The Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN) and Statistics Canada have been working with our university partners across the Network and at our host institution McMaster University to build the virtual Research Data Centre (vRDC) – a new, networked IT platform that will provide new and improved options for accessing Statistics Canada microdata to researchers across Canada.

The virtual platform modernizes the IT infrastructure that supports 2,500+ CRDCN researchers across the country, through an overhaul of storage, computing and networking capacities. This enhancement will optimize technical efficiencies across the network and provide advanced computing capabilities to facilitate analysis and manipulation of large datasets.

Importantly, the new networked IT platform will allow approved researchers, from approved institutions with eligible research projects, virtual access from authorized workspaces (e.g. office or home). Nearly 80% of microdata files meet the criteria for remote access. The advent of the vRDC will also allow enhanced hours of operation at the RDCs, increasing flexibility for researchers accessing their project in the RDC.

The Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN) and Statistics Canada have been working with our current Network member universities across the Network and our host institution McMaster University to build the vRDC.

Statistics Canada’s data repository includes survey, census, administrative and linked data and continues to grow, thanks in part to a strong partnership with CRDCN and Collaborating Institutions that make this rich data more accessible for research. Currently there are over 200 datasets available for researcher access through the RDCs.  

Access to Statistics Canada confidential microdata is restricted to researchers with approved research projects. Project proposals are submitted through Statistics Canada’s Microdata Access Portal (MAP) for approval. 

See below for how to access the microdata.

Researchers with projects eligible for remote access to the virtual networked IT platform will be able to access their project from their personal computer in an authorized workspace using a secure authentication process.

Projects not eligible for remote access will continue to be accessed in a physical RDC. Project eligibility for remote access is determined by the sensitivity level of the data being accessed. Data sensitivity is based on disclosure risk and the sensitivity of the content of the data file. Approximately 20% of the data holdings are considered highly sensitive by Statistics Canada and will be excluded from remote access.

Institutions are being rolled out sequentially to take the time needed to fully resolve issues at each RDC before moving on to the next.

“Virtual” refers to the new IT infrastructure that has been built for the network.

All researcher accounts and projects, regardless of location of access, will be on the virtual platform.

“Remote” refers specifically to location of access, outside of an RDC, where eligible projects may be accessed in another authorized workspace, such as a home or office, on a personal device.

Following the rollout of the vRDC, researchers will be able to access their project in one or more of the following locations:

1. Statistics Canada Premises: A Research Data Centre (RDC) operating with Statistics Canada staff present.
2. Secure Room: An RDC operating without Statistics Canada staff present.
3. Authorized workspace: Remote access in an approved space (such as a closed office, a closed classroom or conference room, or a private space within the researcher’s personal residence).

The location of access is determined based on a combination of (1) data sensitivity and (2) researcher accreditation.

1. Data Sensitivity

Statistics Canada data is scored based on disclosure risk and the sensitivity of the content of the data file. Statistics Canada Subject Matter experts score each file using a Confidentiality Classification Tool (CCT), with resulting scores ranging from 0 to 9.

2. Researcher Accreditation

Level 1 Accreditation: All researchers will be eligible for Level 1 accreditation.

Level 2 Accreditation: Researchers affiliated with a partner that is a Collaborating Institution of the CRDCN will be eligible for Level 2 accreditation.

Note: A violation of RDC or vRDC protocol or security could result in the loss of accreditation for the researcher(s), or even a loss of accreditation for the institution associated with that researcher, depending on the nature of the violation.

The data repository will contain the most recent version of the data, with a standardized naming convention. In most cases, this should be the same as the data you are working with in the legacy IT system. Training will be provided for researchers on how to adjust syntax to the new repository location and file path.

If you have created your own working versions of the data within your project folder, those will be migrated into the vRDC in the same format.

Software List:

The latest version of commonly used software currently in use will be made available through the vRDC (examples: SPSS, SAS, Stata, and R), as well as repositories of associated packages and modules. A complete listing of the standard software available in the vRDC IT platform:

• LaTeX
• MATLAB(ML)
• MLwiN
• Mplus
• Octave
• PSPP
• R
• Rstudio
• SAS
• SPSS
• StatTransfer
• Stata

Requests for new software and modules:

During the rollout, researchers will be provided with instructions for requesting new or additional software. Requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis. If you are using software not included on the standard software list for your current project, you are encouraged to complete your project as soon as possible in order to mitigate any possible delays arising from software requests.

RDCs will be migrated to the vRDC IT platform in a staggered rollout starting in 2025 and continuing into 2026. 

Researchers will be contacted by the CRDCN and Statistics Canada in advance of their RDC’s transition to the vRDC IT platform.  

During the rollout, all projects will be migrated from the local RDC server to the new vRDC networked IT platform.   

Researchers will receive an email within one week of the kickoff of their RDC’s rollout.

Phase 1 – Kickoff, Orientations, & Equipment Procurement

Duration: 7 weeks
RDC Operational Status: OPEN

Phase 2 – Network Connectivity & Data Transfer

Duration: 2 weeks
RDC Operational Status: OPEN

Phase 3 – Workstation Setup & Folder Configuration

Duration: 1 week
RDC Operational Status: CLOSED

Phase 4 – Onboarding & Training

Duration: 1 week
RDC Operational Status: OPEN
vRDC Operational Status: ACTIVE

Phase 5 – Decommissioning & Close Out

Duration: 1 week +
RDC Operational Status: OPEN
vRDC Operational Status: ACTIVE

Research Data Centres will be closed temporarily during the migration. Downtime is anticipated to be approximately one week, as the data is migrated, and researchers are onboarded to the new IT platform.  

Once your RDC’s rollout begins you will have access to a Researcher Dashboard with information on exact closure dates. 

All researchers, even those with remote access, will be welcome to work on their projects inside the RDCs to benefit from the support of the RDC staff or attend training classes. 

Researchers with projects not eligible for remote access (such as those with CCT scores of 8 or 9, or those from partners that are not Collaborating Institutions), will only be able to connect to the vRDC networked IT platform from the RDC.

No, researchers will not be able to access old servers once their projects are migrated to the vRDC IT platform. 

The old RDC IT infrastructure, called the legacy system, will be decommissioned. After that, you will access your project exclusively through the new vRDC IT platform, at a physical RDC and/or remotely from an authorized workspace.

As the vRDC is rolled out, the amount we pay for software and the way these costs are calculated continues to evolve. Accordingly, StatCan has implemented a “viewer” status that researchers filling a supervisory or consultative role can use. A viewer will not have access to login to the vRDC, but can sit with another project member in the RDC or authorized workspace to discuss and review intermediate results. New projects will be subject to a 3-user limit, but can have as many viewers as necessary. 

If your project requires more than three users, please provide a brief explanation of the rationale behind the additional users to your academic director for signature while requesting your affiliation verification. The signed rationale sheet should be appended to your proposal template.

If you have an active project with three or more users and need to add additional users you must similarly obtain a signed rationale document for the additional users that must be appended to the microdata research contract amendment form adding the additional researchers to the project. Please note that this justification is only required to add users to a project that will go over the 3-user limit. Adding users to projects where the total number of users will remain 3 or fewer OR adding viewers to any project does not require a signed rationale document.

All active projects will be transferred to the vRDC IT platform during the rollout, as the old infrastructure, known as the legacy system, will no longer be accessible to researchers once an RDC has migrated.  

Researchers who are nearing the end of their projects are encouraged to complete them prior to the transition. However, all open projects will be migrated to and accessible in the new vRDC IT platform. Archived projects will also be migrated to the vRDC for storage until the retention period for the project has passed.

Software will be used during the migration to verify the integrity of the files that are transferred from local servers to the vRDC IT platform. The software will use checksums to confirm that the files are not corrupted during the transfer. However, the software cannot ensure that there are no pre-existing issues with files. All researchers are encouraged to review their project folders both before and after the migration to verify the contents.

The entire rollout for each RDC will take place over a period of twelve weeks. The data migration phase is 2-3 weeks, however each RDC will only be closed during the final week of the migration phase to ensure integrity of data transfer to the new vRDC platform.

Projects will be accessible after data migration has been completed and researchers have been onboarded and trained in vRDC login procedures and provided their new credentials.

Yes, all content currently stored in researchers’ project folders will be migrated to the vRDC IT platform and will remain available in project folders on the new infrastructure.

Yes, the same procedures for requesting the addition of external data to a project will apply.

Changes will not be actioned as of one week prior to the start of your centre’s rollout until your RDC’s rollout is complete. In order to efficiently migrate projects and researchers to the vRDC, the start of new projects and changes to existing projects will be paused for the duration of the rollout of an RDC. This includes amendments to add or remove co-investigators and/or datasets, changes to a contract’s end date, and any transfers to or from an RDC. Researchers are asked to work with their RDC Analyst to make any necessary changes to their projects well ahead of the rollout for their centre.

Yes, new projects are still being accepted, and timelines for access will be communicated at the time of project approval. Project start dates may be affected by a centre’s rollout schedule.

As the RDC will remain open during most phases of the rollout, researchers can continue to submit vetting requests as usual. However, please note that RDC staff will be very busy with rollout activities during the migration, so vetting times will be longer than usual. Please plan accordingly.

During the transition year, multicentre projects, i.e., a project that is accessed by different researchers at different RDCs, will be impacted. RDCs will be migrated to the vRDC IT platform on their individual timeline. The vRDC IT platform and the existing (legacy) RDC network will not be connected to each other. As a result,

Sharing and syncing files between the two systems will not be possible. 

RDC Affiliation

Researchers directly affiliated with the migrating RDC will be onboarded to the vRDC IT platform as part of the centre’s rollout. Onboarded researchers will need to work exclusively from a migrated centre, until other RDCs are also onboarded to the vRDC IT platform. 

Institutional Affiliation

Researchers who are affiliated with other CRDCN collaborating institutions will be onboarded to the vRDC IT platform when their centres migrate and will continue to access their project(s) on the existing (legacy) system until that time. Researchers affiliated with institutions that have not transitioned to the vRDC IT platform will no longer be able to access their project(s) at migrated centres until the institution they are affiliated with also migrates to the vRDC IT platform. 

Researchers who have no affiliation with a CRDCN collaborating institution will be onboarded with the RDC where they are working. 

Multicentre Projects

For multicentre projects with researchers onboarded to the vRDC and researchers awaiting their rollout to the vRDC:  

• An identical copy of the project folder will be made on both the vRDC IT platform and the legacy system during Phase 3 of the rollout at the migrating RDC.
• Each researcher will be able to continue working on the project, however, the work being done on the vRDC will be out of sync with the work being done on the legacy system. Additionally, it will not be possible to share files between the two systems.  
• Once all RDCs involved in the project have migrated to the vRDC, the project folders will be merged. You will have access to the contents in both copies of the project folder and will be asked to delete duplicate files to conserve storage space.  
• Multi-centre project teams should plan how to manage their work once project researchers no longer have access to the same project folder, such as dividing research objectives or temporarily consolidating work with co-investigators who will be accessing the project on the same platform. 
• Please coordinate with your research team to avoid working on the same files and to ensure any changes are noted clearly, to minimize file conflicts and facilitate the identification and removal of duplicates when the project folders are eventually re-merged. 

If you access your project(s) at more than one RDC, and one of those RDCs is migrating to the vRDC, but the other RDC has not yet migrated, you will only have access to your project(s) at one Centre.  

The vRDC IT Platform and the existing (legacy) RDC network will not be connected to each other. This means that you will not be able to share or sync files between an RDC that has migrated to the vRDC IT platform and an RDC still operating on the legacy system,

You will be migrated to the vRDC IT platform with your affiliated institution. You will not be able to access your project from an RDC that has migrated to the vRDC before your affiliated institution. Once your institution has migrated you must plan to exclusively access your project from your affiliated institution or another RDC that has transitioned to vRDC IT platform.

During the vRDC IT transition, some RDCs and researchers will be on the vRDC network before other RDCs. This will have implications if your co-investigators are working at an RDC that has not yet transitioned to the vRDC network.

The vRDC network and the existing (legacy) RDC network will not be connected. It will not be possible to share/sync files between the two networks, nor will it be possible to log in to projects at an RDC that is operating a different network than the one you are on. For researchers who are directly affiliated with the RDC that is onboarded, you will gain access to the vRDC IT platform for all of your projects and will no longer have access to projects at an RDC that has not migrated to the vRDC. For researchers who are not affiliated with an RDC that has been onboarded, you must continue accessing your projects on the existing (legacy) network until you are onboarded to the vRDC IT platform as part of the centre’s rollout plan.

For a multi-site project, a project folder will be created on both the vRDC and the legacy system*. Each researcher will be able to work on the project; however, the work being done on the vRDC will be out of sync with the work being done on the legacy system. It will not be possible to share files between the two. Once all RDCs involved in the project have migrated to the vRDC, the project folders will be merged and researchers will have access to the contents in both copies.

Multi-centre project teams should plan how to mange their work once their co-investigator(s) no longer has access to the same project folder, such as dividing research objectives or temporarily consolidating work with co-investigators who will be accessing the project on the same network. Project teams should coordinate to avoid working on the same files and to ensure any changes are noted clearly, in order to minimize file conflicts and facilitate the identification and removal of duplicates when the project folders are eventually re-merged.

*For existing multi-site projects, where one of the RDCs involved is migrating to the vRDC IT platform and one is still on the legacy system, project files created at all the RDCs involved will be transferred to both the project folders in the vRDC and the legacy system. This is to ensure that researchers have access to all files, regardless of network, to continue their work separately.

Support and technical assistance:

Researcher training and orientations will include instructions on who to contact depending on the support required.

A service request (SR) system will be available within the vRDC for technical assistance from the CRDCN, and Statistics Canada staff will be available by email or in-person in the RDC.

All researchers will require a smartphone on which the FortiMobile app can be installed to receive 2-factor authentication codes to log in. Alternatively, a vRDC specific fortitoken can be purchased for those who do not own a smartphone. 

Researchers who will have access to their projects from an Authorized Workspace on a personal computer or laptop will need a Mac or PC:

1. Apple Macintosh running MacOS 13 “Ventura” (or higher). For MacOS Tahoe (version 26) Safari does not work with the vRDC at the moment and Chrome is recommended.
2. PC running Windows 11 (or higher)*
3.  In addition, devices must have all available patches/updates installed

*Note: As of October 14th, 2025 Windows 10 is no longer supported by Microsoft without an extended service contract.  If you have not purchased this, you must upgrade (or replace) your computer. 

Note: Unfortunately, at this time, Linux distributions are not supported. 

PC users will require a functioning and up-to-date antivirus program (e.g., Windows Defender). 

Researchers will need internet connectivity to access the vRDC, and the connection cannot be public Wi-Fi.   

It is strongly recommended to use a dedicated machine for the vRDC. Other security software packages (third-party antivirus software or VPN clients) have been known to conflict with FortiClient. If you must install it on a managed device, you will need to work with your local IT staff to troubleshoot any issues encountered. CRDCN will not be able to assist with any issues related to conflicting software. Those unable to access the vRDC remotely on their own equipment after undertaking the troubleshooting steps in the quickstart guide and discussing with their university IT will still be able to access the vRDC in-person at the physical RDC.

The base setup is 2 virtual machines, each with 16Gb of RAM and 8 cores at 2.25 GHz, to be shared amongst all researchers on the project. Each machine will be roughly equivalent to a 10th gen i9 or 11th gen i7 for multicore processing, and will have 150 GB of flash-based storage for applications and temporary files. 

If you are eligible for remote access and have been granted authorization, please use this link and test whether it can be installed on your laptop. Please choose “ZTNA” option when downloading.

Once an institution is ready for the vRDC roll-out, researchers will be contacted by Statistics Canada to review project eligibility and/or initiate next steps for virtual access. New microdata research projects that are submitted through Statistics Canada’s Microdata Access Portal (MAP) after the vRDC launch will automatically be assessed for eligibility for remote access and RDC in-person access.

Please visit our “Find an RDC” page for a list of access partners to see if your institution is a part of our Network, then follow the steps below. 

Visit our web page on Accessing RDC Data for: 

• University/College Faculty and Staff  
• Student Researchers 
• Private Sector or Non-Profit Researchers
• International Researchers

If your institution is not currently a member of the Network: 

New microdata research projects can be submitted through Statistics Canada’s Microdata Access Portal (MAP).

If your institution is interested in joining the CRDCN, please contact info@crdcn.ca with the subject line “New CRDCN Collaborating Institution”. The Network will be accepting new institutional members in late 2025 / early 2026, but you can reach out now to learn about the steps to become a member and start the process.