TORONTO – When Canada’s latest census figures were released earlier this year there was the usual flurry of preliminary data, discussion of emerging trends and rapid-fire analysis of what the numbers meant.
Once the initial fuss died down, however, many Canadians realized they had the opportunity to take advantage of a key new feature offered by Statistics Canada.
The federal data agency has for the first time given the public free access to much of its information, including all census figures.
That means the census website can now be used to zero in on towns and cities to gain a level of detail which was only available at a price in the past.
But while the move is being applauded, gripes are already being heard about how hard it is to track down specific information buried deep in an abundance of data.
“I really describe it as the website where what you’re looking for is always one click away,” says David Eaves, a public policy expert and open data consultant, who nonetheless emphasizes how pleased he is with data being available for free.
Sharper search features and better links between tables and analysis would help make the experience far more palatable for users, says Eaves.
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“Now that they’re giving away their data for free it could allow them to radically rethink how they share their data. They don’t have to do 10,000 different files for different data sets,” he says, adding that a multitude of new users would likely prompt the agency to improve.
Statistics Canada opened up its data to the public for free in early February. In addition to being able to access all census figures – and not just key highlights as in years past – Canadians can also now download information from the CANSIM database, the agency’s key portal, at no charge.
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Policy makers and academics who were already paying for access are grateful for the new freebie, but observers hope the change will encourage a slew of new users to dabble in data they never would have paid for before.
Municipalities who didn’t have the budget to pay for access can now take advantage of the information at no cost, students can use real figures to back up their academic arguments and anyone curious about a part of the country can learn more about it just for kicks.
One particular area which could really benefit from accessible census data is the non-profit sector, says Eaves, adding that groups could use the free data to identify trends and make better decisions on where to target resources.
“Looking at data is going to be a skill that’s going to become more and more important,” he says, adding that an increase in free information will likely lead to an increase in data literacy in the future.
Statistics Canada is paying close attention to how its free data is being received. The agency is conducting an in-depth review this year of how it disseminates information, starting with a consultation with expert users this month.
“We’re turning every rock and re-thinking everything that’s on the website. And even things that seem to work and have been there for 10 years, we’re rethinking all of this and asking ourself the hard questions,” says Gabrielle Beaudoin, the agency’s director general of communications.
“The goal is to ensure the information is well structured, well organized and easy to find.”
Any major changes in the user interface likely won’t be made until next year, however, and with further census releases on age and sex, household makeup and language slated for May, September and October, those looking for specific data will still have to make do with the site as it is.
Yet despite its usability issues, traffic to Statistics Canada’s website has increased since data was made available for free, says Beaudoin, who added that Sundays in particular are seeing a large uptick in data activity.
The move to open data is costing the agency $2 million this year, a figure which includes the loss in revenue from charging for access and the cost of opening its databases to the public.
New content is currently tested and upgraded if required before it is published, but issues related to the sheer amount of data available remain.
“I think for our website the challenge is that we have information on so many subjects, so many topics. So the challenge is to meet the needs of everyone and make that well structured,” Beaudoin says.
“Our goal is to increase access and to make sure our data, that is of high quality, is highly used by Canadians.”
The quality of the data on offer is something that concerns Frances Woolley, who is an economics professor at Carleton University.
While she sees the move to free data as a big positive, Woolley wonders about how the government’s cancellation of the long-form census will affect information available to the public in the future.
“It’s unfortunate that this data initiative and this greater data access is happening at the same time as the quality of the data is being seriously compromised,” Woolley says.
The Harper government decided to scrap the long-form portion of the census in the summer of 2010, sparking a national uproar and leading to the resignation of Canada’s chief statistician.
While the short-form census still exists with its basic questions about sex, age, marital status and household residents, the long-form – with its queries about disability, immigration history, education, labour market activities, religious affiliation and so on – has been replaced with a voluntary survey.
Additionally, with more data analysis likely to be carried out by those using free information, Woolley fears federally funded research will decline.
“There’s a gift here but…once there’s more data analysis going on in think tanks and other non-government organizations, it becomes easier to cut back research capacity within government.”
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