Mr. Speaker, with regard to Statistics Canada and the census, in response to (a), Statistics Canada is currently focusing its efforts on developing, assessing and adapting its statistical and operational procedures to minimize non-response bias and to achieve the best quality possible from the national household survey. Only when data collection is complete will we begin to assess the actual data quality using a number of measures, including comparison to data from 2006 long-form census and use of the 2011 census short-form results. Until then, the quality-related costs of the 2011 Census of Population and the national household survey cannot be segregated.
Statistics Canada is confident that the national household survey will produce usable and useful data that can meet the needs of many users.
In response to (b), the 2011 census questionnaire will contain the same questions as published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on August 21, 2010.