Census compliance higher than expected in month since 'census day': StatsCan

More Canadianshave completed the mandatory 2016 census than Statistics Canada expected, with the agency saying they've received some12.5 million questionnairessince census day one month ago.

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That's "slightly more" than the agency anticipated it would have at the one-monthpoint, based on response rates in 2011 and this year's predictions, said Marc Hamel, director general of the census program at Statistics Canada.

"There's been a lot of enthusiasm in participating. We had very high response right off the bat in early May, and it's been [a] sustained response," Hamel said.

The Liberalgovernment restoredthe mandatory long-form census, which wasscrapped by the Conservatives five years ago, after coming to power in the fall.

In early May, Statistics Canada mailed out access codeswith instructions to complete thequestionnaire onlineby May 10 known as census day but by that point,#Census2016had been trending on social media for at least a weekas eager Canadians filled out both the long-form and the short-formquestionnaire.

Officials later clarified May 10 was not a deadline but areference day that Statistics Canada uses when calculating the country's population and various demographic indicators.

Enumerators are now going door-to-door to track down the twomillion dwellings the government hasn't heard from.More than 20,000 enumerators are working evenings and weekends to try to reach Canadians when they're at home.

"They're a bit surprised sometimes to see an enumerator show up,"Hamelsaid."It's not that they didn't want to do it, but the enumerators are trained to provide assistance in completing the form."

Statistics Canada won't provide an exactrate for what percentage of thepopulation has filled out the censusuntil it knows how many of the outstandingaddresses are unoccupied, Hamel said.

Enumerators will continue to knock on doors for the next few weeks,and then the agency will assess what its next steps should be, Hamel said.

The potential penalty for not completing the census is a $500 fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.

Statisticiansneeda minimum response rate of 98 per cent from each community to make accurate assessments, Hamel said.