Data available

Population Data BC (PopData) facilitates access to data from PopData partners, including both federal and provincial sources, and through partnerships with the Government of British Columbia to support the delivery of the Data Innovation Program (DI Program) and Health Data Platform BC (HDPBC). A wide range of data, from both federal and provincial sources is available across these access streams.

It is important to note that data is shared differently by data providers and, as a result, there may be variations in eligibility criteria, data access request processes, requirements in the project lifecycle and whether linkage of data sets across programs/providers is permitted. PopData, the BC Government and other data providers, have worked hard to harmonise processes for Researchers as much as is possible.

More detailed information on the PopData/HDPBC data access process may be found in the Data access section of this website. For more information on data access for the DI Program, visit the DI Program website.

 

Core vs. Non-Core Data

  • Core Data: Some BC Ministry of Health data sets available through PopData and HDPBC are called ‘Core Data’. A Core Data set is a standardized ‘bundle’ of commonly requested variables. A Core Data set may not include ALL the variables available in the data set. For example, some Core Data variables, such as geography or organisational codes, are suppressed to meet privacy legislation requirements.
  • Non-Core Data: Non-Core Data are variables that are NOT included in the standardized Core Data set. Non-Core Data is available for request as an addition to the Core Data set.

For the majority of DARs, requesting access to Core Data ONLY may make the data access approval process quicker and may expedite data provision. Data requests that include Non-Core Data will be subject to regular rather than expedited processes, both for application review and data provisioning.

Please note that the overall data access request is subject to meeting ALL of the Five SAFEs requirements. For more detail on the Five SAFEs, visit the Eligibility and the Five SAFES model page of our website.


 

The tables below show the data sets available by category.

Please note: Variables available for a particular data set may differ across the DI Program, PopData and HDPBC streams, so always check to make sure that what you need is available. 

   Demographic 

Data setAvailability
DI ProgramPopDataHDPBC
BC Vital Events and Statistics Births✓   view✓   view✓   view
BC Vital Events and Statistics Deaths✓   view✓   view✓   view
BC Vital Events and Statistics Marriages✓   view✓   view 
BC Vital Events and Statistics Stillbirths✓   view✓   view✓   view
Central Demographics File (MSP Registration and Premium Billings, Client Roster and Census Geodata)/Consolidation File✓   view✓   view 
Client Roster (CR) Snapshot  ✓   view
Population Extrapolation for Organizational Planning with Less Error (PEOPLE)  ✓   view
Registration and Premium Billings (RBP Lite)✓   view 

  Education

Data setAvailability
DI ProgramPopDataHDPBC
K to 12 Socio Economic Index (SES)✓   view  
K to 12 Student Assessments✓   view✓   view 
K to 12 Student Demographics and Achievements✓   view✓   view 
K to 12 Student Learning Surveys✓   view✓   view 

  Environment and Resources

Data setAvailability
DI ProgramPopDataHDPBC
The Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (CANUE) ✓   view 

  Justice

Data setAvailability
DI ProgramPopDataHDPBC
Corrections - Adult Community and Custody✓   view  

  Health

Data setAvailability
DI ProgramPopDataHDPBC
BC Cancer Registry ✓   view✓   view
BC Cardiac Service Registry  ✓   view
BC Perinatal Data Registry✓   view✓   view✓   view
BC Renal  ✓   view
Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging ✓   view 
Chronic Disease Registry✓   view✓   view✓   view
CIHI Population Grouping Methodology (CPOP)  ✓   view
COVID-19 Census Hospitalizations and Critical Care Reports  ✓   view
COVID-19 Immunization Data ✓   view 
COVID-19 Test Lab Data✓   view✓   view✓   view
Discharge Abstract Database✓   view✓   view✓   view
HealthIdeas Common and Reference Dimensions  ✓   view
HealthLink 811-COVID  ✓   view
Health System Matrix  ✓   view
Home and Community Care✓   viewview 
Home and Community Care Minimum Reporting Requirements  view
Medical Imaging Wait Times  ✓   view
Medical Services Plan (MSP)✓   view✓   view ✓   view
Mental Health Services✓   view✓   view  
National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS)✓   view✓   view✓   view
Patient-Centered Measurement (PCM)  ✓   view
Patient-Centered Measurement (PCM) - Acute Inpatient 2016-17 Survey ✓   view 
Patient-Centered Measurement (PCM) - Emergency Department Survey 2018 ✓   view 
Patient-Centered Measurement (PCM) - Long Term Care Survey ✓   view 
PharmaCare✓   view✓   view 
PharmaNet✓   view✓   view✓   view
Post-Covid Recovery Clinic  ✓   view
Provincial Immunization Registry  ✓   view
Provincial Overdose Cohort ✓   view 
Residential Assessment Instrument✓   view✓   view✓   view
Surgical Wait Times (SWT)  ✓   view
VPP Clinical OMOP Data  ✓   view

  Social

Data setAvailability
DI ProgramPopDataHDPBC
Affordable Child Care Benefit✓   view  
BC Employment and Assistance✓   view  
BC Family Maintenance✓   view  
BC Property Assessment✓   view  
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (CIMD)  ✓   view
Child and Youth Mental Health (CYMH✓   view  
Child Care Subsidy✓   view  
Child Welfare Program✓   view  
Community Living Programs✓   view  
Early Development Instrument✓   view✓   view 
Middle Years Development Instrument ✓   view 
Permanent Residents ✓   view 
Private Market Rent Supplements for Eligible Seniors and Working Families✓   view  
Shelter and Homeless Outreach Private Market Rent Supplements✓   view  
Supportive Housing✓   view  

  Transportation

Data setAvailability
DI ProgramPopDataHDPBC
ICBC – Contraventions✓   view  
ICBC – Crashes✓   view  
ICBC - Driver Licensing✓   view  
ICBC - Traffic Accident System (TAS)✓   view  
ICBC - Vehicle Population✓   view  

  Work and Income

Data setAvailability
DI ProgramPopDataHDPBC
Income Band ✓   view 
Income Bands - Custom✓   view  
Income Bands by Postal Code✓   view  
Labour Market Programs✓   view  
WorkSafe Claims, Injury and Firm Level files ✓   view 
Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants✓   view  
Provincial Nominee Program✓   view  

 

DARs/Projects snapshot

Total number of DARs/Projects currently with PopData:443

 

 

Last revised December 3rd, 2024

Upcoming events

Need pan-Canadian data?

The Data Access Support Hub (DASH) is a one-stop data access service portal for researchers requiring multi-jurisdictional data in Canada.

> more information