| Census expected to cost $660, says Statistics Canada |
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This year’s census and the controversial voluntary household survey accompanying it are expected to cost a total of $660-million from planning and preparation to end stages in 2015, Statistics Canada says.
By Tim Naumetz PARLIAMENT HILL—This year’s census and the controversial voluntary household survey accompanying it are expected to cost a total of $660-million from planning and preparation to end stages in 2015, Statistics Canada says. But the agency declined to provide The Hill Times with an exact comparison to the cost of the last census in 2006, following the uproar last year over the Harper government’s decision to cancel the mandatory long-form version of the census and replace it with the voluntary survey. Despite the limited response, the figures Statistics Canada provided suggest the census this year will cost nearly $50-million more than in 2006, even when both years are expressed in 2010 dollars. A breakdown of costs the agency provided The Hill Times, however, included a “contingency fund” of $30-million to ensure “adequate response levels” are met, primarily for the remaining mandatory census, out of concern citizens will be confused over which form the must fill out, facing penalties if they don’t, and the voluntary longer survey. |
