Canadians who skipped the census face possible $500 fines and in-person visits from StatCan

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The site refers to May 12 as a “reference date” rather than a deadline, adding: “We encourage respondents to complete their questionnaires as soon as possible to fulfill their legal obligation.”

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What happens if you don’t complete the census?

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Completion of the census is a legal requirement, and Canadian households can face fines of up to $500 for not doing so, under Section 31 of the Statistics Act.

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However, actual cases of people refusing to fill out the census are rare. A spokesperson from Statistics Canada previously told National Post the overall response rate was 98 per cent or higher in both 2021 and 2016.

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They also said: “Statistics Canada’s priority is the successful collection of data rather than the pursuit of penalties.”

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What are the criticisms of the census?

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The census has been the subject of criticism over the years, including for the cost of conducting it and the nature of the questions, which some have labelled “intrusive.”

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Franco Terrazzano, federal director at Canadian Taxpayers Federation, told National Post in an email: “StatCan will cost taxpayers about $1 billion this year, so taxpayers deserve a full accounting of what this door-knocking costs and what it actually achieves.

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“Taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill for a bunch of bureaucrats to go on a stroll, knock on doors and achieve nothing.”

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StatCan told National Post in an email: “While Statistics Canada continues to adopt new technologies and processes that help make collection more efficient and cost-effective, such as moving to an online questionnaire and encouraging households to respond by themselves, in-person visits are still an important part of the Census of population and help ensure that every household has been counted.”

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In 2011, Harper’s Conservative government discontinued the mandatory long-form census on the grounds that it is too intrusive, and replaced it with the voluntary National Household Survey (NHS).

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The decision was supported by Niels Veldhuis, president of the think tank Fraser Institute, who called the census at the time “a truly intrusive instrument.”

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“While the current census data are no doubt interesting for academics, economists and planners who wish to analyze social and economic trends, it is rife with intrusive questions that the government has no business forcing Canadians to answer,” he said.

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However, the measure was reversed by Trudeau’s Liberals in 2015, in an announcement made just one day after the then-Prime Minister and his cabinet were sworn in. Justin Trudeau said of restoring the census to its mandatory status: “We want to make sure we’re driving good policies based on good evidence and quality data.”

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When it came to the 2026 census, many Canadians expressed their criticisms of it on social media.

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In a local Facebook group, one Barrie resident wrote: “Is everyone’s census questions as many and as intrusive as mine?…I’m shocked at the level of detail being requested per household member, not to mention how tedious it is to respond to (the) same question for multiple household members.”

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In a different group for Calgary residents, another said: “Almost 100 questions many of them intrusive. They want to know your sexual orientation, how much you pay for utilities, where are you coming from, your parents, ancestors, your mortgage, etc.”

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There are two different types of census questionnaires: a long-form one and a short-form one. While 75 per cent of Canadian households receive the short-form version, which collects basic demographic information, 25 per cent receive a long-form questionnaire. The long-form questionnaire collects the same demographic information, as well as information about the social and economic situation of people across Canada and the dwellings they live in.