscal Equalization Offset Payments Act (2005)

• Budget Implementation Act 2007• Budget Implementation Act 2009• Federal-provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act• Bank Act• Canada-Newfoundland Atlantic Accord

Implementation Act

How long as it been long?

1871 Census

1871, 9 Schedules

1901, 561 Questions were asked

And 1961

Census is almost completely processed by a computer

More women in the workforce necessitates a better account of labour force statistics

30 000 enumerators

Data are transferred to a magnetic tapesIBM 705 Mark III w/10 tape drives is used

Census is almost completely processed by a computer

More women in the workforce necessitates a better account of

labour force statistics

30 000 enumerators

Data are transferred to a magnetic tapes

IBM 705 Mark III w/10 tape drives is used

And ...

Source:2001 Census Handbook http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Reference/2001handbook/war.htm

...

Source:2001 Census Handbook http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Reference/2001handbook/war.htm

...

Source:2001 Census Handbook http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Reference/2001handbook/war.htm

...

Source:2001 Census Handbook http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Reference/2001handbook/war.htm

...

Source:2001 Census Handbook http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Reference/2001handbook/war.htm

...

Source:2001 Census Handbook http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Reference/2001handbook/war.htm

...

Source:2001 Census Handbook http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Reference/2001handbook/war.htm

...

Source:2001 Census Handbook http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Reference/2001handbook/war.htm

It has been long for a long time and...

http://www.savethecensus.ca

If it goes we loose - Local Scale Analysis

Mandate - Scale

• Jurisdiction– Federal – National, Departments, Programs, Agencies– Provincial and Territorial – City, Municipality, Metropolitan Regions– Wards & Neigbhourhood

• Mandates– Health– School Boards– Postal, etc.

• Who does– Thematic national scale research – Homelessness? Social Policy?– Trans-Provincial & Territorial Research?– Between cities?– Neighbourhoods?

Mandates and/or jurisdictions limit the scale at which research can be conducted, what can be told and the types of data to be accessed

Community based research

• Research conducted at municipal and sub-municipal scales

– Cities– Wards– Neighbourhoods– Health Districts– School catchments– Etc.

• Conducted by or for:– Non-Profit community based organizations

• Social planning councils, community development councils, United Way's, Community Foundations, Canadian Council on Social Development, Culture specific groups, Religious Groups, etc.

– School Boards– Police Forces– Municipalities, cities, counties, – Business Improvement Associations– Neighbourhood associations– etc.

Example 1 - Pilot Atlas of the Risk of Homelessness

Introduction

Pilot Atlas of the Risk of Homelessness

• Funded by:

– Data Development Projects on Homelessness Program, Homelessness Knowledge Development Program, Homelessness Partnering Secretariat of Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC)

• Partnership:

– Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Quality of Life Reporting System (QOLRS) (24 cities)

• 2 cities and 1 metropolitan area:

– City of Calgary– City of Toronto– Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal

Data Sources• Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Quality of Life Reporting System

(QOLRS) – Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation (CMHC)– Statistics Canada, LF-Census and LF-Census Special Cross Tabulations

• Maps, Data, and Government Information (MADGIC), Library, Carleton University– Data Liberation Initiative (DLI) Statistics Canada LF-Census– Statistics Canada Geography Division digital maps (EA, DA, CT, CD, CSD,

Provinces, Canada Political)• City of Toronto

– Social Policy Analysis and Research Section: Neighbourhood file– Toronto Housing Connections: Social Housing Registry– Toronto Community Housing Corporation: Social Housing Data

• City of Calgary– Community and Neighbourhood, Social Policy and Planning Division:

Neighbourhood file• Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM),

– Direction des Politiques et interventions de développement: Special tabulation LF-Census data, CMM framework base map, Housing data

Why focus on the Risk of Homelessness?

The main objective of the Pilot Atlas of the Risk of Homelessness is to create useful, tangible, engaging and accessible mapped data to inform public policy, decision makers and the public

Source:https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Pilot+Atlas+of+the+Risk+of+Homelessness

Big Cities: QoLRS City Indicators Across Time

Housing Starts

GraphoMap: QoLRS City Indicators Across Time

50% + Income Spent on Rent

City of Calgary: LICO & 30% of Income Spent on Rent

City of Calgary: LICO & 30% of Income Spent on Rent

30% + Income Spent on Rent

LICO

Grand Montréal: Grand Montréal: Logements sociaux et populations ayant des difficultés financières pour se loger

Aging Social Housing Stock by Neighbourhood: Toronto

Details by Neighbourhood: Toronto

Example 2 - Community Social Data Strategy

Community Social Data Strategy

• CSDS is led by the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD)

• It is a gateway for municipalities and community-based organizations to access data to identify and better understand the social and economic trends within their individual communities

• 250 organizations in seventeen urban regions, including more than 50 Canadian cities and towns located in 5 provinces

• Brings together municipal governments, social planning networks, health and family service agencies, school boards, police services, United Ways, and many others...Source:

https://csds-sacass.ca/drupal/MembersList

City of Winnipeg

Source: CSDS Consortium Member – Social Planning Council of Winnipeg http://www.spcw.mb.ca

City of Hamilton

Source: CSDS Consortium Member – Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton http://www.sprc.hamilton.on.ca/CommunityMappingService.php

RM-Halton Geography Examples

Source: CSDS Consortium Members – Halton Region - Our Kids Our Community Report Card http://www.ourkidsnetwork.ca/about/partners.shtml

Report Card Partners

• Halton Catholic District School Board

• ROCK Reach Out Centre for Kids

• Halton Children's Aid Society

• Halton District School Board

• Halton Region, Departments of Health and Social & Community Services

• Halton Regional Police Services

• Transitions for Youth

RM-Halton Geography Examples

Source: CSDS Consortium Member - Regional Municipality of Halton Framework Data

RM-Halton Geography Examples

Source: CSDS Consortium Member – Community Development Halton Framework Data

RM-Halton Geography Examples

Source: CSDS Consortium Member – Community Development Halton: Community Lens http://www.cdhalton.ca/lens/index.htm

0

Sault Ste. Marie

Source: CSDS Consortium Member Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre presentation entitled 2009 United Way Donation and Socio-Demographic Maps

Sault Ste. Marie

Source: CSDS Consortium Member Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre presentation entitled 2009 United Way Donation and Socio-Demographic Maps

Sault Ste. Marie – Census Tracts

Source: CSDS Consortium Member Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre Community Geomatics Centre CT Framework Data Maps

2011?

140 years later: The Census gets short, Tory Government scraps the long-form census and relegates it to a survey, but due to legal pressure adds 2 question on language, Canadians

experience a summer of government censuslessness summer and hear that “Most like it long”. There is national and international outcry to save it.

Survey and Census Compared

See complete Analysis: http://datalibre.ca/2010/10/12/2006-long-form-census-compared-to-the-proposed-national-household-survey/

Actions

377 want the LF-Census back and counting...

Actions

Source: datalibre.ca - http://datalibre.ca/census-watch/

Thanks!

Atlas of the Risk of Homelessness:

http://gcrc.carleton.ca/homelessness

Community Social Data Strategy

https://www.csds-sacass.ca/drupal/

Contact:

tlauriau@gmail.com, #TraceyLauriault, http://traceyplauriault.ca