Census letters to be out by end of day Monday, May 11
StatsCan says people can still be counted after May 12 deadline listed on letters, encourages people to contact them if they have been missed
May 11, 2026, 9:00 am
Nicole Taylor Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The federal census started on Monday, May 4 with hand delivered letters going out to rural households around the region throughout the week.
According to census workers, enumerators have until end of day today—Monday, May 11—to have letters out to every household ,and census day is May 12.
In cases where people are not home, the letters are often left in a plastic bag hanging on a door handle at the front of the home.
Even though the letters says in bold letters that the census needs to be filled out by May 12, that is just a reference date, not a deadline, and people can still go online and fill out the census after that.
If people have not received a letter by census day on May 12, they can call 1-833-852-2026 and request to be counted. They can also go online to census.gc.ca to fill out the form and hit the link that says “obtain a secure access code” to fill out their form.
According to census workers, after May 12, cases are generated for anyone who hasn’t filled out the census, and enumerators start going back and doing followup to make sure as many rural residents as possible are counted.
Municipalities around the region have been pushing hard to ensure that everyone is counted in the 2026 census after the World-Spectator investigated and found that hundreds of people were missed in the 2021 census. Some communities, like Moosomin, contacted Stats Canada and had their census numbers adjusted after the 2021 census, resulting in tens of thousands more in revenue sharing for the community.
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