Some data users disappointed after Edmonton pauses municipal census again

Edmonton's municipal census has been shelved again, disappointing some stakeholders who appreciated the neighbourhood-level information it collected.

City councillors voted on Monday to approve a recommendation from council's executive committee that the census policy be paused. The last municipal census was conducted in 2019. It was discontinued that same year for financial reasons.

"This is a fair way to make sure we're not putting budgetary pressures on ourselves," Coun. Erin Rutherford said at an executive committee meeting last week. 

Pausing, rather than repealing the census, would make it easier to reinstate it in the future and give councillors time to speak with data-seeking groups, Rutherford said. 

Some fans of the municipal census say they understand the city's budgetary constraints but hope the census returns in the future as it gives useful, neighbourhood-level information about Edmonton's population.

A number of organizations, including Edmonton's public and Catholic school divisions and Edmonton Police Service, have used municipal census data to plan for the future. 

The Edmonton Social Planning Council has used the data in reports that measure community health, said executive director Susan Morrissey.

She said she is disappointed the local census isn't returning soon.

"If you want to make good decisions, the more information you have about both your constituents and their needs is very, very important," Morrissey said.

She said the council's researchers have already been affected by the lack of a municipal census, not pursuing certain topics if the data is no longer available and trying to collect information from other agencies, like Edmonton's Food Bank.

Elisse Moreno, a real estate agent with TruHome ReMax, said she has mined local census data for demographic insights, like the number of children or seniors living in a particular Edmonton neighbourhood.

Moreno said federal census data is also helpful, but only available every five years. The municipal census has historically been conducted more frequently, typically every two to three years.

According to a city report, local census data from 2019 has been viewed nearly 60,000 times and used across city departments, but the federal census is thought to be more statistically valid.

Each Edmonton municipal census has a projected cost of about $4.7 million, the report said.