Conservatives reject option of adding questions to 2016 census

OTTAWA – The Conservative government has not added any new questions to the 2016 mandatory short-form census, leaving the process identical to the controversial system it introduced for 2011.

Statistics Canada and other groups had raised the possibility of adding questions to the short-form in order to raise the quality of information in the most critical areas.

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The response rate for the mandatory short-form census was 97.1 per cent in 2011, versus 68.6 per cent for the optional National Household Survey introduced by the Conservatives.

Questions on languages spoken at home, for example, were last-minute additions to the last short-form census after an outcry from minority language groups.

The federal cabinet makes the ultimate decision on the questions that are selected for the census and the National Household Survey.

In 2010, the government axed the mandatory long-form census calling the threat of jail times and fines coercive.