It’s time to be counted.
The 2015 Municipal Census is officially underway with the online tool open to the public.
“Starting today, a letter is being hand delivered to every household in Red Deer that has a unique personal identification number (PIN) to participate online,” said Christine Kenzie, Legislative Services project co-ordinator.
The online site will close at midnight on April 19. If you complete your census online, your name will be entered in a contest to win a tablet.
There are three other options to participate in the census including attending the Let’s Talk event at Bower Place on April 11 and calling the Census Office at 403-342-8317. As well residents, can wait for an enumerator to visit your home between April 20 and May 11.
“Participation in the census helps us ensure we receive our fair share of grant funding from the provincial and federal governments, which is important to support growth and services in our community. In 2014, we received approximately $185 per person in grant funding,” said Kenzie.
All the information collected is secure. This year’s census will collect information on the number of people living in each household, plus the gender and year of birth of each person in the house.
New this year, residents will be asked whether anyone in the household needs or prefers to communicate with the city in a language other than English.
Residents will be asked if they are willing to be contacted as part of the quality assurance check, as required by provincial law.
In early April, census staff will contact residents at random to confirm how many people live in the home.
To participate using the online tool, go to www.reddeer.ca/census. If residents do not receive a letter containing their PIN by April 6, they can call the Census Office at 403-342-8317.
Last year, there were 98,585 people living in Red Deer.