Most universities in Canada are spending enormous amounts of effort collecting vast amounts of data, but are still--in some quarters--perceived to be unable to report data effectively. In other countries, this kind of problem has been resolved in two different ways. But in Canada, this hasn't happened. The purpose of this paper is to shed some light on the current availability of comparative information about Canada's universities and point the way forward for Canadian institutions in terms of collecting data. Part I examines and comments on what institutions do individually in terms of data collection and publication as well as what they do collectively through national consortia. Part II examines the issue of a Canadian Common Data Set in terms of what such a database would contain as well as implementation issues that would need to be addressed in order to make it a reality. A glossary of terms is included. (Contains 8 footnotes and 1 table.) [Abstract modified to meet ERIC guidelines. This report was produced by the Educational Policy Institute (EPI).]