Census 2026 is here. Why does it ask what time you leave for work?

With ace daylight left wing to take come out the 2026 census, some Canadians will notice a few very specific questions, like what time you leave for work in the morning.

“The census data are the best source of commuting patterns, so transit planners all across the country will use information on where we live and where we work,” said Geoff Bowlby, assistant chief statistician at Statistics Canada. 

“And when people leave in the morning is an important part, of course, of commuting patterns. So transit routes, road placement, those decisions are based on census data,” he said.

Invitations to complete the 2026 census were sent out in recent weeks, directing Canadians to answer questions about their lives. There is a short-form version, which captures basic information, and a long form, which delves into questions about a person’s education, working life and even household bills. The deadline to respond is Tuesday. Canadians who don’t meet that date will receive reminders in the coming weeks, with potential financial penalties if they don’t respond.

Bowlby spoke to The Current’s Matt Galloway about this year’s census, and how the information gathered will be used to build Canada’s future. Here is part of their conversation.

[Tuesday] is census day. That's the day that the census is due, but to you, is it like the most wonderful time of the year?

It is … it's a little like Christmas Eve and Christmas Day all sort of wrapped up into one for us statisticians.

You ask people about things that shape their lives: who they are, how many people live in their house, the languages you speak. How does that benefit Canadians?

There's so many ways that it benefits Canadians. You know the population estimate is the number one reason why we produce a census. The census is data used for the delineation of our riding. So MPs, MPPs, MLAs, MHAs, whatever your politician is called in this country, their riding is determined by population data.

But there's so many other important reasons why people should fill out the census. The population numbers are used for determining where schools are placed or hospitals or police stations or fire stations. So very fundamental, basic part of our statistical infrastructure here in Canada is coming from the census.

Why does StatsCan need to know what time I leave for work?

Well, that's part of the transit planning. The census data are the best source of commuting patterns. So transit planners all across the country will use information on where we live and where we work. We collect both of those on the long-form census. And when people leave in the morning is an important part, of course, of commuting patterns. So transit routes, road placement, those decisions are based on census data.

Prince Albert urges 2026 census participation after missing out on funds

You will have seen the headline in the Beaverton, the satirical website, that said Local nerd disappointed he didn't get the long-form census. The headline might have been talking about me, local nerd who did not get the long-form census, because it's fun to fill out, it's a lot of information, it takes time. But what's in that long-form census, for people who did not get that? What is the difference between that and perhaps the quick survey that they received?

The short-form census goes to three-in-four dwellings, and the long form goes to one-in-four dwellings across the country. And the short form is, as the name describes, very short. It's about 12 questions. And its basic purpose is to count the population and provide us with some very basic information about Canadian households. So age, sex, gender, and language questions are on the short form.

Everything else is on the long form. The long form includes the short-form questions I just described, but it also has ethnicity, Indigenous status, some immigration questions, education, labour, questions about the nature of our dwelling. And it's where we also have some new questions. We have questions on homelessness, health status, as well as sexual orientation in the 2026 census.

You will have seen on social media a protest, such as it is, a number of people … who get the census, and then they write return to sender, and they're sending it back. They say it's an invasion of their privacy, they want nothing to do with it. What do you make of that?

I say two things. First of all, a census isn't a census unless close to 100 per cent of the population responds to us, right? So in the past, we've been very successful in Canada. We're the envy of our census-taking colleagues around the world. We got 98 per cent response to the census [in 2021]. That's our target again in 2026. So, the quality of the data depends on people responding and the quality of the decisions that result from the data also will be impacted. You're not doing yourself any favour, your community any favour by not responding to the census. It's only going to mean those factors like I described earlier — placement of schools, hospitals, et cetera — that big decisions of fundamental government services are degraded in some way because the data aren't as good.

Census protester speaks

Now, I know people are concerned about privacy and confidentiality and what I would like to say is that StatsCan takes that to the utmost seriousness. Protecting one's privacy and confidentialities is the number one job of StatsCan. We know that trust is our currency. If Canadians couldn't trust us with their data, they wouldn't respond.

It’s also just a picture of who we are, right?

Yeah, it is. You think of Canada, it's this beautiful country with mountains and prairie and Canadian shield, but it's the people. And in 2027, when we're producing the results, we'll be able to tell that story of who we are as Canadians.

Audio produced by Niza Lyapa Nondo. Q&A edited for length and clarity.

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