An Official Statistics Internship in Canada: Enzo’s Experience at StatCan
Three months at the heart of Canada’s national statistical agency. Enzo Camboni, a student in ENSAI’s Master in Data Science for Public Decision Making (European Master in Official Statistics) program, completed his second-year Public Data Scientist internship at Statistics Canada in Ottawa. The civil servant student looks back on his international experience.
Every summer, as part of a partnership between ENSAI and Statistics Canada, the organization hosts three to four ENSAI students for an internship.
Official Statistics without Borders
Enzo Camboni: “As a student in the public data scientist program, I wasn’t obliged to do an international internship. Nevertheless, I applied for an internship at StatCan for two reasons: the possibility of discovering a new country, and the chance to observe the workings of the official statistics system outside France. Seizing this opportunity was all the more decisive for me as I had never traveled abroad before. This experience is an asset that will serve me well in my future career.
My Assignment at Statistics Canada’s Headquarters
My internship, entitled “Review of the sampling framework and analysis of the impact of sample size reduction for the Survey of Environmental Goods and Services (SEGS)”, took place at StatCan’s headquarters in Ottawa. It lasted 3 months, during which I was supervised by a methodologist from the Economic Statistics Methods Division.
My assignments required me to draw on my knowledge of survey theory and StatCan’s internal documentation. I also attended weekly meetings and seminars on various statistical topics ranging from survey theory to time series. I have applied all this knowledge to achieve the objectives set for me. The results of my work should be used by StatCan to reduce the costs of the EBSE survey.
From a professional point of view, this experience enabled me to discover the work dynamics of the team in charge of the EBSE survey, and to exchange with them in both French and English. On a personal level, I took advantage of my stay to visit Ottawa, its monuments and markets, while taking part in local events with my colleagues. I extended this Canadian experience by visiting Toronto and Montreal in my spare time.
An internship at StatCan: an update on the admissions process
StatCan is an agency of the Canadian federal government, and a partner of ENSAI. The admission procedure for internships is therefore specific to our school. After receiving the CV and cover letter in English, the Office of International Relations, in partnership with the Office of the Dean, examines the applications to assess their relevance and suitability for an internship at StatCan. ENSAI then forwards the selected students’ applications to StatCan, where they are interviewed in French and English by the recruitment team. Once the internship has been secured, a number of administrative formalities need to be completed (including obtaining a visa and work permit).
After Ottawa, a Double Degree at the Università di Roma – La Sapienza
I joined ENSAI’s public data scientist program after ENS Paris Saclay D2 preparatory courses. This double curriculum between high school and university covers subjects such as mathematics, microeconomics, the history of economic facts and monetary analysis of economic policies.
For my final year at ENSAI, I chose to move to Italy to follow a double degree at the Università di Roma – La Sapienza, joining the EMOS Official Statistics track of the Master Statistical Methods and Applications. The program includes one compulsory course (Spatial Statistics) and a choice of at least two other courses depending on the number of ECTS credits. I chose Computational Statistics and Advances in Data Analysis and Statistical Modelling. The lower volume of teaching hours leaves me plenty of time to study the courses in depth and immerse myself in Roman life. My year at La Sapienza will end with an end-of-studies internship which I hope to carry out at ISTAT, after which I’ll start my first position in the French official statistics service.”
Find out more about ENSAI’s international partnerships