Fixed Capital Flows and Stocks

Detailed information for 2000

This program produces annual estimates of fixed capital formation (capital investment flows), gross and net capital stocks and depreciation by industry, by aggregate asset type, and by province and territory.

Data release - November 3, 2000

• Description
• Data sources and methodology
• Data accuracy

Description

This program produces annual estimates of fixed capital formation (capital investment flows), gross and net capital stocks and capital depreciation by industry, and by province and territory. The estimates are produced for building, engineering and machinery and equipment asset groupings and for 22 aggregate asset types. The estimates are available historically in constant, current, chained (Fisher) and original (book value) dollars.

The principal external clients are:
- Finance Canada uses the fixed capital formation estimates in the provincial equalization payments formula. Finance Canada also uses capital depreciation and capital investment estimates to create and assess fiscal policy.
- Bank of Canada uses the fixed capital formation and capital depreciation estimates in evaluating macroeconomic policy and the impact of fiscal tax policy.
- Industry Canada and Finance Canada use measures on fixed capital formation, stocks and depreciation in studies of inter-industry and international competitiveness, in estimating potential output and in determining investment needs by industry.

The principal internal clients are:
- The Canadian System of National Accounts uses the fixed capital formation and depreciation estimates as an input in Gross Domestic Product and the Input-Output national and provincial tables.
- The capital stock estimates appear in the national balance sheet accounts.
- The fixed capital formation and stock estimates are also required for the production of the capacity use measures and in the calculation of multi-factor productivity.

Reference period: Calendar year

Subjects

• Construction
• Machinery and equipment
• Non-residential building construction
• Non-residential engineering construction

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population comprises all business and government entities operating in Canada. Outlays for used Canadian assets are excluded since they constitute a transfer of assets within Canada and have no effect on the aggregates of our domestic inventory. Assets imported from outside Canada are included as they increase our domestic inventory.

Data sources

Data are collected from other Statistics Canada surveys and/or other sources.

Statistics Canada collects much of the annual data required to estimate Fixed Capital Flows and Stocks via the Capital and Repair Expenditures Survey (record number 2805), specifically:
- capital expenditures i.e. spending for the acquisition of new assets and the renovation, retrofit, refurbishing, overhauling, and rehabilitation of existing assets
- the expected useful service lives of the assets being acquired
- the original cost and age of assets being discarded, retired or destroyed
- sales and purchases of used assets
- the value of work in progress at yearend.

Quality evaluation

Data are analyzed for time series consistency, links to current economic events, issues arising from the source data, and respect to coherence. Any irregularities identified are carefully analyzed and any corrections are made before the official release.

Furthermore, the 1987 Capital and Repair Expenditures questionnaire also included a question asking respondents to report the total value of their fixed assets i.e. the cost of accumulated capital (gross book value) and accumulated depreciation. This question was used to establish benchmarks to assess the validity of the capital stock estimates produced via the PIM.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which 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.

Data accuracy

No direct measures of the margin of error in the estimates can be calculated. The quality of the estimates can be inferred from analysis of revisions and from a subjective assessment of the data sources and methodology used in the preparation of the estimates.