Provincial and Territorial Gross Domestic Product by Industry

Provincial and Territorial Gross Domestic Product by Industry
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Detailed information for 1999

Status:

Active

Frequency:

Annual

Record number:

1303

The primary mandate of this statistical program is to compile and disseminate current measures of Gross Domestic Product by industry, at the provincial level.

Data release - October 30, 2000

Description

The primary mandate of this statistical program is to compile and disseminate current measures of Gross Domestic Product by industry, at the provincial level.

The production estimates are available at the Small (S), Medium (M) and Historical link (L) Aggregation-level of the System of National Accounts industry codes. The statistical unit for which the measures are prepared is the establishment. The provincial production estimates are on a domestic basis, that is, the value of production pertains to that occurring within the geographical boundaries of the provinces and not to the value of production accruing to provincial factors of production regardless of location. The estimates are valued at factor cost (returns accruing to factors of production) and are inclusive of depreciation, that is, are on a gross, not net domestic-product-at-factor-cost basis.

The GDP by industry measures help macro policy makers in the Bank of Canada, the Department of Finance and provincial governments to monitor the evolution of the economies, to formulate policies to guide this evolution, and to decide on the timing of their implementation. Industry-specific data also assist micro policy-makers, such as commercial bankers and stock brokers, who need to assess the risks and opportunities associated with doing business in particular industries and provinces.

Statistical activity

The Canadian System of National Accounts (CSNA) provides a conceptually integrated statistical framework for studying the state and behavior of the Canadian economy. The accounts are centered on the measurement of activities associated with the production of goods and services, the sales of goods and services in final markets, the supporting financial transactions, and the resulting wealth positions.

To produce financial statistics, the CSNA measures the economic dimensions of the public sector of Canada, including the financial inter-relationships among the thousands of entities that make up the three levels of government in Canada (federal, provincial and territorial, and local). In order to carry out this program, the CSNA maintains a universe of all public sector entities including their complex inter-relationships.

Provincial and territorial accounts - The System of National Economic Accounts disseminates a wide variety of data at the provincial and territorial level on topics such as the environment, government finance, gross domestic product (GDP) and its components, GDP by industry, tourism and labour productivity.

The Input-Output tables are calculated at the national and provincial and territorial level, but on an annual basis only. They are available about two and half years after the end of the reference year; this is because of the delay in obtaining the needed source data and by the complex nature of producing such a detailed account. As a means of providing more up-to-date information to users for current analysis, two industry-based programs - one producing the country's current monthly GDP figures (record no. 1301), the other annual provincial-territorial estimates (record no. 1303) have been set up. These two programs, which can be viewed as extensions of the I-O tables, use a set of indicators to project the GDP by industry benchmarks from the I-O tables.

Subjects

  • Economic accounts
  • Gross domestic product
  • Input-output accounts

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population is all statistical units resident in Canada involved in the economic activity of producing goods and services.

The observed population consists of all establishments in Canada. The establishment is the level at which the accounting data required to measure production is available. The establishment, as a statistical unit, is defined as the most homogeneous unit of production for which a household, business or government maintains accounting records from which it is possible to assemble all the data elements required to compile the full structure of the gross value of production (total sales or shipments, and inventories), the cost of materials and services, and labour and capital used in production.

Instrument design

This methodology does not apply.

Sampling

This methodology does not apply.

Data sources

Data are extracted from administrative files and derived from other Statistics Canada surveys and/or other sources.

The provincial GDP measures rely heavily on a wealth of information from various areas of Statistics Canada. A large amount of information from various survey divisions within the agency, along with other data, is compiled, integrated and analyzed as part of the complex process of arriving at provincial GDP by industry.

For example, data from the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing is used for the manufacturing industries. Data from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours is used for many services industries.

Error detection

Source data is verified for large year to year percentage changes at the working level industry, the lowest level of industry aggregations for which GDP estimates are compiled directly from the source data, by province and territory.

Imputation

This methodology does not apply.

Estimation

The current price estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at factor cost (or value added) by industry can be measured directly by summing the factor incomes and depreciation or indirectly by deducting the cost of the intermediate goods and services used in the production process from the value of gross production or output. The method adopted for any particular industry is determined by the availability of data. Gross output is frequently estimated as the sum of sales and inventory change for finished goods and goods-in-process. Because the System of National Accounts uses an accrual method of valuation, typically the reported value of inventory change must be adjusted by the amount of the change which can be attributed to changes in the prices (this is called the "inventory valuation adjustment"). The revalued inventory change is called "the value of physical change" in inventories. Similarly, intermediate inputs must be adjusted to take into account the extent to which raw materials used in production during the current period were purchased in a previous period. For any industry, gross output can be described as the total of all costs, intermediate and factor. In some cases, particularly for the non-commercial industries, data on gross output are not available and must be estimated indirectly as the sum of total costs. Constant price series represent the revaluation of quantities of production using prices of a base period. In principle constant price data should be derived by deflating current price data by a currently weighted (PAASCHE) price index to yield a base-weighted (LASPEYRES) quantum series. Constant dollar data for individual commodities may also be derived by multiplying current period quantities of production by their price in the base year. The constant dollar data for gross output or intermediate inputs is the sum of the values for the individual commodities. The constant price series for GDP is derived as the difference between gross output and intermediate inputs in constant prices. This technique is called "Double Deflation". For some industries, the constant price estimates of GDP are obtained by deflating the elements of GDP directly and GDP must be estimated directly by summing the incomes of factor of production.

Quality evaluation

Data at the working level industry by province and territory is analyzed for time series consistency, links to current economic events, issues arising from the source data and with respect with coherence. As well, the growth rates of total GDP by industry are reconciled with the growth rates of total expenditure based GDP by province and territory (record number 1902).

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.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

Preliminary estimates are released in the spring following the end of the reference period, and revised in the fall of the same year. The fall release also comprises revisions to the three previous years. Estimates are not normally revised again except when historical revisions are carried out, usually once per decade. Statistical revisions are carried out in order to incorporate the most recent information from surveys, taxation statistics, public accounts, censuses, etc., as well as new methodologies, data sources, concepts or definitions and the annual benchmarking process of the Input-Output Accounts.

Seasonal adjustment is not necessary given that the calculations of GDP by industry at the provincial -- territorial level are only performed on an annual basis.

Data accuracy

The Provincial-territorial GDP by industry depends on the National GDP by industry (record no. 1301) and the Input-Output Tables (record no. 1401) to which it is anchored. The quality of the Provincial-territorial Input-Output Tables is matched where there are high quality projectors of provincial industrial production. When necessary, the provincial-territorial GDP by industry program may be required to use projectors of industrial production which are of lower quality than the underlying GDP from the Provincial-territorial Input-Output tables, in these cases quality of the measure is lessened but still acceptable. As well, the availability of appropriate prices affects the reliability of the real GDP. In general, the higher the level of aggregation, the more reliable are the estimates. There is a trade-off between timeliness and accuracy. As more robust data becomes available, estimates are revised and become more accurate until the benchmark Input-Output Tables are published, two and a half years after the estimates were first published in the Provincial-territorial GDP by industry. Where possible, data from the most recent annual surveys are used when revising Provincial-territorial GDP.

For additional information on data accuracy, please follow the link below.

Documentation

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