Merritt residents urged to fill out 2026 census ahead of May 12 ‘deadline’

There are just a few more days to go as Statistics Canada awaits the return of millions of census forms as it conducts its latest count of the population.

Beige envelopes containing unique 16-digit codes were delivered to mailboxes across Canada this week. Those codes allow people to access and complete the census questionnaires online, and the data helps shape communities from coast to coast to coast.

“The point of the census is to count the population and that comes from participation among Canadian households,” Geoff Bowlby, assistant chief statistician with Statistics Canada told CFJC Today.

“We’ve had very high rates of participation in the past, higher than just about every country out there. About 98 per cent took it up in 2021 and we’re targeting the same degree of success in 2026.”

The census is conducted every five years and it’ll take most people about 10 minutes to complete as they’re only asked for basic demographical information like age, gender, language and household composition. About 25 per cent of households will be asked for more detailed information like education, income and job status.

Bowlby said that the long-form census takes about 30 minutes to complete.

“In 2027, we’ll be releasing data throughout the year and it will provide a very rich portrait of who we are as Canadians,” Bowlby added. “The country has grown enormously and it’s a dynamic, changing place. Our great nation is very much defined by the numbers that are in the census.”

The data collected helps establish transit routes and the placement of schools and hospitals along with other core services like fire and ambulances. It also shows where people live and is used to help draw federal and provincial electoral boundaries.

The data is also useful to local governments like Merritt, and the city is encouraging people to complete the census, cautioning that not doing so only harms the community’s interests.

Census day is May 12, which is when Statistics Canada hopes to get the majority of responses back by. Completing the census is required by law and refusing to do so can net you a $500 fine, but Statistics Canada also notes next Tuesday is a “reference date” rather than a hard deadline.

“The goal of the census is to count and characterize the population and provide a snapshot in time on a particular date,” Bowlby added. “The closer we can get the responses to May 12, the better the decisions that can be made with the data because they will be of higher quality.”

Starting mid-May, Statistics Canada will send out reminder letters and text messages to households that have not yet completed their questionnaires. The agency will eventually move on to follow-up phone calls and in-person visits, where needed.

“The month of June, actually, is a huge operation and it takes about 30,000 people who we hire temporarily to go knocking on doors to the folks who haven’t responded,” Bowlby said. “Responding early is a way to save the taxpayer money, too, because it’s much more expensive to send somebody to the doorstep than it is for us to receive the data either online or by paper.”

Statistics Canada will end the data collection phase in July, after which it will begin to process all of the data before releasing it by December next year.

“We understand for Canadians to respond to the census, they need to trust Statistics Canada,” Bowlby said. “That trust comes from us keeping and protecting their data and keeping it private and confidential.”

“A census isn’t a census unless everybody does it,” he added. “It’s a great opportunity for Canadians to participate in something that’s absolutely essential for our democracy.”