2011 Canadian census

2011 Canadian census
← 2006 May 10, 2011 2016 →
General information
Country	Canada
Results
Total population	33,476,688 ( 5.9%)
Most populous ​province/territory	Ontario (12,851,821)
Least populous ​province/territory	Nunavut (31,906)

The 2011 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population on May 10, 2011. Statistics Canada, an agency of the Canadian government, conducts a nationwide census every five years. In 2011, it consisted of a mandatory short form census questionnaire and an inaugural National Household Survey (NHS),^[1][2] a voluntary survey which replaced the mandatory long form census questionnaire; this substitution was the focus of much controversy. Completion of the (short form) census is mandatory for all Canadians, and those who do not complete it may face penalties ranging from fines to prison sentences.^[3]

The Statistics Act mandates a Senate and/or House of Commons (joint) committee review of the opt-in clause (for the release of one's census records after 92 years) by 2014.^[4]

The 2011 census was the fifteenth decennial census and, like other censuses, was required by section 8 of the Constitution Act, 1867.^[5] As with other decennial censuses, the data was used to adjust federal electoral district boundaries.^[6]

As of August 24, 2011, Canada's overall collection response rate was 98.1%,^[7] up over a percentage point from 96.5% in the 2006 census.^[8] Ontario and Prince Edward Island each held the highest response rate at 98.3%, while Nunavut held the lowest response rate at 92.7%.^[7]

In an article in the New York Times in August 2015, journalist Stephen Marche argued that by ending the mandatory long-form census in 2011, the federal government "stripped Canada of its capacity to gather information about itself" in the "age of information." Nearly 500 organizations in Canada, including the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Federation of Students, and the Canadian Catholic Council of Bishops protested the decision to replace the long form census in 2011 with a shorter version.^[9][10][11]