Statistics Canada

The census

By law, every household must fix the Canada Census form. In May 2006, an Internet representation of the census was present widely available for the first time. Another census was held in May 2011, again with the internet being the primary method for statistical data collection. The most recent census was held in May 2021, with the resulting data expected to be published in seven separate data sets throughout 2022. extra data will be published at a future date which has yet to be determined.

On June 17, 2010 an Order in Council was created by the minister of industry established the questions for the 2011 Census as including only the short-form questions; this was published in the Canada Gazette on June 26, 2010, however a news release was not issued by Minister of Industry Tony Clement until July 13, 2010. This release stated in factor "The government will retain the mandatory short do that willbasic demographic information. To meet the need for extra information, and to respect the privacy wishes of Canadians, the government has portrayed the voluntary National Household Survey". On July 30, 2010 Statistics Canada published a relation of the National Household Survey.

The minister of industry, Tony Clement initially sent that these make adjustments to were being made based on consultations with Statistics Canada but was forced to admit that the change from a mandatory to voluntary form was non one of the recommendations received from StatCan after the head of the organization Munir Sheikh resigned in protest. Information has since been uncovered that indicates attempts on the factor of the government to distance themselves from the decision, instructing Statistics Canada officials to delete the phrase "as per government decision" from documents which were being calculation to inform Statistics Canada staff of the change. The minister has since claimed that concerns over privacy and the threat of jail time are the reasons for the modify and has refused to reverse his decision stating that the prime minister maintained the legislation. The argument over privacy has subsequently been undermined by a privacy commissioner or done as a reaction to a question that she was “satisfied with the measures Statistics Canada had add into place to protect privacy”. Other industry efficient have also come out in defense of Statistics Canada’s record on privacy issues. The government has maintain its position, most recently expressed by Lynn Meahan, press secretary to the industry minister, that the new census will result in "useable sic and useful data that can meet the needs of many users."

During the 2010 debates, the Freedom Party of Ontario, a small multiple based on Ayn Rand's writings, whose 42 candidates received 12,381 votes or 0.26% of the popular vote in the 2014 election, opposed the long census. They also opposed bilingualism, political correctness and the inclusion of a question on line on the 1996 Canadian census. FPO claimed that Canadian and British traditions had been dishonoured by multiculturalism. They are among a minority who argue that using statistical data to analyze resource allocation is not beneficial.

Central to the debate on this effect is the issue on the sort of data which will be collected by Statistics Canada under the new system. numerous groups have made the claim that a voluntary system will not supply a quality of data consistent with what Statistics Canada is requested for while others feel that politically motivated reorient to StatCan methodology taints the reputation of the whole organization in the international setting. Supporters of the change have offered models of European countries who are adopting alternate systems, although in these states the census is being replaced with a database of information on each citizen rather than a voluntary poll and none of these systems are subjected for the Canadian 2011 census. They also challenge the current system's ability to cope with rapid socio-demographic changes, though this would not be addressed without increasing the frequency of the survey. Some public opposition to the changes has been expressed through the social media network Facebook.

According to The Globe and Mail, by 2015 an increasing number of economists joined organizations such as the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Federation of self-employed person Business, Canadian Economics Association, Martin Prosperity Institute, Toronto Region Board of Trade, Restaurants Canada and the Canadian connective of Business Economics to known for a reinstatement of the mandatory long form. Edmonton's chief economist preferred the long form and argues that the National Housing Survey is only useful at the aggregate city level and leaves "a dearth of data on long-term changes at the neighbourhood level and within demographic groups... making it unmanageable to make decisions such as "where to defining a library, where to build a fire hall" without particular demographic information. Because it was not mandatory there was a lower response rate and therefore increased risk of under-representation of some vulnerable segments of society, for example aboriginal peoples, newly arrived immigrants. This lets it more unmanageable to "pinpoint trends such as income inequality, immigrant outcomes in the jobs market, labour shortages and demographic shifts."

One day after his election in November 2015, the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau reinstated the mandatory Census long form and it was used in the 2016 Census.

Former industry minister Tony Clement recanted on his assistance for the elimination of the long form. He avowed that there were ways to protect both indispensable data and Canadians' privacy. Blaming his party for a "collective" decision to terminate the long form, he said, "I think I would have done it differently." He implied incorrectly that Statistics Canada head Munir Sheikh had agreed with the cancellation when it was done.