1. Quality Assurance Programme of the Canadian Census of Population Expert Group Meeting on Population and Housing Censuses Geneva July 7-9, 2010

2. 2 22 Outline  Canadian Census of Population  Quality Assurance Programme Collection Follow-up Processing Evaluation  Summary

3. 3 33 The Canadian Census of Population  Conducted every five years  The census quality assurance programme is an integral part of census planning, implementation and evaluation.

4. 4 44 Census Quality Assurance Programme: Collection  Comprehensive and current address register key to increase in questionnaires mailed out 2011 Census will mail out to 80% of households, up from 70% in 2006  Integrated multi-mode collection tracking system key to increase in Internet response Target for 2011 is 35-40%, double that for 2006

5. 5 55 Census Quality Assurance Programme: Follow-up  Incomplete questionnaires All questionnaires edited for completeness Some of this information can be imputed Those missing too much information contacted by census staff  Questionnaires not returned  All households that do not return a questionnaire are contacted  Overall response rate of at least 97% sought  Follow-up monitored at various geographical levels to ensure optimal quality within budget

6. 6 66 Census Quality Assurance Programme: Dwelling Classification Study (DCS)  DCS based on a sample of households for which questionnaires have not been returned Determines to what extent they are occupied For those that are occupied, DCS estimates how many people usually live there National estimates are incorporated into the census counts

7. 7 77 Census Quality Assurance Programme: Data Processing  Quality assurance integrated into all activities from questionnaire registration to data capture to coding  Edit and imputation are for the most part fully automated  Extensive programme to determine the effect of sampling and weighting on quality of sample census data.

8. 8 88 Census Quality Assurance Programme: Data Evaluation  Measures Frequency distributions Internal consistency of census responses Trend analysis with previous census results Imputation rates by variable and by geography Other sources of information (surveys, administrative records)  Evaluation serves many purposes Quality assessment of recent census Input to future census planning If timely, can also impact current census operations.

9. 9 99 Summary  Quality assurance is an integral element of the Canadian census.  Quality assurance initiatives and performance indicators are built into every aspect of census operations.  New technologies are providing opportunities for more timely indicators which may be able to support census operations still in progress.