Opened in February 2016 to serve northern researchers with their data needs, the Yellowknife Branch Statistics Canada Research Data Centre (RDC) is located within the Institute for Circumpolar Health Research. The Yellowknife Branch RDC provides access to detailed microdata from Statistics Canada’s surveys, Canadian Census data, as well as an increasing number of administrative data sets. The Yellowknife Branch RDC also promotes the use of data through associated training and resources, and can assist in the dissemination of research results.

The Research Data Centres (RDC) Program is operated through a partnership with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and university consortia to help strengthen Canada’s social research capacity and to support the policy research community.

The Research Data Centres provide opportunities to:

  • generate a wide perspective on Canada’s social landscape;
  • provide social science research facilities across the country in both larger and smaller population centres;
  • expand the collaboration between Statistics Canada, SSHRC, CIHR, CFI, universities and academic researchers, and build on the Data Liberation Initiative;
  • and train a new generation of Canadian quantitative social scientists.

The Yellowknife RDC Branch, which is a branch of the Manitoba RDC, is part of a network of 27 Statistics Canada Research Data Centres and associated Branches in Canadian Universities. RDCs are located throughout the country, so researchers no longer need to travel to Ottawa to access Statistics Canada microdata.

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