We want to thank the committee for inviting Statistics Canada to appear today.
I will be reading from a prepared text.
In regard to the 2011 census and the national household survey, I would point out that on June 26, 2010, the census questions were published in the Canada Gazette and included the same eight questions as the 2006 short-form census.
Statistics Canada was asked to provide options for a voluntary survey. The government selected the option to conduct the voluntary survey called the national household survey.
On August 21, 2010, the census content was amended in the Canada Gazette, with two questions on language being added.
Regarding the 2011 census, the implementation of the census is progressing as planned, with the printing of questionnaires. All field offices are open and recruitment is also progressing as planned. The census will be in May, with census day on May 10, and early enumeration for northern and remote communities will be conducted in February and March of 2011. The same level of quality in past censuses will be produced, with an expected response rate of 98%. Tentative dissemination plans would see all census results released within 18 months of census day, with the first release of population and dwelling counts in February 2012.
In regard to the 2011 national household survey, which I'm going to refer to as the NHS, this will be the first time that Statistics Canada will conduct this voluntary survey. Statistics Canada will conduct and release the results of this survey applying the same methods and standards used in all of its surveys. The sample size for the NHS will be larger than that of the 2006 census long form: 4.5 million dwellings compared with the previously planned 2.9 million dwellings for a 2011 census long form. The NHS reference date of May 10 is the same as that for the census. The NHS will be conducted in the same timeframe as the census, with questionnaires targeted for delivery generally one month after the census. The NHS will make maximum use of the census infrastructure.
The implementation of the NHS is progressing as planned. The questionnaires are currently being printed, and tentative release plans would see the first release of results in early 2013.
Due to significant changes in methodology between the 2006 census long form and the national household survey, we anticipate that comparisons between the two data sources will be difficult. The extent to which this will be an issue will not be known until we have collected and evaluated the survey results. Statistics Canada is confident, however, that the survey will produce usable and useful information that will meet the needs of many users.
The content of the NHS includes most of the questions that were asked in the 2006 census long form, with some new questions added and modifications made to some other questions.
A question on unpaid work will not be asked in the NHS. Statistics Canada recognizes the importance of collecting data on unpaid work. This information was introduced to the census in 1996 and was introduced to various cycles of the general social survey, in particular to the time use cycles beginning in 1992.
The possibility of removing the unpaid work questions from the long-form census was raised in the 2011 content report released in July 2008. A series of highly focused consultations were undertaken in the summer and fall of 2008. These consultations specifically asked about retaining the unpaid work questions to better understand if there were specifically a policy, program, or legislative need for this information from the census, or if other data sources would be a better source of information on this important topic.
Based on feedback from these consultations, it appeared that little policy, analytic, or academic work had been produced from the unpaid work questions in the census. Further, there appeared to be little current use of the small area of data that could be produced from these questions in the census. Statistics Canada was advised that greater use was being made of the detailed set of questions available in the general social survey than of the census unpaid work questions.
Because of the vast amount of information collected through its 24-hour diary, the general social survey on time use, conducted in 2010, 2005, 1998, and 1992, is the most comprehensive and appropriate survey from which to obtain information about unpaid household activities. For example, the general social survey collects much more detailed information than would be found in the census. It contains additional information, such as about activities both inside and outside the home, simultaneous activities, and elder care. It features a time diary and episode files. The episodes of unpaid work, the time of day these activities are done, how many episodes there are in an average day, and the time spent on these activities can be examined.
In weighing the support to legislation, program and policy needs, data quality, respondent burden, and alternative data sources, the decision was made to not include the unpaid work questions in the 2009 census test questionnaire, the last large-scale test of the content for the 2011 census.
Statistics Canada recognizes the importance of data on unpaid work, which requires a detailed set of questions to capture the range of activities, both inside and outside the home, that could be considered to be unpaid household activities. Thus, this information would continue to be collected, on a five-year cycle, from the general social survey, which has proven to be an effective way to collect information required by data users, with results for the same reference period to be made available.
Thank you.