Statistics Canada needs to improve its data to help identify job vacancies in areas with low populations, the Auditor General’s spring report says.

As Employment Minister Jason Kenney continues to feel the heat over abuses of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, the report has identified a serious deficiency in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls, and Hours.

While the data from the survey allow for reports on job vacancies at the federal, provincial and territorial levels, they don’t get more detailed than that — creating a significant void.

“It’s not possible to determine where in a province or territory these jobs are located. For example, reported job vacancies in Alberta could be in Fort McMurray, Grand Prairie, Medicine Hat, or any other community in the province,” the report says.

Furthermore, the survey questionnaire doesn’t identify vacancies in specific occupations.

“Job vacancies counted under the ‘Professional, Scientific and Technical Services’ industry classification could include jobs in advertising, legal services, architecture, and biotechnology research,” the report says.

Users informed the agency, it adds, that the information is of limited value.

NHS limitations

There have also been related consequences as a result of the Conservatives’ shift from the mandatory census to a National Household Survey.

Since the overall response rate was lowered from 94 per cent in 2006 mandatory census to 69 per cent in the 2011 Survey, Statistics Canada didn’t get reliable data in areas where there were insufficient response rates.

“Statistics Canada, therefore, withheld National Household Survey data for 1,128 of 4,567 (25 per cent) census subdivisions due to quality concerns,” the report says.

By census subdivision, the report explained, the agency is referring to municipalities and areas equivalent to municipalities — a First Nations reserve, for example.

“While many of these census subdivisions were sparsely populated, the most populous of these locations had close to 10,000 residents,” the report says.

“As a result of data not being released due to quality concerns, potential users of this data for approximately 25 per cent of geographic areas do not have reliable National Household Survey data available for their use.”

Overall, the agency estimated that the share of Canadians for whom there was no reliable data increased from one per cent of the population in the 2006 census to three per cent in the 2011 survey.

Small town, high cost

Though Statistics Canada has acknowledged a need for more small area data, the cost of doing so continues to be prohibitive.

“The Agency is further exploring the innovative methods for the production of small area estimates, using surveys or combining them with other sources of information,” the report says.

The examination of Statistics Canada’s data products and processes also revealed the agency has no procedures in place to assess whether it should continue conducting cost-recovery work after governments withdraw funding.

“Without such assessment, the Agency cannot be sure that priority needs are being met,” the report states.

As an example, it highlights the Survey of Old Workers — commissioned by the department formerly known as Human Resources and Skills Development — to gather information on labour market intentions and the transitions of older Canadians

The one-time survey was abandoned by the agency in December 2009 without analyzing whether it should continue funding the survey using internal resources.

The survey, the report informs, was used by departments other than HRSDC to gather information on the ageing workforce.

Statistics Canada agreed with the auditor general’s recommendation to systematically review the continuation of cost-recovery work, saying it will direct managers to review newly discounted programs starting in April 2014.

With files from Annie Bergeron-Oliver