Protecting your privacy
Protecting your privacy
The Statistics Act specifically requires that information about individuals be protected and kept strictly confidential. The federal Privacy Act also protects personal information held by Statistics Canada.
In Canada, great care is taken to ensure that information collected from a census is clearly in the public interest, cannot be obtained effectively from other sources, and can be collected efficiently to meet information requirements. Part of the process of preparing for the 2026 Census involves conducting the 2024 Census Test.
Security of the online questionnaire
Statistics Canada takes every precaution to protect information. The latest technologies are used to ensure that Statistics Canada’s strict security and confidentiality requirements are met.
Encryption technologies ensure that the information passing between respondents’ computers and the agency’s web server is secure.
Census data are processed and stored on a high-security internal network. Powerful firewalls, intrusion detection systems and stringent access control procedures limit access to computer systems and databases. Census employees can access census data only from secure Statistics Canada locations.
Confidentiality of completed questionnaires
Statistics Canada places the highest priority on maintaining the confidentiality and security of completed questionnaires. Stringent measures and procedures are followed to ensure that confidentiality is maintained at all times.
- All Statistics Canada employees are sworn to secrecy when they are hired, and this continues even after their employment ends. Employees remain under oath whether they are working from Statistics Canada buildings or other secure locations such as their private residence.
- Only Statistics Canada employees with a need to know have access to personal and confidential information. All employees go through a justification and approval process.
- These employees are able to collect, process and analyze completed questionnaires. They may access only the data they are working on.
- Private contractors never have access to confidential data.
- Access to Statistics Canada buildings is controlled by a combination of physical measures and access procedures.
- Census and census test data are processed and stored on a highly restricted internal network and cannot be accessed by anyone who has not taken the oath of secrecy.
- All work-related information and documents are secured according to Statistics Canada Security Classification Standards, whether employees are working from Statistics Canada buildings or other secure locations such as their private residence.
- Any suspected breach of the confidentiality of census and census test questionnaires is a serious matter that is investigated immediately and thoroughly, and would be subject to the full force of the Statistics Act.
- Census test data are not collected for publication; they are collected to prepare for the census. As such, they are not released in any form, including as historical records 92 years after the census test.