Monthly Civil Aviation Survey (MCAS)

Detailed information for January 2025

This survey collects the main financial and operational data from the Canadian Level I air carriers.

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

Description

This survey collects the main financial and operational data from the Canadian Level I air carriers. The data are used by Transport Canada and the Canadian Transportation Agency for measuring the growth and the performance of the airline industry. The information is also used by Statistics Canada as input to the Canadian System of National Accounts and by individual carriers for measuring company performance relative to their competitors. The information may also be used by Statistics Canada for other statistical and research purposes.

Statistical activity

The survey is administered as part of the Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP). The IBSP has been designed to integrate approximately 200 separate business surveys into a single master survey program. The IBSP aims at collecting industry and product detail at the provincial level while minimizing overlap between different survey questionnaires. The redesigned business survey questionnaires have a consistent look, structure, and content.

The integrated approach makes reporting easier for firms operating in different industries because they can provide similar information for each branch operation. This way they avoid having to respond to questionnaires that differ for each industry in terms of format, wording and even concepts. The combined results produce more coherent and accurate statistics on the economy.

• Additional documentation

Reference period: Month

Collection period: During the month following the reference month.

Subjects

• Financial statements and performance
• Transportation
• Transportation by air
• Travel and tourism

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The universe of the Monthly Civil Aviation Survey consists of Canadian licensed carriers classified to level I. This includes every Canadian air carrier that, in the calendar year before the year in which information is provided, transported at least 2 million revenue passengers or at least 400 thousand tonnes of cargo.

Instrument design

The questionnaire collects information on main operating statistics (enplaned passengers, passenger-kilometres, available seat-kilometres and goods tonne-kilometres) and financial statistics (total operating revenue by type of service (scheduled and charter) and by sector (domestic, transborder and other international). An electronic questionnaire (EQ) replaced the paper questionnaire with the January 2017 reference month. The content of the monthly survey was reduced with the introduction of the EQ. In 2015, the proposed changes were reviewed by external (i.e. Transport Canada and the Canadian Transportation Agency, ) and internal (i.e. System of National Accounts, Industrial Organization and Finance Division) stakeholders. In 2016, Statistics Canada conducted a field test with respondents.

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. The carrier level and its main aviation activity are maintained on the Business Register for all Canadian licensed air companies. These specific fields are used to select carriers for each survey and to group them by homogeneous cells. Since the survey is a census, no sampling is done. So all units are selected with certainty. The final sample size is less than 10 companies.

Enterprises as a cluster of companies. So the company is the statistical unit, and the enterprise (as a cluster of companies) is the sampling unit.

Sampling strata are created using activity code (6 digits NAICS) and carrier level.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents using an electronic questionnaire. In cases of incomplete or questionable data, the Aviation Statistics Centre contacts the air carrier by telephone or in writing to obtain missing data, corrections or explanations.

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