Capacity Utilization Rates (CUR)

Detailed information for third quarter 2016

Status:

Active

Frequency:

Quarterly

Record number:

2821

The capacity utilization rates are measures of the intensity with which industries use their production capacity. Capacity utilization is the percentage of actual to potential output.

Data release - December 8, 2016

Description

The capacity utilization rates are measures of the intensity with which industries use their production capacity. Capacity utilization is the percentage of actual to potential output.

The data are used by economic analysts in various Canadian government departments and agencies such as Statistics Canada, the Bank of Canada, the Department of Finance Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, and by provincial agencies, trade associations, universities and international organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Reference period: Quarter

Collection period: The week following the reference period.

Subjects

  • Construction
  • Manufacturing

Data sources and methodology

Target population

Non-farm goods-producing industries.

Instrument design

This methodology does not apply.

Sampling

This methodology does not apply.

Data sources

Data collection for this reference period: The week following the reference period

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

The capacity utilization rate is the ratio of actual output to potential output. The measures of actual output are the measures of real gross domestic product at basic prices, seasonally adjusted by industry (see Gross Domestic Product by Industry - National [Monthly], record number 1301). The measures of potential output are derived from the Stock and Consumption of Fixed Non-residential Capital program (record number 2820).

Error detection

This methodology does not apply.

Imputation

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Estimation

The capacity utilization rates are the percentage of actual to potential output. Quarterly gross domestic product by industry (GDP) is used as the measure of actual output. GDP is used with net capital stock by industry from the Stock and Consumption of Fixed Non-residential Capital program (record number 2820) to create output-to-capital ratios.

In the forestry and logging industries, mining, quarrying and oil extraction, electric power generation, transmission and distribution, and construction, the potential output by industry is determined by de-trending the output-to-capital ratios by means of the Hodrick-Prescott filter.

In manufacturing industries, a Denton-type quadratic minimization technique is used to convert annual benchmarks to quarterly measures using the quarterly output-to-capital ratios. Moreover, annual benchmark levels of capacity utilization are established using surveyed measures from the Annual Survey of Manufacturing and Logging Industries (record number 2103) together with other information on economic activity.

Quality evaluation

In manufacturing industries, annual benchmark levels of capacity utilization are established using surveyed measures from the Annual Survey of Manufacturing and Logging Industries (record number 2103) together with other information on economic activity. These complementary data are used to assess the validity of the estimated data.

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.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

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.

Documentation

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