“ 53.  The Statistics Act guarantees the confidentiality of your census information.  Only if you mark “YES” to this question will your personal information be made public, 92 years after the 2006 Census.  If you mark “NO” or leave the answer blank your personal information will never be made publicly available.

Does this person agree to make his/her 2006 Census information available for public release in 2098 (92 years after the census)?” http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/info/questions/index.cfm?S=11

Inclusion of this ‘informed consent’ provision in the 2006 Census, and all future censuses, was the concession genealogists and historians had to make in order to regain public access to Historic Census records to which they were already entitled through existing legislation.   They were advised that unless this provision was accepted the government would not present the Bill (S-18) to end the seven-year campaign to regain public access to Historic Census records in accordance with the provisions of the Access to Information and Privacy Acts.

As census records are one of the most important resources for family information, and imperative to the research of genealogists and historians, it is critical we mark ‘YES” to question 53.

We encourage you to tell everyone you know about the importance of marking “YES” to question 53.  Don’t let us loose this essential source of historical information.  Don’t let your family’s and friend’s history end in 2006.