Environics Analytics Captures a Variety of COVID-19 Related Data

Published Apr 12, 2021, 09:14 AM by Environics Analytics

A summary of how COVID-19 impacted our databases and product offerings in 2021

Many of our clients have asked how our data will reflect the changes we have experienced in Canada due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For nearly 20 years, we have provided a comprehensive suite of geodemographic data products at the neighbourhood level. Our products rely on a network of trusted data partners, and these partners employ best practices in their data collection methods so that their data are as current and representative of the Canadian population as possible. As a result, our 2021 data will capture a variety of COVID-19 related impacts on Canadians and neighbourhoods.

Below are some of the specific ways we have adjusted our core databases and product offerings to account for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canadian Demographic and Behavioural Changes

Environics Analytics holds the position that neighbourhood demographic, behavioural and attitudinal characteristics change on an annual basis and we rely on the best data available to reflect those changes. Significant change at the neighbourhood level is usually associated with new housing, gentrification or life stage changes and typically happen over a longer span of time. This past year introduced a new, unexpected cause for significant neighbourhood level changes. Behaviour is more likely to have changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic due to regional lockdowns, public safety measures and people’s differing levels of fear and risk tolerance.

Social and Demographic Trends

Over the course of the pandemic, we have observed some changes in social and demographic trends. Notably, one of those changes is a decline in population growth due to a slow-down in immigration and employment, impacting both labour force and occupation variable estimates. Additionally, consumer spending and financial status changes in disposable income and savings have been observed. This is how these trends are addressed in our data:

We use up-to-date information from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to inform us about the immigrants by country. We have adjusted our national controls downward for the number of immigrants that are projected to come to Canada. This will impact the total population, immigrants and all language groups.
Our Labour Force employment/unemployment rates were adjusted for COVID-19 using the Labour Force Survey (LFS) from Statistics Canada (monthly updates) and Oxford Economics. This adjustment to employment/unemployment rates also impacts other themes like Occupations and Place of Work.
In 2020, the government of Canada paid out an excess of 80 billion dollars to Canadians in the form of the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). We have adjusted our income estimates to reflect the influx of government support as well as wage losses stemming from changes in employment status. In addition, the pandemic has caused looming uncertainty and unprecedented government restrictions that have altered consumer spending and saving behaviours. The 2021 WealthScapes suite of products will capture these effects as well as how changes in the market, employment and wages have impacted Canadian household balance sheets.

New Product Innovation

Even the data and analytics sector – one that may not immediately come to mind as being affected by the pandemic – has experienced an accelerated rate of innovation in pursuit of finding and modelling the data needed to support response and recovery. We’ve adjusted our core Canadian products and data categories to reflect the new reality and developed new recovery products, including enhanced mobile movement data products, to help address concerns raised by the pandemic and to provide more recent data.

Take a look at some of our new databases:

The Frailty Index identifies Canadians by neighbourhood who are more likely to have difficulty going about day-to-day activities in their communities due to age, physical limitations or health, especially conditions that are comorbidities of concern for COVID-19.
The Social Vulnerability Index looks at Canadians who may be challenged during and post-pandemic due to limited social interactions, and its impact on their mental and social well-being.
Financial Vulnerability Index helps government, social services and private industry sectors to understand the populations most at risk financially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
WealthTrends is a new and essential add-on for WeathScapes users to access quarterly updates to the economic and financial picture of Canadians at the neighbourhood level.
MobileScapes Out & About provides access to up-to-date insights into the changing movement patterns of different population groups down to small geographic levels.
VisitorView helps you see where visitors are coming from and when they travel, using the latest data, to develop campaign strategies that attract travellers to Canada, its provinces and territories or one of the 85 tourism regions defined by Destination Canada.
VaccineInsights sheds light on the reasons behind COVID-19 vaccine-confident and vaccine-hesitant populations in Canada.

Accessible Data Insights with ENVISION

Our ENVISION consumer insights and market intelligence platform provide marketers and site location analysts with easy access to data analytics reporting and mapping while leveraging our data and industry expertise. We continue to expand ENVISION’s features and functionality to provide fast and intuitive solutions for our users, including a well-designed graphical interface powered by Esri’s ArcGIS and the ability to analyze large volumes of mobile movement data quickly and effectively.

Our proprietary geofence database within ENVISION now offers over 99,000 pre-built geofences, including thousands of commercial, institutional and recreational locations, with more being added daily.

Our team of data analytics experts will continue to work hard to provide reliable and up-to-date data solutions to help our clients see the marketplace as it is changing. Evidence-based decision-making—derived from data insights—is now a requirement for most businesses and organizations to keep up with the rapid pace of change and strategize for the future. Our data scientists, mathematicians, statisticians, geographers and marketing strategists continue to be motivated and committed to supporting our clients’ recovery with best-in-class data and analytics solutions.

If you have a question about our products and services or your specific situation, please get in touch.

Our industry experts are always happy to talk.

Watch the Environics Analytics Product Innovations Announcement

EA’s senior executives, Peter Miron and Danny Heuman share exciting new product innovations and additions to the EA portfolio of products and services as part of our 2020 User Conference.

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