Canada’s 2006 Census Online Experience MSIS 2008 Luxembourg, April 7-9, 2008 Karen Doherty Director General Informatics Branch Statistics Canada

2 Table of Contents Environmental Overview Canadian Census Program Preconditions for Online Option Census Online Application Features Results Conclusion

3 Canada’s Geography

4 Canada Overview 10M km² and 5½ time zones (8 hours non-stop by plane from St John’s Nfld to Victoria BC) Two official languages, many other languages due to multi-cultural nature of the country Very low unemployment rate especially in the booming west (Alberta and BC) Large tracts of very sparsely populated land

5 Population by Province Population average/km² Canada=3.5/km² US=31/km² UK=246/km² Canadian urban centres=245/km²

6 Population Distribution

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8 Census Districts

9 The Canadian Census Program Legal requirement every 5 years Census of Population and Census of Agriculture run simultaneously Two main form types for Census of Pop: –Short form (8 questions) – 80% of households –Long form (53 questions) – 20% of households Protecting confidentiality is paramount

10 Drivers for Change Use of local enumerators raised issues around privacy Canada Revenue Agency could no longer perform the data capture (Canadians largely submit their tax returns electronically) Harder and harder to hire 22,000 enumerators Government policy is to offer all services on-line

11 New Methodology Most radical change since 1971 Questionnaires delivered by Canada Post to about 70% of households Enumerators delivered the remaining 30% Returns made by mail or via online option 98% self enumerators, 2% enumerated by interview All returns processed in one highly secure data centre Development of the online option and processing applications contracted out

12 Preconditions for an Internet Response Option Well designed collection methodology –Central repository of all households –Good tracking and communications mechanisms High level of Internet connectivity Public trust in online transactions Mature security infrastructure Experience with online surveys

13 Web Application Features User friendly web application –thin client application (no large download) –intelligent skip patterns –soft edits –save and resume function Support for both official languages Accessibility options for the visually impaired Support for a large range of browsers

14 Security Features Specially designed PKI encryption solution delivered by the Canadian Government’s Secure Channel Required a standard industry provided Java applet on the workstation PKI Research indicated that about 6% of PCs would not have the Java applet pre-loaded Login only required that the user enter the 16- digit access code provided on their Census form

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17 Online Questionnaire

18 Results 22% of those who responded prior to non-response follow-up responded online 18.5% in all responded online

19 Online Response Pattern May 06 - Planned VS Actual Census Day May 16, 2006

20 Census Day Logins Per Second Graceful Graceful deferral starts

21 Results Breakdown Higher rate of use by larger households: –5 or more occupants: 26% –2-4 occupants: 19.5% –1 occupant: 13.5% No difference in response rates between the short and long form respondents Over 20% response rate in Alberta, BC, Ontario and the Yukon

22 Benefits Better quality responses –Edit failure rates much lower for online questionnaires –Item non-response rates: Short form – Paper forms have 102x higher rate Long form – Paper forms have 10x higher rate Reduced costs for paper-handling, mail-back postage and follow-up Relieves the pressure to find 20,000 increasingly scarce enumerators

23 Observations Need to test the wide range of browsers Need easy to use online questionnaires Testing pointed to the need for a special questionnaire layout for the Help Line operators Need strong partnership with network provider (in this case Secure Channel team) Need a back up plan

24 Lessons Learned Volume testing was harder and took longer than planned Little industry expertise in modelling volume testing using PKI Needed to monitor and limit access in Census Day – respondents were understanding Still work to do to handle the Java applet

25 Onwards and Upwards Target for 2006 was 15-20% via Internet Target for 2011 is 40% via Internet New mail out strategy based on results of test groups during 2006 Census and subsequent follow-up: –Majority of households will receive a letter asking them to respond online –They will be able to order a paper questionnaire via the Help Line if they can’t or choose not to respond online