Data Liberation Initiative - DLI

The Data Liberation Initiative (DLI) is a partnership between post secondary institutions and Statistics Canada for improving access to data resources. Started in 1996, this partnership has evolved from a mechanism to ensure affordable and equitable access to major Canadian data sets collected by Statistics Canada, to also providing training services for DLI contacts and the continuous support required for the proper understanding and usage of an ever expanding research collection.

The DLI allows registered members of Trent University unlimited access to numerous Statistics Canada pubic use microdata files, databases and geography files for research, teaching and university planning purposes. Trent subscribes to search engines which facilitate retrieving and using DLI data, such as:  ODESI, CHASS Census Analyser, or CHASS CANSIM. Services vary in what data they provide and overall functionality. Some data sets (for example, newly released files, historic data, or specialized files) must be obtained directly from Trent Library.

For assistance with finding data and statistics published by Statistics Canada, contact: Trent Library's Maps, Data and Government Information Centre

Useful links:

DLI Collection Contents

Tentative Release Dates of New DLI products

DLI  Citation Guide to Data and Statistics

DLI Survival Guide

DLI Reports

DLI License Conditions

Further Reading:

Evaluation of the Data Liberation Initiative

The Canadian Data Liberation Initiative: An Idea Worth Considering? (Ernie Boyko, Wendy Watkins)