Take part in census, public urged

Posted on January 28, 2026 by Ryan Dahlman

Take part in census, public urged

By Marcus Day

Maple Creek News

The 24th National Census takes place in May – and everyone in Maple Creek is urged to take part.

Conducted by Statistics Canada, it will collect demographic, social, and economic data to inform services like healthcare, education, and transportation.

It will include new questions about general health and sexual orientation (for ages 15-plus), and experiences with homelessness.

The religion question will return to capture increasing diversity, and there will be updates to questions on languages, ethnic origin, and other topics.

At last Wednesday’s Maple Creek Town Council meeting, Barry Elliott, chief administrative officer, underlined the importance of the census.

“It is crucial that everyone who lives in Maple Creek is accounted for and is recorded. Please, I encourage everyone around this table, everyone in the public, to ensure that you participate in this census and you provide the information they are looking for.”

Elliott said the census played a key role in grants and funding.

It was also important to have accurate numbers for Maple Creek’s place in the “larger scheme of municipalities”.

Statistics Canada is hiring for about 32,000 census jobs across Canada.

A variety of supervisory and non-supervisory opportunities are available between March 2026 and July 2026, depending on the position and location. Job applicants should have reached the age of majority in their current province or territory of residence; be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, or possess a valid work permit; and reside in Canada and have a Canadian home address.

Pay is $25.87 per hour for enumerators (non-supervisory positions) and $31.32 per hour for crew leaders (supervisory positions), plus authorized expenses.

The primary role of enumerators is to go door to door to collect census information. to go door to door to collect census information. The primary responsibilities of crew leaders are to lead and supervise an assistant and a team of enumerators. They are responsible for all activities related to the collection of census questionnaires in their assigned area.

Elliott said that the Town will share a link on its website for anyone interested in applying for a census job.

Canada’s census takes place every five years, and helps to paint a statistical portrait of the country’s population and the places where residents live.

The Census of Agriculture is conducted at the same time and collects information about every agricultural operation in Canada. The data are used to inform decisions about business management strategies and to develop, administer and evaluate agriculture policies that directly affect farmers and rural communities.