Statistics Canada releases Public Use Microdata Files (PUMFs) for the Census and many of its surveys. These de-identified files contain responses at the individual level and are a rich source of data for researchers.

This workshop demonstrates how to access, explore, and analyze Statistics Canada microdata using R. We will work with the Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine Survey but the content applies to any Statistics Canada PUMF, hundreds of which are freely available in Abacus, UBC Library’s data repository.

There are no prerequisites. Participants familiar with R and RStudio are welcome to follow along on their own workstations. If you are new to R, we recommend watching first to learn how R can be used for analysis and reproducibility, then practicing later with the resources introduced during the session.

About this workshop series

R Showcase: Statistics Canada Microdata is one of several R workshops offered by the UBC Library Research Commons. The goal of the series is to introduce participants to the data analysis and visualization potential of R and to encourage further self-paced exploration. Other workshops will be offered in fall 2027, check the calendar for upcoming events: https://researchcommons.library.ubc.ca/events/

If you have any questions, concerns or accessibility needs please email research.commons@ubc.ca. To keep up-to-date with all of the workshops, consults and events subscribe to the UBC Library Research Commons monthly newsletter.