People are unusually enthusiastic about filling out Canada's Census 2016.
Some people on social media expressed disappointment when they didn't get the long form census, as only one in every four households has. This past Monday, the eagerness to participate proved to be too much when the census web site crashed for about 45 minutes under the unanticipated pressure.
"We thank Canadians for their enthusiasm," said Kwong Wong, Statistics Canada regional assistant director. "There were approximately 700,000 forms completed on the first day and then on Tuesday it was up to two million completed questionnaires so extremely strong support and we're aiming to reach our goal of 100 per cent response."
The library, which offers public access to computers, has not had too many questions about the Census and the traffic on the computers although busy was not unusual. The public library handed out a few thousand bookmarks with the Census web site on it and offer a link from their web site to the Census web site but it's only been used a handful of times, said Amy Dhanjal, communications coordinator for the library.
There were some elderly citizens that did not have access to the Internet that visited the Prince George Council of Seniors to ask for help with the census because it seemed to them they would be in trouble if they didn't fill it out by May 10, said Lola Dawn Fennell, general manager at the council of seniors.
There is a collection strategy in place for the mandatory census, which is to be completed by Tuesday, explained Wong. On Wednesday, May 11 there will be reminder letters sent out to all non-responding households and a follow up by mail of paper questionnaires starting Wednesday, May 18, said Wong.
"This is to ensure those households in the mail-out population who either do not have access to the Internet or would still wish to complete their census on a paper questionnaire can do so," said Wong. "And then starting June 1 we will actually be conducting our non response follow-up phase where we will be sending enumerators to conduct personal visits as well as phone interviews with all non-responders."
By law, each household must fill out the census and there is a $500 fine and potential for a three-month stint in jail for not filling it out.
The census won't be asking about income this time as that information will be accessed from personal income tax and benefits records.
The information collected from the census is used at the federal level to transfer funds to the provinces and territories and that accounts for about $300 billion over the last five years, said Wong. Information from the 2011 Census was used for the redistribution of electoral boundaries and 30 new seats were added to the House of Commons, which was reflected in the 2015 federal election, Wong added.
"At the community level, people always want to know what benefits them by completing the Census form," said Wong. "All the municipalities, city planners, different associations and community data users use that information for planning services as well as infrastructure, services such as childcare, schooling, and we're talking about housing, obviously, as well as hospitals and roads, transportation networks, transit and I could go on and on because it's used for so many planning purposes."
The message, Wong said, is for Canadians to complete their census as soon as they get the letter or questionnaire. There is a census help line for those needing assistance, including those needing help if English is a barrier, at 1-855-700-2106.
