On 17 April Statistics Canada released 2026 Census of Population Content Consultation Results: What we heard from Canadians. The report makes clear up front Stats Can’s view of the census.
Data from the Census of Population are important for all communities and are vital for planning services that support employment, education and health care. Governments, businesses, associations, organizations and many others use these data to make important decisions.
Genealogy interests are mentioned twice. The most significant is —
The write-in field was analyzed to better understand the other reported purposes respondents had for using census data. Responses most frequently related to uses for genealogy (38%) or general interest, general information, learning, teaching or training (10%), among other general trends. Note that more than 30% of the responses were deemed to fall within the existing purposes and were recoded as such.
Statistics Canada evaluates importance according to a content determination framework. Statutory and regulatory uses tied to a law and information needs that serve a purpose that is national in scope are given the highest priority. Demographic and language questions were the most highly rated in the consultation.
Although research was the most frequently reported purpose of use overall, uses such as academic and policy research are assigned a lower priority by the content determination framework. As with the previous data use purposes, all census topics were reportedly used for research purposes fairly consistently. However, questions related to demography (9%) were reportedly the most used for research, followed by place of birth (8%), and immigration and citizenship (8%).
There is a history with the census in balancing privacy concerns with data quality. StatsCan worries, with little evidence, about the potential of compromising data quality if respondants feel their privacy is being compromised.
As genealogists we look for detailed information (e.g., full birthdates, maiden names) that would enhance our research. We look for data spanning multiple decades to understand migration patterns, societal changes, and family dynamics over time. Maintaining relevance of the census questions for genealogy is, and has always been, an uphill battle.
On Friday Family Tree Webinars featured another in its series on English counties. I highly recommend the presentation on Kent by Australian genealogist Helen V Smith. Clearly and well presented, unsurprising given her Kent ancestry, it’s available free for a week at https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/researching-in-kent/. 
Do you have Glasgow ancestry? The 
