The Presentation will provide an overview of methodological and content changes for the 2026 Census of Population and provide information on the planned release schedule for 2026 Census data.
*Updated* Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2026, 1:30 to 3:00 PM EDT
About the presenters:
Ivelina Delahousse has worked at Statistics Canada for over 20 years. She is currently the Assistant Director in Methodology Branch responsible for the methodology work of the Census of Population. She joined the Census of Population in this role in 2023, having spent the better part of the previous decade in various roles managing and leading the Census of Agriculture.
Tania Hinchcliff is the 2026 Census of Population content determination manager. She joined the Census team in 2021.
Nicole Britnell has worked on the Census of Population since 2011 and is currently a Media and Marketing Officer in Census Production and Dissemination Services within the Census Operations Division. Her work focuses on user satisfaction measurement through the Census of Population Dissemination Consultation, as well as briefing and assisting media clients ahead of each of the major census data releases, and assisting with standard product validation.
Number of registrants: 355
Number of attendees: 177
- Census of Population 2026: Changes and updates to methodology
- Prescribed content for the 2026 Census of Population
Q&A
- Question: When will CDOD be released? (we have “date to be announced” on our product map)
- Answer: The goal is to have the first release with 2026 data for the September 2027 release.
- Question: Can we share anything at a high level about the strategy for releasing data from the new topics (sexual orientation, homelessness, general health)?
- Answer: Unfortunately, not at this time. We do plan on holding technical briefings and can extend an invitation to these when they occur before each release.
- Question: Along with new census topics, are there existing variables that will be published at granular levels like CTs, or will they be the same as 2021?
- Answer: The landscape of variables published and the level of geography at which they are going to be published will be similar to 2021.
- Question: There was federal funding for regions to promote the census - ones with poor response rates (I believe - that or social support) but now for dissemination - what support is there for largely non profit organizations with large scale efforts to share census data to support the reliance on facts vs dis/misinformation
- Answer: We had received funding for a pilot project. We are still in the planning stages about future initiatives for 2026 and unable to provide a definitive response at this time.
Recording*
*Please note that this is not an official Statistics Canada product as it does not follow Statistics Canada’s official languages and accessibility guidelines.