Survey of Federal Government Expenditures in Support of Education (FEDEX)

Detailed information for 2022/2023

The purpose of this survey is to collect data on federal government expenditures in support of education.

Data release - February 5, 2025

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

Description

The Survey of Federal Government Expenditures in Support of Education enables Statistics Canada to determine, in detail, direct federal government financial support for education at all levels by department and by province/territory. A standard questionnaire is sent to all federal government departments and agencies with programs related to education and training.

Users of these data include stakeholders from both inside and outside of Statistics Canada. The information collected from this survey, as well as the other finance surveys, gives governments and various associations involved in the field of education, information which assists in the formulation of education policy. Data collected are also used to reconcile financial data from other sources.

Reference period: April 1 - March 31

Collection period: May to December

Subjects

• Education finance
• Education, training and learning
• Government

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population is federal government departments, agencies, commissions, boards and crown corporations.

Instrument design

The questionnaire was originally designed in collaboration with Statistics Canada and other federal government departments which were directly involved in the education sector.

A few minor changes were made in the questionnaire design in the early 2000s, including an "Authorization to release Statement" as well as statement indicating to respondents that if they choose to send data by fax or other electronic means, Statistics Canada cannot guarantee their confidentiality.

Sampling

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

Data are collected for all units of the target population, therefore, no sampling is done.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is voluntary.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents and derived from other Statistics Canada surveys.

Questionnaires and Guideline Booklets are sent to all Federal Departments, Agencies, Commissions, Boards and Crown Corporations with a relevant program.

Programs in support of university research, research grants or fellowships, are collected by the Federal Scientific Expenditures and Personnel Survey (Record Number 4212) and integrated into the FEDEX expenditure data.

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

Error detection

Edit programs are implemented both during and after data capture. At the data capture stage, the failure of an edit rule requires or suggests that the respondent be re-contacted. However, most edit rules are implemented after data capture to flag for survey non-response and missing or invalid data.

Imputation

Imputation for missing, invalid or incomplete (i.e. after thorough follow-up attempts) is generally done by the survey manager and is based on historical estimation using the same department's responses from the previous year(s) and in(de)flation. Other published sources of data are also used as a benchmark.

Estimation

This methodological step does not apply to this survey.

Quality evaluation

Data collected with this survey are compared to several other published sources during the processing phase. Initially, the "actual" data being disseminated in the reference year are compared to the "preliminary" data reported by the respondent in the previous year. Values reported as transfers by the respondent are also compared to the amounts reported by the recipient within their published reports. For example, transfers from the federal government to school boards are validated against the amounts reported as revenue in the school boards' financial statements. Any inconsistencies highlighted in the process, along with any large changes from the values reported in the previous year, are reviewed by the assigned analysts.

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.

A covering letter is sent to each institution requesting their participation and confirming their signed permission to publicly release the data via an accompanying authorization form.

Data are never published at the institutional level, only provincial/territorial and Canada total.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

This methodology does not apply to this survey.

Data accuracy

The survey team relies upon various statistical methods to validate the year-to-year trends, national comparisons, and detection of outliers. Data collected from this survey are also compared to various benchmarks, and if warranted, data providers are contacted to explain any material inconsistencies.

Coverage error also has the potential to affect the accuracy of the survey data. Due to potential program and name changes in the various federal departments, the assigned analysts begin each cycle with independent research to determine if the complete population is covered by the survey.

RESPONSE RATE
The response rate is expected to be 89%.

NON-SAMPLING ERROR
The methodology of this program has been designed to control non-sampling errors and to reduce the potential effects of these. Measurement errors may exist due to the difficulty of isolating the specific costs of education within mixed function programs. To control non-sampling errors, as well as the effect of non-responses, the survey team deals directly with the survey respondents to clarify the information provided.

NON-RESPONSE BIAS
The main contributing factor to non-response can be attributed to the definition of education and its variations within the federal programs or departments. To mitigate this, the survey team makes presentations to departments so as to clarify concepts. The survey team also cross references the aggregate provincial totals with other data sources to determine if a material level of under-coverage exists.

COVERAGE ERROR
During each survey cycle, the collected aggregated values of federally funded programs in support of education in Canada are compared with similar data from other published sources. This analysis provides a benchmark for comparison with the survey data. Any cases of under-coverage are investigated by the assigned analysts.

OTHER NON-SAMPLING ERRORS
This methodology does not apply.