This month I’ve been working for Statistics Canada as an enumerator for the 2026 census. The deadline for completion of the mandatory questionnaire – a relatively straightforward task best completed online – was May 12, so from June until mid-July, enumerators were hired across the country, tasked with chasing the remaining 10% of householders who had not yet completed their questionnaires.
The job entailed knocking on doors unannounced, hoping to catch the householder at home and to complete the form together, or to encourage them to do it online, reminding them that failure to do so would result in a $500 fine. Each unresolved case could be handled several times, in person and over the phone (without the ability to leave a message), though a card would be dropped through the mailbox regarding the visit.
Having done this very challenging and exhausting work for a month has reaffirmed my original supposition that this is not the best way to obtain such information. My personal suggestion is to attach the census as an addendum to the tax form – which people are well used to filing every year – to be completed every five years, so people know it’s a ‘census year tax form.’
But in the meantime, the federal government absolutely needs to educate people about the census well in advance, to explain what the data will be used for and its ultimate benefits to the householder in terms of the allocation of government services. If this is to be a mandatory requirement, and not optional, as many householders believe, then census marketing and messaging needs to be more frequent, widespread and easily understandable.
Without this level of awareness, sending out ‘foot soldiers’ approaching householders unannounced to obtain such information is sure to be met with difficulties. We no longer live in an age where people are comfortable answering the door to unexpected strangers, or to answer a call from a number we don’t recognize.
People have a right to privacy in their home free from unsolicited calls, and even though we are classed as government agents, without being provided with pre-clearance elements like buzzer codes, I often had to skulk around outside apartment buildings and sneak in with a resident or pizza delivery guy.
Caught unprepared, it’s thus not surprising that many householders responded with suspicion or disinterest. Some were glad of the help in getting the form done or at least for the reminder to complete it online as soon as possible, and I’m grateful that, for the most part, I did not receive the torrents of abuse that some other enumerators did.
Regardless of the merits of enumerating this way, people always have a choice in how they respond in such situations. It is never necessary to be rude, let alone hostile. We can always choose to respond with kindness, or at very least, with courtesy and politeness. It’s unfortunate that we live in an age of suspicion and an expectation of being defrauded, rather than helped.
Census enumeration represents, like any other unexpected interaction, an opportunity to respond with openness and empathy. And for me, I think interacting with enumerators in a positive manner says as much about what it means to be Canadian, as any of the information being gathered. Perhaps a timely message in advance of Canada Day. 🍁