Data-driven decisions: Statistics Canada, cannabis, and non-resident housing ownership

I'm sure I don't need to remind BUEC Buzz readers of the need for data as a foundation for decisions of all sorts... social policy, marketing, strategic planning, and beyond.

That's why I'm so pleased to open my email each morning and see new data from Statistics Canada on such hot topics as cannabis consumption and non-resident ownership of housing. 

In the words of Statistics Canada...

Now available! Statistics on residential properties in Vancouver and Toronto

On December 19, 2017, Statistics Canada released data on the Vancouver and Toronto housing markets. New information includes the residency status of residential property owners, the property value of all off-reserve residential properties, the type of property and the year of construction.

Two easy-to-print infographics illustrate the highlights for Toronto and Vancouver. Need a more in-depth look? Consult the online article “Non-resident ownership of residential properties in Toronto and Vancouver: Initial information from the Canadian Housing Statistics Program.”

Data are also available online in five CANSIM tables.

And on the topic of cannabis... 

On April 13, 2017, the Government of Canada tabled legislation in the House of Commons to legalize, regulate and restrict access to cannabis for non-medical purposes. In preparation for these changes, it is necessary to adjust Canada's national statistical system to measure the economic and social impacts of legalized cannabis.

A major step toward adjusting the statistical system to explicitly include cannabis activity, before and after legalization, is the introduction of consumption information...

• The research article, "Experimental Estimates of Cannabis Consumption in Canada, 1960 to 2015," which is part of the Economic Insights series (Catalogue number 11-626-X), is now available.

Statistics Canada also provides information on what is being done and planned to track the upcoming legal cannabis market & industry. Check out...

• The document "A cannabis economic account – The framework," which is part of Latest Developments in the Canadian Economic Accounts (Catalogue number 13-605-X), is now available.
    
• The document "Preparing the statistical system for the legalization of cannabis," released September 15, 2017, in Latest Developments in the Canadian Economic Accounts (Catalogue number 13-605-X), is also available.

As is often the case, these specific resources are just an appetizer for my main-course messages: 

• Decisions need to be built on a foundation of data. If perfect data doesn't exist, then at least look for related data that enables you to form reasonable estimates or assumptions. Simply "making it up" leads to bad decisions.
   
• Statistics Canada is an amazing source of useful data on far more than just your typical census topics. If you are researching anything that touches on areas such as health, social policy, economy, or resource management... then Statistics Canada should be one of your first stops. Consider subscribing to their Daily email alerts so you can hear about new studies & data as soon as they are published!

-- MarkB
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark Bodnar
mbodnar@sfu.ca
Economics & Business Librarian

P.S.: If you're interested in researching the cannabis topic, I've written a few blog posts about relevant resources in anticipation of just such a project. Start with my latest post and work your way back through the links.