Canadian Long-Form Census Questionnaire

Articles from the current issue of the journal Canadian Public Policy

Related News items

  • Native groups take feds to court over scrapping of mandatory long-form census
    OTTAWA - The Conservative government's decision to eliminate the mandatory long-form census is being challenged again in court.

    Lawyers for a coalition of aboriginal organizations and chiefs from Atlantic Canada will argue on Monday in Federal Court in Halifax that the decision violates their constitutional rights, including their right to equality under the Charter.

    To read more, click here.

  • EU scolds Harper government for StatsCan controversy
    The European Union's statistical gurus have taken the Canadian government to task for denting the professional independence of Statistics Canada through the census debate. In the newly released report, the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board decries the government's decision to replace the mandatory long-form census with a voluntary survey, citing Canada as a cautionary tale of statistical agencies losing their traditional autonomy. To read more, click here.

  • Liberals move to reinstate long-form census
    Liberal MP Marc Garneau introduced a motion in the House of Commons Tuesday calling on the federal government to reinstate the mandatory long-form census, despite continuing insistence by the Conservatives that it is intrusive and unnecessary. To read more, click here.

  • Tories haul out 'coalition' label in census spat
    OTTAWA — The Conservatives slammed their political rivals as a "coalition" ready to ride roughshod over privacy rights, as the three opposition parties backed a motion Tuesday to revive the mandatory long-form census. To read more, click here.

  • Government study reveals significant errors in voluntary census
    A study conducted by Statistics Canada weeks before Ottawa revealed its plan to scrap the mandatory long-form census found that significant errors can creep into survey results gathered on a voluntary basis. The Harper government’s early summer announcement that it would make the 40-page long-form census optional has caused a major rift between Ottawa and researchers, businesses and health officials who warn it will undermine the rich trove of data upon which they rely. A June, 2010, internal study obtained by The Globe and Mail under the access-to-information law offers an inside look at how new census-taking rules could skew data in a range of areas from housing to demographics. Statistics experts warn its findings demonstrate how minorities and groups such as renters could be measurably underrepresented or miscounted in the coming 2011 census. To read the entire story, click here.

  • Brief from MRIA on Long-Form Portion of the Canadian Census
    The issue of whether or not Canada should have a mandatory long-form census questionnaire is of prime importance to MRIA members. Specifically, our concern is that the Government’s planned cancellation of the long-form questionnaire will adversely affect the availability, quality and reliability of essential data collected about Canadians. This Brief outlines our industry’s support for the continuation of the mandatory long-form census questionnaire, and sets out a number of arguments urging Cabinet to reverse its decision to cancel it. To read the entire Letter, click here.

  • PM told to ‘rethink’ census
    McGuinty joins others urging Harper to change decision to make mandatory long form voluntary
    Published On Wed Jul 28 2010, Adrian Wyld/THE CANADIAN PRESS
    Les Whittington and Richard J. Brennan Ottawa Bureau, Toronto Star

    OTTAWA—Pressure is mounting on the Harper government to back down on its hotly disputed decision to replace the mandatory long-form census.

    Premier Dalton McGuinty joined the chorus of business, government and academic interests urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to seek a compromise solution in time for the next census in 2011.

    McGuinty called on the federal Conservatives to reevaluate their decision to change the mandatory 40-page census to a voluntary survey, a move that many experts say will nullify the value of the entire census exercise.

    “I think it would be a mistake on the part of the federal government to make the change it is proposing,” McGuinty said. “I hope they are giving this a rethink.”

    The census issue is expected to come up next week when McGuinty meets with his provincial counterparts at the annual premier's conference in Winnipeg.

    To read the complete article along with further coverage, click here.

  • MRIA CALLS FOR RETENTION OF MANDATORY LONG-FORM CENSUS QUESTIONNAIRE
    The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA) today issued an open letter to the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry and Minister Responsible for Statistics Canada, calling upon the federal Government to reverse its decision to eliminate the mandatory long-form census questionnaire. MRIA’s concern revolves around the impact this decision will have on the availability, quality and reliability of essential data that is collected about Canadians once every five years.

    The data generated by the long-form census questionnaire provide decision-makers in the public and private sectors with a deep and rich set of facts about Canadians, facts that are reliable at the local, regional and national levels. The robustness and reliability of the data is due to the huge sample involved (one in five households), and because response is mandatory.

    To read the entire letter, click here.

Viewing and printing PDF files requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. If Adobe Acrobat Reader is not installed on your computer system, you can download it at no cost by clicking here:

Share |
Facebook    LinkedIn    RSS
© Marketing Research and Intelligence Association. All Rights Reserved.