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Getting Started
Use these resources to generally orient yourself to external factors affecting your market and industry.
- Business Source Complete - Find a country report that will describe general economic and political trends. To access these type the name of the country in the search box and select country report as the publication type.
- Passport - Get country reports on consumer behavior, demographics and economics. Find reports on technological trends.
- Bloomberg - Use the BI function to find detailed reports on industries and economies.
- Conference Board of Canada - Reports on Canadian economy at the national, provincial and local level. Also contains reports on Canadian Industries.
- globalEDGE - Provides an overview and data for countries as well as links to other sources.
Find Industry-Specific Resources
Use Google to identify government bodies, associations and trade journals relevant to your industry. These will often provide information on TESP factors that affect the industry. Examples are National Airlines Council of Canada, Industry Canada list of telecommunication related associations, CRTC and Transport Canada.
Government Resources
Look for Reports from Consulting Firms
Major consulting firms publish reports on trends affecting an industry. These include TESP factors. Major consulting firms include:
Find news related to your industry
Industry associations often provide information and data to the public. To find the relevant association(s) for your industry, search google for the industry + country + association. A few examples:
- Retail Council of Canada
- Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA)
- Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL) (U.S)
Many non-governmental organizations are critics of industry. They act as a watchdog for the public and lobby governments to be diligent in overseeing activities of an industry. To find relevant NGOs, search google by keyword(s) + protection or organization. A few examples:
Think tanks are independent, nonpartisian, public policy research institutes that are often non-profit such as the C.D.Howe Institute, Macdonald-Laurier Institute, American Enterprise Institute, Brookings Institute, etc. They conduct research and analysis on current issues and topics. The Harvard Kennedy School provides a searchable database of over 600 think tank listings.
Government Sources
Canada
Regulations (Canada Business Network)
To find the names of associations and companies that are currently lobbying goverment see Lobbying statistics - Subject Matter in Monthly Communication Reports
To stay on top of proposed regulations - Canada Gazette
To see the Government's regulatory intentions - Government-Wide Forward Regulatory Plans
Departmental/Agency Plans (DPs) describe the priorities and programmes for the next fiscal year, along with the expected outcomes
BizPal - Business Permit and Licence Information
Canlii - The Canadian Legal Information Institute
United States
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) - Budget appendix contains financial information on individual programs and appropriation accounts
Government Accountability Office (GAO) - role is to improve the performance and accountability of the federal government
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register (updates the Code) and Reginfo.gov
Key resources
- Economist Intelligence Unit - provides disposal income
- Conference Board of Canada e-Library - browse by topic Economic Trends for forecasting at federal, provincial and municipal levels in Canada.
Includes consumer and business confidence reports
Government Sources
Canada
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada Search by Subject - Find data tables and analytical reports
Statistics Canada may not be the only source of the statistics needed - there may be another department or agency, or international body - e.g National Energy Board; NATS - National Transportation Statistics.
Monetary Policy Report (quarterly) - examines the global and Canadian economy with outlook information
Business Outlook Survey (quarterly) - survey of senior management of about 100 firms to gain their views on future economic activity
Indicators of Capacity and Inflation Pressures for Canada
United States
Federal Reserve Bank of New York - U.S. Economy in a Snapshot
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis - FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data - has extended time series)
Bureau of Economic Analysis - U.S. Economy at a Glance (has links to historical data)
Other sources of data: Economic Indicators (Library subject guide); Data and Statistics about the United States (USA.gov); StatsAmerica
World
Global Economic Prospects (World Bank) Note: Commodity Markets Website. Also, note Research and Publications - Data leads to country statistics.
World Economic Outlook (International Monetary Fund) - the publication has an underlying database. Note the link to Data leads to many databases, one of which is Principal Global Indicators. Further information is available from OECD and the OECD iLibrary
Demographic Data
A) Canada
Census of Population
Counts every man, woman and child in Canada and Canadians and their families working abroad for the federal and provincial government. Takes place every 5 years in years ending in 1 and 6 - 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016
To compare censuses from 1981 to 2016, use the Canadian Census Analyser.
To compare censuses from 1981 to 2016, use the Canadian Census Analyser.
- In other circumstances, you may wish to get an impression of the whole country on a theme, e.g. Age and Sex. Check the Analytical products or Canadian Demographics at a Glance.
- You may need a visual that shows a census variable of Canada, a Province/Territory or a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). To do this, you can use the Focus on Geography Series.
- You may wish to look at Canada as a whole or at a particular Province, Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) or Census Subdivision (CSD) - e.g. Ottawa. To do this, you can check the Census Profile.
Some variables have been combined in cross-tabulations e.g. Language spoken at home, single and multiple responses, mother tongue and age. Note the "Geography" to ensure that the statistics are available at the level of geography that you need.
Surveys (sample of population and participation is voluntary)
National Household Survey 2011
- Coverage: 4.5 million dwellings. This is slightly less than 30% of all private dwellings in Canada in 2011.
- Number of questions: 65 relating to labor, income, education, mobility, migration, immigration, ethnocultural diversity, aboriginal peoples, religion, housing and language.
- Response rate: 68.6%
- Geography: for an NHS Profile e.g. for a Province, CMA or CSD use NHS Profile, 2011
For additional levels of geography access the National Household Survey through the Canadian Census Analyser.
- 2012 Statistical Abstract - continued by ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States
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Census Data - data platform
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Updated by population estimates and projections
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Began in 2005 and used to be conducted in years 1, 3 and 5.
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Year 3 dropped in 2014
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Replaced the long form census
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Use it to obtain estimates of the distribution of characteristics (percentages, means, medians and rates) rather than estimates of population totals.
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Cannot compare different time periods or those that overlap.
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Data profiles of the United States - social, economic, housing and demographic
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Alphabetical list of subject pages - each one will indicate where data can be found (decennial census, American community survey, etc.)
Behavioural
Canada, the United States, and Global
Look for current research by keyword in the search box:
- Top 10 Global Consumer Trends for 2017
- Engage, Return and Repeat: The Subscription Economy January 2017
- Consumer Health in 2017: Market Overview, Trends and What’s New in Passport (January 2017)
You can also search by a specific country:
- From the toolbar at the top of the page, select Consumers then Lifestyles.
- Next, under Analysis Finder, select Content.
- Under all analysis select consumer lifestyles
- Choose Geography - expand North America and select Canada
- Scroll through Table of Contents looking for relevant categories such as:
- eating and drinking
- attitudes toward payment methods
- leisure time
- consumer segmentation
- Conference Board - Data on consumer confidence
Attitudinal
Search the following for polls and information on attitudes of Canadians:
Structural Analysis of an Industry
Resources
- Begin with Business Source Complete
Start here for industry analyses. Select Industry Profiles from the Publication Type list located within the Search Options under the search box. Enter the industry and country of interest into the search box. For example, "Wireless Telecommunications Services in Canada" provides an analysis using Porter's 5 Forces.
Search under BI for aggregate data
Select the Report Search tab from the menu. Next, select the industry of interest and then the geographical region.
Go to Industries at the top of the page, select the relevant industry or industries and narrow by country.
Mouse over Companies/Markets from the menu bar at the top of the page and select Industry. Then, select the industry from the list provided.
Under Browse by, select Topic. Then select Industry Sector Economics for industry profiles or enter the industry name in the search box.
Startup Specific
Resources
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Buyer Power
- Industry Profile - Business Source Complete
- Brand identity, Substitutes - Passport
- Disposal income - EIU
- Buyer volume for B-to-B - Bloomberg, Mergent Online
- Supplier Industry
- Business Source Complete - Industry Profile
- Bloomberg - go to company profile and key in supply chain
- Mergent Online
- The following directories will give you an idea of the number and location of firms that produce or can supply the products companies in your industry need:
There are also many trade/business directories available online. Do a Google search for the region or country you need. For example, business directory china
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Threat of New Entrants
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Business Source Complete - Industry Profile
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Start-up/operating costs and aggregate industry data - Bloomberg, Mergent Online
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Legal obstacles - Country Commercial Guides from globalEdge
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Threat of Substitutes
- Business Source Complete - Industry Profile
- Brand identity, Substitutes - Passport
- Disposal income - EIU
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Degree of Rivalry
- Business Source Complete - Industry Profile
- Aggregate industry data - Bloomberg, Mergent Online, Factiva (tip - ROIC, growth rate available on Bloomberg)
Specialized reports from reputable sources
- World Energy Outlook from the OECD
- Global Auto Report from Scotiabank
- J.D Power offers some info on ratings and customer satisfaction surveys for free.
- Look to investment and consulting firms for research on industries:
- PWC Research & Insights by Industry
- BMO News & Insights
- J.P. Morgan Research & Markets
Look for valuable information and data from trade associations
Google the industry + country + associations to find trade associations.
For example:
Government Sources
- Canada - Statistics Canada
- Financial Performance Data (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada)
- Canadian Industry Statistics (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada)
- North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Canada 2017
- Use the search function in NAICS 2017
- United States - Census Bureau
- United States - Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Visualizations of Industry Data
Begin with the company's 10K or annual report - usually found on their web site or by doing a google search of company name and 10K or annual report. Read the Management Discussion and Analysis - (MD&A) section of the Annual Report or 10k. Read the letter to the shareholders from the CEO in the company's annual report.
Canadian
- SEDAR - Corporate filings
Global (includes Canadian data)
- Bloomberg See our help guides for instructions and tips.
- Mergent Online
- EDGAR - Corporate flilings
- Factiva
SWOT Analysis
- Passport Select Companies from the top tab and key in your company name. Select relevant segment and open the profile. Look in the table of contents for a SWOT analysis
- Business Source Complete Search for your company and limit to SWOT from filters listed below the search box.
No SWOT for your company - try a competitor. External factors will affect all companies in an industry.
Rankings
- JUST Capital - provides information and rankings on how large corporations perform on issues that matter most to the public.
- Forbes - The Companies With The Best CSR Reputations In The World
- Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World index
Look for data and information that will help you examine and analyze one of two variables:
- Technologies USED by the industry you are analyzing e.g. fracking by oil and gas
- Technologies that are essentially substitutes for the products provided by the industry being analyzed e.g. online advertising with Google and Facebook displacing print advertising at Postmedia
Sources -
- 10K Reports or Corporate Disclosure documents to find technologies used by companies within your industry.
- Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) section of a company's 10K will identify threats from other industries.
- Research reports from investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, etc.
- Analyst reports from Bloomberg
- Industry trade magazines and trade associations websites
- Google the industry + country + associations to find trade associations
- Search Business Source Complete for articles published in trade magazines
- Search relevant keywords in the search box in Passport for trends and new products
for example, search 3D printing, payment methods, drones, etc. - Articles may also be found in Canadian Business & Current Affairs, Ei Engineering Village, Factiva and Industry Week
- Global Information Technology Report (World Economic Forum)
Look for Reports from Consulting Firms
Major consulting firms publish reports on trends affecting an industry. These include TESP factors. Major consulting firms include:
- Ottawa Business Journal - Explore the OBJ Book of Lists
- Bloomberg News
- Canadian Business & Current Affairs - Provides full text to Canadian business journals and magazines.
- Canadian Newsstream - Access to over 280 Canadian news sources
- Eureka - Full-text Canadian French and English newspapers from Alberta, the Atlantic provinces, Québec and aboriginal communities. Includes full-text transcripts of radio and television broadcasts from CBC, CTV, and SRC.
- Factiva - Globe and Mail and the Wall Street Journal live here
- PressReader - PDFs to more than 2300 newspapers from 97 countries in over 55 languages. Includes recent issues of the Ottawa Business Journal.
- Wire Report - The leading news service covering Canada's rapidly converging telecom and media sectors.
- Journalist's resource: research on today's news topics
The following titles are available online:
- Business Week
- Canadian Business
- The Economist
- Financial Times (London)
- Forbes
- Fortune
- The Globe and Mail (includes the Report on Business Magazine)
- National Post Online (includes the Financial Post section and the Financial Post Magazine)
- Wall Street Journal
Canadian Advertising Rates and Data
- Passport
Look for articles and podcasts to find advertising trends and strategies. Search by keywords.
For example, using the search box, search keywords marketing or advertising to find:- The Ungendered: Marketing to a Non-Binary Generation April 2017
- Shifting Market Frontiers August 2017
- Special Report: Online Advertising Surges in Developing and Emerging Markets While TV Advertising Remains Popular Feb 2016
- Over and Out: Is Radio Advertising Dead? May 2015
- The New Face of Customer-Brand Interactions: Reaching Online Consumers Through Targeted Advertising June 2015
- Digital Advertising: New Ways to Reach the Online Consumer October 2014
Now, let's suppose you would like to find data that answers the following question:
Is online advertising growing in Canada?
Follow these steps to find the relevant data:
- From the toolbar at the top of the page, select Economies and then Business Dynamics.
- Under Rank Data, we see Rank Countries. Select the category as Total AdSpend.
- Click on Modify Search and then under Change Category, expand Economies and Consumers.
- Expand business dynamics, expand Advertising and Media Access, expand Total Adspend.
- Select Online Adspend and click on Apply.
- To express as a %, go to Convert Data on the left-hand side, expand Growth and select year-on-year growth (%).
- Filter the Geography to Canada.
- Citation Guide Excellent guide to citing business sources from Harvard Business School
- Chicago Manual of Style Online
- Citation guides prepared by Carleton library
- Citation management
- Citing Data & Statistics
