# Codebook — `firms_panel.csv`

**Project:** PSE-2026 — Programme de subvention salariale des entreprises (provincial wage-subsidy program), firm-level employment effects
**Prepared by:** Research data unit, Department of Administrative Sciences, Université du Quartier-Deschênes
**Extract date:** 2026-10-27 (merge of the 2019–2024 annual establishment survey with the program participation registry)

One row per firm and calendar year, 2019–2024. The file is a raw merge: the survey team has **not** validated it. Users are
expected to apply the cleaning rules of their research protocol before analysis.

| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `firm_id` | string | Firm identifier (`F0001` … `F1200`), stable across years |
| `year` | integer | Calendar year of the observation (2019–2024) |
| `region` | string | Administrative region code, three uppercase letters (see list below) |
| `sector` | string | Main activity: manufacturing, retail, business_services, construction, ict, hospitality, transport |
| `founded_year` | integer | Year the firm was incorporated |
| `treated` | 0/1 | 1 if the firm was admitted to the wage-subsidy program. Participation starts in 2022 for all admitted firms and is time-invariant in this file (the same value is repeated on every row of the firm) |
| `employment` | integer | Average number of employees during the year (head count). Missing values are coded `-999` or `NA`. Because the survey export passes through a spreadsheet step, some values may be stored as text |
| `revenue_kcad` | integer | Annual revenue, thousands of CAD |

## Region codes

BSL Bas-Saint-Laurent · SLJ Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean · CAP Capitale-Nationale · MAU Mauricie · EST Estrie · MTL Montréal ·
OUT Outaouais · ABT Abitibi-Témiscamingue · CNO Côte-Nord · NQC Nord-du-Québec · GIM Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine ·
CHA Chaudière-Appalaches · LAV Laval · LAN Lanaudière · LAU Laurentides · MTG Montérégie · CQC Centre-du-Québec

## Notes from the data unit

- The 2020 values reflect the pandemic year; do not drop it, the protocol keeps all years.
- `treated` is defined from the program registry, not from the survey; firms admitted after 2024 are coded 0.
- Employment is a head count and must be strictly positive for an active firm.

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