The Census of Canada’s population is mandated by law in the Constitution Act (1867) and the Statistics Act (1985) to determine the population of Canada, its provinces and territories, every five years. The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population; it follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, a slightly lower result than the response rate for the 2016 census and recorded a population of 36,991,981, a 5.2% increase from 2016.

STATISTICS CANADA in our country’s national agency responsible for reporting relevant and up-to-date information in  such key domains as society, economy, environment, Canada’s Census Program being its key element as it details an accurate statistical portrait of its people and its way of life. The Canadian population is made up of various generations of different sizes, and each influences society according to their world view, characteristics, values and stage in their life cycle.

STATCAN has been and will be releasing results by category periodically; here is the scheduled timeline:

• February 9, 2022, for population and dwelling counts;
• April 27, 2022, for age, sex at birth, and gender, type of dwelling;
• July 13, 2022, for families, households, and marital status, Canadian military experience, and income;
• August 17, 2022, for language;
• September 21, 2022, for indigenous peoples, and housing;
• October 26, 2022, for immigration, place of birth, and citizenship, ethnocultural and religious diversity, and mobility and migration; and
• November 30, 2022, for education, labour, language of work, commuting and instruction in the official minority language.

Did You Know That…

Prior to the 2021 Census, some individuals expressed that they were not able to see themselves in the two existing responses of ‘male’ and ‘female’ on the sex question in the census. Following extensive country-wide consultation, the census evolved—as it has for more than a century—to reflect societal changes. For the 2021 Census, the precision of ‘at birth’ was added to the sex question on the census.

It was also available in large-print, braille, audio, and video formats and was also available in a number of languages: Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Urdu, and Vietnamese and indigenous languages Atikamekw, Denesuline, Nunavik, Nunavut Inuktitut, Mohawk, Montagnais, Naskapi, Northern Quebec Cree, Ojibwe, Plains Cree, Swampy Cree, and Dogrib but the questionnaire itself had to be completed in either English or French.