Statscan could fill public data gaps if Ottawa increases funds, chief statistician says

Frank Welsh, director of policy for the Canadian Public Health Association, urged the federal government to bridge some of the gaps by circulating a memorandum of understanding where provinces would agree to collect statistics using a common methodology in areas such as obesity, injury prevention and cancer. “What would be a great step forward is to identify a core set of health statistics across the provinces and territories and agree on some methodologies to improve them,” he said.