STC does have access to the income tax forms, but since not everyone fills out the income tax forms, we can't use that as a basis for a census. We do use them where applicable to reduce respondent burden for other surveys.
(You don't have to fill out the income tax form if the government owes you money, or you make so little that you are under the personal exemption. BTW - I just checked our own data and it has concluded that 75% of Canadians have tax returns.)
The bathroom thing gets thrown around, and I don't personally know what the purpose of that question is, but the long form questions on transportation are used by municipal governments to decide on changing transit routes, road requirements, and city planning. The data on the long form is used by school boards to predict enrollment and thus staffing needs. Long form data is used to focus social services such as increasing services for disabled people where the need is high. I don't see the need to throw the baby out with the bathroom question.
Last edited by Devils'Advocate; 07-22-2010 at 08:19 PM.
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