Monthly Coal Supply and Disposition Survey (MCOL)

Detailed information for January 2026

The purpose of this survey is to obtain information on the supply of, and/or demand for, energy in Canada.

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

Description

The purpose of this survey is to obtain information on the supply of, and/or demand for, energy in Canada. This information serves as an important indicator of Canadian economic performance, and is used by all levels of government in establishing informed policies in the energy area. The private sector also uses this information in the corporate decision-making process.

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

• Coal
• Energy
• Energy consumption and disposition

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population is comprised of all establishments in Canada engaged in Coal Mining classified to code 21211 of the North American Industry Classification System Canada 2022. The observed population are those establishments in the target population for which business information is available on Statistics Canada's Business Register.

Instrument design

The questionnaire comprises the volume of coal produced, the inventories held at mines and ports, and the volume and value of sales by province and country (exports). The questionnaire is respondent completed.

Sampling

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

The sampling unit is the enterprise as defined on the Statistics Canada Business Register.

The sample size for reference period January 2024 is 17 establishments, or 8 enterprises.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

Data integration combines data from multiple data sources including survey data collected from respondents, administrative data or other forms of auxiliary data when applicable. During the data integration process, data are imported, transformed, validated, aggregated and linked from the different data source providers into the formats, structures and levels required for IBSP processing. Administrative data are also used as an auxiliary source of data for editing and imputation when respondent data is not available. Data for parts of this program are sourced from the Alberta Energy Regulator.

The data are collected through an electronic questionnaire. Follow-ups are conducted by phone or e-mail as needed.

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