Anil Arora

Last updated

Anil Arora
Anil Arora.jpg
Chief Statistician of Canada
In office
September 19, 2016 March 31, 2024
Preceded by Wayne Smith
Succeeded by André Loranger (interim)
Personal details
Alma mater University of Alberta (B.Sc.)
AwardsAssociation of Professional Executives (APEX) Leadership Award (2009)
National Association of Indo-Canadians Award (2009)
Indo-Canada Ottawa Business Chamber Award of Excellence (2012)
South Asian Centre Windsor Award (2017)
Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, Professional of the Year Award (2017)
Impacts Media (IMEC), Outstanding Contribution Award (2022)
Metropolis Award of Excellence, Policy Maker Award (2022)
Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards (2022)
Environics Analytics Special Innovator of the Year Award (2023)
Website canada.ca/anil-arora

Anil Arora is a Canadian former civil servant who served as the Chief Statistician of Canada from September 19, 2016 to March 31, 2024. He was the twelfth Chief Statistician since Statistics Canada was founded as the Dominion Bureau of Statistics in 1918. He first joined Statistics Canada in 1988 and has since overseen major transformations such as computer-assisted interviewing, online publishing and multi-dimensional output databases, and more recently the migration of the agency's data holdings to the secure cloud. He led the agency during the challenging COVID-19 pandemic as it conducted the 2021 census and enhanced its statistical programs.

Contents

Prior to his role as Chief Statistician, Arora served in Assistant Deputy Minister roles for Natural resources Canada and Health Canada after spending over 20 years working for Statistics Canada. He is a sought-after public speaker, and has made several prominent speeches and presented at dozens of conferences, both domestically and internationally.

Early life

Arora was born in Dehradun, India. After his father was offered a unique career opportunity, the family immigrated to Canada, settling in Edmonton, Alberta. Moving from India to Canada in the middle of winter was a bit of a shock for the family, as they worked together to buy their first house and establish roots in their new country. Leveraging on a strong work ethic and values, he graduated from the University of Alberta in 1985, and then worked in the Oil and Gas sector, upgrading his skills in management and computing sciences with further studies. He joined Statistics Canada's regional operations in late 1988 and moved to Ottawa with his own family in 1997.

Career

Arora began his career with Statistics Canada in Edmonton in 1988, where he looked after the computer mainframe and supervised data entry and clerical operations. He moved through the ranks working in regional operations, including census operations, corporate services, and the introduction of computer-assisted interviewing. After moving to Ottawa, he oversaw the redesign of CANSIM, a multi-dimensional time-series database. He also contributed to modernizing dissemination at the agency, including the provision of publications on the web and microdata in Canada's universities, and statistical products to support literacy in schools.

In 2000, he became Director of the Census Management Office, and subsequently, the Director General responsible for the research functions of the 2001 Census and the entirety of the 2006 Census. In this role, Arora led the agency through the most comprehensive redesign of the Census program, which included the first-in-the-world, secure online response integrated with multi-mode response channels, as well as the intelligent character recognition of paper questionnaires.

In 2005, Arora and his team were recognized by the Government Technology Exhibit's Distinction Awards for their joint pilot project with Public Works and Government Services Canada to create Session Encryption with Automated Login (or SEAL) technology, which successfully allowed households across the country to complete their questionnaire online for the first time in an easy, convenient and secure fashion. SEAL was first introduced in the 2004 Census Test.

In 2006, the Data Liberation Initiative awarded Arora and his Census Operations Division the organization's first Exemplary Access Award, in recognition for the division's transformation of all census products (maps, tables and reference materials) into electronic products to better meet the demand of an online audience.

In 2008, following the successful delivery of the 2006 Census, he became the Assistant Chief Statistician of the Social, Health and Labour Statistics, where he focused on redesigning the household surveys program. In 2009, Arora was awarded with the prestigious Association of Professional Executives (APEX) Leadership Award in recognition of his exceptional leadership skills and management excellence. The same year, he completed the Public Sector Leadership and Governance certificate program at the University of Ottawa.

He remained in the post of Assistant Chief Statistician at Statistics Canada until 2010, when he became the Assistant Deputy Minister of Minerals and Metals Sector at Natural Resources Canada, and for more than a year, simultaneously headed up the Corporate Sector as Assistant Deputy Minister. In 2013, he was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister of Science and Policy Integration, responsible for the department and portfolio's major policy files. He led a number of business sector missions internationally, including to India, China, Israel and Japan.

In 2014, Arora moved into the role of Assistant Deputy Minister for Health Canada, responsible for overseeing Canada's regulatory system for drugs, food, natural health products, veterinary drugs, medical devices and post-market surveillance. He also served as the Chair of the International Coalition for Medicines Regulatory Authority, as well as Chair of the Community of Federal Regulators.

Chief Statistician of Canada

Arora was appointed Chief Statistician of Canada in September 2016. He has since led the agency through ambitious transformative changes, including the migration of its assets to the secure cloud, the first of this scale and scope in the Government of Canada. He also oversaw Statistics Canada's modernization journey, which included shifting towards an emphasis on user-centric service delivery, modern workspaces, and the use of administrative data. The AgZero project, aiming to reduce the response burden on farmers, is one such modernization initiative, turning towards Earth Observation data and machine learning rather than traditional surveys. Likewise, the Virtual Data Lab, a cloud-based microdata centre meant to provide secure remote access to approved researchers, was also launched as part of the modernization agenda.

The agency carried out many additional innovative strategies under Arora's tenure, including the use of satellite imagery, crowdsourcing, scanner data, waste-water sampling, as well as alternative data integration into the production of official statistics. He played a significant role in implementing ethical and responsible use of machine learning and artificial intelligence within the agency, along with capitalizing on Statistics Canada's role as the nation's data steward, to bring greater value of official statistics to Canadians. Many of these changes were designed to be investments in a strengthened national statistical system in an increasingly data-driven society.

Arora led the implementation of the Disaggregated Data Action Plan, an approach aiming to produce more detailed statistical information for specific population groups, including women, LGBTQ2+, Indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities. He also oversaw the creation of the Quality of Life Hub, which aims to improve government decision making and budgeting by incorporating quality of life measurements. In addition, a partnership with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce was established to develop the Business Data Lab under Arora's term, with the goal of equipping businesses with market conditions data. The Census of Environment, the first-ever national register of Canada's ecosystems, was also initiated under his leadership, in partnership with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

During the COVID-19 era, there was a major spike in demand for health, economic, labour and social data. [1] Arora helped steer the agency through this increase in data needs and, with Statistics Canada's established interviewing and call centre expertise, it was able to assist governing health agencies with contact-tracing across the country. [2] In addition, he led his staff in successfully implementing the 2021 census, in spite of the fact that the 2021 Census program had to change course at the last moment to go completely contactless in order to meet necessary pandemic protocols. The final overall response rates of 96.9% and 95.7% for the short-form and the long-form questionnaires respectively were slightly lower than those of the 2016 census, which fell at 97.4% and 96.9%, [3] but the 2021 census distinguished itself by having a record online response rate of approximately 84%, compared to 68% for 2016. [4] [5]

The Statistics Act saw modifications during Arora's tenure to increase the independence of the agency and create the Canadian Statistics Advisory Council. [6] The previous Chief Statistician, Wayne Smith, had stepped down to protest changes in Statistics Canada's informatics infrastructure stemming from the Shared Services Canada initiative, which he feared could compromise the agency's independence. [7]

Throughout his career as Chief Statistician, Arora has received numerous personal leadership and Government of Canada achievement awards, and served, chaired, or contributed on numerous boards, both domestic and international. During his tenure, the Agency received numerous awards, including Canada's Best Diversity Employers in 2021 and 2023, National Capital Region's Top Employers in 2019–2023, and Canada's Top Employers for Young People in 2019 and 2021–2023. [8] His focus has been on modernizing the agency's workforce and workplace culture, growing Statistics Canada's reach among stakeholders, partners and the public to better meet the needs of all Canadians, and strengthening the agency's position as the nation's data steward and leading expert on all things data related. With employee equity and diversity both an agency and personal priority, Arora has also served as the Statistics Canada Champion for Visible Minorities for over a decade and continues to champion those causes today.

Arora extended Canada's presence and influence on the international statistical landscape, having chaired the Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development Committee on Statistics and Statistical Policy (CSSP) and the Conference of European Statisticians. He also served as the Vice Chair of the United Nations Statistical Commission and chaired the United Nations Future of Economic Statistics Group. He chaired the High-Level Group on the Modernization of Official Statistics, as well as the International Conference of Labour Statistics for the International Labour Organization. He has overseen multi-year statistical capacity-building projects in various parts of the world, as well as conducted country reviews, offering advice to the OECD, Eurostat, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.

Arora has served on the Boards of the Institute on Governance as well as the Labour Market Information Council, and as an advisor to a number of institutions, including the Carleton University’s Institute for Data Science. He has chaired and co-chaired multiple initiatives including the Data Governance Standardization Collaborative, as well as the Artificial Intelligence and Data Governance Standardization Collaborative. Arora also co-authored the Data Strategy for the Federal Public Service.

Anil Arora is a sought-after speaker and thought leader, and has presented at dozens of conferences both domestically and internationally, including the World Statistics Congress, the eminent Empire Club of Canada, the Canadian Club, Metropolis conferences, the Safety of Our Cities Conference, International Association of Privacy Professionals Canada Privacy Symposium, Government of Canada's data conferences, federal Cabinet meetings and retreats, and in 2023, delivered the Canada School of Public Service's Manion Lecture at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. He has delivered multiple guest lectures at various universities and colleges, including at Queen's University at Kingston, the University of Alberta, Simon Fraser University, Nunavut Arctic College, University of Saskatchewan, Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, as well as the Canada School of Public Service.

In addition to speaking at business, government, statistical or academic conferences, panels and events, Arora has made several prominent speeches during his time as Chief Statistician, including the following recent ones: Infonex: Big Data and Analytics for the Public Sector (2019), the Empire Club of Canada (2020), FEDTalks (2020), the Canadian Club of Ottawa (2021), CEO Mastermind Summit (2021), Global Government Forum (2021), Canadian Research Data Centre (2021), the United States National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (2022), Governor General's Leadership Conference (2022), the World Bank High-Level Seminar Series (2022), Government of Canada's Diversity and Inclusion Conference (2022), European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics (2022), 37th Meeting of Voorburg Group on Service Statistics (2022), Ontario Council on University Research (2022), Infonex Conference on Big Data and Analytics (2022), Government of Canada Data Conference (2023), World Statistics Congress (2023) and, most recently, the Manion Lecture (2023). [9]

On June 14, 2023, Arora was reappointed as Chief Statistician until his decision to retire on March 31, 2024.

Titles and memberships

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Canada</span>

Statistics Canada conducts a country-wide census that collects demographic data every five years on the first and sixth year of each decade. The 2021 Canadian census enumerated a total population of 36,991,981, an increase of around 5.2 percent over the 2016 figure. It is estimated that Canada's population surpassed 40 million in 2023 and 41 million in 2024. Between 1990 and 2008, the population increased by 5.6 million, equivalent to 20.4 percent overall growth. The main driver of population growth is immigration, with 6.2% of the country's population being made up of temporary residents as of 2023, or about 2.5 million people. Between 2011 and May 2016, Canada's population grew by 1.7 million people, with immigrants accounting for two-thirds of the increase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gatineau</span> City in Quebec, Canada

Gatineau is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also part of Canada's National Capital Region. As of 2021, Gatineau is the fourth-largest city in Quebec with a population of 291,041, and it is part of the Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area with a population of 1,488,307 making it the fourth largest in Canada.

Statistics Canada, formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in Ottawa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leduc, Alberta</span> City in Alberta, Canada

Leduc is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. It is 33 km (21 mi) south of the provincial capital of Edmonton and is part of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region.

qathet Regional District Regional district in British Columbia, Canada

The qathet Regional District is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Its only incorporated municipality is the City of Powell River, although it includes a number of unincorporated areas. The district encompasses a land area of 5,075.33 square kilometres (1,959.60 sq mi). The district was formerly known as the Powell River Regional District. Because of frequent confusion between the identical names of Powell River district and city, the district's name was changed in 2018 to qathet, from q̓at̓ᶿɛt, meaning "working together, bringing together" in the ʔayʔaǰuθəm language of the ɬəʔamɩn, k̓ómoks, χʷɛmaɬkʷu, & ƛohos Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thompson-Nicola Regional District</span> Regional district in British Columbia, Canada

The Thompson–Nicola Regional District is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Canada 2021 Census population was 143,680 and the area covers 44,449.49 square kilometres. The administrative offices are in the main population centre of Kamloops, which accounts for 78 percent of the regional district's population. The only other city is Merritt; other municipally-incorporated communities include the District Municipalities of Logan Lake, Barriere and Clearwater and the Villages of Chase, Ashcroft, Cache Creek, Clinton and Lytton, and also the Mountain Resort Municipality of Sun Peaks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regional District of Central Kootenay</span> Regional district in British Columbia, Canada

The Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) is a regional district in the province of British Columbia, Canada. As of the 2016 census, the population was 59,517. The area is 22,130.72 square kilometres. The administrative centre is located in the city of Nelson. Other municipalities include the City of Castlegar, the Town of Creston, the Village of Salmo, the Village of Nakusp, the Village of Kaslo, the Village of New Denver, the Village of Silverton, the Village of Ymir and the Village of Slocan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kimberley, British Columbia</span> City in British Columbia, Canada

Kimberley is a city in southeast British Columbia, Canada along Highway 95A between the Purcell and Rocky Mountains. Kimberley was named in 1896 after the Kimberley mine in South Africa. From 1917 to 2001, it was the home to the world's largest lead-zinc mine, the Sullivan Mine. Now it is mainly a tourist destination and home to the Kimberley Alpine Resort, a ski area and Kimberley's Underground Mining Railway that features a 750-foot-long (230 m) underground mining interpretive centre complete with operational 3 ft narrow-gauge railway equipment. Recreational pursuits include world-class skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, fishing, whitewater rafting, kayaking, biking, hiking and golfing on championship golf courses. The city has the largest urban park in Canada. At 1,977 acres (800 ha), the Kimberley Nature Park is the largest incorporated park in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Asian Canadians</span> Ethnic group

South Asian Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to South Asia or the Indian subcontinent, which includes the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. The term also includes immigrants from South Asian communities in East and South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Fiji, Mauritius, and the rest of the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polish Canadians</span> Canadians with Polish ancestry

Polish Canadians are citizens of Canada with Polish ancestry, and Poles who immigrated to Canada from abroad. At the 2016 Census, there were 1,106,585 Canadians who claimed full or partial Polish heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaumont, Alberta</span> City in Alberta, Canada

Beaumont is a city adjacent to Leduc County within the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. It is at the intersection of Highway 625 and Highway 814, adjacent to the City of Edmonton and 6.0 kilometres (3.7 mi) northeast of the City of Leduc. The Nisku Industrial Park and the Edmonton International Airport are 4.0 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the west and 8.0 kilometres (5.0 mi) to the southwest respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rural Municipality of West St. Paul</span> Rural municipality in Manitoba

West St. Paul is a rural municipality (RM) in Manitoba, Canada. It lies adjacent to the north side of Winnipeg, and directly west of the Red River. It is part of the Winnipeg Metro Region, and had a population of 5,368 at the 2016 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Ontario</span>

Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province by a large margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians, and is the second-largest province in total area. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are included. It is home to the nation's capital city, Ottawa, and the nation's most populous city, Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Saskatchewan</span>

Saskatchewan is the middle province of Canada's three Prairie provinces. It has an area of 651,900 km2 (251,700 mi2) and a population of 1,132,505 (Saskatchewanians) as of 2021. Saskatchewan's population is made of 50.3% women and 49.7% men. Most of its population lives in the Southern half of the province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Newfoundland and Labrador</span>

Newfoundland and Labrador is a province of Canada on the country's Atlantic coast in northeastern North America. The province has an area of 405,212 square kilometres and a population in 2024 of 545,880, with approximately 95% of the provincial population residing on the Island of Newfoundland, with more than half of the population residing on the Avalon Peninsula. People from Newfoundland and Labrador are called "Newfoundlanders," "Labradorians", or "Newfoundlanders and Labradorians".

Lake Cowichan is a town located near the eastern end of Cowichan Lake and, by highway, is a little over one hour northwest of Victoria, British Columbia. The town of Lake Cowichan was incorporated in 1944 and serves as the focal point of the Cowichan Lake Area, home to the indigenous c̓uubaʕsaʔtx̣ people. The Cowichan River flows through the middle of the town. The Cowichan River is designated as a Heritage River, and is also a popular location for tubing.

According to the 2021 census, the City of Edmonton had a population of 1,010,899 residents, compared to 4,262,635 for all of Alberta, Canada. The total population of the Edmonton census metropolitan area (CMA) was 1,418,118, making it the sixth-largest CMA in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Ottawa</span>

In 2021, the population of the city of Ottawa was 1,017,449. The population of the census metropolitan area, Ottawa-Gatineau, was 1,488,307.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort St. James</span> District municipality in British Columbia, Canada

Fort St. James is a district municipality and former fur trading post in northern central British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the south-eastern shore of Stuart Lake in the Omineca Country, at the northern terminus of Highway 27, which connects to Highway 16 at Vanderhoof.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Calgary</span>

In the 2021 Census, the City of Calgary had a population of 1,306,784 residents, representing 30.7% of the 4,262,635 residents in all of Alberta, and 3.5% compared to a population of 36,991,981 in all of Canada. The total population of the Calgary census metropolitan area (CMA) was 1,481,806. Calgary is the largest city in Alberta, and the third-largest municipality and fifth-largest metropolitan area in Canada, as of 2021.

References

  1. "Innovation and information: interview with Canada's stats chief, Anil Arora". www.globalgovernmentforum.com. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  2. "Vital statistician: Modernizing Canada's census for a COVID-19 world". www.ualberta.ca. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  3. Statistics Canada. "Guide to the Census of Population, 2021, Chapter 9 – Data quality evaluation". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  4. Statistics Canada (November 17, 2021). "2021 Census of Population collection response rates". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  5. Statistics Canada (August 30, 2016). "2016 Census of Population collection response rates". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  6. "Canadian Statistics Advisory Council". www.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  7. "Anil Arora appointed chief statistician at StatsCan". CBC News. September 17, 2016.
  8. "Awards and recognition". www.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  9. "2023 Manion Lecture: Canada's Story – Census 2021 and the Data that Define Us (TRN4-E20)". catalogue.csps-efpc.gc.ca. Retrieved February 29, 2024.

General references