Canadian Census 2016

[Artemis@BC]

I'm doing some contract work for them so the census would be on my radar anyway, but this story really made me laugh. What a country of geeks we are that we'd crash the internet in our eagerness to fill in the form.

 

[Buzz]

LOL I got mine but haven't even opened it yet.

 

[MR-FAN]

We even have people who were CRUSHED they got the short-form census instead of the long

https://www.buzzfeed.com/ishmaeldaro/short-changed?utm_term=.wpjZZ0N4W#.vqkNNGPBb

 

[made_in_canada]

I filled mine out right away

 

[Artemis@BC]

We even have people who were CRUSHED they got the short-form census instead of the long

I know, right? It doesn't get much geekier than that.

I haven't checked my mailbox yet -- I'm delaying the possible disappointment.

 

[cygnus]

Sad that I only got the short form. I've never even seen the long form census. Some year it will be my turn, right?

 

[quartz]

Just got ours....it's pretty thin so I am assuming it's the short. I threw it on the dining room table and now I'm sitting on the living room couch so I can't be arsed to walk 20 feet to get it and open it.

 

[JasperBoy]

Just completed mine online. Surprised that it was done so quickly, I guess I got the short form. As an amateur genealogist I am happy to continue the collection of census data. Without the 19th century census forms I would not be able to find my ancestors. I agreed to making my census info available in 2108....and hope there will be someone looking me up, then.

 

[made_in_canada]

Just got ours....it's pretty thin so I am assuming it's the short. I threw it on the dining room table and now I'm sitting on the living room couch so I can't be arsed to walk 20 feet to get it and open it.

It's just a code to do it online I realize it's way cheaper to do it that way but it's more fun on paper.

 

[algonquin]

We even have people who were CRUSHED they got the short-form census instead of the long

https://www.buzzfeed.com/ishmaeldaro/short-changed?utm_term=.wpjZZ0N4W#.vqkNNGPBb

Count me in as one of them. I completed the short form this afternoon. It is a dream of mine to complete the long form someday.

 

[KatieC]

Short form asks your name, date of birth, marital status, language first learned in childhood and still understand, and relationship to person 1. There might be another, but I'm going on memory. I worked 5 Census, from '86 to '06. And I did the long form 4 times, which should not have happened, so for that reason, I will not do another long form. I do know the quality control rules for income if anyone is doing it on paper.

 

[quartz]

It's just a code to do it online I realize it's way cheaper to do it that way but it's more fun on paper.

Oh! Well I'm at job #2 now, so no idea when I'll get around to it.

 

[liv]

I've got mine. Opened it right away to find just that code. Just need to remember to carry it upstairs to the computer to do it...

 

[TygerLily]

We even have people who were CRUSHED they got the short-form census instead of the long

https://www.buzzfeed.com/ishmaeldaro/short-changed?utm_term=.wpjZZ0N4W#.vqkNNGPBb

I'm crushed.

The census was really hinky last time as it was not sent to me, and I had to call to get the code. Then, when I filled it out, I didn't have the option to state that I was living in a separate apartment in a house (had to put that I was a boarder even though it was NOT true). I don't know if the census itself was the problem or if I was living in an illegal apartment. In any case, I can't wait to fill out this year's because it feels like I'll be setting the record straight.

 

[Artemis@BC]

And I did the long form 4 times, which should not have happened, so for that reason, I will not do another long form.

Um, you don't really have a choice in the matter. If you get the long form, you get the long form, thems the breaks. Harper made answering the long form optional (and therefore statistically meaningless), but one of the first things the new Trudeau government did was make it mandatory again.

BTW, I did get the long form this time. (yay!) It still took less than 15 minutes to complete.

I do know the quality control rules for income if anyone is doing it on paper.

I don't know what that means. And it doesn't ask about income.

 

[Anemone]

I'd have gladly traded with you cygnus! I got the long form and I disliked it intensely. I found several of the questions quite invasive, and a few were things I didn't even know and had to actually do research to find the answer to give them. I would say I was at least half an hour doing it.

 

[quartz]

What sort of invasive questions?

 

[dramagrrl]

I found two of the questions somewhat offensive and wrote that in in the comments/critiques box at the end of the census:

1) The only options for "sex" were male and female. I am a cis female and identify as such, but what about trans people, non-binary people or people who choose to be ungendered?

2) In the long form census, there is a question about whether you suffer from any mental health issues or disorders. It is a multiple choice question, and the options were "no", "sometimes", "often", and "always" (IIRC). Uh, what? How do you categorize mental health issues in those terms? You can't be bipolar or schizophrenic "sometimes" or "often". You might suffer bouts of anxiety or depression at various times, but if you have a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder or MDD, you don't have that mental illness in quantifiable terms.

 

[TygerLily]

Wow. Those are ... badly worded questions.

I did the long form in '06 and don't remember if any questions like that jumped out at me.

 

[Skate Talker]

I must be "mis-remembering" because I thought the gender question had been made more inclusive prior to the last census already.
I worked census 3 times, back when I was a university student many moons ago, in the admin office for the province during the mini test census in 2004, then as part of the admin office for Nunavut, North West Territories and Yukon in 2006.

As a student the money was really good and I only had 2 households refuse to complete the form, both on the street where I had the misfortune to arrive shortly after the people who were doing property tax re-assessments for the city - not very happy people (and no I did not need them to tell me how many times per week they had intercourse).

 

[dramagrrl]

The exact questions from the 2016 long-form census can be seen in their entirety here.

 

[Jay42]

I found two of the questions somewhat offensive and wrote that in in the comments/critiques box at the end of the census:

1) The only options for "sex" were male and female. I am a cis female and identify as such, but what about trans people, non-binary people or people who choose to be ungendered?

I read an article on Buzzfeed I think back in November where a non-binary person wrote the government complaining that they couldn't put down their gender on the census. I do believe the governments response was that they were working on changing it but it was too late for this years census.

 

[victorskid]

I read an article on Buzzfeed I think back in November where a non-binary person wrote the government complaining that they couldn't put down their gender on the census. I do believe the governments response was that they were working on changing it but it was too late for this years census.

The Chief Statistician was interviewed on television yesterday - he said that it was too late to make changes for this year, particularly when the decision to proceed with the long form census was only made after the election last Fall. He said that instructions have been provided/responses are being given out that people can choose not to answer the gender question and/or to respond yes to both. He also talked about the "mother/father" issue and indicated that it will be processed as "parent 1" and "parent 2" regardless of how the question is posed/responded to. He said that changes will be made before the next census (in 5 years).

 

[KatieC]

Um, you don't really have a choice in the matter. If you get the long form, you get the long form, thems the breaks. Harper made answering the long form optional (and therefore statistically meaningless), but one of the first things the new Trudeau government did was make it mandatory again.

Just because it's mandatory doesn't mean people will fill out the forms. It was mandatory every time I worked on it, but I occasionally had to go out after refusals. And I didn't convert every one. Everyone here so far is fine with completed the Census it seems, but there are a good number of people who will not, for any reason. By the way, you also don't have to put in your proper name. Lots of Daisy and Donald Ducks in Canada.

 

[Skate Talker]

I read an article on Buzzfeed I think back in November where a non-binary person wrote the government complaining that they couldn't put down their gender on the census. I do believe the governments response was that they were working on changing it but it was too late for this years census.

Thanks. I guess that is what I was "mis-remembering.

 

[Jenny]

2) In the long form census, there is a question about whether you suffer from any mental health issues or disorders. It is a multiple choice question, and the options were "no", "sometimes", "often", and "always" (IIRC). Uh, what? How do you categorize mental health issues in those terms? You can't be bipolar or schizophrenic "sometimes" or "often". You might suffer bouts of anxiety or depression at various times, but if you have a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder or MDD, you don't have that mental illness in quantifiable terms.

This is the actual question:

e) emotional, psychological or mental health conditions (e.g., anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, anorexia, etc.)?

• 1: No
• 2: Sometimes
• 3: Often
• 4: Always

I don't know how valuable the results are going to be when it's so broad, and when accuracy might be an issue (your sometimes might be my often), and when so may are undiagnosed or self diagnosed or disagree with their diagnosis or don't understand how something like depression is defined. I could also see where one person filling out the census on behalf of all household members might have different answers to this question than the actual person would.

• 
  

 

[TygerLily]

I'm glad to hear that Stats Can is aware of the problems with the gender/sex question. Thank you @Nell411 and @victorskid for those updates.

 

[Artemis@BC]

Somewhat OT, but part of the issue is the difference between "sex" and "gender," and a lack of understanding about the difference between the two. And in terms of the census, someone could legitimately pick M for their sex but F for their gender, for example.

I wonder if we've reached a point where even asking this question becomes meaningless ...

 

[skategal]

They could easily have 2 questions. One for what is your sex and one for what gender do you identify as.

 

[Jenny]

They'd have to have some explanation there, because I think the majority of people still use those two terms interchangeably and would wonder why they were being asked the same question twice.