Friday, January 16, 2012
RE: Letter from CCSD to Statistics Canada concerning the 2016 Census Program
The Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) would like to provide feedback that reflects the needs and interests of hundreds of members working in Canadian municipalities and community-based organisations as part of our Community Data Program (CDP). This feedback comes in light of Statistics Canada's ongoing consultation process for the 2016 Census Program.
Broadly speaking, we wholeheartedly agree that Statistics Canada should prioritise data at small geographic areas:
A higher priority will be assigned to uses that require data for small geographic areas or small groups of interest. Needs for data by dissemination area or census tract will be higher priority than those at the census metropolitan area (CMA) level, which in turn will be higher than those at the provincial/territorial level. Likewise, needs for smaller populations of interest such as recent immigrants, will be higher priority than those for larger groups such as the employed population.