# You fill out my Census (Canada 2016 version) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-fill-out-my-census-canada-2016-version/753784 "2016-05-03T15:57:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bb49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b38774/32.png) [@bb49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bb49)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-fill-out-my-census-canada-2016-version/753784/21 "2016-05-04T22:24:17Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I won’t be able to finish my census by May 10 because I’ll be nowhere near my home and mailbox until after that. > > Does that mean I’m going to get locked up in the clink? Same here. I’m out of the country for a few more weeks and the post office is holding my mail. If they want my census filled out by May10, it will have to be May 10, 2017. Otherwise, screw them. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-fill-out-my-census-canada-2016-version/753784/22 "2016-05-04T22:52:39Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I won’t be able to finish my census by May 10 because I’ll be nowhere near my home and mailbox until after that. > > Does that mean I’m going to get locked up in the clink? > [@bb49](#): > > Same here. I’m out of the country for a few more weeks and the post office is holding my mail. > If they want my census filled out by May10, it will have to be May 10, 2017. Otherwise, screw them. **Leaffan** and **bb49** , you might find answers to your questions here: [http://www.census.gc.ca/ccr16g/ccr16g\_001-eng.html](http://www.census.gc.ca/ccr16g/ccr16g_001-eng.html) It’s what to do if you’re travelling, and won’t be able to complete the census by the required date. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-fill-out-my-census-canada-2016-version/753784/23 "2016-05-04T23:02:43Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > **Leaffan** and **bb49** , you might find answers to your questions here: > > [http://www.census.gc.ca/ccr16g/ccr16g\_001-eng.html](http://www.census.gc.ca/ccr16g/ccr16g_001-eng.html) > > It’s what to do if you’re travelling, and won’t be able to complete the census by the required date. Thanks Spoons. I probably won’t do anything though, because really, what are the implications? When I’m back in Ottawa in a week or so I’ll complete it then. I doubt I’ll be fined or anything. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-fill-out-my-census-canada-2016-version/753784/24 "2016-05-05T00:29:24Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > We haven’t done ours yet, but I gather the short form has about 10 questions, and the long form has about 40. I must have had the long form. It seemed to go on forever.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-fill-out-my-census-canada-2016-version/753784/25 "2016-05-05T21:44:28Z")
I definitely got the long form, and it did go on forever. Some interesting questions though. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-fill-out-my-census-canada-2016-version/753784/26 "2016-05-05T23:53:45Z")
So I filled it out. Sex not optional. 😃 I put in the comments section that there has to be an option in the future for people who are non binary. My roommate is a bit peeved. I got the short form, which surprises me, because I have been in a longitudinal study for years, I thought I would automatically be getting the longer form one. Then again, I just had my yearly quiz from StatsCan. It is tedious, but I was happy to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-fill-out-my-census-canada-2016-version/753784/27 "2016-05-08T21:56:21Z")
The Cub and I filled it out together. Aside from a squabble about language first learnt and still understood (he maintained he spoke the same language as Sin Cara from the WWE :)), it went pretty well. Short form. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-fill-out-my-census-canada-2016-version/753784/28 "2016-05-08T22:23:25Z")
Mine went in the blue bin, at least I recycle. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-fill-out-my-census-canada-2016-version/753784/29 "2016-05-09T03:54:05Z")
You realise what will happen, don’t you? Chippy little Census takers will come and nag you to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-fill-out-my-census-canada-2016-version/753784/30 "2016-05-10T01:41:43Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I definitely got the long form, and it did go on forever. Some interesting questions though. I’m soooo jealous! 🙂 Edit: and yes, I did put down “Esperanto” as a language spoken in my household. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-fill-out-my-census-canada-2016-version/753784/31 "2016-05-10T14:41:52Z")
Tonight is Der Tag! From Global TV: [Procrastinating on the 2016 Census? Here’s what might happen.](http://globalnews.ca/news/2689125/procrastinating-on-the-2016-census-heres-what-might-happen/) > [@](#): > > The first gentle nudge may be a written notice that lands in the mailbox, then someone from Statistics Canada might call the tardy household to ask if they need help filling it out. > > Eventually, the household may receive a knock on the door. Statistics Canada has thousands of census enumerators who are charged with getting everyone counted by mid-summer. > > After that, things get less gentle. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-fill-out-my-census-canada-2016-version/753784/32 "2016-05-10T14:45:14Z")
And here’s an interesting article about the future of the census: [Census excitement obscures questions about its future: Mandatory long form is back for census day, but is it here to stay?](http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/census-day-long-form-future-1.3574525) > [@](#): > > Census day is here and who knew a government questionnaire and the return of its mandatory longer version could inspire such goodwill among Canadians? > > But at the risk of putting a damper on the occasion, some statisticians say the census’s days, at least in its traditional form, could be numbered. > > … > > Census expert Doug Norris says Crone’s census sentiments are widespread in Canada this time around. The debate about cancelling the mandatory long-form census led to a much better public understanding about its importance, he says. > > “And once people realize that this stuff is really useful and can perhaps improve their own lives, they are much more willing to take part, and to take the time and fill out the census,” says Norris, the chief demographer for Environics Analytics who spent nearly 30 years at Statistics Canada. > > … > For Canada’s census, Norris sees a future similar to the U.S. model. For him, a small mandatory census and then sampling different topics at different times looks attractive. > > He says this would mean a change from a portrait of Canada at a point in time to averaging over time, but “in reality many of the factors that the census measures don’t change very much so if you have an average over two years that’s good enough for most applications.” ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-fill-out-my-census-canada-2016-version/753784/33 "2016-05-10T22:47:49Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > We haven’t done ours yet, but I gather the short form has about 10 questions, and the long form has about 40. I thought I’d better do mine tonight, expecting a few clicks of keyboard and mouse and done. Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick, I sat here in front of the monitor for what seemed like half an hour getting the third degree of interrogation. Yeah, I got the long form. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-fill-out-my-census-canada-2016-version/753784.md?page=1)