2006 Census release schedules and mechanisms

The census provides a demographic, social and economic portrait of the population. Given the importance of census data for developing and monitoring policies and programs (such as the Old Age Security Act and the Canada Health and Social Transfer), academic research, business planning and a number of other major uses, Statistics Canada explores every possibility of accelerating the release of results while preserving high quality standards.

In keeping with the previous census, a planned release schedule was used to disseminate census data. Results for the 2006 Census were released, in staggered fashion, from March 2007 to May 2008.

Several platforms were used to announce 2006 Census results, including

• The Daily, Statistics Canada's official release bulletin
• the Spotlight section on the census web pages
• day of release announcements sent to subscribers of 'My account' and to census clients.

The calendar in Table 1 presents the date, topic and related variables disseminated over a 15-month span.  As reported in Table 2, some census and geography products were released earlier in the cycle than before. Others will become available in 2009.

Table 1 Release dates of census topics and related variables, 2006 Census

Table 2 Release dates of census and geography products and services, 2006 Census