Fort Saskatchewan is preparing to roll out its first municipal census since 2019.
In April, city officials will be hand-delivering secure access code letters unique to each resident.
"Collecting up-to-date population data is an important and effective way to plan for the needs of our growing and diverse city," said Sheryl Exley, a legislature officer with the city.
"Census information is used by various city departments, organizations, and stakeholders to deliver a wide range of municipal services."
It may seem strange for the city to roll out a census after the most recent federal census was completed in 2021, but the city does have its reasons, which include attracting more business to the area.
"With regard to the federal census, they collect different data compared to what we would," said Exley. "[Businesses] look at population thresholds, so when population are at specific groups like 30,000, then there might be an opening for other types of businesses looking at the market area."
"It definitely helps attract those businesses."
As for the specific information that the census is looking for, Exely says it will be focused on household stats.
"We are hoping to obtain the number of residents in the home, the age and gender of each resident, employment status, type of dwelling, and length of residency in Fort Saskatchewan.'
"All information collected will be kept confidential and used only to produce aggregated statistics. Responses will remain anonymous, names will not be collected, and exact dwelling addresses will not be associated with the questionnaire responses."
Only one resident in each household can fill out the information for everyone inside the home, granted they have all the knowledge to properly do so.
The census will start being delivered on April 1 and residents will have exactly two months to complete it.