Prince George, B.C.- Have you completed your 2016 Census?

Enumerators have already started knocking on doors in rural Canada says Marc Hamel, Census Manager for the 2016 count “We were hoping to hit the long weekend in May to   count those may be at the cottage.   We want to account for every dwelling in Canada to make sure we get the usual residents everywhere.”

So there was no long weekend for some of the 25 thousand enumerators in the country. “In most places across Canada it ( enumeration) would be starting June 1st, but in rural   areas we had people on the ground this weekend.”

Response has been good so far says Hamel “We have over 10 million responses already, response has been very high and steady. We have been sending reminders to dwellings where we haven’t received a response yet, but participation levels have been very high.”

Hamel says the online filing has been “tremendous, but we’ve also received a number of responses on paper. We offer a number of alternatives for Canadians , the response has been very good, any channel Canadians have been using.”

Should you get a knock on the door, Hamel says Enumerators will be carrying proper identification “All Statistics Canada Enumerators will carry photo ID and they should be wearing it when they show up at the door. You will be able to see it is a formal Government of Canada identification card and it should have a picture on it. If you are still not sure, you can ask for a verification of identification, so you don’t have to answer right away if you’re not sure this is a person from Stats Can.” Those who want verification can call the Stats Canada Census Help Line which operates Monday to Friday from 8am-8pm and frrom 8:30 to 4:30 on Saturday and Sunday. The number is 1-855-700-2016.

More than 15.5 million census forms or online access codes were sent to dwellings across the country says Hamel “We are aiming at private dwellings, many people will have two residences for example, a main one somewhere and a cabin or cottage in another place. We still want to make sure we are getting people at their usual place of residence and to do so, if you do have a secondary residence, we are also asking you to complete a census for that other residence. That process is fairly simple, if you look at the questions it asks how many usual occupants of the dwelling, if you say zero, it’s going to prompt you to say why zero and there is an option to select cottage or cabin.”

Filling out census form is mandatory. Failure to do so could result in a maximum fine of $500 or a jail term of up to 3 months.