Earlier this month, the Treasury Board of Canada released their Departmental Plans, detailing job cuts for several government agencies, including Statistics Canada. 730 CKDM NewsNow reached out to StatCan to make sure that job cuts won't affect this year's census.
In an emailed statement, Carter Mann, Chief of Media Relations, said the 2026 census will be unaffected by job cuts.
"Throughout this transition, Statistics Canada remains committed to delivering our core functions for all Canadians and stakeholders. While efficiencies alone were not sufficient and some programs are being adjusted—including changes to frequency, format, or, in limited cases, discontinuation—the upcoming 2026 Census, essential services and data collection activities will continue without interruption," the statement read.
"The workforce adjustment has no impact on recruitment or work related to the 2026 Census in Manitoba, or elsewhere in Canada. As part of the Census, Statistics Canada plans to hire about 32,000 people. These temporary hires are workers recruited externally for operational functions, mainly in the field as enumerators or team leaders," read another part of the statement.
Though the census is unaffecetd by cuts, a large number of positions were eliminated at StatCan, so parts of the service other than the census will likely be affected.
"As was announced in January, Statistics Canada’s workforce was to be reduced by about 850 positions, and the size of the executive team decreased by 12%. With continued staffing controls, attrition, retirements, and risk-managed vacancies, the number of positions to reduce specifically through Workforce Adjustment is now 764," the statement read.
"Since the beginning of the process, many voluntary departures have been approved, as well as several job swaps, early retirements, and staff movements. As a result, there are currently 244 remaining required reductions within Statistics Canada," read another part of the statement.
Census-related hires are not connected to job cuts within StatCan. Census personnel are hired under the Statistics Act as temporary workers with the goal of completing the census, exempting their positions from workforce adjustments.
Each Census year, data collection usually starts in May, and continues into the summer. The detailed report for the 2021 census was released in stages, with the first stage released on February 9th, 2022.
