“All of Statistics Canada’s standard online products, including the census, socioeconomic and geographic data, will be offered to the public for free starting February 2012, Embassy has learned. While Statistics Canada has been working towards opening up more of its data for several years, it still currently charges for a portion of its online data, including, for example, some data sets inside its Canadian Socioeconomic Information Management System, what the agency calls its “key socioeconomic database.” Researchers, economists and other individuals buy these products, and several firms are also licensed by the agency to act as redistributors. Some of those firms charge for reselling the data, and some roll it into other value-added products they sell. This fall, the agency began alerting “key stakeholders” to the upcoming change.” [Cassandra Hartnett]