Profiles of Responses Over the 2006 Canadian Census Collection Period: What Are the Differences for Early and Late Responses?

• Activity Number: 313
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 3, 2010 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
• Author(s): Laurent Roy*+ and Catherine Corriveau and Laura McFarlane
• Companies: Statistics Canada and Statistics Canada and Statistics Canada
• Keywords: census ; collection ; imputation

Abstract

The data collection of the 2006 Canadian Census of Population took place between May and August 2006. An analysis was conducted to compare characteristics of responses by period of collection. The objectives were to have profiles of late responses from follow-ups as compared to responses from the first month of collection (self-reported) and to look at the impact of late responses on specific groups of the population. Differences for late and early responses were observed mostly for age, immigration status, visible minority groups and Aboriginal people. Overall, about 3% of responses were received in the last month of collection but for some specific groups, over 7% of responses were received in the last month only. Findings from the analysis will be used to study possible change to the imputation strategy of the 2011 Census of Population.