Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for inviting Statistics Canada to appear before the committee today.
There are really three points I'd like to make before the committee.
First, whatever is the ultimate will of Parliament with respect to private member's bill C-568, we have reached a point of no return for the 2011 census and national household survey. It is logistically impossible for us to change course now. As you know, the Constitution Act and the Statistics Act require Statistics Canada to conduct a census of population in 2011.
Significant work has been undertaken to integrate collection and other operations for the census and national household survey in order to minimize the survey's cost. The questionnaires required for collection are printed, and introductory letters will return from print in mid-March. The complex computer systems needed to capture and process data have been completed, tested, and locked down.
Recruitment of the large workforce needed to carry out the extensive field operations of the census and national household survey is well under way, having begun in January. Early enumeration for the census and national household survey began in northern and remote communities on February 1 . Early enumeration is necessary in these areas, since a portion of the population migrates to hunting and fishing grounds as soon as winter ends, making it impossible for us to complete their enumeration after that time. We are now well into the implementation phase of early enumeration.
The second point I want to emphasize to the committee is how critical it is that we gain the support of Canadians for the completion of the census and national household survey so that communities, businesses, organizations, and governments will have the data they need for decision-making.
Our efforts are focused on encouraging households to complete the census and national household survey, and we are counting on all levels of government, businesses, members of Parliament, and various organizations to support the census and national household survey by encouraging the people they employ, serve, and represent to respond.
I want to be clear that the success of both the census and the national household survey depends essentially on the participation of Canadians. In early enumeration, we have enjoyed excellent collaboration from Canadians in remote areas. We hope this will continue in southern Canada. The most recent data that I have indicates that we have an 85% response rate on the national household survey and a 99% response rate on the census in the north--so far.
Third and last, I want to inform the committee that Statistics Canada has in place mitigation strategies to address potential risks to data quality for the national household survey. We have not conducted a voluntary survey of this magnitude before, and we will not definitively know about data quality until the survey is over. However, if we can achieve strong and uniform participation rates across the country and in all segments of society, the national household survey can provide data that will meet the needs of many data users--data that will be “useful and usable”, as I first said some time ago.
To mitigate risks, we have, for example, increased the sample rate to one in three households. This will help reduce sampling error for smaller regions and populations. Data on response patterns from the 2006 census and information generated during data collection in 2011 will be used to guide our field follow-up efforts to minimize non-response bias.
Where possible, 2011 census data and other sources of data available to Statistics Canada will be used as auxiliary information in the national household survey estimation procedures to partially offset some of the remaining biases.
I want to assure the committee that Statistics Canada is applying all of its expertise to make the national household survey a success, as is done for all of our survey programs, but I cannot say often enough how important it is that we achieve broad support for completing the census and the national household survey. Success is very much now in the hands of Canadians and Canadian institutions.
Thank you.