Editing Statistics Act (section)

==2016 Amendments==
{{Main|Canada 2011 Census}}
In 2010, the Conservative government of [[Stephen Harper]] passed an Order in Council determining that only the short-form Census would be mandatory during the 2011 round of the Census. The mandatory long-form Census was transformed into an optional National Household Survey .<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.canada.ca/en/news/archive/2010/07/statement-2011-census.html |title = Statement on 2011 Census|website = Government of Canada |date = 3 June 2020}}</ref> This change to the Census was the subject of much controversy.

Following the election of the liberal government of [[Justin Trudeau]], the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development introduced in the House of Commons Bill C-36, An Act to amend the Statistics Act on 7 December 2016. The amendments were passed by Royal Assent on December 13, 2017. The Government of Canada press release stated that the amendments were made to the Statistics Act to "ensure that decisions on statistical matters are transparent and are based on professional considerations."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Government of Canada News Release |title=Government of Canada fulfills commitment to give Statistics Canada greater independence |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/innovation-science-economic-development/news/2017/12/government_of_canadafulfillscommitmenttogivestatisticscanadagrea.html |accessdate=3 June 2020}}</ref>

The amendments to the Act were intended to:<br>
* strengthen the independence and powers of the Chief Statistician
* ensure greater transparency regarding the directives issued to the Chief Statistician
* establish the Canadian Statistics Advisory Council
* protect personal information provided in response to Statistics Canada's requests
* remove imprisonment as a penalty for individuals who refuse or neglect to respond to Statistics Canada's requests or who provide false information"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lord |first1=Francis |title=Legislative Summary of Bill C-36: An Act to amend the Statistics Act |url=https://lop.parl.ca/sites/PublicWebsite/default/en_CA/ResearchPublications/LegislativeSummaries/421C36E#ftn3 |website=Library of Parliament: Research Publications |accessdate=3 June 2020}}</ref>
The changes to the Act included empowering the Chief Statistician to "decide, based strictly on professional statistical standards that he or she considers appropriate, the methods and procedures for carrying out statistical programs regarding (i) the collection, compilation, analysis, abstraction and publication of statistical information that is produced or is to be produced by Statistics Canada".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Government of Canada |title=Statistics Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. S-19) |date=12 December 2017 |url=https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/S-19/index.html |accessdate=3 June 2020}}</ref>