Long Form
Every census has two forms. The short one goes to everybody. The long one goes to a sample of households, and it asks a lot more questions.
The short form asks the basics. Name, age, sex, marital status, language. The long form asks about income, education, ethnicity, religion, disability, housing, commuting, unpaid work, and a pile of other things. It's the form that actually tells the government who we are.
It's also the one that's been fought over for years.
The 2011 Change
In 2010, the federal government announced that the mandatory long form census was being scrapped. It would be replaced by a voluntary National Household Survey, or NHS. Same questions, but nobody had to answer them.
The government said it was about privacy. People shouldn't be forced to answer personal questions. That sounded reasonable to some people.
Statisticians hated it. They warned that a voluntary survey would produce garbage data, because the people most likely to answer are the ones with the time and the inclination, which skews the results. The head of Stats Canada resigned over it.
The 2015 Reversal
Five years later, the new government brought the mandatory long form back. They said the voluntary approach had hurt the quality of the data and that the country needed reliable numbers again.
So the long form came back. Mandatory. Same as before 2011. Which means if your household gets picked, you're legally required to fill it out, and the questions go deep.
What's On It
Here's a sample of what the long form asks. This isn't everything. It's just the parts that tend to make people pause.
Your exact income, from every source. Your employer's name and address. Your ethnic origin. Your religion. Your mother tongue. Your citizenship and immigration status. Whether you have any disabilities. Whether you did unpaid housework or care for a family member last week, and for how many hours. Whether you have a mortgage, how much it is, and what your monthly payments look like.
That's a lot. And unlike the short form, you can't really skip it without breaking the law.
Why People Push Back
Some people refuse the long form on principle. Others answer the minimum and leave blanks. Others fill it out and just don't think about it.
The concern isn't any single question. It's the combination. When you put income, ethnicity, religion, disability, and housing together, you get a picture of a person that goes well beyond what any one question reveals on its own.
And the form is handled by the same agency that lost hundreds of completed census returns and didn't tell anyone for years.
The 2016 Census
The first mandatory long form after the reversal went out in 2016. About one in four households got the long version. The rest got the short one.
Stats Canada said response rates were good. Critics said the pressure tactics used to get those rates up were a problem. Both things can be true.
What You Can Do
If you get the long form, you have options. You can fill it out. You can fill in the minimum and leave the rest blank. You can refuse outright and take your chances.
Whatever you decide, keep a copy of what you sent. Save the letters. Note the phone calls. If a rep pressures you or lies to you, write it down.
And if you're not sure what to do, the minimum cooperation page might help.