PRINCE GEORGE – Researchers at the University of Northern British Columbia and around the region now have a secure connection to Statistics Canada population, household survey and administrative microdata through the UNBC Research Data Centre.
Prior to the opening of the UNBC Research Data Centre, researchers from Northern BC travelled to larger centres, including Vancouver and Ottawa, to access the secure computers necessary to conduct their work.
Approved researchers, which can include faculty members, graduate students and others in the community, will now be able to access that same survey, census and administrative microdata in the data centre located on the first floor of the Geoffrey R. Weller Library at the UNBC Prince George campus.
“Statistics Canada is delighted to mark the launch of the Research Data Centre at the University of Northern British Columbia,” says Anil Arora, Chief Statistician of Canada.
“This centre will promote scientific research by making Statistics Canada population and household microdata available to researchers. The work that will be done here will inform public policy and public debate, while maintaining the confidentiality of the data involved.”
The facility at UNBC is a Branch Research Data Centre affiliated with the British Columbia Inter-University Research Data Centre, which is, in turn, a member of the Canadian Research Data Centre Network.
The UNBC Research Data Centre received support from Statistics Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Northern Medical Program and Northern Health.
“We’re proud to support access to secure and sensitive data by researchers in the north. The Research Data Centre is important from a health perspective because we will now have access to information that can help us to better understand the needs of the people we serve in Northern British Columbia” says Fraser Bell, Vice President, Planning, Quality & Information Management, Northern Health.
UNBC is one of 29 University campuses in Canada to host a Research Data Centre.
