Annual Survey of Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing

Detailed information for 1998

The survey mandate is to collect financial and non-financial data on the Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing industry, as defined by the North American Industry Classification System, on an annual basis.

Data release - January 17, 2001

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

Description

The survey objective is the collection and dissemination of data necessary for the statistical analysis of the Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing industry.

The information from the survey can be used by businesses for market analysis, by trade associations to study performance and other characteristics of their industry, by government to develop national and regional economic policies, and by other user involved in research or policy making.

Statistical activity

This survey is part of the Service Industries Program. The survey data gathered are used to compile aggregate statistics for over thirty service industry groupings. Financial data, including revenue, expense and profit statistics are available for all of the surveys in the program. In addition, many compile and disseminate industry-specific information.

Reference period: Calendar year

Subjects

• Business, consumer and property services
• Business performance and ownership
• Financial statements and performance
• Rental and leasing and real estate

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population consists of all statistical establishments (sometimes referred to as firms or units) classified as Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing (NAICS 5324) according to the North American Industry Classification System 1997 (NAICS 1997) during the reference year. The Commercial and Industrial Machinery Equipment and Rental sector covers three NAICS 1997: Construction, Transportation, Mining and Forestry Equipment Rental and Leasing Rental (NAICS 53241), Office Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing (NAICS 53242) and Other Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing (NAICS 53249).

The Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing survey covers establishments primarily engaged in renting or leasing commercial and industrial machinery and equipment, without operator. The types of establishments included in this industry group are generally involved in providing capital/investment-type equipment that clients use in their business operations. These establishments typically serve businesses and do not generally operate a retail-like or store-front facility.

• Additional documentation

Sampling

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

This survey is a sample survey with a take-all portion.

Even though the basic objective of the survey is to produce estimates for the whole industry --- incorporated and unincorporated--- the portion of the population eligible for sampling was defined as all incorporated statistical establishments with revenue above $50,000. Some exceptional unincorporated units were also added to direct data collection if their contribution was deemed significant. The same principle applies to unincorporated units belonging to complex enterprises. The main motivation for the exclusion of unincorporated firms and incorporated firms below $50,000 from direct data collection was to achieve major reductions in the response burden. Firms below the exclusion thresholds are still part of the universe but their contribution is accounted for in the final estimates through the use of administrative records as proxy data. Only basic information can be obtained from this source that is; total revenue, expenses, depreciation and wages, salaries and benefits. Detailed characteristics such as client base, revenue by type of service and detailed expenses items can only be obtained for firms in the direct data collection portion.

The frame is the list that identifies the firms classified to the industry in question. The frame is maintained by Statistics Canada's Business Register, using taxation account information (i.e. income tax, goods and services tax and payroll deductions records) submitted to Canada Customs and Revenue Agency.

The survey design covered only the portion of the frame subject to direct data collection. Prior to the selection of a random sample, units are grouped in homogeneous groups defined using industrial (NAICS) and geographic (province/territory) attributes. Similar quality requirements are targeted for each group which is then divided into four sub-group called strata: must-take, take-all, large take-some and small take-some.

The take-all stratum includes the largest firms in terms of industrial performance, which are selected in the sample with certainty making such units self-representing. The must-take stratum is also comprised of self-representing units that have a complex structure (multi-establishments, multi-legal, multi-NAICS or multi-province enterprises). Units in the two take-some strata are subjected to a random sample where each sampled firm represents a number of other, similar firms in the industry/province combination according to the inverse of their probability of selection.

Finally, the size of the sample was increased to compensate for such situations as non-response and firms which cannot be contacted because they have moved or gone out of business.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents and extracted from administrative files.

Data are collected through a mail-out/mail-back process, while providing respondents with the option of telephone or other electronic filing methods. The statistical establishment is used as the sampling unit, but selected establishments belonging to the same company and the same industry are aggregated to create a collection entity. This reduces respondent burden and simplifies collection. Therefore, companies with production in more than one establishment are mailed one questionnaire and instructed to report for all Canadian operations.

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

Estimation

Prior to estimation, data for companies with production in more than one province or territory were allocated to the provincial level The survey data collected from the sample were then weighted using the inverse of the probability of selection of each sampled unit to produce estimates representative of the target population. Administrative data were used to estimate the portion that was excluded from survey activity (i.e. unincorporated firms and incorporated firms with revenue less than $50,000).

For non-response, imputation is performed using a "nearest neighbour" procedure (donor imputation) using available auxiliary information to substitute the data from a company with similar characteristics. In addition to the donor imputation approach, imputation can also be done based using historical responses.

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.