Where is taking the census mandated by law

Please " contact us " to request a format other than those available. Answers to the census questions should reflect the household situation on May 10, All residents of Canada are legally required to complete the census questionnaire, according to the Statistics Act.

Census staff will begin contacting households that have not completed their census questionnaire in person or by phone. Nevertheless, we shall ensure that accurate citizenship data is compiled in connection with the census by other means. To achieve that goal, I have determined that it is imperative that all executive departments and agencies agencies provide the Department the maximum assistance permissible, consistent with law, in determining the number of citizens and non-citizens in the country, including by providing any access that the Department may request to administrative records that may be useful in accomplishing that objective.

When the Secretary of Commerce decided to include the citizenship question on the census, he determined that such a question, in combination with administrative records, would provide the most accurate and complete data. At that time, the Census Bureau had determined based on experience that administrative records to which it had access would enable it to determine citizenship status for approximately 90 percent of the population.

At that point, the benefits of using administrative records were limited because the Department had not yet been able to access several additional important sets of records with critical information on citizenship.

The executive action I am taking today will ensure that the Department will have access to all available records in time for use in conjunction with the census. Therefore, to eliminate delays and uncertainty, and to resolve any doubt about the duty of agencies to share data promptly with the Department, I am hereby ordering all agencies to share information requested by the Department to the maximum extent permissible under law.

Access to the additional data identified in section 3 of this order will ensure that administrative records provide more accurate and complete citizenship data than was previously available. I am also ordering the establishment of an interagency working group to improve access to administrative records, with a goal of making available to the Department administrative records showing citizenship data for percent of the population.

Finally, I am directing the Department to strengthen its efforts, consistent with law, to obtain State administrative records concerning citizenship. Ensuring that the Department has available the best data on citizenship that administrative records can provide, consistent with law, is important for multiple reasons, including the following.

First, data on the number of citizens and aliens in the country is needed to help us understand the effects of immigration on our country and to inform policymakers considering basic decisions about immigration policy.

Today, an accurate understanding of the number of citizens and the number of aliens in the country is central to any effort to reevaluate immigration policy. The United States has not fundamentally restructured its immigration system since I have explained many times that our outdated immigration laws no longer meet contemporary needs. My Administration is committed to modernizing immigration laws and policies, but the effort to undertake any fundamental reevaluation of immigration policy is hampered when we do not have the most complete data about the number of citizens and non-citizens in the country.

If we are to undertake a genuine overhaul of our immigration laws and evaluate policies for encouraging the assimilation of immigrants, one of the basic informational building blocks we should know is how many non-citizens there are in the country. For example, the lack of such data limits our ability to evaluate policies concerning certain public benefits programs. Accordingly, aliens are restricted from eligibility for many public benefits.

With limited exceptions, aliens are ineligible to receive supplemental security income or food stamps 8 U. The lack of accurate information about the total citizen population makes it difficult to plan for annual expenditures on certain benefits programs. And the lack of accurate and complete data concerning the alien population makes it extremely difficult to evaluate the potential effects of proposals to alter the eligibility rules for public benefits.

Third, data identifying citizens will help the Federal Government generate a more reliable count of the unauthorized alien population in the country. Data tabulating both the overall population and the citizen population could be combined with records of aliens lawfully present in the country to generate an estimate of the aggregate number of aliens unlawfully present in each State.

Currently, the Department of Homeland Security generates an annual estimate of the number of illegal aliens residing in the United States, but its usefulness is limited by the deficiencies of the citizenship data collected through the American Community Survey alone, which includes substantial margins of error because it is distributed to such a small percentage of the population.

Academic researchers have also been unable to develop useful and reliable numbers of our illegal alien population using currently available data.

A study by researchers at Yale University estimated that the illegal alien population totaled between Its modeling put the likely number at about double the conventional estimate. The fact is that we simply do not know how many citizens, non-citizens, and illegal aliens are living in the United States. Accurate and complete data on the illegal alien population would be useful for the Federal Government in evaluating many policy proposals.

When Members of Congress propose various forms of protected status for classes of unauthorized immigrants, for example, the full implications of such proposals can be properly evaluated only with accurate information about the overall number of unauthorized aliens potentially at issue. Similarly, such information is needed to inform debate about legislative proposals to enhance enforcement of immigration laws and effectuate duly issued removal orders. As a result of our broken asylum laws, hundreds of thousands of aliens who entered the country illegally have been released into the interior of the United States pending the outcome of their removal proceedings.

But because of the massive backlog of cases, hearing dates are sometimes set years in the future and the adjudication process often takes years to complete. Aliens not in custody routinely fail to appear in court and, even if they do appear, fail to comply with removal orders. There are more than 1 million illegal aliens who have been issued final removal orders from immigration judges and yet remain at-large in the United States. Efforts to find solutions that address the immense number of unauthorized aliens living in our country should start with accurate information that allows us to understand the true scope of the problem.

Fourth, it may be open to States to design State and local legislative districts based on the population of voter-eligible citizens. In Evenwel v. Abbott, S. Some courts, based on Supreme Court precedent, have agreed that State districting plans may exclude individuals who are ineligible to vote. Whether that approach is permissible will be resolved when a State actually proposes a districting plan based on the voter-eligible population.

What is a census? What is the purpose of the census? What is the census used for? State population counts from the census are used to reapportion seats in the U. House of Representatives across the 50 states. State and local officials use census results to help redraw congressional, state, and local district boundaries to meet the one-person, one-vote rule. Governments and nonprofit organizations rely on census data to determine the need for new roads, hospitals, schools, and other public-sector investments.

Census data are also vital to businesses as a key source of information about the changing needs of the U. When does the Census start?

Is the Census mandatory? Am I required to fill out my Census form? Can I refuse to answer a census question? What is an enumerator?

Will I have to answer the Census online? Are census responses confidential? How are census data collected? What information does the census collect? What questions does the census ask? The Census form will include just a handful of questions that are asked about every person in a household: Name. Relationship to Person 1. Date of birth. Hispanic origin. How will the Census count everyone?

How does the Census Bureau know where people live? Where does the Census Bureau count people who have more than one home? Newborn babies who are not yet discharged from the hospital are counted at the residence where they will live and sleep most of the time.

People who are living at a shelter such as domestic violence and homeless shelters are counted at the shelter. People in temporary group living quarters established for victims of natural disasters are counted at the residence where they live and sleep most of the time.

People with seasonal homes or who have transitory living arrangements such as RV parks, carnivals are counted at the residence where they live and sleep most of the time. Are foreign citizens counted in the Census? Will the Census be available in languages other than English?

When will Census results be released? How can I help ensure an accurate census count in my community? To help ensure a complete count, you can: Follow the Census Bureau on social media Twitter , Facebook to learn about and share important updates. Explain the importance of the Census to family, friends, and neighbors.