MNI POLICY: StatsCan Says 5 Departments Got Advance Job Data

--Agency Suspends Access Amid Investigation Of Report Leaked Friday

By Greg Quinn

     OTTAWA (MNI) - Statistics Canada has suspended giving advance figures from

its monthly job reports to five outside departments, following Friday's leak of

the data before the official release time.

     The agency gave advance April figures to people at the prime minister's

office, the Bank of Canada, and the finance, labor and innovation departments,

according to a statement late Tuesday. StatsCan didn't give the total number of

people with advance access.

     "Pre-release information is sent through a secure file transfer system the

day prior to release and officials are forbidden from briefings until after the

markets close at 5pm," the statement said. "There will be no pre-release of LFS

information until further notice," and "Statistics Canada continues its internal

investigation and will take appropriate action." 

     Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains who oversees StatsCan has said the leak

is unacceptable and called for the investigation. Bloomberg News reported the

record 2 million job loss for April in the hour before the official publication

at 8:30am EST on Friday, citing an unidentified person.

     Canada's dollar briefly strengthened as the leak was reported, and

economists at Scotiabank and IHS Markit say others could have profited from the

leaked information before that.

     The Bank of Canada has 16 staff members who get the figures in advance and

they "follow strict conditions to protect the information," spokeswoman Isabel

Jenish said by email earlier on Tuesday. Other departments didn't give a

detailed response to earlier questions about advance copies.

--MNI Ottawa Bureau; +1 613-314-9647; email: greg.quinn@marketnews.com

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