Ottawa, ON (November 5, 2015) The U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities applauds the government of Canada’s decision to re-establish the long-form census, as announced today by the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development.
“Access to high quality data is one of the most important components to conducting research and good decision making,” says Feridun Hamdullahpur, Chair of The U15 and President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo. The re-establishment of the long-form census will have a significant and positive impact on the many communities and sectors that depend on this data for policy and programming.”
The decision to re-establish the long-form census comes after the government of Canada announced the creation of two ministerial portfolios with the responsibility of supporting science and innovation.
“These early steps taken by the government in recognizing the importance of science are very encouraging for our community, says Suzanne Corbeil, Executive Director of the U15 Directorate. “We look forward to working with the Cabinet and Members of Parliament in continuing to advance research excellence and universities’ contributions to Canada.”