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The Consumer Price Index and Your Experience of Price Change

Video - The Consumer Price Index and Your Experience of Price Change

Teaser

This video explains how and why the price change reported by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) may vary from the prices Canadians see on the shelves. It tells the story of Joe and Izzy, and how they each perceive price change as compared with the CPI.

Annual Electricity Supply and Disposition Survey 2025 – Reporting Guide

This guide is designed to assist you as you complete the
2025 Annual Electricity Supply and Disposition Survey.

Help Line: 1-877-604-7828

Confidentiality

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Statistics Canada will use the information from this survey for statistical purposes.

Table of contents

A – Reporting Instructions

Please report information for the period of January to December, 2025.

Please complete all sections as applicable.

If the information requested is unknown, please provide your best estimate.

This guide is designed to assist you as you complete the 2025 Annual Electricity Supply and Disposition Survey. If you need more information, please call 1-877-604-7828.

B – Electricity Generation Method

Nuclear: Electricity generated at an electric power plant whose turbines are driven by steam generated in a reactor by heat from the fission of nuclear fuel.

Hydro: Electric power generated from a plant in which the turbine generators are driven by flowing water.

Tidal: Electric power generated from a plant in which turbine generators are driven from tidal movements.

Wind: A power plant in which the prime mover is a wind turbine. Electric power is generated by the conversion of wind power into mechanical energy.

Solar: Electricity created using Photovoltaic (PV) technology which converts sunlight into electricity OR electricity created using solar thermal technology where sunlight heats a liquid or gas to drive a turbine or engine.

Wave: Electricity generated from mechanical energy derived from wave motion.

Geothermal: Electricity generated from heat emitted from within the earth's crust, usually in the form of hot water or steam.

Other non-combustible sources: This includes fuels such as waste heat, steam, and steam purchased from another company. Specify in the space provided.

C – Combustible fuels

Coal: A readily combustible, black or brownish-black rock-like substance, whose composition, including inherent moisture, consists of more than 50% by weight and 70% by volume of carbonaceous material. It is formed from plant remains that have been compacted, hardened, chemically altered and metamorphosed by heat and pressure over geologic time without access to air.

Natural gas: A mixture of hydrocarbons (principally methane) and small quantities of various hydrocarbons existing in the gaseous phase or in solution with crude oil in underground reservoirs.

Petroleum: This covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil and petroleum products that are made up of refined crude oil and used as a fuel source (i.e., crude oil, synthetic crude oil, natural gas liquids, naphtha, kerosene, jet fuel, gasoline, diesel, and fuel oil; excludes Petroleum coke, bitumen and other oil products not specified).

Other combustible sources - Thermal: This includes fuels such as propane, orimulsion, petroleum coke, coke oven gas, ethanol and any other type of thermal combustible fuel source not otherwise identified on the questionnaire. Specify in the space provided.

Wood (Report for "Dry" method): Wood and wood energy used as fuel, including round wood (cord wood), lignin, wood scraps from furniture and window frame manufacturing, wood chips, bark, sawdust, forest residues, charcoal and pulp waste.

Spent pulping liquor: A by-product in the paper making process, containing carbohydrate and lignin decomposition products.

Methane (Landfill gas): A biogas composed principally of methane and carbon dioxide produced by anaerobic digestion of landfill waste.

Municipal and other waste: Wastes (liquids or solids) produced by households, industry, hospitals and others (examples: paper, cardboard, rubber, leather, natural textiles, wood, brush, grass clippings, kitchen waste and sewage sludge).

Other combustible sources – Biomass: This includes fuels such as food waste, used diapers, and biogases – example, gas produced from animal water digesters. Specify in the space provided.

D – Receipts of electricity from the U.S.A.

If applicable, please report the total amount of electricity (MWh) and Canadian dollar value (thousands of dollars) this business imported/purchased from the United States.

E – Receipts of electricity from within Canada

If applicable, please report the total quantities of electricity (MWh) and total dollar value (thousands of dollars) purchased or received from within and/or other provinces (e.g., other utilities/producers, transmitters, distributors).

F – Total Supply

This is the sum of Total Generation, Total Receipts from United States, Total Receipts from Other Provinces and Total Receipts from Within Province. The Total Supply number must equal the Total Disposal number.

G – Deliveries of electricity to the U.S.A.

If applicable, please report the amount of electricity (MWh) and Canadian dollar value (thousands of dollars) this business sold/exported to the United States.

H – Deliveries of electricity within Canada

If applicable, please report the amount of electricity (MWh) and total dollar value (thousands of dollars) your company sold to other domestic companies, by province or territory.

I – Transmission, distribution and other losses

Include

  • transmission losses
  • adjustments
  • "unaccounted for" amounts which are subject to variation because of cyclical billing

Exclude

  • generating station use output as measured at the generating station gate.

Thank you for your participation.

Canadian Economic News, January 2026 Edition

This module provides a concise summary of selected Canadian economic events, as well as international and financial market developments by calendar month. It is intended to provide contextual information only to support users of the economic data published by Statistics Canada. In identifying major events or developments, Statistics Canada is not suggesting that these have a material impact on the published economic data in a particular reference month.

All information presented here is obtained from publicly available news and information sources, and does not reflect any protected information provided to Statistics Canada by survey respondents.

Resources

  • Toronto-based Kinross Gold Corporation announced it is proceeding with the construction of three organic growth projects: the Round Mountain Phase X and Bald Mountain Redbird 2 projects in Nevada, and the Kettle River-Curlew project in Washington State. Kinross said the initial capital costs of the three projects are expected to be approximately USD $1.38 billion to be spent over three to four years.
  • Toronto-based Allied Gold Corporation announced it had entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Zijin Gold International Company Limited of Hong Kong had agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Allied Gold for an equity value of approximately $5.5 billion. Allied Gold said the closing was expected by late April 2026, subject to shareholder and court approvals, approval under the Investment Canada Act (Canada), and other standard conditions for the closing for transactions of this nature.
  • Calgary-based Keyera Corp. announced an extended unplanned outage at its Alberta Envirofuels facility (AEF). The company said that in early January 2026, it had initiated an unplanned outage at AEF to investigate an observed reduction in plant performance and that it anticipates that AEF will return to service in May 2026.
  • Calgary-based Imperial Oil Limited announced its hydrocarbon production at Norman Wells in the Northwest Territories would end in the third quarter of 2026 as the facility comes to the end of its lifespan. Imperial said final reclamation work is not expected to start until after 2030, once a final closure plan and environmental assessment are completed and permits are approved by regulators.

Other news

  • The Government of Canada announced it was proposing the new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, starting in the spring of 2026 and subject to Royal Assent. The Government said the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit would provide $11.7 billion in additional support over six years by (i) providing a one-time top-up payment to be paid as early as possible this spring and no later than June 2026, and (ii) increasing the value of the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit by 25% for five years starting in July 2026.
  • The Government of British Columbia announced that the Environmental Assessment Office had approved an amendment to the Mt. Milligan copper-gold mine environmental assessment certificate, authorizing the mine near Fort St. James to increase production and continue operations until 2035.
  • The Bank of Canada left the target for the overnight rate unchanged at 2.25%. The last change in the target for the overnight rate was a 25 basis points cut in October 2025.
  • The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) announced it had received an authorization from Fisheries and Oceans Canada prior to the expansion of port facilities in Contrecœur and the continuation of the construction of the new container terminal. The MPA said the authorization follows the environmental assessment process conducted by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, which resulted in a favourable decision statement in 2021.
  • Montreal-based Bombardier Inc. announced a new 126,000-square-foot manufacturing centre in Dorval. Bombardier said the centre represents an investment of approximately $100 million and is set to open before the end of 2027.
  • Ottawa-based Minto Group and Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Limited Partnership of Toronto announced they will form a new programmatic joint venture partnership and that they had simultaneously entered into an arrangement agreement whereby Crestpoint will acquire all of the outstanding trust units of Minto Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust for approximately $2.3 billion, including the assumption of net debt.
  • Thunder Bay Pulp and Paper announced it would file notices with the Ontario Ministry of Labour to cease newsprint operations in Thunder Bay in the first quarter of 2026. The company said that up to 150 people would be directly impacted by the closure and that it will continue to operate as a single-line Softwood Kraft mill and generate renewable energy for sale to the grid.
  • Oshawa-based General Motors Canada announced that Oshawa Assembly would return to two shifts of production beginning February 2nd, at which time approximately 500 employees would be placed on layoff.

United States and other international news

  • The U.S. White House announced on January 5th the capture and extradition to the U.S. of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
  • The White House announced on January 20th that President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order ensuring large institutional investors do not buy single-family homes that could otherwise be purchased by families. The White House said the Order directs key agencies to issue guidance preventing relevant Federal programs from approving, insuring, guaranteeing, securitizing, or facilitating sales of single-family homes to institutional investors.
  • The U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) maintained the target range for the federal funds rate at 3.50% to 3.75%. The last change in the target range was a 25 basis points cut in December 2025.
  • The Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Committee of Norway's Norges Bank left the policy rate unchanged at 4.00%. The last change in the policy rate was a 25 basis points decrease in September 2025.
  • The Bank of Japan (BoJ) announced it will encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at around 0.75%. The last change in the uncollateralized overnight call rate was a 25 basis points increase in December 2025.
  • The Executive Board of Sweden's Riksbank left the repo rate unchanged at 1.75%. The last change in the repo rate was a 25 basis points reduction in September 2025.
  • The eight OPEC+ countries Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman announced they had reaffirmed their November 2, 2025 decision to pause production increments in February and March 2026.
  • Massachusetts-based Boston Scientific Corporation and Penumbra, Inc. of California announced they had entered into a definitive agreement under which Boston Scientific will acquire Penumbra in a cash and stock transaction for approximately USD $14.5 billion. The companies said the transaction is expected to be completed in 2026, subject to receipt of Penumbra's stockholder approval and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.
  • New York-based Saks Global Holdings LLC announced it had commenced a voluntary chapter 11 process with support from key financial stakeholders. Saks said the stores and ecommerce experiences across Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks OFF 5TH, Last Call, and Horchow were open and serving customers.
  • Washington State-based Amazon.com, Inc. announced additional organizational changes that would impact 16,000 roles across the company.
  • Michigan-based Dow Chemical Company announced a plan to simplify how it operates and that it anticipates about USD $600 million to $800 million in severance for approximately 4,500 Dow roles.

Financial market news

  • West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed at USD $65.21 per barrel on January 30th, up from a closing value of USD $57.95 at the end of December. Western Canadian Select crude oil traded in the USD $43.00 to $53.00 per barrel range throughout January. The Canadian dollar closed at 73.74 cents U.S. on January 30th, up from 72.96 cents U.S. at the end of December. The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 31,923.52 on January 30th, up from 31,712.76 at the end of December.

Retail Commodity Survey: CVs for Total Sales (November 2025)

Retail Commodity Survey: CVs for Total Sales (November 2025)
Table summary
This table displays the results of Retail Commodity Survey: CVs for Total Sales (November 2025). The information is grouped by NAPCS-CANADA (appearing as row headers), and Month (appearing as column headers).
NAPCS-CANADA Month
202508 202509 202510 202511
Total commodities, retail trade commissions and miscellaneous services 0.59 0.52 0.56 0.52
Retail Services (except commissions) [561] 0.59 0.52 0.56 0.52
Food and beverages at retail [56111] 0.34 0.30 0.32 0.31
Cannabis products, at retail [56113] 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Clothing at retail [56121] 0.74 1.18 0.96 0.73
Jewellery and watches, luggage and briefcases, at retail [56123] 2.35 2.37 2.41 2.14
Footwear at retail [56124] 1.21 1.11 1.50 1.22
Home furniture, furnishings, housewares, appliances and electronics, at retail [56131] 0.72 0.72 0.84 0.85
Sporting and leisure products (except publications, audio and video recordings, and game software), at retail [56141] 2.97 3.20 3.20 3.40
Publications at retail [56142] 8.67 9.62 6.75 6.62
Audio and video recordings, and game software, at retail [56143] 5.66 5.71 6.85 8.94
Motor vehicles at retail [56151] 2.23 1.84 1.88 1.93
Recreational vehicles at retail [56152] 2.90 3.25 4.16 4.85
Motor vehicle parts, accessories and supplies, at retail [56153] 1.68 1.46 1.45 1.63
Automotive and household fuels, at retail [56161] 1.46 1.37 1.32 1.34
Home health products at retail [56171] 2.62 2.39 2.66 2.38
Infant care, personal and beauty products, at retail [56172] 2.58 2.43 2.63 2.33
Hardware, tools, renovation and lawn and garden products, at retail [56181] 1.37 1.38 2.02 1.86
Miscellaneous products at retail [56191] 2.27 2.40 3.25 2.97
Retail trade commissions [562] 1.67 1.50 1.66 1.71

Monthly Survey of Food Services and Drinking Places: CVs for Total Sales by Geography - November 2025

CVs for Total sales by geography
Geography Month
202411 202412 202501 202502 202503 202504 202505 202506 202507 202508 202509 202510 202511
percentage
Canada 0.19 0.14 0.17 0.22 0.16 0.15 0.16 0.09 0.10 0.07 0.06 0.11 0.23
Newfoundland and Labrador 0.75 0.71 0.69 1.01 0.63 0.78 0.45 0.50 0.46 0.32 0.31 0.72 2.76
Prince Edward Island 4.09 4.39 4.99 1.26 1.09 0.87 0.72 0.81 0.79 0.52 0.55 1.48 4.95
Nova Scotia 0.38 0.42 0.48 1.57 0.60 0.58 0.42 0.35 0.33 0.26 0.25 0.54 2.20
New Brunswick 0.57 0.62 0.59 0.82 0.57 0.51 0.42 0.49 0.38 0.30 0.34 0.59 2.72
Quebec 0.56 0.24 0.29 0.54 0.36 0.53 0.26 0.16 0.20 0.18 0.14 0.31 0.29
Ontario 0.31 0.29 0.34 0.35 0.31 0.23 0.36 0.17 0.16 0.11 0.10 0.18 0.33
Manitoba 0.48 0.55 0.70 0.74 0.75 0.56 0.50 0.39 0.47 0.37 0.31 0.59 0.96
Saskatchewan 0.75 0.99 0.65 0.69 0.52 0.54 0.47 0.53 0.51 0.37 0.41 0.59 0.96
Alberta 0.31 0.28 0.38 0.59 0.41 0.32 0.34 0.25 0.29 0.20 0.18 0.27 0.43
British Columbia 0.26 0.22 0.29 0.49 0.29 0.20 0.24 0.16 0.23 0.16 0.13 0.23 0.41
Yukon Territory 2.42 2.25 3.18 26.12 3.86 2.69 2.04 2.49 2.63 1.70 1.56 2.06 14.29
Northwest Territories 2.91 3.57 3.42 34.07 18.21 2.90 17.86 3.30 2.66 2.20 1.79 2.62 18.24
Nunavut 61.05 6.85 4.28 129.91 6.89 59.24 66.28 9.14 9.60 44.04 3.40 5.24 48.80

Eh Sayers Episode 30 - GDP Explained Without Putting You to Sleep (We Promise!)

Release date: February 2nd, 2026

Catalogue number: 45200003
ISSN: 2026002

Eh Sayers Episode 30 - GDP Explained Without Putting You to Sleep (We Promise!)

Listen to "Eh Sayers" on:

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) tells us about the health and size of Canada’s economy. But for those of us who don’t own or operate multi-million-dollar companies, why does it matter at all? In this episode, Amanda Sinclair, Assistant director for the National Economic Accounts at Statistics Canada, explains some surprising ways GDP can be useful and why, for certain Canadian households, the numbers don’t always seem to add up.

Economic accounts statistics

Host

Max Zimmerman

Guest

Amanda Sinclair

Listen to audio

Eh Sayers Episode 30 - GDP Explained Without Putting You to Sleep (We Promise!) - Transcript

Max: Welcome to Eh Sayers!, a podcast by Statistics Canada, where we meet the people behind the data, and explore the stories behind the numbers. I'm your host, Max Zimmerman.

If you flip on the news, read the business section or hear politicians sparring about Canada's economy, there's one thing that always seems to get brought up: the GDP or Gross Domestic Product.

But, I didn't realize just how much the GDP affected me personally until recently when I became a first-time home buyer. This is when I learned that the interest rate that I will be paying on my mortgage for the next 5 years is influenced by, you guessed it, the GDP.

I wanted to know more... What other aspects of my life are so closely intertwined with Canada's GDP numbers? I had to talk to someone here at Statistics Canada that knows what they're talking about.

Amanda: Hi, my name is Amanda Sinclair and I'm an assistant director for the National Economic Accounts at Statistics Canada.

Max: So I know that economists here at StatCan and have a preferred method of measuring the economy. Can you tell us what that method is and how it's measured?

Amanda: Yeah. Gross domestic product, I would say is the key measure of our economy's size, performance, and general health. And it measures the final value of all the goods and services that we produce in Canada in a given period of time. That could be a quarter or a year. There are three ways to measure GDP. The first is the production or value-added approach where we estimate the total value of all the goods and services produced, and we subtract out the inputs of the cost of the inputs to produce those things.

So for an example, a bakery producing bread, we measure the value that they sell that bread for to final consumers. And we take out all of the inputs, like the flour and the sugar, even the electricity to run the bakery. We subtract that out and that gives us an indicator of the value added. The second approach to measuring GDP is the income approach, and for this one, we estimate all of the incomes that accrue from producing goods and services. So for example, with the bakery example, there would be employees who would be earning wages from producing or baking that that bread. There would also be the business owner who would get a return, and governments can also earn income from production. The main example here being that there's GST or sales tax charged when goods are sold.

The final approach is called the expenditure approach. And here we add up all of the final consumption that takes place in a given period. This could be households, purchasing goods and services for their own consumption, governments also buy goods and services, businesses could be investing in capital assets, or we could sell our goods and services to other countries in the form of exports. And when we do exports, we actually do it on a net basis to remove imports. So it's exports minus imports.

But these three ways allow us to measure the overall size and performance of the economy in a given period. And it really is a strength of our system here in Canada that we, on a quarterly and annual basis, we do all three approaches. So we're not just relying on one set of data, we do all three ways, and then they're reconciled in order to provide a coherent, consistent picture of what's going on in our economy.

Max: So we're measuring productivity with the GDP, and if I as a worker become more productive as time goes on, what difference does that make in my life? Because it's easy to see how, if I'm more productive, that's beneficial to my agency or my company. But how does that actually benefit me in the long run?

If I take your example of the bakery, let's say… If I'm a baker and some revolutionary technology, machinery comes around that allows me to make dough at a way faster rate or something like that… I can easily see how that would benefit the bakery. The bakery is going to make more money, and that in turn is going to, you know, increase the GDP, the value added that the bakery can add to the economy. So that's good for the bakery, it's good for the economy. How is it actually good for the baker, the worker themselves?

Amanda: Yeah. So yeah, you're talking about labor productivity. It's another key, economic indicator of evaluating how our economy is performing.
It's an indicator of the efficiency. And so, as you indicated, if people can produce more output with the same or less amount of time, they would be considered more productive, more efficient. And generally there's a close relationship between labor productivity and real wages. So as those employees can produce the same amount of output for their company with the same amount of input—so the same amount of hours worked—generally, there's an incentive there to have real wages increase. So the company could therefore turn around and provide wage increases to those employees, which would then benefit their cost of living and living standards. So productivity is tightly correlated with supporting rising standards of living.

Max: I'm curious about some of the limitations of the GDP. If the GDP is strong for a country, does that mean everything is good? Or if it's bad, does that mean that everything is going badly? Like how do we make sense of that?

Amanda: GDP is a great economic tool to understand how the economy is performing. However, it is an aggregate picture of what's going on, and therefore it can overlook inequalities or vulnerabilities that exist. For example, when we produce GDP, we also calculate a household saving rate. However, this is an aggregate measure of how much all Canadian households might be saving in a given period, and it doesn't highlight how there is great inequality that could exist amongst households with some faring much better than others. GDP also excludes unpaid household work and volunteer work, and these take place outside of the general market economy, which is why they're not included in GDP. However, these activities do have a very significant impact on a country's economic productivity and social value.

For example, people could not go to work and support the economy if they didn't have people at home doing those activities like childcaring and cooking and cleaning. And finally, GDP does not account directly for the depletion of natural resources. Another common critique, I would say of the GDP measure is that it overlooks these environmental harms that can be caused by economic activities.

However, I would say that the system of national accounts, which is that international framework for how countries should measure GDP does get updated periodically, and there's been a very strong recognition that some of these limitations that I just mentioned should be accounted for. And so with the newest version of this framework, there are recommendations that countries produce separate sort of extension or satellite accounts that take into account these various limitations.

And a good example of this is that Statistics Canada produces something called the distributions of household economic accounts, where we estimate how income consumption, savings, and wealth are distributed across different types of households. And this product allows us to see that while, for example, maybe the household saving rate is increasing, it is not improving for all households. Some are faring better than others.

Max: Yeah, that's so interesting because I think that oftentimes when we hear officials or reporters cite these numbers on GDP and we hear, oh, the economy is rebounding or doing well, like especially coming out of COVID, I think that that doesn't necessarily always resonate with Canadians because like you said, different households have different experiences and if we're being told the economy's doing great and it doesn't feel like that for you, it can be confusing.

Amanda: Absolutely, absolutely. And sometimes those aggregate indicators that are included in GDP can be driven by a small segment of the population. If we're saying that, you know, households are spending more, it could be that households of higher income might be driving that spending where other households are looking at their own experience saying, that's not what's going on for me. So these additional products that really go below the top line number and dig into the data in a more granular way, help us and Canadians and policymakers really understand where there could be those vulnerabilities.

Max: Okay, nice. And for those of us that follow economic news, we hear reporters frequently talk about the GDP, but I understand that there might be a difference in the way that they're talking about GDP and the way that we talk about it here at StatCan. Could you talk more about that for us?

Amanda: Yeah, so when Statistics Canada reports the latest GDP data, we focus on the quarter-to-quarter percent change in the real GDP. So real GDP is an indicator of the volume of activity that takes place. So this removes the impact of price changes. We don't want to necessarily say that the economy increased just because prices went up. We're really looking to see whether or not, after we removed price change, did the economy in fact produce more goods and services. So that's what Statistics Canada focuses on.

However, sometimes media outlets, people will often hear them quote the annualized quarterly percent change. And the main difference here is that the annualized rate compounds the quarterly growth rate by assuming that the same percent change will occur for four consecutive quarters.

So when people look at the media or the news headlines, they'll see often a larger number quoted, both are accurate. The one that we report, the quarterly figure, or the one that the media reports, which is often the annualized quarterly figure, they're both accurate, but users should just take note in terms of understanding which one is being quoted.

Max: Yeah, that makes sense. So if Canadians would like to learn more about the GDP or Canada's economy, where could they go?

Amanda: So the Statistics Canada website would be a great starting point. We have the Daily article that provides an overview of the main stories and drivers of the most recent GDP data. But the economic account statistics portal is a good one-stop shop where you can find all of the latest data tables and analytical articles.

Max: Thank you so much for coming in, Amanda. Thanks for your time and your expertise.

Amanda: Of course. Thank you for having me.

Max: You've been listening to Eh Sayers! Thank you to our guest, Amanda Sinclair. If you'd like to learn more about the GDP, you can visit the link in our show notes. This podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. There, you can also find the French version of our show called Hé-coutez bien! If you like this show, please rate, review and subscribe. And as always, thanks for listening.

Introduction to Some Key Elements of a Well-Designed Questionnaire (19220010)

In this session, we will look at key elements of a questionnaire that encourage respondents to complete a survey. The focus will be on elements such as the introduction, accompanying text as well as appeal, and not on the different ways of formulating the questions. The objective is to provide those who occasionally design questionnaires practical advice to help make a questionnaire stand out. This session is intended for beginners. Some familiarity with basic statistical concepts would be beneficial/advantageous but not required.

English Information Sessions

French Information Sessions

Posters to encourage census completion

Print and post these in high-traffic community spots to encourage census completion.

On this page

Poster - Census collection in select northern and remote communities

The 2026 Census has begun in select northern and remote communities!

  • Collection begins in February 2026 in select northern and remote communities to:
    • ensure access to areas that are easier to reach in winter
    • count populations that typically migrate out of their communities in the spring.
  • For information on which communities are part of early collection, visit census.gc.ca/north.
  • The census questions are available in 15 Indigenous languages for reference purposes.
  • Census information is important and can help communities plan services such as child care, schools, and health care.

Need assistance?

Enumerators will be in your community and can help you complete the census questionnaire.

Complete the census questionnaire online today!
census.gc.ca/north

If you require additional assistance, please contact the Census Help Line.

Toll-free number: 1-833-314-3652
Teletypewriter (TTY): 1-833-830-3109

2026 Census for Collective Dwellings

Getting started

Why are we conducting the census?

Thank you for participating in the 2026 Census. The information you provide is used to produce statistics that communities, businesses, and governments rely on to plan services, develop programs, and make informed decisions about employment, schools, public transportation, hospitals and more.

The answers are collected under the authority of the Statistics Act and kept strictly confidential. By law, all residents living in facilities and establishments must be included in the 2026 Census of Population.

Statistics Canada makes use of existing sources of information such as immigration, income tax and benefits data to reduce the burden placed on respondents.

The information you provide may be used by Statistics Canada for other statistical and research purposes or may be combined with other survey or administrative data sources.

Include the residents of this facility or establishment in Canada's statistical portrait by completing the census questionnaire as soon as possible.

Other important information

Authorization to collect this information

Data are collected under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, Chapter S-19.

Confidentiality

By law, Statistics Canada is prohibited from releasing any information it collects that could identify any person, business or organization, unless consent has been given or as permitted by the Statistics Act.

Record linkages

The information you provide may be used by Statistics Canada for other statistical and research purposes or may be combined with other surveys or administrative data sources.

Facility and contact information

1. Verify or provide the facility name and correct where needed.

  • Facility name

2. Is this the civic address of this facility?
Note: If the address below is missing or incomplete, please answer "No" and provide the complete address.

  • Yes
  • No
    • Please enter the civic address of this facility.

      Note: For a non-civic address, please provide a rural route or land description in the "Street name" answer field.

      Example: 63532 Range Rd 444 or NW-34-42-4-W3

      • Civic number
      • Suffix
      • Unit number
      • Street name
      • Street type
      • Direction
      • City, municipality, town or village
      • Province or territory
      • Postal code
        • Example: A9A 9A9

3. Verify or provide the following information of the designated contact person for this facility and correct where needed.

Note: The designated contact person is the person who should receive this questionnaire, but may not always be the one who actually completes the questionnaire.

  • First name
  • Last name
  • Title
  • Preferred language of communication
  • Email address
    Example: user@example.gov.ca
  • Telephone number (including area code)
    Example: 123-123-1234
  • Extension number (if applicable)

Collective dwelling types

A collective dwelling is a dwelling of a commercial, institutional, or communal nature. It must provide care or services, or have common facilities shared by the occupants.

1. Which of the following best describes this facility or establishment?

  • Hospital
    • If selected, go to Question 4.
      • Is this facility licensed as a hospital?
        • Yes
        • No
  • Long-term care home or residence for older adults
    • Select the most applicable:
      • Long-term care home
        A facility that provides 24-hour nursing care or personal care. Residents receive help for most or all daily activities.
      • Residence for older adults
        A facility that offers personal support and assisted living care. Services are provided as part of the rent or available for an additional fee paid to the facility, e.g., retirement homes or assisted living homes. These facilities do not provide 24-hour nursing or personal care.
      • Both long-term care home and residence for older adults
      • No care or services are provided to residents
        • If selected, go to Question 6.
  • Residential care facility, related to disabilities, mental health, addiction, etc.
    • This facility is for:
      Select all that apply.
      • primarily children or minors
      • persons with psychological disabilities
      • persons with an addiction
      • persons with physical challenges or disabilities
      • persons with developmental disabilities
      • persons with other disabilities
        • Specify the types of disabilities
  • Shelter
    • This facility is primarily for:
      • persons lacking a fixed address, such as homeless persons
      • persons released from custody or on conditional release
      • victims of domestic violence or abuse
      • refugees and asylum seekers
      • other persons
        • Specify persons
  • Correctional or custodial facility, including municipal detachments
    • What type of facility is this?
      • Young offenders' facility
      • Temporary lock-up (e.g., police holding cell)
      • provincial or territorial detention centre or custodial facility
      • Federal correctional facility
  • Religious establishment
  • Establishment with temporary accommodation services
    • What type of establishment is this?
      • Hotel, motel or tourist establishment
      • Campground or park
      • Other establishment with temporary accommodation services, such as a YMCA-YWCA, Ronald McDonald House, or hostel
  • Hutterite colony
    • If selected, exit survey.
  • Lodging or rooming house
    • If selected, exit survey.
  • Other establishment
    • What type of establishment is this?
      • Residence for school or training centre
      • Military base
      • Commercial vessel
      • Work camp
      • Government vessel
      • Other type of establishment
  • None of the above
    • If selected, go to Question 2.

Go to Question 5, unless otherwise specified.

The following question will help determine whether this establishment should be included in this questionnaire or not.

2. Does this establishment allow for a person or group of persons to stay overnight?

  • Yes
    • Does this establishment provide care, services or shared amenities?

      Include:

      • any medical service, health care or personal care that is provided by the facility
      • shared amenities, which include access to a common kitchen, dining room or bathroom.

      Exclude:

      • short-term vacation rentals, such as bed and breakfasts (e.g., Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.)
      • services not provided by the establishment (e.g., Uber, SkipTheDishes, Hello Fresh, etc.).
      • Yes
      • No
        • If no, go to Question 6.
  • No
    • If no, go to Question 6.

3. Based on the answers provided, this facility must be included. Which of the following options best describes the primary purpose of this facility or establishment?

  • Hospital
    • If selected, go to Question 4.
      • Is this facility licensed as a hospital?
        • Yes
        • No
  • Long-term care home or residence for older adults
    • Select the most applicable:
      • Long-term care home
        A facility that provides 24-hour nursing care or personal care. Residents receive help for most or all daily activities.
      • Residence for older adults
        A facility that offers personal support and assisted living care. Services are provided as part of the rent or available for an additional fee paid to the facility, e.g., retirement homes or assisted living homes. These facilities do not provide 24-hour nursing or personal care.
      • Both long-term care home and residence for older adults
  • Residential care facility related to disabilities, mental health, addiction, etc.
    • This facility is for:
      Select all that apply.
      • primarily children or minors
      • persons with psychological disabilities
      • persons with an addiction
      • persons with physical challenges or disabilities
      • persons with developmental disabilities
      • persons with other disabilities
        • Specify the types of disabilities
  • Shelter
    • This facility is primarily for:
      • persons lacking a fixed address, such as homeless persons
      • persons released from custody or on conditional release
      • victims of domestic violence or abuse
      • refugees and asylum seekers
      • other persons
        • Specify persons
  • Correctional or custodial facility, including municipal detachments
    • What type of facility is this?
      • Young offenders' facility
      • Temporary lock-up (e.g., police holding cell)
      • provincial or territorial detention centre, or custodial facility
      • Federal correctional facility
  • Religious establishment
  • Establishment with temporary accommodation services
    e.g., hotel, campground
    • What type of establishment is this?
      • Hotel, motel or tourist establishment
      • Campground or park
      • Other establishment with temporary accommodation services, such as a YMCA-YWCA, Ronald McDonald House, or hostel
  • Hutterite colony
    • If selected, exit survey.
  • Lodging or rooming house
    • If selected, exit survey.
  • Other establishment
    e.g., residence for school, work camp
    • What type of establishment is this?
      • Residence for school or training centre
      • Military base
      • Commercial vessel
      • Work camp
      • Government vessel
      • Other type of establishment
        • Specify the type of establishment
  • Go to Question 5, unless otherwise specified.

4. What services are provided at this hospital?

  • Short-term care
  • Long-term acute care
    • Is there also a care home for older adults at this facility?
      • Yes
      • No
  • Both short-term care and long-term acute care
    • Is there also a care home for older adults at this facility?
      • Yes
      • No

Maximum capacity

5. What is the maximum number of persons who could stay overnight?

If the number of persons is unknown, enter your best estimate.

  • Maximum number
    • If 0, go to Question 6.
  • Go to Question 7, unless otherwise specified.

Operation status

6. Based on the answers provided, this establishment either does not allow for persons to stay overnight or does not provide care, services, or shared amenities and as a result does not meet the requirements for this questionnaire.

Select the option that best describes the operational status.

  • Seasonal operations
    • When did this establishment close for the season?
      Example: YYYY-MM-DD
    • When does this establishment expect to resume operations?
      Example: YYYY-MM-DD
  • Temporarily inactive
    • When did this establishment become temporarily inactive?
      Example: YYYY-MM-DD
    • When does this establishment expect to resume operations?
      Example: YYYY-MM-DD
    • Why is this establishment temporarily inactive?
  • Ceased operations
    • When did this establishment cease operations?
      Example: YYYY-MM-DD
    • Why did this establishment cease operations?
      • Bankruptcy
      • Liquidation
      • Dissolution
      • Other
        • Specify the other reasons why operations ceased
  • Private dwelling
    • When did this establishment become a private dwelling?

      Example: YYYY-MM-DD

  • Other
    • Specify
  • Go to Question 26, unless otherwise specified.

Resident information

The census counts people at the place where they usually live.

7. How many persons live at this facility and consider it to be their main residence?

Include persons:

  • whose main residence is at this facility, even if they are temporarily away
  • who do not have a residence elsewhere
  • who have been living at this facility for six months or more (i.e., moved in or were admitted on or before November 12, 2025)
  • who are live-in employees (e.g., staff, managers, and owners).

Exclude persons:

  • who live in a private dwelling attached to this facility
  • who are residents of another country visiting Canada.
  • Number of persons
    • If 0, go to Question 8.
    • If greater than 20, go to Question 9.
    • If 1 to 20, go to Question 10.

8. Is there anyone who is staying at this address temporarily and has their main residence elsewhere?

  • Yes
  • No
  • Go to Question 24, unless otherwise specified.

To complete the 2026 Census, Statistics Canada requires that you provide the following information for the residents who live at this facility.

This information includes:

  • first name and last name
  • date of birth, gender, and sex at birth
  • marital status and common-law status
  • status at facility
  • languages.

By law, all residents living in facilities and establishments must be counted for the 2026 Census. Participation is required under the authority of the Statistics Act.

The administrator of a facility or establishment is required to provide the information and Statistics Canada is authorized to collect this information. The information collected is kept strictly confidential.

9. How will you provide this information for each resident?

  • Complete the online questionnaire
    Provide the information for each resident online
  • Fill in and upload the template provided by Statistics Canada
    Provide the residents’ information in the downloadable Collective Template (Excel, 87 KB)
    • If selected, go to Question 23a.
  • Upload this facility’s administrative records
    Attach the facility’s records that contains the residents’ information
    • If selected, go to Question 23b.

10. List the persons whose main residence is at this facility.

People whose main residence is at this facility

  • First name
  • Last name

After two hours of inactivity, the session will time out and the information may not be accessible. If the questionnaire cannot be completed in one session, save the information by pressing the Save and finish later button at the bottom left of any page when prompted to enter information. The session can be resumed at another time.

11. Select from the options below to provide information about each resident.

12. What is this person's unit or room number?

  • Unit or room number

Demographic information

13. What is this person's date of birth?

If exact date of birth is not known, enter best estimate.

  • Day
  • Month
  • Year

Example: 1974

14. What is this person's gender?

Gender refers to an individual's personal and social identity as a man (or a boy), a woman (or a girl), or a person who is not exclusively a man (or a boy) or a woman (or a girl), for example, non-binary, agender, gender fluid, queer or Two-Spirit.

  • Man or boy
  • Woman or girl
  • Non-binary person

15. What was this person's sex at birth?

Sex at birth refers to the sex recorded on a person's first birth certificate. It is typically observed based on a person's reproductive system and other physical characteristics.

  • Male
  • Female

16. What is this person's status at this facility?

  • Resident (e.g., client, tenant, patient)
  • Roommate, lodger or boarder
  • Employee (e.g., staff, manager, owner)
  • Employee's family member
  • Other status
    • Specify other status

17. What is the relationship between this person and any other persons living in the same unit or room?

  • Lives alone
  • Lives with a spouse or partner
  • Lives with others, excluding spouse or partner

18. What is this person's marital status?

  • Never legally married
  • Legally married (and not separated)
  • Separated, but still legally married
  • Divorced
  • Widowed

19. Is this person living with a common-law partner?

Common-law refers to two people who live together as a couple and who are not married, regardless of the duration of the relationship.

  • Yes
  • No

Languages for this person

20. Can this person speak English or French well enough to conduct a conversation?

  • English only
  • French only
  • Both English and French
  • Neither English nor French

21 a. What language(s) does this person speak on a regular basis at home?

  • English
  • French
  • Other language(s)
    • Specify language 1
    • Specify language 2
    • Specify language 3
    • Specify any other language(s)

21 b. Of these languages, which one does this person speak most often at home?

Indicate more than one language only if they are spoken equally at home.

  • English
  • French
  • Other language
    • Specify language based on answers given to question 21 a.

22. What is the language that this person first learned at home in childhood and still understands?

If the person no longer understands the first language learned, indicate the second language learned.

  • English
  • French
  • Other language
    • Specify other language

File containing information about residents

After two hours of inactivity, the session will time out and the information may not be accessible. If the questionnaire cannot be completed in one session, save the information by pressing the Save and finish later button at the bottom left of any page when prompted to enter information. The session can be resumed at another time.

23 a. Provide the information for all residents whose main residence is at this facility using the template.

  1. Select the link to download the Collective Template (Excel, 87 KB).
  2. Provide the information about the residents.
  3. Save the completed template to your computer.
  4. Select "Attach files" and attach the template.

23 b. Provide the information for all residents whose main residence is at this facility using administrative records.

The records should contain the following information for each resident:

  • first name and last name
  • date of birth, gender and sex at birth
  • marital status and common-law status
  • status at facility
  • languages.

Administrative records maintained by this facility can be attached below in the following formats: .txt, .pdf, .docx, .xlsx.

To attach files

  • Press the Attach files button.
  • Choose the file to attach. Multiple files can be attached.

Note

  • Each file must not exceed 5 MB.
  • The attachments combined must not exceed 50 MB.
  • The name and size of each file attached will be displayed on the page.

Private dwellings at this facility

A private dwelling attached to a collective dwelling is a separate set of living quarters located within the collective grounds or attached to the collective dwelling structure.

A private dwelling:

  • shares the same civic address as the collective dwelling but has a different apartment or unit number, and
  • must have a separate entrance either from outside the building or from a common hall or lobby, and
  • is not affiliated with, or considered part of, the collective dwelling.

Residents of a private dwelling do not receive any care or services provided by the collective dwelling.

24. Are there any private dwellings that share this address with this facility?

  • Yes
    • Number of dwellings
    • If 0 or greater than 99, go to Question 26.
    • If 1 to 99, go to Question 25.
  • No
  • If no, go to Question 26.

25. Provide the information for each private dwelling.

  • Unit or apartment number
    Is this dwelling occupied or unoccupied?
  • Occupied
    • Number of occupants
  • Unoccupied

Comments

26. Please use this section if you have concerns, suggestions or comments.

For example, you may have concerns, suggestions or comments about:

  • the steps to follow or the content of this questionnaire (a question that was difficult to understand or to answer, etc.)
  • the characteristics of the online questionnaire (the navigation, the online help, the design, the format, the size of the text, etc.)
  • any technical issues encountered.
    • Enter your comments.