INTRODUCTION

IMPLAN is proud to announce that we have released 2020 data for Canada. The Canadian data is broken down into the provinces and territories and the total for Canada. The provinces and territories are: 

Provinces

  • Alberta (AB)
  • British Columbia (BC)
  • Manitoba (MB)
  • New Brunswick (NB)
  • Newfoundland & Labrador (NL)
  • Nova Scotia (NS)
  • Ontario (ON)
  • Prince Edward Island (PE)
  • Quebec (QC)
  • Saskatchewan (SK)

Territories 

  • Northwest Territories (NT)
  • Nunavut (NU)
  • Yukon (YT)

Each are available for purchase individually, or as a part of the Canadian National Package.

GENERAL DATA UPDATES

Incorporation of Census of Population Data for Average Household Size  

Prior to the 2020 Data Year, we relied on Statistics Canada’s Survey of Household Spending for provincial-level average household size. However, the Survey of Household Spending does not report average household size for the three Canadian territories (Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut), which were thus assigned the national average. We now turn to Statistics Canada’s Census of Population (Table 98-10-0039-01), which reports average household size for all Canadian provinces and territories, for these data.  

Now Including Improved Personal Income Tax, Corporate Tax, and Contributions to Social Insurance Data  

Prior to the 2020 Data Year, we estimated federal- and provincial-level personal income taxes, corporate taxes, and contributions to social insurance plans using rates. We now use dollar values from Statistics Canada’s Table 36-10-0450-01 Revenue, expenditure and budgetary balance- General governments, provincial and territorial economic accounts. Using actual dollar values of collections is superior to applying rates to income values because there are typically ranges of rates depending on the income level of the individual taxpayer, and other factors depending on the type of tax, such that applying a single rate to an aggregate income value is only an approximation of the collections that occurred in a given year. 

Improved Employment Estimates for Some Industries 

We rely on two different data tables from Statistics Canada for estimating employment. The first table reports total employment by industry (Table 36-10-048-01 Labour productivity and related measures by business sector industry and non-commercial activity consistent with the industry accounts) that is consistent with the Input-Output tables and is built around the Input-Output Industry Classification (IOIC), which distinguishes between industry types (Business Sector industries, Government Sector industries, and Non-Profit Institutions Serving Household industries). This data table, however, does not provide a split between wage and salary employment and proprietor employment.  

To split the total employment value into wage and salary employment and proprietors, we use a NAICs-based employment table (Table 36-10-0489-01 Labour statistics consistent with the System of National Accounts (SNA), by job category and industry), which reports paid worker jobs and self-employed jobs separately. However, the NAICs-based employment data table does not distinguish between industry types. Because Government Sector and Non-Profit Institutions Serving Household industries do not have proprietors by definition, employment type split ratios based on the aggregate NAICS-based sector led to overstated wage and salary employment and understated proprietor employment for industries with more than one industry type. We have updated our process to assign all proprietors from the NAICs-based employment dataset to the corresponding Business Sector industry and re-estimate wage and salary employment.  

Now Including Data on Government Transfers to Households 

As part of IMPLAN’s continued improvement process, we now incorporate data on government social benefit transfer payment to households. These data come from Statistics Canada’s Table 36-10-0450-01 Revenue, expenditure and budgetary balance- General governments, provincial and territorial economic accounts and reflect Employment Insurance benefits, the Canada Child Benefit, and other government social benefits payments to households.  

Pandemic-Related Considerations 

The Canada Provincial data for Data Year 2020 exhibit some unique qualities reflective of the state of the economy during the height of the global COVD-19 pandemic. For example, nearly all provinces experienced a decrease in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) relative to Data Year 2019, reflecting widespread COVID-19-related restrictions imposed on businesses and consumers. Additionally, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian government adopted a variety of policy initiatives to lessen the economic impact of COVID-19 restrictions. Broadly, these consisted of government subsidies, loans, capital assistance and payment deferrals to businesses and government transfers to households or non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH), among other policy measures.  

The section below provides a brief overview of how pandemic-related activities are reflected in the 2020 Canada Provincial data. For a more thorough discussion about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on IMPLAN analyses, please see the corresponding 2020 data release notes for the IMPLAN 2020 Core Data.  

Government Subsidies on Production 

The Canadian government instituted temporary wage subsidies for businesses, including the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS). According to Statistics Canada, temporary wage subsidies are the reverse equivalent of property taxes levied on businesses, which are taxes on production. Therefore, subsidies paid to businesses were recorded as subsidies (in essence, negative taxes) on production. As IMPLAN’s Other Taxes on Production (OTXS) is net of subsidies, CEWS payments and other subsidies to businesses are recorded there. For many industries in Data Year 2020, the level of subsidy exceeds taxes on production, resulting in negative OTXS. While negative OTXS is not an uncommon occurrence (some industries receive non-COVID-related subsidies that exceed taxes in some years), the 2020 data exhibits more instances and greater magnitudes of negative OTXS.  

Government Transfer Payments to Households 

The Canadian government also introduced several government assistance programs for households. This includes the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, the Canada Emergency Student Benefits, and the one-time increase in the Canada Child Benefit payment, among others. New or increased benefits associated with the COVID-19 pandemic are recorded as government transfers to households.  

Changes to Household Spending 

Households also changed their household spending due to COVID-19-related restrictions. For example, households began spending more on groceries at Food and beverage stores and less on Food services and drinking places. These changes to household spending are captured in the 2020 data.  

 

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