Long-form census: Internal survey blasts feds for missing database

No surprise that there are continued complaints regarding the quality of data when the government replaced the mandatory census with the voluntary national household survey.

One would hope that the abuse of the Temporary Foreign Worker program, in part due to policy choices but also due to incomplete labour market information would teach the government the consequences of quality data:

Last year, the department consulted more than 80 users in four cities about the website and its trove of newly released digital information — and heard widespread feedback about data missing because of the demise of the mandatory long-form census.

“At four of the five meetings, large numbers of stakeholders raised concerns about the termination of the mandatory long form census,” says a report on the consultations, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

The complaints echo an audit last week from the auditor general of Canada, who found the voluntary National Household Survey in 2011 cost taxpayers $22 million more than the mandatory long-form census it replaced — and produced far less reliable data.

‘Large numbers of stakeholders raised concerns about the termination of the mandatory long form census.’

Statistics Canada eventually withheld the release of survey data for one of every four municipalities and other census sub-divisions because of the poor quality of the numbers.

“As a result of data not being released due to quality concerns, potential users of this data for approximately 25 per cent of geographic areas do not have reliable National Household Survey data available for their use,” said Michael Ferguson’s report.

Long-form census: Internal survey blasts feds for missing database – Politics – CBC News.