Upcoming holiday hours changes

Please note the upcoming changes to the usual centre operating hours this month:

• CLOSED on Monday May 24th for Victoria Day.

We hope everybody will have a safe, happy and healthy holiday season! 

Saturday Hours - On Demand

This month we will be offering on-demand Saturday hours.  We will be open on an 'appointment' basis, only if requested - this will be done through the online booking system (at booked.mcmaster.ca/rdc/) 

Offered dates for Saturday hours this month are:

• Saturday, May 15th - 12pm to 4pm

REMINDER: RDC reopening protocols

Please continue to visit booked.mcmaster.ca/rdc/ to make your bookings.

A reminder that we must still comply with campus requirements, so researchers MUST complete the COVID-19 Self-Assessment Tool prior to coming to campus.  We will ask that you show the assessment results (e.g. on your phone) to an Analyst when you arrive at the RDC. 

New data sets at the RDC: 

Business Research Microdata (BRM)

The goal of the Business Research Microdata (BRM), developed by the Economic Analysis Division (EAD) at Statistics Canada, is to provide external researchers at Research Data Centres (RDC) a set of ‘core’ firm level variables that are able to satisfy the economic questions their projects seek to answer. Key information on firms includes finances, ownership by gender in private enterprises, merchandise trade, investment and R&D expenditures. In addition, EAD has created a number of derived variables for the BRM. These variables are based on economic theory and common usage, and helps to alleviate the burden of correct specification for external researchers.

Researchers with an interest in accessing these new datasets are invited to review the Data Dictionary and Variable List before submitting their proposals through the Microdata Access Portal (MAP) -- these can be found HERE.

There are some important notes to consider re: accessing the BRM:

• It is strongly recommended that students do not apply for access as part of their thesis or dissertation research. This is because of the potential delays anticipated with approval, challenges of becoming familiar with the data, and vetting delays as business data vetting rules and processes are under development.
• All investigators most declare no conflict of interest (COI) In the event of COI, additional delays in access are to be expected until COIs are resolved.
• Research proposals are evaluated by Statistics Canada subject matter experts. Proposals will be accepted and evaluated on an ongoing basis. It is expected that the evaluation process will take between 1 to 3 months. This period may be extended to accommodate resubmissions based on feedback from the reviewers.

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.