Canadian Management Information System Database metadata

Overview

The Canadian MIS Database (CMDB) contains financial and statistical operations information on public hospitals and regional health authorities across Canada. It includes information from 1995–1996 onward.

This information forms the basis of management reporting, including

• Annual general purpose financial statements
• Financial ratio analysis
• Operational budgeting

Find out more about health spending, including reports and analyses based on CMDB data.

Data source

Most provinces and territories submit hospital data through their ministries of health. They submit data related to the operations of hospitals and other health services under their jurisdiction.

Data coverage

Data is submitted from all jurisdictions except Quebec and Nunavut.

Quebec data is collected using a different standard than that used for the CMDB. CIHI maps the publicly available data to the CMDB specifications where possible, in order to include it in some reporting products.

There is some variation in coverage due to differences in the services provided through the jurisdictional health authorities. The CMDB contains financial and statistical data for all public hospitals; however, it includes only those community services operated and reported by the health authorities in each jurisdiction. 

Data availability

Data is reported by fiscal year, April 1 to March 31. Data is available on request.

• Historical series: 1995–1996Referencei
• Archive: 1932–1933 to 1994–1995 is available from Statistics Canada External link, opens in new window under the name Annual Return of Health Care Facilities–Hospitals

For data requests, please complete a data request form.

In addition to providing aggregate information about health service organizations, CMDB data is also used to calculate estimates of hospital spending that can be linked to clinical data. This provides a means to estimate costs for specific patients or groups of patients. These estimates are typically available for trending over 5-year periods, starting in 2004. For this type of request, please complete a data request form and include the relevant clinical data source, either Discharge Abstract database (DAD) or National Ambulatory Care System (NACRS). Note that there is a break in the series in 2014–2015 due to a change in indicator methodology.

Classification

Data is collected according to the MIS Standards (Standards for Management Information Systems in Canadian Health Service Organizations), which provides a framework to collect and report financial and statistical data on the day-to-day operations of health service organizations. It provides a framework for integrating clinical, financial and statistical data.

The MIS Standards includes

• Chart of accounts
• Accounting principles and procedures, and use of information
• Workload measurement systems
• Glossary of terms
• 2025 changes

The MIS Standards is updated every 3 years to ensure it remains relevant and useful in the Canadian health care environment. The MIS Standards is available in eStore.

Data elements

Key variables in the CMDB include the following:

Financial

• Expenses
• Revenues

Statistical

• Earned hours
• Inpatient days
• Beds staffed and in operation
• Procedures
• Exams
• Visits

For additional information on CMDB variables, please contact us at fsi@cihi.ca.

Data Quality

CIHI ensures that the quality of the information in our data holdings is suited to its intended uses and that data users are provided with accurate information about data quality. Read more about our Data and Information Quality Program.

The following data quality documentation is available:

• Canadian MIS Database (CMDB) User Guide (PDF)

Footnotes