Small area business and labour database (SABAL)

SABAL - Small Area Business and Labour Data, is a compendium of independent data sources brought together on one database by Statistics Canada. As a compendium,it is not a fully integrated system, therefore, dates and geographic areas covered varies between data sets selected. SABAL combines a wide variety of economic and social statistics, and provides coverage of approximately 140 urban areas and 72 economic regions, in addition to Canada, the Provinces and Territories. Some data are not available at all geographic levels. SABAL also includes metadata on each of these data sources. The business sources included are: Business Small Area File (based on Revenue Canada administrative data) Retail Trade Building Permits Housing Starts from CMHC Survey of Manufacturing Motor Vehicle Registrations Business Counts Consumer Price Index Tourism The social sources included are: Census of Population Small Area Administrative Data (Taxfiler Data) Labour Force Survey Household Facilities and Equipment Survey Education Training Justice Population Projections Family Expenditures Consumer Finances Survey

Data creator
Statistics Canada
Date of creation
1996
Distributor
Ottawa, Ont.: Statistics Canada. Data Liberation Initiative
Date of distribution
1998
Statistics type
Subjects
Geography
Geographic coverage

Canada, provinces, urban areas, economic regions

Time period
1986-1995
Extent of file
133 data files (Beyond 20/20 v4.1 format; number of logical records varies) & accompanying documentation
Notes

SABAL is a compendium of the above independent data sources and not a fully integrated database. Some of these sources utilize sampling techniques with differing levels of quality between different areas and over time. Other sources are compiled from administrative records covering the complete universe. Several of these sources provide separate measures of the same item, for example, employment. These employment statistics will typically differ because of the various differences in the methodologies employed by each of the surveys or how they are compiled from administrative sources. Some of these sources use STC standard geographic boundaries, while others attempt to proxy these as closely as possible through use of postal code conversions or other estimating techniques. As well, geographic boundaries change over time making time analysis more difficult. Efforts have been made to reorganize the data into consistent geographic boundaries, where possible.

Original dissemination medium for part of the database: CD-ROM. Data from 1996 year available at the Map & Data Library for review. 

Access status
Open
Access conditions and restrictions
CD number
177