Toward improved health for
Ontario’s First Nations:
The Aboriginal People’s Survey
A presentation to the Association of Local Public Health Agencies
February 8, 2008
Chantelle Richmond, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Fellow (U of T, Public Health Sciences)
Adjunct Professor (UWO, Geography & First Nations Studies)
Outline of topics
 What is the Aboriginal
People’s Survey?
 What does the APS
measure?
 How can you access the
APS data?
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The Aboriginal People’s Survey (1)
 A post censal survey conducted by Statistics
Canada (1991, 2001, 2006 underway)
 The report of the Royal Commission on
Aboriginal Peoples relied heavily on the 1991
APS data
 Survey developed in consultation with
national Aboriginal organizations, federal
departments, provincial and territorial groups
 All data collected under the authority of the
Statistics Act
 Data owned by Statistics Canada
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The Aboriginal People’s Survey (2)
 The APS respondents represent diverse
segments of the Aboriginal population (who
report First Nation, Métis, Inuit ancestry and
identity)
 Geographic levels include on-reserve & off-reserve
First Nations, Métis settlements, Inuit communities,
urban, rural, Northern Aboriginal peoples
 In total, 217 communities participated (> 120,000)
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The Aboriginal People’s Survey (3)
 22 communities were incompletely enumerated
by the APS (5,455 individuals)
 Refusal to participate, data collection interrupted
 40 other communities incompletely enumerated by
2001 Census
 First Nations on-reserve sample not statistically
representative or aggregated to the population
level
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Objectives of the 2001 APS
 To provide data on the social and
economic conditions of Aboriginal people
in Canada
 To identify needs and priorities within the
Aboriginal population
APS Concepts and Methods Guide: http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/89-591XIE/89-591-XIE2003001.pdf
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APS Core Survey Content
 Education
 Language
 Health
 Labour Activity
 Income
 Schooling
 Housing
 Mobility
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APS Data Collection Tools
 Personal and telephone interviews with
residents of private dwellings
 Four Survey Instruments
1. Children and youth survey (0-14 years old)
2. Adult core survey (all adults 15 and over)
3. Arctic Supplement (Inuit community
residents)
4. Métis Supplement (Métis identity/ancestry)
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Strategies for accessing APS data
1. Perform your own data
analysis at a Statistics
Canada Research Data
Centre
2. Use the 2001 APS
Community Profiles
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Statistics Canada’s Research
Data Centres (RDC’s) (1)
 RDC’s provide researchers with access, in a
secure university setting, to microdata from
population and household surveys undetaken
by Statistics Canada
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

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StatCan datasets more readily available
14 RDC’s across Canada
Staffed by StatCan employees
Projects must first be be approved
Researchers are ‘deemed employees’ and
must abide by the Statistics Act
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Statistics Canada’s Research
Data Centres (RDC’s) (2)
 RDC’s in Ontario
1. Carleton, Ottawa, Outaouais Local Research Data
Centre (COOL RDC)
 University of Ottawa, Carleton University
2. Queen's University Research Data Centre
3. Toronto Regional Statistics Canada RDC
 University of Toronto, Ryerson University, York University
4. McMaster University Research Data Centre
5. South Western Ontario Research Data Centre
 University of Waterloo, Laurentian University
6. University of Western Ontario Research Data Centre
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The 2001 APS Community Profiles
 Web address:
http://www12.statcan.ca/english/profil01aps/home.cfm
 Information on Aboriginal identity population for
select communities where population > 200
 Data available at the community level for:
 Children
 General health, health care utilization, medical conditions,
physical injuries, dental care, education and social
activities, language, childcare arrangements
 Adults
 Education, language, labour activity, health communication
technology, mobility, housing
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AN EXAMPLE FROM THE APS COMMUNITY PROFILES
General Health Characteristics (Adult)
Garden River
14
Fort William
52
Excellent or very good
59
38
Good
31
32
Fair or poor
6
32
Family doctor or general practitioner
59
78
Traditional healer
16
X
Nurse
31
41
Dentist or Orthodontist
55
54
Other health professional
45
70
Self-rated health
% of adults who say their health is:
% of adults who saw or talked on
telephone about physical, emotional or
mental health in past 12 months to:
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AN EXAMPLE FROM THE APS COMMUNITY PROFILES
Child Education and Social Activities
Child Education:
Garden River 14
Fort William 52
% of children (6-14 years) attending
school
100
92
% of children (6-14 years) who attended
an early childhood development or
preschool program
50
38
% of children (6-14 years) who attended
Aboriginal specific early childhood
development or preschool program
86
X
Average number of hours children watch
TV and/or play video games per day
4
4
Never or less than once (%)
X
25
One or more times (%)
83
75
How often child plays sports per week:
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Summary of the APS
 The APS is a rich source of data on the Aboriginal
population of Canada
 APS data can be used to inform the health and social
needs of Aboriginal peoples in Ontario and for
targeting health care programming
 Limitations relate to population or regional
aggregation of First Nation on-reserve population
 Community-level profiles are useful for
understanding local conditions
 A need to integrate information from other sources
(i.e., the Regional Health Survey) and from other
methods as well (e.g., qualitative approaches)
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Thanks for listening/ Miigwetch!
Comments/questions:
Chantelle Richmond, Ph.D.
Department of Geography &
The First Nations Studies Program
The University of Western Ontario
1151 Richmond Street
London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5C2
Tel: 519 661-2111, ext. 85324
Fax: 519 661-3750
E-mail: chantelle.richmond@uwo.ca
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