1. Purchasing Data and Facilitating Access

Local organizations require social and economic data to make vital decisions about their planning needs, strategic forecasting and information delivery. Through the CDP, the social data needs of municipalities and community-based organizations are reviewed and appropriate sources of data identified. The CDP then brings together project partners with similar data needs in order to maximize their collective buying power and gain access to particular kinds of data that were previously unaffordable to the individual organizations.

2. Training People and Building Capacity

The CDP reviews, enhances and creates thorough training programs available for individuals who will be handling and analyzing the data within those organizations. Raw data requires competent and thorough analysis and interpretation before it can be put to good use by organizations and communities. The CDP —working in collaboration with Statistics Canada — has developed training initiatives building on the capacity of partner organizations to access data and to use it for their particular purposes.

3. Communicating and disseminating

Sharing information and best practices among municipalities, community-based organizations and other partners in the Community Data Program is an important ingredient for success. A variety of communications vehicles are used to encourage partners to share the results of their data analysis. These include personal consultations, regular correspondence by mail and e-mail, the use of newsletters and the Internet; methods that effectively support a strong communications network.

...broadening access to valuable neighbourhood-level social data for hundreds of municipal governments and voluntary sector organizations

Based on formal agreements put in place with community consortia, the CDP makes valuable social data available to 250 organizations in seventeen urban regions, including more than 50 Canadian cities and towns located in 5 provinces. CDP community consortia are based in Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Sault Ste Marie London, Waterloo, Hamilton, Halton, Peel, Toronto, York, Simcoe, Peterborough, Ottawa, and Montreal. Each consortium brings together anywhere from 5 to 50 members, including municipal governments, social planning networks, health and family service agencies, school boards, police services and United Ways.

...negotiating a new data package agreement with Statistics Canada on behalf of community consortia

A new data package agreement was negotiated with Statistics Canada and ratified by members. The package includes over 700 data tables from both Census and non-Census sources, with a wide range of small and customized geographies. Non-census tables are derived from the Survey of Household Spending; Labour Force Survey; Small Area and Administrative Data; Canadian Business Patterns; Canadian Crime Statistics; and Health Public Use Microdata.

...supporting the development of a streamlined web-based data dissemination system between Statistics Canada and CDP consortia

Legal agreements between CCSD and local consortia laying out terms and conditions and web-based tools and protocols for accessing and downloading data tables were created to facilitate efficient data dissemination. They include a National Atlas which displays the distribution of over data tables; Regional Atlases which display, for each consortium, the regional distribution (at the CT or DA level) of those indicators; the Inventory of Community Social Data Sources; the Data Tables and a Catalogue that permits users to locate and select the tables they require.

...providing technical support to community consortia

The CDP has created web-based tools to support consortium members, including an in-depth online help feature that explains: (1) How to use statistical data (including how to use Beyond 2020 Software); (2) How to use the CDP web tools (including the Online Atlas of Social Data); and (3) How to use Census Data. In addition to the CDP help files, there are over three dozen links to resources, three CDP original video tutorials, two consortium-created tutorial documents, a Helpful Tips section, and a FAQ page related to using data and the CDP site. All consortia members have email and telephone access to the CCSD technical team and associated consultants.

...supporting the sharing of experience, learning and tools

The CDP is structured to encourage regular and active interaction and communication among and within community consortia. The CDP brings together community data consortia from across Canada, providing important opportunities for learning and sharing experiences and perspectives around the use of social data to meet community challenges. The CDP website makes available collaborative tools, including a members Contact List; a Members-only Discussion Forum, and links to Local Reports prepared by Community Consortia using CDP data. The local consortium lead organizations constitute the hubs of a nationwide “hub and spoke” network of community-based social data users. The pivotal role played by municipalities contributes valuable technical knowledge and support to local community organizations.

...strengthened local social programs and policies

Public policy at the municipal, provincial and federal levels benefits from new tools and information developed by community-based projects informed by social data. The customized data tables available through the CDP have allowed data users to pursue a wide range of evidence-based analysis and decision making. With the data acquisition and dissemination infrastructure now in place, the Community Data Program  is ready to attract new members. Consortium expansion is being pursued through the Government & Community Roundtable on Data Access with Statistics Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.