RDC News: April 2026

MCMASTER RDC SHOWCASE 2026!

5th McMaster Statistics Canada Research Data Centre Showcase 2026
Thursday May 14, 2026 10AM to 3PM
Community Room, main floor L.R. Wilson Hall, McMaster University

The event is open at no cost to all McMaster students, staff and faculty. Please reserve your spot here via our Eventbrite page.

The Statistics Canada Research Data Centre (RDC), located in L.R. Wilson Hall, houses a large number of confidential micro-data files. These include the census, numerous surveys related to society, health and education, as well as business (including firm level), immigration, taxation, health and vital statistics administrative data. There are also numerous linked micro-data files including survey and administrative.

The showcase has two parts. The morning session will describe the RDC and its partnership with Data Services in the Mills Library, followed by other brief presentations on various data sets.

Following lunch (which will be provided), the afternoon session will consist of a series of brief presentations from current RDC researchers highlighting their work.

The event is open to all McMaster students, staff and faculty and will be of interest to those working in the RDC as well as potential researchers who are considering making use of Statistics Canada’s micro-data files. RDC staff will be available throughout the day to answer questions on the data files highlighted and others in our collection.

Holiday Hours Changes

Please note that the RDC will be closed all day on the upcoming holidays:

• Friday, April 3rd for Good Friday
• Monday, April 6th for Easter Monday

Saturday Hours – On Demand

We will be offering Saturday hours this month, Saturday, April 18th – 12pm to 4pm. We will be open on an ‘appointment’ basis, only if requested. Please sign up via the online booking system.

CRDCN Emerging Scholars Award

The Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN) is pleased to continue supporting the next generation of highly qualified personnel through the CRDCN Emerging Scholars Award (ESA), a one-time, $1,200 grant to Ph.D. students who are undertaking thesis-related research in an RDC. The grant is designed to support the development of emerging scholars’ skills and expertise in data analysis and research and to strengthen the career pathways for the next generation.

To advance this program, the CRDCN has launched the Emerging Scholars Webinar series. The next webinar will be held on April 21, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. EST. This will be a great opportunity to learn more about the work students are doing in the RDCs. To learn more about the event and register, please see https://crdcn.ca/events/emerging-scholars-webinar-spring-2026/.

If you are or know a student who is interested in applying for the Emerging Scholars Award, they can do so here: https://crdcn.ca/initiatives/events-and-resources/the-crdcn-emerging-scholars-award/.

New data sets at the RDC:

 Parental Experiences Survey (PES)

The Parental Experiences Survey collects information from parents on their experiences, knowledge and behaviours regarding pregnancy, childbirth, and access to and use of health care services. The survey aims to paint a more comprehensive picture of new parents and their infants. The results from the survey will help inform national recommendations for maternal and newborn care as well as efforts to improve the mental health and well-being of parents and families across Canada.

The target population was parents who gave birth to a liveborn infant who is at least 6 months old and less than 12 months old during the collection period, residing in one of the ten provinces and not living on reserve. The PES questionnaire content was developed in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada, and in consultation with experts in the field of reproductive health. The PES is based on the Maternity Experiences Survey (MES) conducted in 2006.

For more information about this data set, visit www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=5406

If you would like more information on how to submit a proposal for access to this data see https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/microdata/data-centres/access.

For more information about the RDC program please contact your local RDC analyst.

For a list of all the most recent data releases, see https://crdcn.ca/publications-data/data/.