How Census-Gate Will Change Canada

To provide useful services at a neighbourhood level, you need to know the neighbourhood in question.

Social planning councils across Canada are deeply distressed about the potential loss of the mandatory long-form census. The data it provides is foundational to our work.

By analyzing the information collected on factors such as age, language spoken at home, country of origin, income, and activities of daily living, we can determine, at a neighbourhood level, the services required. For example we can see what is needed to provide support to isolated seniors with a specific cultural or linguistic background in particular neighbourhoods – information that makes service provision much more efficient and cost-effective.

The long-form census data allows SPC’s to analyze trends and relationships across populations. This information enables us to look at conditions like poverty, overcrowding, and unemployment, and determine whether particular groups are disproportionately poor, inadequately housed, or unemployed or underemployed.

We can also monitor, over time, whether government or community initiatives to address these problems are actually having an impact – it is long-form census data, for example, that has shown the success of the provincial and federal Child Benefit in reducing child poverty.

While the technicalities of data collection may seem unimportant to some, it is only possible to provide this local information because the current data is based on a “mandatory” sample (20 per cent of households, selected randomly), which accurately reflects the reality of local communities. A “voluntary” sample simply breaks down at the local level.

The unique value of the census data is that it is a “count,” not a “sample” – we know that it is a very close reflection of reality. It forms the foundation for decision-making by community organizations, school boards, public health authorities, and transit commissions, as well as municipalities, provinces, and, yes, even the federal government.

The data from the mandatory long-form census is irreplaceable. It simply cannot be obtained through any kind of voluntary survey. Surveys have already indicated that there will be wildly varying response rates among different communities to a voluntary survey. The result will be greyer, whiter, richer, and better educated than the Canadian reality.

The failure of the government to admit this simple truth cost it both its chief statistician (who resigned rather than be complicit in this fabrication) and its credibility among, at last count, over 300 organizations from a wide cross-section of civil society, which have joined social planning bodies from coast to coast in protesting this incredibly destructive decision.

Long-form census data provides the foundation for all research, public policy, and evaluation of any programs, policies, or decisions made by the government, business, health care, and community sectors. For social planning councils, losing this data is like putting out our eyes – we will still try to “feel our way," but the information and services we are able to offer our communities will be seriously compromised. This is why we are at the forefront of the campaign to reinstate the compulsory long-form census.