Government Sources for Business Research

Governments at all levels can be great sources of useful data and analysis, and in many cases they provide the information you need for free at their websites. We've provided a brief list of some key sites below. As always, if you don't find what you need, please contact the Business Librarian or use our Ask A Librarian email/chat/phone services.

There are also many government publications in the SFU Library.  Try searching for them by AUTHOR with either the jurisdiction followed by the name of the ministry or department (for example, British Columbia. Ministry of Environment) or the name of the department by itself (for example, Statistics Canada).  Also, don't forget that many government publications are in the microforms part of the Bennett Library's 6th floor and can be found using the Canadian Research Index.

Canada

• Bank of Canada
• British Columbia Government
  Links to the ministries and their publications and more.  You might want to start with the Ministry of Finance.
• Canada Customs and Revenue Agency
• Canadian Economy Online
  One site that acts as both a Web guide to key Canadian economic sites and a learning tool.  You can download key indicators (GDP, inflation rate, etc.) in spreadsheet formats, link to international trade agreements, and find research papers from various levels of government. You can also learn about important economic concepts, events, and indicators.
• Canadian Information By Subject
  "Canadian Information By Subject is an information service developed by the National Library of Canada to provide links to information about Canada from Internet resources around the world. The subject arrangement is in the form of a "Subject Tree", based on the structure of the Dewey Decimal Classification system. This service is updated regularly and is constantly developing and expanding. Be sure to check back often to see the latest additions."  The sites listed aren't annotated, but they are very well organised, current, and Canadian (not always an easy thing to isolate in the not-so-World-Wide-Web).
• Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT)
• Finance Canada
  Information about Departmental services and publications, as well as links to other governmental and commercial sites.
• Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions
• Policy Research Initiative
  Where is Canada and the world headed? What are the important public policy issues affecting Canada in the coming years? The next time you have a paper to research, a class to prepare, or you simply "want to know", check out the Policy Research Web site. With 600+ links, this Government of Canada site plugs you into the research findings of governments, think tanks, academics and others on economic and social issues like health care, the environment and the technology revolution.
• Strategis: Industry Canada Online
  Excellent site with links to information about companies, markets, licensable technologies, and much more.
• Treasury Board
  Documents, including federal government estimates, reports, and policies.

United States

• GPO Access
  A well-organized list of U.S. government sites by topic.
• US Census Bureau
  Get current industrial and demographic reports, economic census data, foreign trade analysis, and much more.
• US Department of Commerce
  A good starting place for information about US government business policies and programs as well as links to related agencies.
• US Department of the Treasury

International

• A detailed list of government sites around the world can be found at Governments on the WWW (slightly outdated site, but still very useful).
• International Labour Organization
• International Monetary Fund (SFU researchers also have access to some IMF databases)
• OECD (SFU researchers also have access to many OECD publications via SourceOECD)
• Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations
• United Nations (SFU researchers also have access to data from many UN and affiliated agencies via UNSTATS)
• United Nations Economic and Social Development
• World Bank
• World Trade Organization