WHAT CANADA COUNTS ON

By SHAGORIKA EASWAR

Anil Arora believes it’s a privilege to work for the “world’s best statistical agency”, one that demonstrates leadership on the international stage in the ethical and responsible use of new technology.

The Chief Statistician of Canada, who oversees the working of an agency with 6000 public servants and 2000 interviewers – with 30,000 additional people hired every five years for the duration of the census – goes on to list just some of the ways the collection and dissemination of data by an independent and trustworthy agency impacts our lives.

“Statistics Canada is a federal government department. In Canada, we have a centralized statistical system and the information we collect affects how we look at population figures, trade, GDP, retail business, unemployment... every time someone says, ‘I wonder what’s the data pertaining to hate crime’, all of that. Federal transfers to the provinces take place based on this data. The election commission decides how many seats per electoral territory. Migration statistics, births and deaths, these determine where to build fire stations and hospitals. How to plan transit. Every single day, Canadians are impacted by the work we do. 

“We receive millions of enquiries from individuals, the media, government bodies, businesses. One of the largest groups – apart from media – is students. Academic institutions and researchers use our data to dig into trends, to learn more about how the economy and society are linked. There are thousands of examples on how we bring insight to the issues of the day. Here’s one: A significant number of people addicted to opioids worked in the construction sector. Painkillers were first prescribed for workplace injuries.

“Statistics Canada continues to put out high quality data as it has for over 100 years so Canadians have the facts they need to make decisions. We are a sophisticated society, we need an equally sophisticated system, one source of truth.”

Arora is responsible for having brought some of this sophistication to the agency. In what he describes as a continuously evolving effort, he helped redesign the dissemination function, creating an information management system, a multidimensional database. He led the most comprehensive redesign of the program, including the introduction of an online questionnaire. 

The re-engineering he achieved for the 2006 census including a master control system was not only very forward looking, it was actually the first of its kind in the world.

“In 2006, 25 per cent of the responses came online. For the last census in 2021, it was 85 per cent,” he says. “Remember, that was during COVID, people really appreciated being able to interact with the government online without in-person contact.”

The quality of information collected and the agency response time both improved, and manpower burden and costs reduced.

“Think about it, on a paper form if you make a mistake and enter your child’s age as 100, that’s something that someone has to follow up on to get the correct age,” he explains. “Online, you’d get a prompt right away, that can’t be correct! There’s a pull-down menu for your province. Edits are quicker and more accurate. We are now able to send out our reports within four months of data collection. We are an innovative agency that pushes the frontiers of how to use data and technology.”

Discussing the large national programs he has overseen, Arora says within Statistics Canada, it was all about how to take the information they collect and make them available and consumable.

“It’s a vision I’ve been fortunate to have been able to propagate.”

He has led initiatives at all three levels of government, the private sector and international organizations, including the UN and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) where he chaired several committees. He has led projects on high-profile policy issues, legislative and regulatory reform, providing support to other countries, having recently completed a multi-year program strengthening in the Caribbean.

He has been on business missions to many countries including India, China and Israel. In 2018, working with the World Bank to review the statistical systems in India, he met with people at the PMO and India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India.

In 2010, Arora joined Natural Resources Canada as Assistant Deputy Minister of the Minerals and Metals Sector, and in 2013 was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister of Science and Policy Integration. He moved to Health Canada in 2014, becoming Assistant Deputy Minister of Health Products and Food Branch and leading a complex organization overseeing regulation of food, drug and health products for Canada. He also served as chair of the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities.

Asked to trace his path from one role to the other, he chuckles.

“It’s been an interesting ride. Some of it was accidental, not planned. A result of being in the right place at the right time! I had good bosses who guided me, gave me opportunities. Equally, I stepped up and proved I can take on those roles. The good thing about being in senior positions in the government is that one can move around and take on different responsibilities.”

At the start of his career in the oil and gas sector, there wasn’t a lot of pressure from his engineer father to change his path.

“We had some talks about it! But it kind of aligned with what they might have wanted for me. Moreover, he’d been a public servant in India and my mom worked for the provincial government for a while. As an immigrant, there’s an urgency in one’s mind to set oneself up economically and financially, I wanted to stand on my own feet. And my parents believed that education is the one thing you’ll always have, no one can take it away. Just as a craftsman wants the best toolkit, having education in your rich and ready toolkit gives you options.”

Born in Dehradun, India, Arora came to Canada as an 11-year-old in 1976. His father had travelled to Europe during his tenure with the Survey of India and had seen the potential opportunities of working and living abroad. Canada needed his skill set and when a private company in Edmonton sent a visa, he seized the opportunity. But in spite of coming with a job in hand, the early years were hard.

There was discrimination in school, on the streets, in downtown Edmonton.

“Nobody would rent a place to us, saying our food smells, that we were dirty. My dad really struggled to find a place for us. The first few years were a huge financial struggle, too. Dad had to beg for a loan from the bank to be able to afford the plane tickets so that my mom, my two siblings and I could join him a year after he came to Canada.”

Arora got a paper route the day after they landed and his mother initially worked part-time, sewing pockets on jeans at a per piece rate.

“It was very tough financially, our parents worked very hard to pay a small down payment for a small house. We grew up in second-hand clothes. And double socks and rubber boots in winter. In Edmonton. 

“It was a time when there were so few South Asians that if you saw someone who looked like you, you sprinted two blocks to say hello. They were socially isolated, couldn’t find vegetables that they used in their cuisine. Anyone visiting India was sent with long lists of things to bring back – essentials like garam masala!

“I’ll be the first to say that it shouldn’t be that hard, we should remove impediments. But we should also dispel the myth that it was easy. Don’t dwell on it, but honour that journey that includes heartache, failure, emotional and financial setback.

“Over time, diversity increased, support systems formed. And remember that in Canada, there’s the chance of succeeding if you work hard. It’s a truly amazing country, arguably the best in the world. I owe it everything and that sense of wanting to contribute drives me.”

This translates to 60 to 80-hour work weeks.

Arora is up at 5:30 every morning, and on his phone right away, taking international calls. He leaves office at 6 or 7 pm and then after dinner, continues to work until 11 pm or even midnight. On weekends he puts in six to seven hours a day.

“I have sacrificed family time, but sacrifice is part of success,” he says.

It helps that his wife, Bobby, understands. Herself a public servant, she has worked at the Treasury Board and is currently a director at Health Canada.

Their daughter Pooja is completing her PhD while working in the environmental field.

“We’re a public service family,” says Arora with a hint of pride.

He is equally proud of his sons Rikin who has done his Masters in Economic Science and Sahil who is in his third year of medical science.

The Aroras support philanthropic causes and lead community initiatives on diversity, inclusion and respect. Both also mentor formally as well as informally.

Arora tells his mentees – many newcomers among them – what he tells his children.

“Follow your passion, invest in yourself, success will follow. Have a vision. What do you want to achieve that’s bigger than you? Work hard, because it takes a lot of effort. Success comes through struggle and failure. Remain positive, optimistic, take challenges as opportunities. Don’t be overly risk-averse. Keep plugging away, keeping your vision as a goal post.

“You need people who will open doors, be there for you. Build networks. Not when in crisis mode but when you don’t need one.

He also passes on an important lesson.

“Be proud of your success. Don’t aggrandize, but don’t downplay it either. Be grateful for your success, but also acknowledge the hard work that went into achieving it. Give credit where’s it’s due, but also take credit.

“While striving for success, and certainly after achieving it, give back. Make a difference. Be an inspiration.” 

• Grant’s is proud to present this series about people who are making a difference in the community. Represented by PMA Canada (www.pmacanada.com).