Canadian Communities Policy Observatory

Unlike the United Sates or the UK, Canada is a laggard in opening up historical socioeconomic data for use by academics, policymakers, business, journalists, and citizens. While a great deal of data exists either due to being “born digital” or having been digitized from paper records, it is not easily accessible. Partial datasets in a variety of formats are hosted in multiple locations and vary widely in how they are structured. Western University’s Canadian Communities Policy Observatory initiative has begun to address this important gap by processing all available historical aggregate Census data back to 1851 into a common format with harmonized variable names and geographic codes. The purpose of this project is to develop a scalable database across places and years, programming the linking of tools as well as a web portal for cartographic visualization over time.

Faculty Supervisor:

Zachary Taylor

Student:

Partner:

Esri Canada Ltd

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Information and cultural industries; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of Western Ontario

Program: