Survey of Commercial and Institutional Energy Use (SCIEU)

Detailed information for 2024

The purpose of this survey is to collect statistical information on the energy demand and consumption patterns of commercial and institutional buildings across Canada.

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

Description

The purpose of this survey, sponsored by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), is to collect statistical information on the energy demand and consumption patterns of commercial and institutional buildings across Canada. The survey collects data on the types and quantities of energy being used (such as electricity and natural gas) and building characteristics to better understand energy consumption.

Clear, credible information is the foundation on which to build the case for investments in energy efficiency. Understanding how much energy a building uses and for what reason is a necessary first step to designing effective measures to reduce energy use and track the effectiveness of those measures over time.

Aggregated data from this survey will be used by governments, utilities, industry associations, building managers and business owners to
• develop programs and policies to improve the energy efficiency of commercial and institutional buildings and support Canada's climate change objectives
• support programs such as ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® to encourage energy efficiency practices and enable owners to track and compare their building's energy use against that of similar buildings.

Reference period: Calendar year

Subjects

• Energy
• Energy consumption and disposition

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The survey is split into two components: the building component and the institution component.

Building component
The target population of the building component is commercial and institutional buildings (excluding hospitals and postsecondary institutions) where the minimum floor area of the building is at least 50 square metres, where at least 50% of the floor space is used for commercial or institutional activities, and where the floor space was either partially or fully in use or available for use during the reference year. Military bases, embassies and standalone portable structures are excluded.

The targeted buildings can be classified by activity to the following 25 types:

• bank branch
• public safety
• assisted daily care facility or residential care facility
• hotel, motel, hostel or lodge
• preschool or daycare
• primary or secondary school
• college, CEGEP or university
• other school or other instructional institution
• restaurant
• food or beverage store
• retail store (non-food)
• office space (medical)
• office space (excluding medical)
• recreation centre
• ice rink
• performing arts
• place of worship
• museum or gallery
• library or archives
• warehouse
• mail, delivery, distribution and fulfilment centre
• vehicle dealership, repair or storage
• data centre or telecommunication centre
• vacant
• mixed use

Institution component

The target population of the institution component contains all hospital and postsecondary institution campuses that include at least one entire building. The targeted campuses can be classified by activity to the following two types:
• hospital; North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 622
• postsecondary institution; NAICS 6112 (community college and C.E.G.E.P.) and 6113 (university).

Instrument design

In partnership with NRCan, four questionnaires were developed to collect information on energy use by commercial and institutional buildings across Canada.

Questionnaire design specialists were consulted in the design and testing of all four questionnaires. The questionnaires were tested for commercial and institutional buildings across Canada, sampled from the Statistical Building Register (SBgR) and the Business Register (BR). Comments by the contact persons on the design and content were incorporated into the final versions.

Building component

For the building component, the first collection instrument is a pre-contact survey conducted for sampled buildings to confirm that they are in scope for the survey, to identify contact persons for the collection of building information and to confirm the activity taking place in the building.

Following the pre-contact survey, the second collection instrument will be a detailed questionnaire used to collect information on the activities happening in the building as well as the energy used.

Institution component

For the institution component, the first collection instrument will be a pre-contact survey for sampled hospitals and postsecondary institutions used to confirm that they are in scope for the survey; to confirm the number and type of the campuses occupied by the institution and to identify contact persons for the collection of campus information. A campus is defined as having at least one entire building being used as either a postsecondary institution or a hospital.

Following the pre-contact survey, the second collection instrument will be a campus questionnaire used to collect detailed information on the activities happening on the campus as well as the energy used.

Sampling

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

Two distinct samples are selected for the Survey of Commercial and Institutional Energy Use (SCIEU), one for the building component and the other for the institution component.

Building component

The Statistical Building Register (SBgR) was used to construct the sampling frame for the building component of SCIEU. The SBgR is a dynamic list of buildings and their units. It is compiled via various administrative data sources and covers both residential and non-residential buildings in Canada. A recent snapshot of the SBgR called the Building Universe File (BUF) was extracted, and where available, additional auxiliary information from the Business Register (BR) was added to assist with sample allocation and selection.

Sample sizes were estimated using the October 2022 version of the SBgR with additional information from the BR. The sample sizes were calculated to obtain good quality estimates at the national level for the 24 building types as well as good quality estimates at the regional level or for some Census Metropolitan Area (CMA).

The fixed sample size was then allocated to the different strata created by crossing the province and the predicted building type (or CMA in some cases) using the April 2024 version of the SBgR.

Institution component

This survey frame was built from the BR. The frame contained all establishments with a subsector of 622 (hospitals) or an industry group of 6112 (community colleges and C.E.G.E.P.s) or 6113 (universities). Business schools and computer and management training, technical and trade schools, and adult and continuing education schools were excluded from this component of the survey, as they are included in the building component for this iteration of SCIEU. To be in scope for the institution component, the postsecondary institution or hospital must completely occupy at least one building. All postsecondary institutions or hospitals that only partially occupy a building are not in scope for this survey.

A census of all hospitals and postsecondary institutions in all provinces was done. The sample design supports estimates by region for floor area, energy consumption and energy use intensity.

Data sources

Data collection for this reference period: Data collection:
Building - pre-contact: Sept 24 to Nov 29, 2024
Building - main: Jan 20 to July 31, 2024
Establishment - pre-contact: Jan 21 to March 31, 2025
Establishment - main: May 14 to Aug 29, 2025

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

The respondent is mailed or emailed a secure access code to respond to the electronic questionnaire.

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