Research Guides: Government Subject Guide : Finding Government Resources &amp; Statistics

Finding Government Resources

Government websites at all levels (federal, provincial, and municipal) can have valuable information useful for your assignments. When doing online searches, adding a government web domain to the end of your search can help your results.

Add .gc.ca or bc.ca to the end of your Google search string to find federal or provincial government resources; Add .gov if searching for U.S. government sites

Examples:

searching charities and not-for-profits .gc.ca in Google will help limit to charities and not-for-profits from federal government websites
searching charities and not-for-profits .bc.ca in Google will help limit to charities and not-for-profits from provincial government websites
searching charities and not-for-profits City of Vancouver in Google help limit to charities and not-for-profits from municipal government websites

Google Advanced Video to find Government sources

Finding data using CANSIM (via CHASS)

CANSIM - Canadian Socio-Economic Information Management System

CANSIM is a collection of time series data from Statistics Canada covering a variety of social, economic, and other aspects of Canadian life. Many CANSIM data tables are available freely online but we also have access to the CHASS version (link below).

On CANSIM, you can find the following:

survey data
multiple reported statistics
detailed variables

Please refer to your class materials and instructor for help using CANSIM. The resource below may also be helpful:

When citing information from CANSIM data, please check out the library's APA guide.

CANSIM (CHASS) This link opens in a new window
CANSIM (Canadian Socio-Economic Information Management System) is the Statistics Canada's computerized database of time series covering a wide variety of social and economic aspects of Canadian life. CANSIM tables are freely available on the Statistics Canada website and are updated daily. CANSIM is also available through the University of Toronto’s Computing in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS) Data Centre. The CHASS version provides more powerful searching options than the Statcan website

Websites

General

Business and Economics

Bank of Canada
Covers financial information pertaining to the Canadian economy.
Bank of Canada Review
A semi-annual publication featuring articles related to the Canadian economy and to central banking.
Department of Finance
Government Expenditure Plan and Main Estimates (Parts I and II)
Federal Budget
Public Accounts of Canada
The report of the Government of Canada prepared annually by the Receiver General.
Office of the Auditor General of Canada
Research and Business Intelligence
Industry sector data, financial benchmarks, labour trends and business statistics.

Elections

Elections Canada
History of the Federal Electoral Ridings since 1867
Covers federal election candidates since Confederation. Can search the history of a riding.

Immigration

Law

Department of Justice Canada
Provides information in regards to Family Law, the Criminal Justice System, Canada's System of Justice and Laws (Act, Regulations, and Constitutional Documents)
Justice Laws
Consolidated statutes and regulations of Canada
Canada Gazette
Three-part official newspaper of the Government of Canada that covers proposed legislation and recent enactments and amendments
Parliament of Canada
Judgments of the Supreme Court of Canada
Correctional Service Canada (CSC)
Provides information into the services provided by CSC, As well as the correctional process.

Statistics

Data - Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada's key socio-economic database. Updated daily and provides access to a large range of statistics on Canadian economics, demographics and social series.
Statistics Canada
Statistics from Canada's national statistical agency. Organized into three broad subject areas: demographic/social, economic, and socio-economic.

B.C. Homepage - Province of British Columbia
Government of British Columbia

Business and Economics

BC Budget and Estimates
BC Ministry of Finance
Office of the Comptroller General
BC Public Accounts

Law

BC Laws
Provides free access to British Columbia Statutes and Regulations.
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
Provides links to Bills and Hansard.

Statistics

BC Stats
Contains a range of economic, socio-economic and geographic information pertaining to British Columbia.

Municipal Governments

City of Abbotsford
City of Burnaby
City of Langley
City of North Vancouver
City of Pitt Meadows
City of Richmond
City of Coquitlam
City of Surrey
City of Vancouver
City of Delta
Maple Ridge
New Westminster
District of North Vancouver
City of Port Coquitlam
Port Moody
West Vancouver
White Rock
CivicInfo BC
Contains government reports, manuals, bylaws and is searchable by topic and resource type.
Metro Vancouver

Provincial Governments

United States

USA.gov
United States Government official web portal
U.S. Census Bureau
A source of social, demographic, and economic information collected by the federal government.

Country Profiles

U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets
The Economist - Topics
Global Affairs Canada - Country Insights
BBC News Country Profiles
Library of Congress - Country Studies
This Library of Congress site covers information regarding the culture and society of various countries
World Factbook

International Organizations

APEC
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
International Monetary Fund
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
OECD - Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
United Nations
World Bank
World Health Organization