Annual Waste Management Survey

Detailed information for 2023

This survey collects information that will help Canadians understand the contributions that waste management activities make to Canada's economy and environment.

Data release - April 4, 2025 (Waste diversion)

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

Description

The survey provides comprehensive information about waste generated by Canadians, waste disposed and diverted from landfills, and their sources. This information is collected annually from businesses and government / public entities that provide waste management services, and every two years from retailers and other organizations that participate in diversion programs outside of the waste management stream.

These data are used by local governments, Environment Canada and various other public and private clients. The data are also input to the Canadian System of Environmental-Economic Accounts.

Reference period: Fiscal year

Collection period: Spring and summer following the reference year

Subjects

• Environment
• Environmental protection

Data sources and methodology

Target population

IN-SCOPE WASTE MANAGEMENT BUSINESSES SECTOR
The target population includes all firms operating in Canada that provide waste management services.

The survey frame is based on information from the previous survey, supplemented and updated with information from the Statistics Canada Business Register (BR) and industry directories. Firms selected from the BR are a subset of Waste management and remediation services, North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 562.

The following NAICS classifications are considered to be "in scope" for the Waste Management Survey: 56211, Waste collection; 56221, Waste treatment and disposal; and 56292, Material recovery facilities.

IN-SCOPE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS THAT PROVIDE OR MAKE PROVISION FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT SERVICES
The target population for this survey of waste management practices includes all large municipalities (population of 5,000 or more), or waste management commissions or boards representing municipalities.

• Additional documentation

Instrument design

The majority of the questions remain unchanged from cycle to cycle. In 2020, questions were added to capture specific information related to non-traditional waste management streams. In 2022, more questions were added to diversify plastics to better understand the flows of plastics from generation through to final disposition. In 2023, the questions are a subset related to the collection, transportation, and preparation or processing of non-hazardous recyclable materials and of organic materials.

Sampling

IN-SCOPE WASTE MANAGEMENT BUSINESSES SECTOR
This is a census with a revenue cut-off.

IN-SCOPE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS THAT PROVIDE OR MAKE PROVISION FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT SERVICES
This is a census with a population cut-off.

Data sources

Data collection for this reference period: 2024-04-02 to 2024-10-08

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents and alternate data sources, such as other Statistics Canada surveys.

Data are collected using an electronic questionnaire. Respondents are emailed invitation letters and Secure Access Code letters. A letter explaining the purpose of the survey, the requested return date and the legal requirements of response are included as a package in the email invitation.

Follow-up procedures are applied when a questionnaire has not been received after a pre-specified period of time. Note that the questionnaire is available in both English and French versions.

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

Error detection

Many factors affect the accuracy of data produced in a survey. For example, respondents may have made errors in interpreting questions, answers may have been incorrectly entered on the questionnaires, and errors may have been introduced during the tabulation process. Every effort is made to reduce the occurrence of such errors in the survey. These efforts included: validity and consistency edits, extensive follow-up with the large businesses, and consultation with selected government departments and industry associations.

Imputation

Although most businesses and local governments cooperate in answering the survey, some cannot provide all the data required in the form in which they are requested. In cases where values are missing from survey cells or where the respondent did not complete a questionnaire even after extensive follow-up, information is imputed.

IN-SCOPE WASTE MANAGEMENT BUSINESSES SECTOR, AND IN-SCOPE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS THAT PROVIDE OR MAKE PROVISION FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT SERVICES
For larger firms and local governments, the imputed values are compared with values from previous years and other sources, such as annual reports and filings with the provincial authorities for local governments, to ensure that the high quality of imputed values.

Estimation

This methodology type does not apply to the survey of local government and business sectors.

Quality evaluation

One way to assess data accuracy is to compare it with data from other sources. For example, if the survey data indicate that the amount of waste disposed and diverted has risen substantially since the previous survey, operating revenues and expenses can also be expected to have risen. Similarly, if a provincial report is released indicating that the amount of diverted materials has increased significantly in that province, the data obtained from these surveys can be expected to follow the same trend. If the data do not follow the expected trends, they are investigated rigorously.

In addition, data are compared with those published by other organizations, such as provincial governments and cities. If there are significant differences between the different sets of comparable data, these must be accounted for and explained. This also applies to cases where there are large positive or negative changes in the data values from cycle to cycle.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects under the Statistics Act that could identify any person, business or organization, unless written consent of that person, business or organization has been given. 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.

An intensive peer review of all tabular data is conducted prior to publication. This manual verification ensures that both inter- and intra-tabular comparisons cannot be made that may lead to disclosure of confidential data.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

Revisions are made for the previous survey reference period with the initial release of the current data, as required. The purpose is to address any significant issues with the data that were found between survey cycles. The actual period of revision depends on the nature of the issue, but rarely exceeds four years, or two survey cycles. For the most current data, please refer to tables 38-10-0032, and 38-10-0138.

Data accuracy

The accuracy of data collected in a survey is affected by sampling and non-sampling errors.

Sampling errors do not apply to the local government and business sectors because the sectors are surveyed as censuses with cut-offs.

Non-sampling error could arise from coverage error, data response error, non-response error and processing errors. Every effort is made to reduce these types of errors, including careful questionnaire design, verification of keyed data, consistency and validity edits, and extensive follow-up and consultation with government departments and industry associations.