The Population Health Data Repository

What is the Population Health Data Repository?

Access to the confidential data in the Population Health Data Repository (PHDR) is open to any investigator (or team) affiliated with the Interdisciplinary Capacity Enhancement Project upon successful completion of the proposal process.

Accessing data in the PHDR will greatly increase the ability of investigators from across Canada to make both provincial and national comparisons of tobacco use, cessation & prevention programs as well as comparisons of provincial legislation change. To ensure this privilege will be available to all ICE investigators and team members the PHDR requires that data depositors and data users adhere to rules and regulations set out to ensure confidentiality of research participants and the integrity of the data.

What is stored in the repository?

The Population Health Data Repository contains rich data sets and metadata from original research conducted by tobacco control researchers. All data has been de-identified, meaning that personal information such as names, addresses and phone numbers have been coded in such a way that there is no reasonable basis to believe that an individual will be identified.

Who owns the data?

Ownership of all data in the PHDR is retained by researchers contributing data sets. The PHDR acts as a data steward, storing, organizing and disseminating data for future use. Data is not released for secondary analysis without permission from the data owner.

Who receives access to the data?

To be granted access to data housed in the PHDR, researchers are required to submit a project proposal to the PHDR advisory committee who will forward successful proposals to the owner of the data. The approval of proposals will be based on the merit of the research project and security provisions in place at the researcher’s institution. The PHDR limits data access to researchers meeting these criteria in order to protect the security and confidentiality of the data and to ensure that research undertaken with data stored at PHDR is credible and contributes to scientific knowledge that will benefit the public good.

How is confidentiality and security maintained?

Each I.C.E. investigator has taken great care to protect the identity of their subjects and to safeguard the privacy and confidentiality of the information that these subjects provide. Confidential data are safeguarded by the application of various levels of both physical & electronic security measures. Data are stripped of identifiers that could permit a direct relationship to be established between data holdings and specific respondents. Direct identifiers such as names, addresses, and phone numbers are removed from data stored in the repository. Indirect identifiers such as geographic area are also removed when necessary.

The limited number of PHDR staff members given password protected access to data are required to sign a confidentiality agreement that protects research participants. All researchers must also sign an agreement with PHDR in order to access the de-identified data. Data are stored in a password protected server in a locked wing and room.

You can read the full PHDR Data Use License Agreement by downloading it here:

PHDR License Agreement & Guidelines.pdf