Retrieve data for specified Statistics Canada data vector(s) for last N periods

Allows for the retrieval of data for specified vector series for the N most-recently released periods. Accessing data by vector allows for targeted extraction of time series. Discovering vectors of interest can be achieved using the StatCan table web interface or using get_cansim_table_template function to help pinpoint data series of interest, and then chaining the add_cansim_vectors_to_template function to add cansim vector information to the template data. The StatCan API can only process 300 coordinates at a time, if more than 300 coordinates are specified the function will batch the requests to the API.

Usage

get_cansim_vector_for_latest_periods(
  vectors,
  periods = NULL,
  language = "english",
  refresh = FALSE,
  timeout = 200,
  factors = TRUE,
  default_month = "07",
  default_day = "01"
)

Arguments

vectors

The list of vectors to retrieve

periods

Numeric value for number of latest periods to retrieve data for, but default all data is retrieved.

language

"english" (the default) or "french". Short forms such as "en", "eng", "fr" or "fra" are accepted, as are the French names "anglais" and "francais"; case and accents are ignored

refresh

(Optional) When set to TRUE, forces a reload of data table (default is FALSE)

timeout

(Optional) Number of seconds StatCan is allowed to go without sending data before the download is abandoned, to work around scenarios where StatCan servers drop the network connection. This does not limit how long a download may take overall, a transfer that keeps delivering data is left alone. StatCan prepares a whole response before sending any of it, which for large requests can take the better part of a minute, so values much below the default of 200 risk cutting off legitimate requests.

factors

(Optional) Logical value indicating if dimensions should be converted to factors. (Default set to TRUE).

default_month

The default month that should be used when creating Date objects for annual data (default set to "07")

default_day

The default day of the month that should be used when creating Date objects for monthly data (default set to "01")

Value

A tibble with data for specified vector(s) for the last N periods

Returns NULL if the data could not be retrieved because StatCan is unavailable.

Examples

# \donttest{
get_cansim_vector_for_latest_periods("v41690973",10)
#> Accessing CANSIM NDM vectors from Statistics Canada
#> # A tibble: 10 × 16
#>    REF_DATE  Date       GEO   Products and product…¹ VALUE val_norm UOM   UOM_ID
#>    <chr>     <date>     <fct> <fct>                  <dbl>    <dbl> <chr> <chr> 
#>  1 2025-10-… 2025-10-01 Cana… All-items               165.     165. 2002… 17    
#>  2 2025-11-… 2025-11-01 Cana… All-items               165.     165. 2002… 17    
#>  3 2025-12-… 2025-12-01 Cana… All-items               165      165  2002… 17    
#>  4 2026-01-… 2026-01-01 Cana… All-items               165      165  2002… 17    
#>  5 2026-02-… 2026-02-01 Cana… All-items               166.     166. 2002… 17    
#>  6 2026-03-… 2026-03-01 Cana… All-items               167.     167. 2002… 17    
#>  7 2026-04-… 2026-04-01 Cana… All-items               168      168  2002… 17    
#>  8 2026-05-… 2026-05-01 Cana… All-items               170.     170. 2002… 17    
#>  9 2026-06-… 2026-06-01 Cana… All-items               169      169  2002… 17    
#> 10 2026-07-… 2026-07-01 Cana… All-items               170.     170. 2002… 17    
#> # ℹ abbreviated name: ¹​`Products and product groups`
#> # ℹ 8 more variables: SCALAR_ID <int>, VECTOR <chr>, cansimTableNumber <chr>,
#> #   COORDINATE <chr>, SYMBOL <int>, releaseTime <chr>, frequencyCode <int>,
#> #   DECIMALS <int>
# }