Quality Assurance Programme of the Canadian Census of

Population

Expert Group Meeting on Population and Housing Censuses

Geneva

July 7-9, 2010

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Outline

Canadian Census of Population Quality Assurance Programme

• Collection• Follow-up• Processing• Evaluation

Summary

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The Canadian Census of Population

Conducted every five years The census quality assurance programme is an

integral part of census planning, implementation and evaluation.

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.