Statistics Canada sends notices to every household requesting people fill in the census questionnaire. They may do so online or on paper forms, but they are legally obliged to respond.

Statistics Canada sends notices to every household requesting people fill in the census questionnaire. They may do so online or on paper forms, but they are legally obliged to respond.
Photo Credit: Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press

Many Canadians respond quickly to the census

Every household in Canada will get a request to fill in a census form in this first week of May and the initial response has been called enthusiastic. Monday was the first day and there were about 700,000 online responses, according to the government agency, Statistics Canada. The census site crashed for 45 minutes Monday evening, though it’s not clear why, reports the Globe and Mail.

The census is held every five years. There are two kinds of questionnaires. The short form has 10 questions which basically provide a picture of population numbers, age and gender. The long form is sent to one-quarter of households and asks further questions about education, immigration, aboriginal status, work, housing, health and other details.

The census will provide a snapshot of who lives in Canada in May 2016.
The census will provide a snapshot of who lives in Canada in May 2016. © Chris Young/Canadian Press

More detailed questionnaire is back

Controversy raged in 2011, when the previous Conservative government cancelled the long form census because it believed some people resented the personal questions on it. The new Liberal government reinstated the long form.

Privacy is a legal obligation

By law, all information is kept private. By law, everyone must fill in the form. That can be done over the internet, or in person and people can request any help they need by use of a toll-free telephone number.

More than 35,000 people have been hired temporarily to help conduct the census. Officials will visit households where forms have not been returned. Some are in remote locations, so all modes of transportation will be used including boats, snowmobiles, four-wheel drive vehicles and even helicopters.

Census is ‘absolutely essential’

The information gleaned from the census is used for many purposes.  “It’s extremely important,” said Geoff Bowlby, director general of Collection and Regional Services of Statistics Canada. “The census is basically the backbone, the major infrastructure of the statistical system that we have in Canada.” The information is used by all levels of government as well as the private sector and civil society.

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Statistics deemed essential for services, democracy

Where to place a police station, a school or a hospital may be determined with the used of census information, for example. It is also important for democracy since census figures are used to determine electoral boundaries. The number of seats in Parliament was increased for the October 2015 federal election based on new population numbers.

So, Bowlby’s message to residents of Canada is: “Please take the time to fill out the census. It is absolutely essential and we appreciate the time you are taking to make your community a better place by doing so.”

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