Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS)

Statistics Canada’s Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS), produced in partnership with Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), collects physical health measurements. The first survey was conducted from 2007 to 2009 and at the time of writing, a sixth cycle was planned for 2018 and 2019. Data collection occurs in two stages, i.e. an interview in the respondent’s home followed by a visit to the CHMS mobile clinic, where physical measurements are made and blood and urine samples are collected. The survey collects, among others, data on cardiovascular health, nutritional status, chronic diseases, physical activity and exposure to infectious diseases and environmental contaminants, and the risk factors and the attendant health behaviour. The survey is constructed to be representative of Canadians 3 to 79 years of age. To obtain statistics at the provincial level, at least two cycles of data must be combined, considering that the same measurements are not necessarily made from one cycle to the next (Statistics Canada, 2015). The data file is solely available through research centres and the Infocentre does not disseminate any indicator from the survey.

Table 1 presents additional details on the target population, the geographical coverage and the number of respondents.