[Architype]

Just how accurate are those census figures. Who counts and who doesn't?

Booming oilsands region challenges StatsCan's numbers

Municipal politicians in Fort McMurray are disputing Statistics Canada's recent count of the booming oilsands region's population.

In the census released Tuesday, Statistics Canada said the population of the Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which includes Fort McMurray, was 51,496 in 2006. That's up from 41,445 in 2001.

John Vyboh, one of the councillors representing Fort McMurray, says the number is way too low because enumerators don't count people who have a family home elsewhere, for example in Newfoundland.

"We believe there is about a 14,500 difference between our census and the federal census. It just doesn't jive with what reality is at ground zero. There's something that has to be looked at a second time in regards to this."

Vyboh said people who work in Fort McMurray, but have a family home elsewhere, still use services in the region such as the hospital and should be counted in the federal census.

At the heart of the municipality's concern is hundreds of thousands of dollars in provincial and federal infrastructure funding.

"These are all people who for all sake and purpose really are living here. Yes, they may go home for vacation and they may own a home there, but for 10 months of the year, they're here."

A spokesperson with Statistics Canada says municipalities can petition for a formal review of the census numbers.


http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2007/03/14/census-fortmac.html

[flar]

Not everyone filled out a census form. Only those that did were counted in the numbers released this week. A smaller number were counted more than once. Over the next year Statscan will use various statistical procedures to figure out how many people weren't counted and how many were counted more than once. Then they will release revised populations that will be more accurate.

[Architype]

Undercounts would apply everywhere, but the question they are raising is about people who work there most of the year, but who are not counted in the census. In a place like Ft McMurray that would be a large number, and a strain on the city's resources.

[IntotheWest]

^This came up with forumers right after the stats came out...I've read that the population there is definitely approaching 70k.

They also expect (I believe) to be about 100k by 2015.

[vid]

Why not have separate counts, one counting people multiple times if they own houses in many places to get an accurate municipal count, and one counting them once to get an accurate population of the country?

[Greco Roman]

IMO, a person should register where their legal address is. Period. I don't care what the circumstances are.

My legal address is in Winnipeg, Manitoba, therefore I am a citizen of that jurisdiction. :D

[Kilgore Trout]

IMO, a person should register where their legal address is. Period. I don't care what the circumstances are.

My legal address is in Winnipeg, Manitoba, therefore I am a citizen of that jurisdiction.

that doesn't make any sense from a demographic perspective. it defeats the entire purpose of the census, which is to record the composition of canada's population at a specific time. if you live in edmonton, you live in edmonton --- it's irrelevant whether or not you are legally a resident somewhere else.

[lubicon]

IMO, a person should register where their legal address is. Period. I don't care what the circumstances are.

My legal address is in Winnipeg, Manitoba, therefore I am a citizen of that jurisdiction. :D

I hope you mark that on your income tax returns as well.