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The CRDCN and Statistics Canada have been working with our university partners across the Network and at our host institution McMaster University to build the vRDC – a new networked platform that will provide microdata access to researchers across the country.
Virtual Research Data Centre (vRDC) Platform
Beginning in 2023, the CRDCN’s new virtual Research Data Centre (vRDC) platform will provide enhanced access to Statistics Canada microdata in the Research Data Centres (RDCs) at our partner universities, and for the first-time, will also provide remote access to most data.
Accessing the “v” in the vRDC: Once the vRDC platform is live, up to 80% of the datasets will be accessible remotely to approved researchers at accredited institutions.
R is for Research: Access to Statistics Canada confidential microdata is restricted to approved researchers and approved research projects to ensure the confidentiality and security of the data. Confidential microdata may include indirect personal identifiers and access is strictly limited on a need to know basis. All researchers who access Statistics Canada confidential data become deemed employees of Statistics Canada.
D is for Data: Statistics Canada microdata contain detailed information on the characteristics of individuals, households, or businesses. The data are collected by survey, census or through an administrative database.
C is for Centre: About 20% of the data are deemed highly sensitive (e.g. business data) and will continue to be available only through the RDC. Statistics Canada data offerings continue to grow and, through a strong partnership with CRDCN, are able to make this rich data more accessible for research.
How to find U in the vRDC: Where do you fit in? As researchers, or perhaps as policy-makers, you may be wondering how and when to access this new resource. As McMaster University is the host institution, we will roll out the vRDC there first in 2023.
Researchers looking for information should keep an eye out for emails from CRDCN and their Academic Directors, which will indicate the start of the roll-out process at your university RDC. You should also look for our announcement about the Researcher vRDC Dashboard, coming in 2023, which will have information on roll-out timing for training, remote access to the new network, and more.
If you are a policy-maker or health provider that depends on RDC data to make evidence-based decisions, you can continue to work with data-scientists throughout the roll-out, as access to Statistics Canada microdata will continue throughout the roll-out process.
For general inquiries, please contact info@crdcn.ca.
General About CRDCN
The Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN) is a national research organization and Major Science Initiative headquartered at McMaster University. CRDCN facilitates unique access to Statistics Canada microdata at 33 Research Data Centres (RDCs) for more than 2200 researchers across Canada in a wide array of disciplines, thereby enabling forefront university research and training, and informing key areas of public policy.
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