Frequently Asked Questions
Short answers to common questions. For the full method, see Mission & Method.
Who runs this site?
Dan Weaver, an atmospheric physicist and professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough. Canada Observatory is an independent personal project. See Who We Are.
Who funds it?
No one. The site is self-funded. There are no sponsors, no advertisers, no grants, and no political affiliations. It is inexpensive to run by design: open data, open source tools (e.g., Python for code), and simple hosting.
Does the site take political positions?
No. The site is descriptive. It shows the data, the peer comparisons, and official benchmarks, and leaves interpretation to readers. There is one exception: we advocate for the creation, use, and open availability of public data.
Why compare Canada with these 16 countries?
The peer group is a set of 17 advanced OECD economies, including Canada. It is deliberately broader than the G7, which leaves out important comparators such as the Nordic countries, Australia, the Netherlands, and South Korea. The full list is on Mission & Method.
Why does Toronto get so much local detail?
Data availability, that’s all. Toronto’s police service publishes the most complete open crime data in the country, and the city’s temperature record reaches back to 1841. Other cities will be added as their data portals allow and time/effort to expand the site’s contents is available.
Why is the site English-only?
A French version is a serious aspiration. However, translating every page, chart, and label properly is a large undertaking. The English site was launched to test the idea and see what audience the project finds. See the roadmap.
Why isn’t topic X covered?
Usually one of three reasons: no authoritative, refreshable data source exists, the topic is queued behind others, or it is outside the site’s focus. The roadmap lists what is planned and what is blocked. We have a limited capacity for building this project and are not aiming to be a complete encyclopedia about all data related to Canada. The goal is to select high impact topics that can help inform common civic conversations.
How is Indigenous data approached?
The site’s current coverage is limited. It maps Indigenous lands and treaties using published legal and administrative sources, with notes explaining what those datasets include and omit. Broader statistical coverage of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples and communities is not yet included. Any future coverage would need to respect Indigenous data sovereignty and the distinct data-governance principles and protocols of the peoples represented. Until that can be done with appropriate sources, context, and care, this part of the site will remain limited.
How do corrections work?
Tell us and we will investigate. The process and contact routes are on Accuracy & Corrections. If a number looks wrong, please say so.
Can I reuse the charts and data?
Yes, in most cases. Unless otherwise noted, the original text and charts created for the Canada Observatory are licensed under CC BY 4.0. You may copy and share them, provided you credit the Canada Observatory, link to the original page and licence, and indicate whether you made changes.
This licence covers only material created by the Canada Observatory. Downloadable data files and other third-party material remain subject to their original sources’ licences or terms of use, listed on Data Sources.
The CREA house-price series and charts containing it are used under separate permission and are not covered by the CC BY licence. They may not be redistributed without permission from CREA.
Where does the data come from?
Authoritative primary sources only: Statistics Canada, the OECD, Environment and Climate Change Canada, the World Bank, the Bank of Canada, and others. Every chart cites its source and shows the date of its most recent data. The full roster is on Data Sources.