I, like most of you, filled out this year’s Canadian Census before the May 12 deadline. It’s easy to do online, but the option of a paper questionnaire was still readily available. Our family ended up with a long form census, but it obviously wasn’t a huge burden to complete. You only have to do it once every five years, too.

All that being said, it’s unclear if there’s still a compelling need for a Canadian Census in 2026.

Jean Talon, the first Intendant of New France, organized the first census in what became this country in 1666. The population of New France was only 3,215, with the three most populous settlements being Montreal (625), Québec (547) and Beaupré (533). Other statistics were recorded, including: the number of families living in the territory (538), the number of men being higher than women (2034 vs. 1181), and the number of professions and trades (763).

The next census in New France was taken in 1667. Censuses were also conducted in Acadia starting in 1671, and the first census of the French population in Newfoundland took place in 1687. The first national census occurred in 1871, just four years after Canada became a country, and provincial censuses have followed ever since.

The history of the census in Canada for population and agriculture is certainly interesting. It’s becoming more questionable whether it should be a compulsory activity and if the information gathered is still of practical use in today’s society.

There have been expressed concerns about the privacy of data collection for individuals and families. This comes from Canadians who either don’t trust the government (no matter the political orientation), or worry about the safety and security of information they included in a short form or long form census. “We will continue communicating directly with Canadians through various channels and engaging with the media to present the importance of completing the census and the value of census data for all Canadians,” Statistics Canada spokesperson Julien Abord-Babin wrote in an email to the Canadian Press on May 12. That may create a measure of confidence for many people, but not all.

There’s also the belief that governments really don’t need to be involved in the process. This ranges from the historical inefficiencies of government in handling certain tasks and programs to the long-held belief that private sector organizations would do a better job with something like a census. While the left-right divide would obviously lead to different arguments and perspectives, it’s still something worth considering.

Here’s one intriguing perspective from the U.S. “We have always had great respect for the professionalism of the federal statistical agencies, and we recognize their chronic budget problems,” David S. Evans and Richard Schmalensee wrote in the Harvard Business Review on Mar. 11, 2016, “but the government does suck up massive amounts of time from businesses and consumers collecting data.” The co-authors reached this conclusion after pouring through census data related to online purchases and brick-and-mortar retail. It’s an example of government inefficiency in the form of wasted time, effort and money in one specific area with poor results as a consequence. Hence, they felt that “it is time to break the government’s stranglehold over all the data that we, as citizens and businesses, hand over to them. Let’s take a small step first: support our call for an independent review of how the Census Bureau collects, analyzes, and reports retail trade data.”

There’s also a cost involved in hiring people on a temporary or permanent basis to work for Statistics Canada. Roughly 32,000 Canadians were reportedly hired to work on this year’s census. Enumerators who collected the data earned $25.87 per hour, whereas crew leaders earned $31.32 per hour for supervision. Full time equivalents at Statistics Canada for 2026-27 was listed at 6,692, while the planned spending totalled $970,615,786. That’s not a drop in the financial bucket, by any means.

Finally, we should examine the data itself.

There are certain statistics like population, age and household income that would still serve a practical purpose for the use of groups like academics, researchers, politicians, business leaders and average Canadians. Other categories like sex, gender, religious faith, military experience and knowledge of the French language would probably have a more limited or niche audience.

Hence, a valid argument could be made to remove certain questions from future Canadian censuses. This would enable Statistics Canada to focus on a limited number of categories and keep the census forms on the short side to make them more cost effective, manageable and on point. They could commit to enhancing the safety and security of data collection to alleviate the fears and concerns of some individuals and families. They could even take a gamble and consider removing the census’s compulsory aspect and instead encourage Canadians to take part in this short and succinct exercise.

These are some of the ways to improve the Canadian Census before the next one is conducted in 2031. There are others, too. Will any of them be considered? That may be a potential question in five years’ time.

Michael Taube, a long-time newspaper columnist and political commentator, was a speechwriter for former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper.