The federal census is underway, and there has never been a more important time to participate than right now.
These statistics help justify the needs of our community, as they come into consideration when federal dollars are being spent.
Every year, the citizens of Airdrie pay federal taxes. Either by payroll deductions, lump sum or a combination of both, Albertans contribute billions of dollars to Ottawa, as does every other province. The federal government then identifies the needs of the country and distributes funding and grant money according to those needs.
Very seldom, if ever, have Albertans ever received funding back that equalled or exceeded their contributions. That being said, I don’t recall a period of time within my life as now that Albertans have experienced such deep debt, despite so many needs going unfulfilled. That is why it is more important than ever for Airdrie residents to participate in this census.
Every province and territory in Canada advocate and compete for federal grant money. Beyond that, there are also hundreds of federal grants that municipalities such as Airdrie can compete for. Each grant application strives to show justification for obtaining grant dollars. Census stats are used to decide everything from where health-care dollars should be spent next to national infrastructure needs, seniors' needs and hundreds of other special needs funding grants.
Per capita funding is another way the federal government distributes federal dollars. This is where they take a big pot of money, divide it by the number of people in a particular demographic and then distribute that amount per the demographic in each community. If you fit in the particular demographic they are targeting, but do not participate in the census, then your municipality or province will not receive your share of funding. Your share will simply be divided by the remaining number of people that did participate in the census, split evenly across the rest of the country.
We have many needs in this province. We lag in health-care, our senior’s population is growing exponentially, tourism is at an all-time low and could use a boost to help kickstart it again when the COVID-19 pandemic comes to an end. We have many infrastructure needs, which if addressed via federal grants, could also aid us in getting laid-off Albertans back to work. Municipally, we could seriously use some infrastructure dollars in our city as well as more health-care options. As the city continues to grow, demands for more doctors and health-care professionals will only rise.
There is a growing need to have people participate online, particularly as a lot of folks are still uncomfortable with census workers coming to their door until this pandemic is over. Fill the census out online and there will be no need for anyone to knock on your door.
So, watch your mailbox for a census card to fill out online, or go directly to census.gc.ca to register and count you and your household in. If you don’t count in the census, you won’t count toward fulfilling the needs within the municipality that you live in. It takes three minutes.... can we count on you?
