Sources & Methodology

Where our numbers come from

Most of our reporting is built on official Canadian sources, including:

• Statistics Canada — jobs, inflation, population, housing and household surveys
• Bank of Canada — interest rates and the Monetary Policy Report
• Department of Finance Canada — budgets, fiscal updates and the monthly Fiscal Monitor
• Parliamentary Budget Officer and Auditor General of Canada — independent costing and audits
• CMHC — housing starts, rents and housing supply
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada — immigration levels and processing
• Provincial governments and statistical agencies, the Canadian Institute for Health Information, and international bodies such as the OECD for comparisons

We use news reporting for context and fast-moving events, and we look for the original document whenever a report, study or decision is cited.

How we check a story

1. Find the primary source and its publication date.
2. Record the reference period, geography, population and units for each figure.
3. Recalculate any number we derive — changes, shares, per-person figures — from the source data.
4. Check context: comparisons over time, between provinces or with other countries, and only where definitions match.
5. Identify which government or institution is responsible.
6. Editor review and approval before publication.

Charts

Every chart shows its source and reference period. Each chart has a “View the numbers as a table” option so the exact values are available. We never use generated or estimated data in a chart.

Calculations we make

When we calculate something ourselves — for example a per-person figure — we say so in the chart’s source line and name the inputs, such as the Statistics Canada population estimate used.

Updates

Economic data are revised and replaced. Articles show the date they were published and, when relevant, updated. When newer data supersede an article, we either update it or make the reference period clear.