City census collection this April

Make your answers count. Census takers will start going door to door April 1 to collect census data information. All census takers wear a photo identification badge issued by The City of Calgary.

“We ask that all Calgarians take a couple of minutes to participate in the census. Census data is important to The City of Calgary as it helps us make informed decisions regarding transportation, recreation and many other City services,” said Paul Denys, Leader Election and Census.

Census takers are gathering information on the total number of residents, home owners, pre-school children, and type of school system support. This information is also used by the public and separate school boards for enrolment predictions, decisions on future schools, and by the provincial government for determining grants, if they are available.

This year we are asking a question around the mode of transportation used to get to work. This question helps the City’s transportation team monitor progress of the Calgary Transportation Plan.

“Data from the civic census is so robust. It allows us to conduct a more detailed analysis of the transportation mode split in each community, and then further break that information down for specific demographics,” said Ekke Kok, Manager Transportation Data.

For the second year in a row census takers will collect data on mobile tablet devices. These tablets will allow information to be submitted live and increase the efficient use of City resources.

The City's Leader of Election & Census, Paul Denys, holds one of some 800 tablets that will be used to collect census data

If residents are not home at the time of visit, the census taker will leave a notice of Municipal Census Call. Residents are asked to call the census taker at the number provided on the notice to complete their census. If residents are missed during the collection period, they are asked to call the Election and Information Services office at 403-476-4100 (option 3) to provide their information over the phone.

All personal information provided during this process is secure. When releasing census data, individuals and dwellings are not identified, but rather geographic areas such as community statistics. The 2014 census results will be available approximately three months after census collection has completed.

For more information on Census collection, visit Calgary.ca/census.

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Public contact information:
Election & Information Services
The City of Calgary
Phone: 403.476.4100