Statistics Canada's chatbot, 2-A, can currently be used to help Canadians find information related to the census.
2-A allows you to
- get answers to your questions without having to navigate various frequently asked questions web pages
- interact with census data in real time without having to wait in a queue.
2-A is available 24 hours a day to provide support.
What type of question can I ask the chatbot?
At this time, 2-A is programmed to only answer questions related to the census. Here are a few topics covered:
- general information:
- Census of Population
- Census of Agriculture
- census jobs
- definitions of census questionnaire content
- alternate formats being offered for the census content
- confidentiality and privacy policies surrounding the census
- troubleshooting tips for the online census questionnaire.
How should I ask my question to the chatbot?
We understand there are multiple ways to ask a question. We recommend that you ask 2-A one question at a time. Questions should be clear and simple (for example, What is an invitation letter? What is the census deadline?) to help 2-A recognize what you are looking for.
Please be patient as 2-A is learning from your interactions.
If at any point during the conversation you wish to start over, type "start over."
Official languages
Statistics Canada respects the Official Languages Act and is committed to ensuring that information is equally available in both official languages, English and French.
The chatbot is available in English or French. When a conversation with the chatbot is initiated, it will ask the user to confirm their preferred language. Once a language is selected, the chatbot will not be able to change its language or detect questions in the other language during the same conversation.
Privacy
Statistics Canada is committed to respecting the privacy of individuals. Although information provided to Statistics Canada is subject to the provisions of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and will be kept confidential, we ask that you do not share any personal information with the chatbot. Please note conversations are recorded in the form of a transcript for the purpose of assessing quality of the service and to meet user needs. These transcripts will be retained by Statistics Canada for a three-month period.
General enquiries
For general enquiries on the chatbot, or for any questions the chatbot was unable to supply answers to, please contact us.