Canadian Industry Research

CANSIM

Research Tip

CANSIM does not contain all Stats Can data

Some survey results and some detailed statistics are not included in the CANSIM database.

Use our Source Lists to find non CANSIM Stats Canada data.

The Statistics Canada CANSIM database (CANadian Socio Economic Information Management System) is a collection of time series data on a variety of aspects of the Canadian economy and population. It covers over 25 million data series and is organized into tables. CANSIM is an easy and economical way to access detailed Stats Can data.

The charge is only $3 per time series and you are instantly provided with all the historical data available. Each time series or combinations of time series from the same table can be easily exported in a number of different formats.

We use CANSIM on a regular basis and have found it convenient and well supported by the Stats Can help staff. For more information on CANSIM see their User Guide.

Accessing CANSIM

There are a number of ways to search the CANSIM database.

The fastest and easiest way to find current CANSIM information is to use our Source Lists. They are updated the same day as the CANSIM tables and provide you with "one click" access to all relevant tables.

The other advantage of our Source Lists is that CANSIM references are not a separate search but are simply included with other relevant government and non-government resources.

You can also keyword search the CANSIM database or browse by subject or Stats Can survey. This is a good way to get an idea to the size and detail of this data resource. If you prefer you can also access the CANSIM Directory in pdf format.

If you know the CANSIM table number you want to search on from another source (e.g. Market Research Handbook), you can enter it directly into the keyword search engine. If you want to retrieve a number of tables you can enter them all at once. Just make sure that each table number is separated by a comma "," and any ranges are separated by two periods ".." For example: 326-0001,329-0038..329-0040,330-0006 This search will return the following tables: 326-0001, 329-0038, 329-0039, 329-0040, 330-006.

One final option for searching CANSIM is to use The Daily. This is the primary release vehicle for Statistics Canada. Each day it announces the latest figures and provides highlight data, contact information and related CANSIM tables where available.

The advantage of using the Daily is that each entry includes a description of the data released and often contains highlight tables or graphs. This is the text your keywords will be matched against in any search. This search strategy is more “forgiving” of common words and phrases than if you were to try to match the limited descriptions and variables covered in the CANSIM database itself.

TIP: With the Daily search engine you can focus your search by putting quotation marks (“ “) around any words you want to be searched as a phrase. Also by default the search engine treats all keywords as being divided by OR so the results will contain one or other of your keywords. If you want to ensure two keywords that are not a phrase are both included use a space and a plus sign “+” and another space between the words.

CANSIM is used by market researchers, economists, business professionals, professors, and the general public. Make sure you utilize it vast resources in your own business research.

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