Natural Gas Disposition

Detailed information for 2003

This survey collects data on the activities of Canadian natural gas distributors.

Data release - September 30, 2004

• Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s)
• Description
• Data sources and methodology
• Data accuracy

Description

This survey collects data on the activities of Canadian natural gas distributors. Data collected cover sales (in volume) to final customers, in manufacturing, mining, construction, services industries, commercial services as well as the residential sector.

This data are required for integration into the input-output sector of the Canadian System of National Accounts. Data are intended for use by survey respondents, federal departments and agencies, provincial ministries and authorities, industry associations, industry analysts, the press and the general public to assess trends in the natural gas distribution sector of the Canadian economy.

Reference period: Calendar year

Collection period: January to May

Subjects

• Crude oil and natural gas
• Energy
• Energy consumption and disposition

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population is comprised of all establishments in Canada engaged in natural gas distribution classified to NAICS 221210 under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS 2012). The observed population are those establishments in the target population for which business information is available on Statistics Canada's Business Register.

Instrument design

The questionnaire was designed using Statistics Canada questionnaire design standards. The design was done in consultation with the survey's partners. The questionnaire is respondent completed in paper format delivered by mail, fax or in electronic format.

The questionnaires are subject to regular revision to reflect changes in industry classification.

Sampling

This is a sample survey with a cross-sectional design.

Before a sample is drawn, establishments representing the bottom 10% of the industry (in terms of volume of gas sales) in each province are excluded from the sample design. This leaves us with a census of all firms above the threshold. There is no probabilistic sample drawn. The number of establishments is approximately 14.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

The data are collected through a mail-out/mail-back process, while providing respondents with the option of telephone or other electronic filing methods. Follow-up procedures are applied when a questionnaire has not been received after a pre-specified period of time: respondents are phoned or sent a fax to remind them to send their questionnaire in order to reach the survey target response rate.

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .

Error detection

Data processing procedures identify missing data, data entry errors and assess the validity of reported data. Macro-level edits detect unusual data fluctuations within a current survey period. Survey results are routinely reconciled with the monthly survey of Gas Utilities: Transportation and Distribution Systems (Survey ID # 2149).

Imputation

The response rate for this survey is 100% and as a consequence imputation for non-response is not normally required. However on occasion some respondents may be unable to respond or may be late in responding. In such cases, missing data is automatically imputed based on historical information, for example, data from the same quarter of the previous year.

Estimation

With a response rate of 100% for the survey portion, the only estimation needed is to account for the excluded establishments representing the bottom 10% of the industry (in terms of gas sales in volume). This estimation is done by tabulating the data collected from these same firms, on the monthly survey of Gas Utilities/Transportation and Distribution Systems (Survey ID 2149), for the months included in the reference quarter, and applying the same pattern of distribution between class of customers to adjust the provincial level data of the quarterly survey.

Quality evaluation

In order to ensure the accuracy and consistency of the data, the results of the survey are reconciled with other Statistics Canada energy survey such as the monthly survey of Gas Utilities/Transportation and Distribution Systems (Survey ID 2149). Other federal departments, provincial and territorial authorities routinely monitor the data.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects that could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

In order to prevent any data disclosure, confidentiality analysis is done using the Statistics Canada Generalized Disclosure Control System (G-Confid). G-Confid is used for primary suppression (direct disclosure) as well as for secondary suppression (residual disclosure). Direct disclosure occurs when the value in a tabulation cell is composed of or dominated by few enterprises while residual disclosure occurs when confidential information can be derived indirectly by piecing together information from different sources or data series.

Data accuracy

The survey is a census above the cutoff threshold of the target population and the response rate is nearly 100%. After the adjustment for the population below the threshold under-coverage is minimal, and minimal bias resulting from non-response is introduced. If changes are received from respondents, the data are incorporated and the published data are revised.