Canada’s long-form census is back for 2016
A day after taking office, the Liberal government announced the 61-question long census form will be restored for 2016 census

TheStar.com
Nov. 5, 2015
Bruce Campion-Smith

The portrait of Canada is being restored.

Just a day after taking office, the Liberal government announced Thursday that the mandatory long-form census — axed by the Conservatives in 2010 — will be reinstated for the 2016 census.

“Today, Canadians are reclaiming their right to accurate and more reliable information,” said Navdeep Bains, the newly named minister of Innovation, Science and Development.

With the next census, communities will “once again have access to high-quality data they require,” said Bains, the MP for Mississauga-Malton.

He portrayed the decision as the first step of the Liberals’ commitment to “open and fair government.”

The announcement rolls back one controversial decision by Conservatives and one that prompted critics to charge that the Stephen Harper government was turning its back on fact-based decision-making.