However, since each household represents many other similar households nationally and provincially, it is important that the selected households participate. This ensures that accurate information on labour market, income and family changes are available for all provinces and at the national level. It would be very expensive, and not very practical, to survey every household in Canada. Instead, Statistics Canada uses a statistical method called sampling. It is an established way to determine characteristics of an entire population with the answers from a randomly chosen sample of households.
Every region is included and people from all walks of life are included.
During this process, your address was initially chosen and not you personally. The people who live at the selected addresses at the start of the survey become the sample and then those people continue in the survey even if they move to another address. As others move in with you, they too become eligible for the survey. The people in your household now represent hundreds of other Canadians in similar households. To ensure that the sample is an accurate reflection of the population as a whole, both nationally and provincially, it is important to have the participation of all selected respondents.