The Census Debate: How Will the Elimination of the Long-Form Census Affect Education in Canada?

The recent decision by the federal government to eliminate the long-form census in favour of a voluntary form has provoked a fierce debate across the country.

Policy-makers in education, at all levels, use census data to make informed and reliable decisions with information gathered by the long-form census. The education sector depends on census data for decision-making in areas that directly affect Canadian students; such as the distribution of resources, teacher hiring, services to minority language communities, evaluation of student achievement in areas such as Aboriginal education, the creation of new programming, and educational research.

Statistics Canada’s “Educational Portrait of Canada” from Canada’s last census in 2006, provides a comprehensive and valuable analysis of educational data. Making the long form census voluntary using the National Household Survey could limit the amount of available data for analysis.

Our member associations have issued news and media releases on the census that might be of interest to you.

• Québec English School Boards Association (QESBA)
• Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA)
• Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA)