Tag: municipal census

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is conducting the municipal census, and the hope is that the census shows growth in the region. Mayor Melissa Blake predicted that the census will show that there is growth in the region. “As we go through this period of economic recession, people may be worried that we are really not the community that we used to be. I challenge that. The way I can make evidence available is by saying, we’ve gone from this population up to something in the (80,000)s in the regular residents. The importance of accuracy is that it really is a big indicator of how we’re going to spend our resources. It’s not insignificant, when you add up to 80-85,000 people, that gives us a great opportunity to do some meaningful projects in our community.”

The municipal census recently started in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo and efforts are being made to ensure that everyone is counted in the region. According to RMWB acting director of planning and development Brad Evanson each house will receive a miailout that contains a PIN number, and these mailouts allow residents to respond to the census inquiry online, with the goal being to capture 100% of the people who live in the region on April 1. Evanson stated “We want to make sure we capture as many people, even the people that might not be captured in a basement suite or as rental tenants.: Mayor Blake also explained that the responses can not be tracked back to individuals, and said “Whatever your hindrance is or fears might be, put them aside, because there’s (a) far greater benefit.”

The municipal census for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo will take place this year, and municipal authorities are already starting to prepare for this important project. Census recruiters need to hire roughly 100 census takers, and since the municipality funding is calculated on a per capita basis the census results must be accurate. RMWB municipal census 2015 coordinator Gary Gordon explained “We want to enumerate 100% of the dwelling units, that’s our goal. We’re looking forward to having a successful census. We’re not sure what the numbers are going to be in terms of, there’s a bit of a downturn, but we’re confident that we’re going to reach every door.” The census will take place between April 1 and June 30 of 2015. On January 27 the council voted to get approval for a census and to count the local shadow population.

The municipal census for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is a very important project. Mayor Melissa Blake commented that “It’s important for the municipality to count as many people as we can, because we get per-capita grants that actually can amount to something significant. It will be a fascinating exercise to go through the count of our shadow population, but I’m as keenly interested to learn more about our urban population.” Gary Gordon explained “We look at the census as three projects in one; we have the urban services area, which is the largest population, and it’s very challenging, we also have the rural communities … and then again working with the people in the project accommodations. The make-up of the community, a community where people work long hours, a lot of people that fly in and fly out or drive in and drive out … it’s very difficult to get a hold of people and that certainly makes it a challenge.”