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AI Chatbot for Statistics Canada Information Discovery

Inform · Wayfinding & Services

What it collects

Operational data
Anonymized data
  • The system processes Statistics Canada website publications and datasets as its knowledge base. This is publicly available administrative and statistical content, not personal data.
About behaviour
Anonymized data
  • User queries and interactions with the chatbot interface are processed at runtime to generate relevant responses. The register states no personal information is involved, so queries are treated as de-identified behavioural inputs.
Run by
Statistics Canada (StatCan)
Where
No fixed location
Kept
No data retained
Shared with
Me
Your copy
You cannot see the data it holds about you. What you can do

What it is for

InformWayfinding & Services

IntelliStatCan is a chatbot system deployed by Statistics Canada to help both the public and employees find information, datasets, and guidance on Statistics Canada websites. The system uses AI to answer questions and improve discoverability of published statistical content. Users are informed when they are interacting with an AI system. No personal information is collected or processed.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

Operational data
Anonymized data
  • The system processes Statistics Canada website publications and datasets as its knowledge base. This is publicly available administrative and statistical content, not personal data.
About behaviour
Anonymized data
  • User queries and interactions with the chatbot interface are processed at runtime to generate relevant responses. The register states no personal information is involved, so queries are treated as de-identified behavioural inputs.

Processing

Language Models
  • The chatbot is powered by a language model that processes natural-language queries and generates responses grounded in Statistics Canada published content. The specific model or architecture is not disclosed in the register entry.
Search & Retrieval
  • The system retrieves relevant Statistics Canada publications and datasets in response to user queries, improving discoverability of information across StatCan web properties.

What it does

Understanding (Semantic AI)
Human decides
  • The system understands user queries in natural language and matches them to relevant Statistics Canada web content, publications, and datasets. Users retain full control over which information they act upon.
Creating (Generative AI)
Human decides
  • The chatbot generates natural-language responses to user queries, producing text answers and guidance drawn from StatCan website publications and datasets. Users decide what to do with the information provided.

Outputs

Generated content
Anonymized data
  • The system produces natural-language chatbot responses, including guidance text and references to Statistics Canada publications and datasets. No outputs are linked to or about specific individuals.
A recommendation or prediction
Anonymized data
  • The chatbot recommends and surfaces relevant Statistics Canada datasets, publications, and website sections in response to user questions. These are advisory outputs; users decide which resources to use.

Run by

Statistics Canada (StatCan)
  • Statistics Canada is the federal department responsible for producing statistics to help Canadians better understand their country. It is the accountable deployer of the IntelliStatCan chatbot system.

Government of Canada AI Register — IntelliStatCan

Built by

Government of Canada
  • The Government of Canada developed IntelliStatCan internally. No external commercial vendor is identified in the register entry.

Government of Canada AI Register — IntelliStatCan

Kept for

No data retained
  • The register states that no personal information is involved. Individual user queries are not retained as personal records.
  • Duration: Not applicable — no personal information collected

Shared with

Available to me
  • The public-facing chatbot interface is available to anyone visiting Statistics Canada websites. No personal data is collected, so there is no individual data record for users to access about themselves.
Not available to me
  • Since the system does not collect personal information, there is no personal data record held about individual users that they could request access to.

Stored

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

How to read the colours

Can it identify you?

Anonymized data
Data about people with the link to who is broken. Stripped of identifiers, blurred, aggregated, or noised so this system can’t reasonably tie a record back to an individual.
Pseudonymous data
Each person’s data is tied to a token (hash, ID, template) that lets this system recognise the same person across events, but the token itself doesn’t reveal a name. Reidentification is possible with extra information.
Identifiable data
The data either contains a direct identifier (name, address, account name, recognisable face or voice, plate number) or carries a token this system uses to look up legal identity during processing.

Who completes the loop?

Human decides
This mode suggests; a person decides what to do next. The AI is always advisory — a human is in the loop on every decision. Example: a triage tool ranks cases for a clinician who chooses which to see first.
Human executes
This mode decides; a person carries out the result. Example: an optimizer plans the day’s trash-collection routes, and drivers run them.
Autonomous
This mode decides and acts on its own. No person reviews each decision or carries out the resulting action.

Definitions from the DTPR standard. Amber is about your data, violet about who decides. The fuller the shape and the deeper the colour, the more identifying the data or the less a person is involved.

What you can do

Ask about this system

Questions go to the Helpful Places, not the vendor.

Your rights

  • Right to Be Informed of AI UseUsers are informed when they are interacting with an AI system. The register confirms that AI use is disclosed to users of IntelliStatCan.
  • Right to Algorithmic TransparencyStatistics Canada has listed IntelliStatCan on the Government of Canada AI Register, providing public disclosure of the system's purpose, data sources, and scope. Users can consult the register for information about how the system works.

Risks and safeguards

  • Societal & cultural harmThe chatbot could produce inaccurate or misleading responses about Statistics Canada data, eroding public trust in official statistics.Safeguard: The system grounds responses in official StatCan publications and datasets; AI use is disclosed to users so they can verify information through primary sources. The system is listed in the public AI register for transparency.