2011 Census collection

The 2011 Census of Canada (Census of Population and Census of Agriculture) took place in May, 2011.

Enumerating the population of Canada

Almost every country in the world regularly gathers important information about the persons living in its different regions. Every five years Statistics Canada conducts a census to provide a portrait of Canada and its people.

Statistics Canada is the federal agency which is responsible under the Statistics Act for conducting the Census of Canada. By law, each household must provide the information requested in the census, and by the same law, Statistics Canada must protect the confidentiality of the personal information provided by respondents.

Census data are used to calculate population estimates. These estimates are used to allocate transfer payments from the federal government to the provinces and territories, and from the provincial/territorial governments to municipalities. In 2010-2011, provinces and territories received over $64 billion from the federal government through major transfers, direct targeted support and trust funds. Even a small error in the estimates could lead to the misallocation of millions of dollars.

The census enumerates the entire population of Canada, which consists of citizens (by birth and by naturalization), landed immigrants and non-permanent residents and their families living with them in Canada. Non-permanent residents are persons who hold a work or student permit, or who claim refugee status.

The census also counts citizens and landed immigrants who are temporarily outside the country. This includes federal and provincial government employees working outside Canada, embassy staff posted to other countries, members of the Canadian Forces stationed abroad, and all Canadian crew members of merchant vessels and their families.

Delivery of questionnaires

Starting May 3, Canada Post delivered a letter to 60% of Canadian dwellings. This letter replaced the traditional paper questionnaire and provided information so respondents could complete the questionnaire online. The letter also contained a toll-free number that respondents could call to request a paper questionnaire.

About 20% of dwellings received a questionnaire package by mail.

The remaining 20% of dwellings had questionnaires dropped off by enumerators. At a small number of dwellings enumerators conducted personal interviews. Personal interviews are normally conducted in remote and northern areas of the country and on most Indian reserves. They are also conducted in large urban downtown areas where residents are transient.

For most dwellings, one respondent completes the questionnaire for the entire household using either the online or paper questionnaire. The paper questionnaire is mailed back in the postage-paid green envelope. A toll-free number is also included so that respondents can call if they wish to complete the questionnaire over the telephone.

Statistics Canada census enumerators

Approximately 5,000 crew leaders and assistants were hired to recruit, train and supervise around 30,000 census enumerators. Census enumerators were hired for approximately 10 weeks, from May to the end of July.

Census staffing procedures are applied uniformly throughout Canada. Before being considered for a census position, candidates must pass the selection test, a personal interview, reference checks and security checks in accordance with the federal Government Security Policy.

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The census questionnaire

All households received a census questionnaire with ten questions on topics such as relationship to Person 1, age, sex, marital status and language.

The census online questionnaire

The online questionnaire was available in almost all parts of Canada starting in May 2011.

Each letter or paper questionnaire had a unique secure access code printed on the front along with the 2011 Census website address (www.census2011.gc.ca). Respondents used the unique code to access their questionnaire online. Answering the questions online is a secure, simple and convenient way to complete the census questionnaire.

The Census Help Line

The Census Help Line (CHL) is a national, toll-free telephone service that provides assistance to people with questions or comments, or to those who encounter problems while completing their census questionnaire.

Census Help Line operators can also assist respondents by helping them complete the questionnaire over the telephone. To perform this service, the CHL operator requires the respondent’s address.

Respondents could call the CHL if they:

1. had a question about filling in their census form or wanted some information about the census
2. were having trouble filling in their census form
3. needed a new census form because the original was lost or damaged
4. needed a second form because there was not enough room to enter the information for all of the people who lived in the household
5. did not receive a letter or a questionnaire by Tuesday, May 10th
6. wanted to complete the census questionnaire over the telephone
7. needed a new secure access code to answer their questionnaire online.

Respondents could also contact this service to obtain a copy of the census questions in alternative forms (including Braille, audio and large print) and in other languages in addition to English and French.

The service was free and operators took calls in English and French. Efforts were be made to answer questions in other languages.

Official languages

All letters and questionnaire packages were bilingual.

How to complete the questionnaire

An adult completes the questionnaire for all members of the household. This person is called “Person 1”

The list begins with the adult listed as Person 1 followed, if applicable, by that person’s spouse or common-law partner and then their children. The list continues with all other persons who usually live at this address.

Person 1 enters the names of all persons who usually live in the household, along with their relationship to Person 1. This includes all newborn babies, children, co-tenants, roomers, children who live elsewhere when in school, children under joint custody who live in the dwelling most of the time, and persons who usually live in the dwelling but have been living in an institution such as a hospital, residence for senior citizens or prison for less than six months.

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Special enumerations

The enumeration of Canada's population extends beyond rural and urban households. This section provides information on enumerating people whose residence on May 10, 2011 was not their regular dwelling.

Enumeration of students

Students attending school out of town but who return home when school is not in session should have been included on their parents’ questionnaire, as part of the regular household. Because a school residence is considered a collective dwelling and each resident of a collective dwelling must complete a census questionnaire, students living in residences must also have completed the first two pages of the census form, sealed it in the envelope provided, and returned it to the location in the residence which was noted on the outside of the envelope. Similarly, students working out of town on May 10, 2011 should have been included in their regular household. If students were staying in a hotel or motel, at a camp, or at a YMCA/YWCA because of a job, they must have also completed the first two pages of the census questionnaire received at that location.

Collective dwellings that do not provide care or assistance services

Inns, hotels, motels, campgrounds, YMCA/YWCAs and military bases are examples of non-institutional collective units. Persons living in these units were self-enumerated in the same way as households. However, persons staying temporarily in such a unit on May 10, 2011 were still enumerated at their usual place of residence. Because everyone in the collective must be accounted for, they were only be asked to complete a few questions on the form that they received at the collective unit.

Collective dwellings that provide care or assistance services

Prior to May 10, 2011, Statistics Canada developed lists to identify institutions such as detention facilities, hospitals, residences for senior citizens, orphanages, prisons and shelters for homeless people.

To be enumerated, residents must have lived at the facility for at least six months. Otherwise, the resident was counted at his or her regular place of residence.

In most of these facilities, the questions were completed for each resident using the institution’s administrative records. If it was not possible to obtain answers to all of the census questions, the enumerator attempted to record at least the age and sex of each resident.

Seniors who resided in institutions or residences within their own distinct, separate living quarters, and who were able to complete the census questionnaire, received their own census form to complete.

The census in remote areas

For dwellings which are traditionally difficult to enumerate or are in very remote locations, the questionnaire was completed by a personal interview. In some northern and remote areas of Canada, enumeration began in February before respondents migrate to hunting and fishing camps for the summer. Translations of the census questions were available in a number of languages, as well as English and French, so that respondents could read the questions in their own language.

Canadians abroad

At Canadian embassies, heads of missions were asked to assist in enumerating all Canadians in the service of the Government of Canada outside the country. They appointed an enumeration co-ordinator who saw to the enumeration of employees in each department, along with their families.

Military and civilian personnel stationed outside Canada and their families, as well as persons on board vessels of the Canadian Forces, the Canadian Coast Guard, the Merchant Navy and other ships, were all enumerated in the same way.

Travelling in Canada

People normally living in Canada who were travelling on May 10, 2011 were still required to complete and return a census form. Those staying in a hotel, motel, campground or hostel on May 10, 2011 were given a form to complete which asked for the individual’s name and address. If there was someone still at home in your household, this person included you on that questionnaire. Those who were travelling on May 10, 2011 and lived alone completed their household’s questionnaire before they left or as soon as they returned home.

The Census of Agriculture

Step D of the census questionnaire was used to determine which households should participate in the Census of Agriculture, which was carried out at the same time as the Census of Population. Agricultural operators are those who have sold or intend to sell agricultural products in the next 12 months. Such households received an additional questionnaire for the Census of Agriculture. The 2006 Census gathered information on 229,373 farm operations in Canada.

The Census of Agriculture collects a wide range of data on the agriculture industry, such as number and type of agricultural operations, farm operator characteristics, business operating arrangements, land management practices, crop areas, numbers of livestock and poultry, farm business capital, operating expenses and receipts, and farm machinery and equipment.

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How we protect the confidentiality of your information

By law, Statistics Canada must protect the confidentiality of the personal information contained in census questionnaires.

Names, addresses and telephone numbers are not entered into the census dissemination database. Census data are stored on an internal isolated network that cannot be connected to any outside link or accessed by any person or organization outside of Statistics Canada.