The Potential for National Statistics to Transform Social Policy

Statistics Canada is considering radical improvements to its system of national social statistics in order to strengthen the evidence base for traditional social research and analysis and, in addition, to enable a major shift towards evidence-driven social policies and programs. These new uses have the potential to allow social programs to be designed, administered, revised, and evaluated based on evidence of what has worked best for program recipients in similar circumstances in the past. These include applications that will assist in referring individuals to those social program interventions that are most likely to meet their own needs and aspirations, regardless of the department or order of government that offers those programs. They will allow policies to focus on higher order objectives such as improving quality of life at the level of individuals. Existing social statistics are structured according to data sources, such as surveys, censuses or administrative records. The system being envisaged would be based on an integrated model of society that shows how individuals interact with social institutions, including social programs, over the course of their lives. The data will be drawn from multiple sources including from individuals and from many administrative files that can be linked for particular applications using techniques that protect privacy and confidentiality. Development will be gradual and uneven across the different domains of social policy. Success will rely heavily on new forms of partnership among the national statistical office, program departments and the research community.