QICSS (Montréal)

Since its creation in 2001, the Quebec Interuniversity Centre of Social Statistics (QICSS) has provided the research community access to a vast set of detailed and confidential microdata from Statistics Canada and the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ). Experts from various disciplines of social and health sciences benefit year after year from a state-of-the-art infrastructure allowing them to exploit the full analytical potential of the datasets made available to them, while maintaining the strictest confidentiality standards. From the beginning, the Quebec academic community has opted for a network approach: the QICSS is based on a fruitful partnership involving all Quebec universities. Access to the data is made in one of the five QICSS secure university laboratories located on the following campuses: University of Montreal, Université Laval, UQAM, McGill University, and Université de Sherbrooke. The University of Montreal Research Data Centre laboratory opened in 2001. Data from the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ) and administrative data from the Government of Quebec are also available at the Centre d'accès aux données de recherche de l'ISQ (CADRISQ) at the University of Montreal. The QICSS brings together the Quebec academic community towards a common objective: promoting the development of social statistics and supporting research activities carried out in Quebec by pooling infrastructure, resources, expertise and know-how, and by providing quality services. Supporting the next generation of researchers, training students including financial aid through a rich scholarship program, and developing highly qualified personnel are among the core missions of the QICSS. In addition, the training offered by QICSS has expanded over the years to include a Summer Schools Program and year-round training sessions. Each year, the QICSS organizes conferences, seminars and other outreach and knowledge transfer activities.