Annual Wool Price Survey

Detailed information for 2022

This survey collects the data needed to produce statistics on the annual volume and value of wool purchases from Canadian farmers. These data will be aggregated with data from other sources to produce national and provincial estimates. These estimates are used by government and the private sector to make policy and investment decisions. Information may also be used by Statistics Canada for other statistical and research purposes.

Data release - April 19, 2024

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

Description

The Annual Wool Price Survey is administered as part of the Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP). The IBSP program 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.

This annual survey collects data on the quantity of wool purchased as well as prices for Canada and the provinces. Data collected from businesses are aggregated with information from other sources to produce official estimates of national and provincial economic production for this industry. Survey estimates are made available to businesses, governments, investors, associations, and the public. The data are used to monitor industry growth, measure performance, and make comparisons to other data sources to better understand this industry.

Reference period: Calendar year

Collection period: During the year following the reference year

Subjects

• Agriculture and food (formerly Agriculture)
• Livestock and aquaculture

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population consists of all establishments purchasing wool directly from Canadian producers during the reference year.

The observed population consists of all establishments purchasing wool directly from Canadian producers found on Statistics Canada Business Register as of the last day of the reference year (including establishments active for a part of the reference year).

Instrument design

The questionnaire was developed by subject matter experts through consultation with industry experts. The Agriculture Division, the Collection, Planning and Research Division and the Operations and Integration Division of Statistics Canada conduct in-house testing for flow and consistency.

Subject matter experts may change, add or remove questions. This typically happens because of changes in market trends or because of information in debriefing reports from field staff.

It was last revised in 2018. The changes reflected new standards, guidelines and collection methods.

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

Data collection for this reference period: 2023-04-05 to 2023-12-06

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

The Wool Price Survey is conducted in all provinces from May to December in the year following the reference year. Data are collected through a mail-out/mail-back process. The basic mailing list covers all establishments purchasing wool directly from producers. The mailing list is updated as new buyers are identified. The same questionnaire is used in all provinces.

Data are collected on the quantities purchased, the province of origin of the wool and the prices paid to the producers.

Follow-up is carried out on non-response when necessary.

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

Error detection

Error detection is an integral part of both collection and data processing activities. Edits are applied to data records during collection to identify reporting and capture errors. These edits identify potential errors based on year-over-year changes in key variables, totals, and ratios that exceed tolerance thresholds, as well as identify problems in the consistency of collected data (e.g. a total variable does not equal the sum of its parts).

Imputation

When non-response occurs, when respondents do not completely answer the questionnaire, or when reported data are considered incorrect during the error detection steps, imputation is used to fill in the missing information and modify the incorrect information. Many methods of imputation may be used to complete a questionnaire, including manual changes made by an analyst. Statistical techniques used to impute the missing data include: deterministic imputation, replacement using historical data (with a trend calculated, when appropriate), replacement using auxiliary information available from other sources, replacement based on known data relationships for the sample unit, and replacement using data from a similar unit in the sample (known as donor imputation).

Imputation generates a complete and coherent micro data file that covers all survey variables.

Estimation

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Quality evaluation

Prior to the data release, combined survey results are analyzed for comparability; in general, this includes a detailed review of: individual responses (especially for the largest companies), general economic conditions, coherence with results from related industry indicators, historical trends, and information from other external sources (e.g. associations, trade publications, newspaper articles).

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects that 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.

In order to prevent any data disclosure, confidentiality analysis is done using the Statistics Canada Generalized Disclosure Control System (G-Confid). G-Confid is used for primary suppression (direct disclosure) as well as for secondary suppression (residual disclosure). Direct disclosure occurs when the value in a tabulation cell is composed of or dominated by few enterprises while residual disclosure occurs when confidential information can be derived indirectly by piecing together information from different sources or data series.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

This methodology does not apply to this survey.

Data accuracy

The Wool Price Survey is a census and therefore, there is no error due to sampling. However, the survey is subject to non-sampling errors such as non-response or other non-sampling errors that may occur at almost every phase of a survey operation. Respondents may make errors in answering questions, the answers may be incorrectly captured and errors may be introduced in the processing and tabulation of the data.

Quality assurance and control methods were implemented according to Statistics Canada's standard practices at each step of the data collection and processing cycle to monitor the quality of the data. These measures included edit rules designed to detect missing, invalid or inconsistent data.

The response rate covers over 90% of the purchases of wool.