Data and Statistical resources are available from various sources such as Statistics Canada, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), SourceOECD, IMF etc. The links below will help you to identify data and statistical resources available for your research.
E-STAT: offering Census profile data for 1986 - 2006 at various levels of geography. Historical Census data is also available for 1665-1871 censuses. CANSIM time series tables are available on a broad variety of subject areas including Economic Accounts, Labour, Income, Health etc.
Canadian Census Analyzer: provides access to Census Profile Data for 1981-2006 at Enumeration Area level and Census Tract level; 1991 – 2006 at Provincial and Federal Electoral District level; and the 1971 - 2006 Individual Microdata Files.
Labour Force Historical Review: monthly and annual data on a wide range of subjects, including labour force status by demographics, education and family characteristics, trends in the labour markets of metropolitan areas, employment and unemployment levels by economic regions, data by industry and occupation, wages and union membership.
Statistics Canada Publications: Full text access to more than 300 Statistics Canada publications listed by subject and Statistics Canada catalogue number.
SourceOECD: access OECD publications and statistical databases online and build your own tables in real time.
American Factfinder: a source for population, housing, economic and geographic data from Census 2000, the 1990 Decennial Census, the 1997 Economic Census, the American Community Survey, and the Population Estimates Program.
Bureau of Labor Statistics: the principal fact-finding agency for the US Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics.
US Census Bureau:
provides access to a wide variety of social, demographic,
economic and geographic data for US.
FedStats: access to statistics and information produced by more than 100 U.S. Federal Government agencies on variety of topics such as labor, income, national accounts, education etc.
World Development Indicators:
provides direct access to more than 600 development indicators, with time series for 208 countries and 18 country groups from 1960 to 2008. Available on CD-ROM network from Mills Library.
Labour Force Survey (LFS):
household survey carried out monthly. Data provide information on major labour market trends such as shifts in employment across industrial sectors, hours worked, labour force participation and unemployment rates. 1976 – 2008.
Survey of Financial Security (SFS):
data on income, expenses, assets, debts and wealth from more than 5200 family units residing in private households in Canada. 1999 and 2005.
Labour Market Activity Survey:
contain information about the jobs people held: type of activity, schedules, wages, earnings, unionization, pension coverage, and self-employment. There is also information about unemployment spells, unpaid absences, training and schooling, sources of income and some family characteristics. 1986 – 1990.
Worplace and Employee Survey:
aims to shed light on the relationships among competitiveness, innovation, technology use and human resource management on the employer side and technology use, training, job stability and earnings on the employee side. Synthetic Files only. 1999 – 2005.
Survey of Work Arrangements:
information on the main and second jobs of paid workers related to: work schedule (days of week, hours of work), amount of control over schedule ("on call", flexible schedules), number of home-based workers and reasons for home-based work, number of "moonlighters" and reasons for having another job, pay, overtime, and unionization. 1991, 1995.
Survey of Volunteer Activity:
information on the activities of volunteers and the organizational settings in which they work, the reasons for being volunteers, the amount and pattern of time spent volunteering through organizations, the cost of volunteering, and the opinions of volunteers on various aspects of their voluntary experience. 1987.
Survey of Union Membership:
survey looked at how many workers had their wages and other conditions of work determined by a collective agreement?, among those employees who were covered by collective agreements, how many were actually union members?, which industries and provinces were actually the most unionized?, did the wages and pension plans of union members and non-union workers differ significantly? 1984.
Survey of Self-Employment:
data on the socio-demographic characteristics of the self-employed, as well as the hours they work, previous work experience, participation in dental, health and disability plans, income security, and their attitudes towards self-employment. 2000.
Survey of Persons not in the Labour Force:
information on the activities of persons not presently active in the labour force, their past and future (planned)attachment to the labour force, current non-labour market activities and financial resources. 1992.
More Data and Statistics Resources:
Please visit “Odesi”, which houses Statistics Canada datasets, data files from Gallup Canada and other polling companies, public-domain files such as the Canadian National Election Surveys and selected files from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).
The files can be searched, browsed, analyzed and downloaded in various formats. You must be currently registered student, staff and faculty at McMaster University.