Data Reference Standard on Industry Classification System
1. Preamble
- 1.1. This data reference standard provides Government of Canada departments with a consistent way to present data on industries in their systems and datasets.
- 1.2. This data reference standard is based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), which assigns codes and titles to industries.
- 1.3. The numbering system uses a six-digit code. The first five digits are used to describe the NAICS level used by the three countries to produce comparable data.
- 1.3.1. The first two digits designate the sector.
- 1.3.2. The third digit designates the subsector.
- 1.3.3. The fourth digit designates the industry group.
- 1.3.4. The fifth digit designates the industry.
- 1.3.5. The sixth digit designate national industries.
- 1.3.5.1 A zero as the sixth digit indicates that there is no further national detail.
- 1.4. The steward of this data reference standard will review the reference data in Appendix A as required to ensure it remains current.
- 1.4.1. Data reference standard steward: Statistics Canada
- 1.4.2. Data reference standard custodian: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Office of the Chief Information Officer of Canada
2. Effective date
- 2.1 This data reference standard takes effect on .
3. Requirements
- 3.1 This data reference standard provides details on the requirements set out in subsections 4.4 of the Directive on Service and Digital.
- 3.2 Service owners, data practitioners and other individuals who interact with data must:
- 3.2.1 Apply the reference data linked in Appendix A by using the NAICS codes found in the table column called “Code” when storing, sharing and publishing data on industries.
4. Application
- 4.1 This data reference standard applies to departments described in section 6 of the Directive on Service and Digital.
- 4.2 This data reference standard applies to datasets and systems developed after the effective date of this data reference standard.
5. References
- 5.1 This data reference standard should be read in conjunction with the following:
Policy instruments
- Policy on Service and Digital
- Directive on Service and Digital
- Standard for Managing Metadata
- Data and metadata reference standards
Additional information
- Other commonly used industry classifications include the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), which is issued by the United Nations. Statistics Canada has prepared a concordance table showing how NAICS corresponds with ISIC.
- Industry classifications (Statistics Canada)
- Correspondence Table: NAICS Canada 2017 Version 3.0 – NAICS Canada 2022 Version 1.0 – structural and content changes
- Variant of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 2022 Version 1.0 for Content and media sector
- Variant of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 2022 Version 1.0 for Durable and non-durable manufacturing industries
- Variant of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS 2022) Version 1.0 for Energy sector
- Variant of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 2022 Version 1.0 for Goods and services producing industries
- Variant of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 2022 Version 1.0 for Industrial production (based on the 2008 International Recommendations for Industrial Statistics)
- Variant of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 2022 Version 1.0 for Industrial production (based on the 1950 United Nations definition)
- Variant of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 2022 Version 1.0 for Information and communication technology (ICT) sector
6. Enquiries
- 6.1 For interpretation of any aspect of this data reference standard, contact ServiceDigital-ServicesNumerique@tbs-sct.gc.ca.
Appendix A: Reference data
The reference data for this data reference standard is available in machine-readable formats.
Visit the Open Government Portal page on reference data on industries for more information and related resources.
HTML format
CSV format
PDF format