Chapter 2: Canada's Population in a Global Context

Introduction

• Most important data sources for demographic research: census and vital statistics

The Population Census

• Census: to assess
• 1st census: Babylon/ancient China
• Past census: didn’t account for all citizens
• 1st series of modern censuses taken at regular intervals: Sweden in 1750

A Brief History of the Canadian Census

• Jean Talon organized the colony’s 1st census in 1666
  • Didn’t include Aboriginal inhabitants or members of the military
• Between 1608 and 1759, 36 censuses were conducted

Contemporary Population Census

• Census: provides a complete account of a country’s population at a point in time
• Statistics Canada: Canada’s statistical bureau
• A national census is very costly and requires extensive preparation and planning
• In Canada, the census takes place every 5 years
• United Nations guidelines
• Census methods
  • De jure method of enumeration: people are counted at their usual place of residence, not wherever they happen to be living at the time of the census. *Used in Canada and US
  • De facto method: people are counted as residents of the address where they happen to have stayed the night preceding the day of the census. *Used in France, UK, Greece, Russia
• Census categories:
  • Demographic characteristics
  • Sociocultural characteristics
  • Socioeconomic characteristics
  • Geographic characteristics

The Census: A Reflection of Its Time

• Changes to the census questionnaire largely mirror sociological change in the population

  • Social trends

  • For new questions:

  • Practical value to the nation broadly speaking

  • Public acceptance of a question

  • Comparability with previous censuses

    *Must be federally approved

• “Children ever born” question

• Unpaid work

• Ethnicity

• Political changes

The Use of Sampling in the Census

• Sampling: data are obtained from a representative sample of household from which it is then possible to derive the characteristics of the population
• National Household Survey (NHS): voluntary survey
  • Lower response rate
• Online participation

Census Undercoverage

• There is always some level of undercounting
  • Indigenous populations
  • Illegal immigrants
  • Criminals
  • Nomads
  • Homeless
• Overcoverage: when a person is enumerated more than once

Population Estimates

• Population estimates
  • Postcensal: produced by using data from the most recent census + estimated of the components of demographic change since that last census
  • Intercensal: produced every 5 years and reconcile previous postcensal estimates with the latest census counts
• Population projections: series of population estimates, typically by age and sex, derived from the application of assumptions regarding change in the demographic components over the course of a defined time horizon

Specialized Population Surveys

• Surveys of the labor force: taken routinely
• Current Population Survey (in the US)
• Aboriginal People’s Survey
• National Population Health Survey

Vital Statistics

• Vital statistics were 1st compiled by churches

Early Investigations of Vital Records and the Origins of Population Studies

• Important founding fathers of demography
  • Thomas Malthus
  • John Graunt → Bills of Mortality
  • William Petty → national accounting systems
  • Antoine Deparcieux → exposure to risk in mortality analysis

Modern Vital Statistics Systems

• National vital statistics system: collect, compile, and process statistical information on all vital events that take place in the population on a daily basis
  • Requirements
  • List of vital events that must be reported in Canada
  • Live birth
  • Death
  • Fetal death
  • Therapeutic abortion
  • Marriage
  • Divorce
  • Legal separation
  • Annulment
  • Adoption
• Definitions are not universally applied everywhere
• Underregistration of vital events

Population Registers

• Population register: change of residence, births, deaths, marriages, and divorces must be declared to the authorities

Monitoring Migratory Movements

• Arrangements between countries
• Internal migration: monitoring of this is done through tax files
• Census

Indirect Estimation of Vital Events

• Poor countries
  • Lack of necessary infrastructure
  • Lack of funds to support institutions
  • Leads to estimations based on incomplete information

Canadian Vital Statistics: Background and Overview

• Dominion Bureau of Statistics founded in 1918 (currently Statistics Canada)
• Canadian vital statistics system: obtain and preserve such documentary evidence as is necessary to protect the legal rights of the individual