Target group profiles (TGP) provide Census Profile variables for a subset, or target group, of the population. This TGP provides the Census Profile for the population with income below the 'Market Basket Measure (MBM)' threshold.
'Market Basket Measure (MBM)' refers to Canada's official measure of poverty based on the cost of a specific basket of goods and services representing a modest, basic standard of living. The threshold represents the costs of specified qualities and quantities of food, clothing, footwear, shelter, transportation and other necessities for a reference family of two adults and two children. The square root of economic family size is the equivalence scale used to adjust the MBM thresholds for other family sizes. This adjustment for different economic sizes reflects the fact that an economic family's needs increase, but at a decreasing rate, as the number of members increases.
Target group profiles (TGPs) provide data for a specific group of persons (a "target group"). All variables in the Target Group Profile are ‘person-level’ variables: their age, their gender, their family status (e.g., are they in a census family), the languages they speak, and so on. Because TGPs deal with the universe of persons, they do not contain any family- or household-specific variables. For example, the average family size, household income or renter/owner status are variables that do not relate to a person, but to a family or household, and so they are not included in TGPs.
25% vs 100% samples – Comparing values with publicly accessible data
The 2021 short form Census questionnaire was sent out to 100% of all households. The 2021 long form Census questionnaire was sent out to 25% of all households. Target Group Profiles are produced using the 25% sample. Variables that are available in both the 25% sample and the 100% sample will have different values depending on the source of the data. For example, the total population of a city taken from the 25% sample (a Target Group Profile) will differ from that taken from the 100% sample (the online Census Profile).