Federal census hits streets of Deh Cho
Census workers arrive in Fort Simpson, ready for the road
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Thursday, April 14, 2016
DEH CHO
The federal census kicked off in Fort Simpson this week when a team of workers flew in to begin their task.
Bruce Bretzlaff, left, and Pam Wiwchar are two members of the Deh Cho census team. Bretzlaff and Wiwchar got into Fort Simpson on April 12. - April Hudson/NNSL photo
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The Deh Cho team consists of a crew leader and six census workers called enumerators. Other communities in the Northwest Territories and across Canada have different teams of varying size, according to Susan Cuthbert, Statistics Canada spokesperson.
"We are in Fort Simpson today and will be there for approximately three weeks," Cuthbert stated in an e-mail on April 12.
Workers will be in Fort Simpson from April 13 to May 3. Some will be in Fort Liard from April 18 to 23, while Fort Providence will host census workers from April 29 to May 10.
Three members of the team will be bound for Wrigley from May 4 to 10 while Jean Marie River's census will take place April 15 and 16.
From April 29 to May 1, Kakisa residents will have census workers in the community. Trout Lake's schedule is April 30 to May 2 while Nahanni Butte's is April 26 to 28.
Cuthbert said census representatives will be going door-to-door visiting households in order to complete the census questionnaire with residents.
The goal of the census is to collect demographic information on all Canadian residents.
The federal government announced April 1 that census collection would be beginning in First Nation communities across Canada.
Questions were translated into 11 aboriginal language but Dene Zhatie was not among those listed.
When asked how staff would complete the census with Deh Cho residents who spoke primarily Dene Zhatie, Cuthbert said there would be translators on-hand to help bridge the language barrier.
"We have hired locally wherever possible," she stated.
"In addition, in every community we also hire guides who act as translators for us."
According to Statistics Canada, all Canadian residents are required to complete either a short-form or long-form census.
Answers are confidential.
The territory gets federal transfer payments of $28,894 per person per year, making population counts key to federal funding.
The last federal long-form census happened in 2006, while a non-mandatory National Household Survey replaced it in 2011.
Although the first census collection has started, the majority of the country will see their census begin in May. Questionnaires can be completed online or on paper.
