Households and the Environment Survey (HES)

Detailed information for 2023

The first phase of the Households and the Environment Survey (HES) measures the environmental practices and behaviours of Canadian households that relate to the condition of our air, water and soils.

The Households and the Environment Survey: Energy Use (HEUS) is a follow up on the Households and the Environment survey. The goal of the survey is to obtain permission from householders to collect information on their energy consumption from their energy provider(s).

The Households and the Environment Survey: Energy Use phase 3 (HEUS phase 3) is a follow up on the Households and the Environment survey (HES phase 1) and on the Households and the Environment Survey: Energy Use phase 2 (HEUS phase 2). During HEUS phase 3, the energy providers are contacted in order to obtain the energy consumption data for the respondents who filled the consent form in HEUS phase 2. Together, the 3 phases of this survey were designed to collect data to develop and improve three key environmental indicators: air quality, water quality and greenhouse gas emissions.

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

Description

Phase 1
The objective of the survey is to provide context to scientific measures of air and water quality, and greenhouse gas emissions, by gaining a better understanding of household behaviour and practices with respect to the environment.

Since the HES was first conducted in 1991, environmental priorities and concerns have changed for Canadians. The quality of drinking water, the impact of residential pesticide use and the impact of hazardous waste on human health are only some of the newer issues that have moved to the forefront of Canadians' collective consciousness. Changes in environmental practices and behaviours are reflective of these growing concerns. In order to gauge these changes, the HES measures key environmental variables and practices. The survey ran in 1991, 1994, 2006, and every two years between 2007 and 2019. Below is a list of topics that are covered in the first phase of the 2021 HES.

- Home heating and cooling
- Use of firewood
- Water quality concerns of households
- Consumption and conservation of water
- Consumption and conservation of energy
- Pesticide and fertilizer use on lawns and gardens
- Use of household lawn and garden equipment
- Use of gasoline-powered recreation equipment
- Composting and household hazardous waste disposal practices
- Household interactions with nature
- Purchasing decisions

Phase 2
The objective of the HEUS phase 2 is to provide a precise account of how much energy (electricity, natural gas and heating oil) is consumed by households in Canada and to identify what this energy is used for specifically (heating, cooling, appliances, electronics, etc.).
The 2021 HEUS is a shorter version compared to past cycles. It is collecting information regarding the following subjects:
- General characteristics of the dwelling
- Energy provider information
- Energy consumption information
- Consent to contact the dwelling's energy provider.

Phase 3
The HEUS phase 3 only follows up with companies mentioned by respondents in the consent section of HEUS phase 2. It requests from the energy providers the monthly energy consumption used by households during the reference year. Data collected with the energy providers are then integrated with those from phase 1 and 2 in order to deepen possible analysis.

Statistical activity

The Canadian System of Environmental-Economic Accounts provides a conceptually integrated framework of statistics (in physical and monetary terms) and analysis for studying the relationship between the environment and human and economic activity. It presents detailed statistics describing 1) the size of Canada's natural resource stocks and their contribution to national wealth; 2) the extraction of these same resources and their disposition among businesses, households, governments and the rest of the world; 3) the generation of various wastes (liquid, solid and gaseous) by industries, households and governments and the management of these wastes; and 4) the expenditures made by businesses, households and governments for the purposes of protecting the environment. The accounts are, to the greatest extent possible, compatible with the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (CSMA). They were developed in response to the need to better monitor the relationship between economic activity and the environment.

Reference period: The calendar year corresponding to the reference year.

Subjects

• Energy
• Environment
• Families, households and housing

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population consists of households in Canada, excluding households located in Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, households located on reserves and in other Aboriginal settlements in the provinces; and households consisting entirely of full-time members of the Canadian Armed Forces. Institutions and households in certain remote regions are also excluded.

Instrument design

The questionnaires were designed by Statistics Canada in consultation with stakeholders involved in the Canadian Environment Sustainability Indicators project and in consideration of the data needs of both the project and the larger research and policy communities.

The questionnaire was designed to follow standard practices and wording, when applicable, in both self-administered electronic questionnaires and a computer-assisted interviewing environment. This included the automatic control of question wording and flows that depended upon answers to earlier questions and the use of online edits to check for logical inconsistencies and gross capture errors.

The survey instrument used for data collection was subjected to extensive testing before its use in the survey.

HEUS phase 3 doesn't use any questionnaires. A computer application was developed in order to contact companies and permit the safe and private transfer of requested data to Statistics Canada. These tools were subjected to extensive testing before its use in the survey.

Sampling

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

The sampling unit for the HES and HEUS is the dwelling. The HES (phase 1) sample is drawn from the Dwelling Universe File (DUF). The sample design is a stratified simple random sample where the stratification is by province and, within province, where applicable, CMA. In 2021, the total sample size for HES phase 1 was 38,000 households.

The sample for HEUS (phase 2) includes all respondents to HES phase 1 who completed their questionnaires. In 2021, the total sample size for HEUS phase 2 is approximatively 18,000 households.

The HEUS phase 3 sample is the set of accounts (for electricity, natural gas and heating oil energy providers) provided by HEUS (phase 2) respondents. In 2019, the total sample size for HEUS phase 3 was about 7000 energy accounts.

Data sources

Data collection for this reference period: 2024-06-20 to 2024-10-09

Responding to this survey is voluntary.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents and extracted from administrative files.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents and extracted from administrative files gathered from energy providers.

During phase 1, the content of the survey focuses on the behaviours and practices of the household relating to the environment. Data are collected directly from a representative of the selected household. The HES is conducted using a combination of self-administered electronic questionnaires and telephone interviews by Statistics Canada's regional offices using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) application.

In phase 2 (HEUS), respondents are sent a paper questionnaire to gather energy consumption related information and obtain permission from the respondent for Statistics Canada to collect pertinent energy consumption information from their energy provider(s).

During phase 3, energy consumption for respondents is obtained directly from the respondents' energy provider(s).

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