Labour force data delay while permit stats go real-time.
Hi fellow economic developer,
Welcome back to Field Notes—where data meets community insight. We share our insights from the economic development field across Canada, and how communities are using data tools that shape local decisions and investments. Whether you’re deep in strategy or just curious about what the numbers say, we’re glad you’re here.
What others are doing
Real-Time Building Permits: Cranbrook’s Approach
Cranbrook used to update and report on building permit stats every 90 days. Now, with a real-time integration between their permits system and data portal, staff, council, and the public always have access to the latest numbers.
By providing timely insights into construction activity and adding transparency, it’s made a real difference—especially for council, developers, consultants, and businesses who depend on current data.
This custom CityViz module also shows building and development permit benchmarks, along with comparisons to similar communities—helping everyone see where things stand.
In Cranbrook, permit data is now a real-time signal of growth—visible to everyone who needs to see it.
Every Thursday, we open a Zoom room for a casual chat about anything data and economic development related. It’s open to everyone, and you can drop in anytime and stay as much as you like.
We’ve been hosting webinars with provincial economic development associations to spread the word about the availability of monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS) data at the local level. During these sessions, we’ve shared key links to data, tools and resources from Statistics Canada that communities can use to guide workforce planning and policy.
Normally, this dataset lags two months behind regular LFS results—but recently, the delay has grown to four months. We reached out to Statistics Canada and learned that updates are temporarily paused while they update geographic boundaries. They expect releases to resume soon.
In the meantime, CityViz continues to help communities visualize and compare workforce trends—locally, regionally, and across provinces. We’re looking forward to seeing this important dataset flow again.
Thanks for reading the Field Notes. We’ll be back next week with more ideas, visuals, and community updates.
