Statistics Canada (French: Statistique Canada), which was formed in 1971, is the Government of Canada government agency commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. Its headquarters is in Ottawa. The bureau is commonly called StatCan or StatsCan. StatCan is the official abbreviation. It has regularly been considered the best statistical organization in the world by The Economist, such as in the 1991 and 1993 "Good Statistics" surveys. Public Policy Forum and others have also ranked it first.