Consulting Services Price Index (COSPI)

Consulting Services Price Index (COSPI)
Variable(s)
Summary of changes
Other reference periods
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Detailed information for second quarter 2024

Status:

Active

Frequency:

Quarterly

Record number:

5194

The purpose of this survey is to measure the price change of management, environmental, and scientific and technical consulting services on a quarterly basis.

Data release - Scheduled for December 9, 2024

Description

The Consulting Services Price Index (COSPI) is a longitudinal quarterly survey that collects information on the prices of management, environmental, and scientific and technical consulting services.

The COSPI is a useful indicator of economic activity in the consulting services industry and can be used as a supplementary tool for performance evaluation, cost monitoring, contract assessment and benchmark comparisons. In addition, the indexes are used by the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts to arrive at estimates of real value-added Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the industry and to measure changes in productivity.

Statistical activity

These indexes are a part of the Services Producer Price Index program (SPPI) at Statistics Canada.

The SPPI program develops and produces price indexes for a wide range of business service categories. This initiative fills an important data gap in the area of economic statistics and has resulted in a more comprehensive set of service price indexes. It also allows Statistics Canada to produce more accurate estimates of real value added of the Gross Domestic Product and changes in productivity.

Reference period: The time period for which the index equals 100; currently this is the year 2018.

Collection period: Collection begins in the middle of the last month of the time period (i.e. quarter) to which the level of the price index refers. The length of the collection period is 40 days.

Subjects

  • Business, consumer and property services
  • Prices and price indexes
  • Professional, scientific and technical services
  • Service price indexes

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population consists of establishments classified on Statistics Canada's Business Register to the NAICS Industry 5416 - Management, scientific and technical consulting services and other large businesses not classified as these NAICS, but offer the same services. There are five (5) industries classified under NAICS 5416 from which the COSPI collects data, these are:

- 541611 - Administrative management and general management consulting services
- 541612 - Human resources consulting services
- 541619 - Other management consulting services
- 541620 - Environmental consulting services
- 541690 - Other scientific and technical consulting services

NAICS 541611, NAICS 541612 and NAICS 541619 include management consulting components, whereas NAICS 541620 and NAICS 541690 include environmental, scientific and technical consulting components.

Instrument design

The questionnaire used for the COSPI was developed by subject-matter experts at Statistics Canada.

Sampling

This is a sample survey with a cross-sectional design and a longitudinal follow-up.

The sampling frame includes all businesses with primary NAICS in the consulting services industry determined as the target population, and a judgmental sample of important units with alternative primary NAICS.

The sampling method is two-phase stratified probability proportional to size where size is determined by revenue. The units are stratified by NAICS and geography prior to being selected. The sample is analyzed to ensure that it is representative of the revenue distribution of the strata.

The total sample size was first allocated to each NAICS by revenue and then additional units were added to meet a minimum number of units sampled in each strata.

The target sample is 600 units.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

During the collection process, an email invitation is sent to the respondent inviting them to log in and complete the questionnaire. Subsequent contacts with the respondent take place when questionnaires are late, or the responses provided require clarification. In the case of late respondents, several follow-up contacts can be made including sending out a reminder email to obtain a response.

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

Error detection

Error detection is conducted at the time of data collection and during post collection processing, using a set of systematized error detection procedures to identify outliers and possible reporting anomalies. Records that fail these edits are reviewed for editing and corrected when necessary or edit failure may trigger a follow-up with the respondent.

Efforts are made to ensure constant quality prices are sent to the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts' (CSMA).

Imputation

Missing data are generally estimated by a systematized imputation process. In any given period, price data may not be available for estimation. In such cases, missing data are imputed using the average price movement of remaining units within the same stratum.

Estimation

The prices collected for the COSPI are the prices that the businesses would charge if they were to re-estimate the model contract during the current reporting period (i.e. the current quarter). A price relative is derived using the current quarter estimate and the previous quarter estimate of the same model contract.

Estimates are produced by calculating a weighted average of price relatives by industry which are chained together to form an index series.

Quality evaluation

An in-depth assessment of quality is conducted prior to the dissemination of estimates. This assessment is based on two key elements of quality (accuracy and coherence); as defined in Statistics Canada's guidelines for the validation of statistical outputs.

The survey's data collection strategy is designed to ensure that targeted response rates are met every cycle. Analysts pay close attention to this metric and work to ensure that the survey's coverage of the industry is thorough. Particular attention is also given to ensuring that sampled products or services are representative of actual transactions happening in the marketplace. These two activities are fundamental to the overall quality of the estimates and are done consistently.

Analysts validate survey estimates each period through activities such as price change analysis at the business/company, industry, subsector, and sector levels; contribution analysis and estimate confrontation with other related data sources. They also analyze survey results in the context of current economic conditions.

Engagements with relevant stakeholders are also undertaken periodically. Forums involving other Statistics Canada analysts, industry stakeholders and partners at other national and international statistical agencies provide valuable insights that inform the development and research agenda of the program.

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.

Collected data are converted to price indexes and data are released as such, so that it is not possible to identify the suppliers of raw prices.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

With each release, data for the previous quarter may have been revised.

The index is not seasonally adjusted. Data are available at the Canada level only.

Data accuracy

The statistical accuracy of this index depends on price and weight data. Price data are obtained from a sample survey and weights are obtained from Statistics Canada's Business Register, and both sources are therefore subject to their own errors.

Though the COSPI uses a sample survey methodology to obtain the necessary information, confidence intervals are not currently estimated, due to the longitudinal nature of price index series. Indexes are released only for levels of aggregation that are considered statistically reliable.

Documentation

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