Greetings All. I forward for your interest a response I received from Mary Ledoux, Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator of Statistics Canada. The message which prompted this response is copied below. Happy Hunting. Gordon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ledoux, Mary - DACS/SACD" <mary.ledoux@statcan.ca> To: "'Gordon A. WATTS'" <gordon_watts@telus.net> Sent: Tuesday, 12 September, 2000 5:23 AM Subject: RE: Information available from Census Hello, Gordon. I read with interest the copy of the e-mail you sent me and can only marvel at how messages are communicated -- and I'm not referring to the medium but to the message itself! You are correct, Gordon, in your understanding that individuals can get their own personal information from the census records, whether it be 1996 or 1911. This is a right under the federal Privacy Act and is not purpose specific. There is also no cost for the information. In the case of requests for information from the Census for households where there is more than one adult, written consent from the other adult members of the household would be required if we were to release the entire record. From an operational perspective, the only requirement is that the person be able to provide us with their address at the time of the census. This is because the microfilmed census records are arranged geographically and the address is needed, therefore, to conduct the search. As well, Statistics Canada has had in place for many years (even pre-dating the Privacy Act which came into force in 1983) a program called the Census Pension Searches Program. This program was set up to provide individuals with proof of age or length of residence in Canada from census and 1940 National Registration records in support of application for pensions, citizenship, passports and similar situations where other more preferred administrative records (for example, birth certificates) are required but no longer exist or were never issued. Requests for searches are made using an "Application and Authorization for a Search of Census and 1940 National Registration Records". Again, there is no charge for this service. I believe this is to what the woman with whom you were corresponding would have been referring. Generally speaking, only the person named in the record can have access to his or her own information. In the case of deceased persons, however, information may be obtained on request of the person authorized by law to administer the estate of the deceased, but only for the purposes of such administration. A copy of the letters of administration or other proof of estate administration and a certified copy of the death certificate must be provided. Similarly for dependent adults, on the written request of their legal representative and with a certified copy of the court order naming the representative, information from that person's census records may be provided. Requests of this kind originate in many cases from Public Trustees who are administering the estate of dependent adults. As you can see Gordon, there are some similarities in the message from the woman below and what I've told you, but its not quite the free-for-all she described. All requests of the latter two types (for deceased individuals and dependent adults) go through my office for review so if there are any further questions about this process, I would be pleased to answer them. With best regards, Mary -----Original Message----- From: Gordon A. WATTS [mailto:gordon_watts@telus.net] Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2000 5:01 PM To: Mary LEDOUX- StatCan Subject: Information available from Census Hi Mary. Have been going through some back email and came across one that was sent to me this past January. I have copied part of it below and would like your comment regarding it. I have been aware that any individual could get information from Census on themselves but was under the impression the information available would pertain ONLY to the individual requesting it, and not to any others, even members of the immediate family. Can you please straighten me out on this? Thanks. Gordon =========================== "Hi Gordon. I was always under the impression that there was NO way that you could get information off of census that was not available to the public, for ANY reason. In the Genforum Chat room for Genealogy a lady who we believe lives in Ontario is always saying that she got her family's data from the Canadian 1911 census with NO problem. A couple of us got into quite an argument on this subject, so I decided to check it out for myself. I phoned Stats Canada this morning and told the lady about the argument in the chat room. She then confirmed YES that you can get data about YOURSELF and your IMMEDIATE family on the 1911 census providing that you submit sworn documented proof that this was your family and the ADDRESS where they lived when the census was taken. All you had to do was send to Stats Canada and ask for a Post 1901 Census information form. I'm SURE she said on ANY census after 1901, but since we were talking about the 1911, I just mentioned that year. I can't see Stats Canada giving out data from say the 1981, 1991 Census etc as not enough time has lapsed. But since the 1911 was due to be released in 2001, I can see where Stats Canada would be willing to release this immediate family data, since 99.99 percent of them would be deceased. Nothing was said about having to pay a fee, and nothing about the data only being released to people who were looking for proof of age."