1. Petteri Baer, Regional Adviser, UNECE
User Consultation Process * Helping good content and a successful dissemination of census results *
Presentation at the Training Workshop on the Management of Population and Housing Censuses in SPECA Member countries Baku, Azerbaijan, –
Petteri Baer, Regional Adviser, UNECE

2. CES Recommendations
In the Recommendations for the 2010 Censuses on Population and Housing
Appendix VI includes generalized information on the User consultation process
In this presentation the experience of Statistics Canada is used as an example

3. Censuses in Statistics Canada
Census every 5 years
Content Consultation every time
Content Consultations since 1971
For the next Census in 2011 a Content Consultation will be done for the 8th time
Two main activities
Content consultation
Content testing
Courtesy to Daniel Dufour, Census Marketing Manager at Statistics Canada

4. The Role of Content Consultations in SC
To determine and review content of survey questionnaires
To test new content
To support collection activities
To plan and review products and services
To define geographic concepts
To discuss preferred output media
To build partnerships with stakeholders

5. Consultation process materials in Statistics Canada (1)
A Consultation Guide
Including specific discussion points for different audiences
Helping Statistics Canada staff to focus on important issues in the interaction process

6. Consultation process materials in Statistics Canada (2)
A Compilation of Information on Statistics Canada’s socio-economic data sources on Census related topics
To inform users of the existence of other services of SC than only the Census

7. Consultation process materials in Statistics Canada (3)
A Census Consultation internet site was established
Participant list database for Census consultations
Consultation content database was established

8. Consultation Mechanisms in Statistics Canada
Bilateral committees between statistics Canada and key federal departments
Regular meetings with provincial / territorial departments
Advisory Committees (Labour, Social Conditions, Health, Demography, …)
Ad hoc consultations

9. Two phases in the consultation (1)
The first phase
Invited written submissions
Over 75 written submissions were received
The second phase
Follow-up meetings with different groups of data users

10. Two phases in the consultation (2)
The second phase (continued)
25 meetings were organized throughout Canada
Altogether about 800 comments were collected

11. Number of comments by type of organization
Provincial and Territorial Departments
326
41 %
Federal Departments and Agencies
219
28 %
Municipalities and Regions
141
18 %
Secondary Distributors 36
5 %
Academic & Professional Associations 30
4 %
Advisory Committees / Working Groups 24
3 %
Women’s Organizations 6
1 %
Others 7

12. Number of comments by Topic
Dissemination
124
16 %
Geography
122
Internet 70
9 %
Paid Work 65
8 %
Education 60
Housing and Shelter Costs 51
7 %
Unpaid Work 42
5 %
Others
255
32 %

13. The importance of internet
During the consultation period
The Consultation web site welcomed visits
…which resulted in hits
The most frequently download files were
The 2006 Census Consultation Guide (1 182) and
The Cross-Sectional data source table (424)

14. Feedback helped development of content and user relations
Received feedback was forwarded to the appropriate divisions at Statistics Canada
Comments and suggestions were given careful consideration in planning the 2006 Census and related programs

15. Feedback helped development of content and user relations
Statistics Canada tested dozens of potential changes to the Census questionnaire content
The need to find a well working balance between including new phenomena and the need for continuity and comparability between censuses of different years