Business Activity, Expenditure and Output Survey (BAEO)

Detailed information for 2017

Status:

Active

Frequency:

Annual

Record number:

8009

The statistical information from the Business Activity, Expenditure and Output Survey will serve the following purposes:
maintain and update the Canadian Business Register, which lists all active businesses in Canada;
improve the efficiency of the Integrated Business Statistics Program with the goal of ensuring each business is only sent appropriate Statistics Canada surveys.

Data release - No data are disseminated for the Business Activity, Expenditure and Output Survey.

Description

The survey objective is to validate industry classification codes, and to obtain information required to efficiently select samples for Statistics Canada's economic survey programs. Topics studied include business activity, research and development, and capital expenditures.

Statistical activity

The survey is administered as part of the Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP). The IBSP has been designed to integrate approximately 200 separate business surveys into a single master survey program. The IBSP aims at collecting industry and product detail at the provincial level while minimizing overlap between different survey questionnaires. The redesigned business survey questionnaires have a consistent look, structure, and content.

The integrated approach makes reporting easier for firms operating in different industries because they can provide similar information for each branch operation. This way they avoid having to respond to questionnaires that differ for each industry in terms of format, wording and even concepts. The combined results produce more coherent and accurate statistics on the economy.

Collection period: January through March of the year after the reference period

Subjects

  • Business cycles
  • Business performance and ownership

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population comprises all business and government entities operating in a specific subset of industries in Canada.

Instrument design

The survey questionnaire contains generic modules designed to cover several industries.

Sampling

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

The survey has a cross-sectional design featuring a random stratified sample of business establishments that are classified both geographically and according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Canada 2017.

The sampling unit is the enterprise, as defined on the Business Register.

Sampling units are classified into homogeneous groups (e.g., groups with the same NAICS codes and the same geography (province/territory)) based on the characteristics of their establishments. Each group is divided into strata (i.e. small, medium, large) based on the annual revenue of the enterprise. This division of groups into strata is done using the Geometric stratification method. Aside from this, units may also be placed in a must-take stratum if their presence in the sample is critical.

Once the sampling units are stratified, a sample of predetermined size is allocated into each stratum using the Power Allocation method. The objective of this method is to allocate sample in order to optimize overall quality within industrial groupings (represented by the second phase surveys that subsample from BAEO) while respecting the available resources. The sample allocation can result in two kinds of strata: take-all strata where all units are sampled with certainty, and take-some strata where a sample of units are randomly selected.
The sample is then selected using Bernoulli sampling. The sample is rotated with regards to the previous year's sample by a factor of one sixth. For reference year 2017, the total sample size for the survey was approximately 172,000 enterprises and the number of establishments receiving a questionnaire was approximately 33,000.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

Collection: Electronic questionnaires and letters with access codes.

Follow-up: Units that have not responded are subject to mail, email, fax and telephone follow-up to ensure that data are obtained.

The Business Activity, Expenditure and Output Survey does not collect administrative data.

There are no data integration activities undertaken in respect to the Business Activity, Expenditure and Output Survey.

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

Error detection

There are no data editing activities undertaken in respect to the Business Activity, Expenditure and Output Survey.

Imputation

No data imputation is undertaken in respect to the Business Activity, Expenditure and Output Survey.

Estimation

The Business Activity, Expenditure and Output Survey does not collect numeric data. The estimation and compilation of data and related measures of accuracy therein are not applicable for this survey.

Quality evaluation

Once the sample has been selected, electronic questionnaires or letters with access codes will be sent to establishments within the selected enterprises for which the information of interest is unknown or outdated (i.e. older than 3 years).

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.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

Revisions and seasonal adjustment are not required for the Business Activity, Expenditure and Output Survey.

Data accuracy

The Business Activity, Expenditure and Output Survey does not collect numeric data. The estimation and compilation of data and related measures of accuracy therein are not applicable for this survey.

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