The census as a political tool

[Snao Cone]

Today is Census Day in Canada, so if you are living in this country - fill out your census! Or get your partner/parents/roommate to fill it out. Just ensure the simple questions of your age, sex, and family status are answered in relation to your address/postal code, because this is arguably more powerful and important than voting.

See, any policy or law or budget item will have to back itself up with data to support it. The census is the #1 source of that data. While your vote only contributes one out of tens of thousands for one out of 338 seats in Parliament on one day every few years, being counted in the census gives you a say on more matters for the whole country. It affects policy and planning on all levels of government, from school districts all the way up to Justin Trudeau. It determines the distribution of federal money to provinces. It's used to plan for all areas of public policy and programs, from health care services to infrastructure to public safety to parks and recreation.

I did mine last week. I got a card in the mail with a website and a code. It took me under two minutes. If you get the long form census, consider yourself lucky - it can take more time, but it creates richer statistics for even better planning. If you got the short form, all you need to enter is your age, sex, and confirming the address where you live as of today. This will affect how resources are distributed for five years. So do it. Count yourself in.

[ThaHoward]

Sign me up :D

[Skycaptain]

In Britain our census is every decade, and the results take years to publish

[Snao Cone]

The results usually take a year or two to come out here, and they're released in stages. The first stage, and most important, is basic numbers of how many people live in each province/territory. Then more are released as they're analyzed and reported - distributions of age and sex*, size of households, languages spoken at home, family status, and a variety of topics included in the long form, like ethnicity, religion, place of birth, disability, education, etc. One of my best friends got the long form and I am so jealous.

Howard, you have to move to Canada today to be counted :P

*This census actually explained why they chose "sex" over "gender" and clarified how trans people should respond, which I thought was helpful

[Perfectly Pointless]

I thought the census was a legal requirement? Like, you can get in really bad trouble (or at least get fined) with the law if you don't complete it?

Or is that just in the UK? In the UK i'm pretty sure it is illegal to not complete a census for your household.

Either way, I agree that it's a good way of gauging the kind of people in your country and what their opinions are.

[Snao Cone]

It's a legal requirement in Canada too, but very rarely are people charged for not completing it. I've heard of one or two cases of that over the years, but I know of many, many refusals or ignoring of the census and other legally required surveys as I used to work for the agency responsible for them.

[shockkkk]

I approve of this message.

-Someone who has to work with census data.

[sonofzeal]

The ditching of the long form may, in the end, be the most enduring black eye on the Harper administration.

[Sally]

See, any policy or law or budget item will have to back itself up with data to support it.

Wow, you Canadians are so much saner than we Americans. Our policies or laws can simply emanate from some crazy-ass notion that a (usually Republican) bunch of Congressmembers take into their idiotic heads.