Left out: About 25 per cent of dwellings not counted in Wood Buffalo municipal census

Wood Buffalo has closed its municipal census with about a quarter of homes still uncounted.

For the past two censuses, the municipality has managed to get responses or knock on the doors of 100 per cent of residents, but this year that number has dropped to about 75 per cent.

Kodjo Efu, supervisor of the socio-economic, planning and development for the municipality, said of the 32,512 dwellings in Wood Buffalo, 24,366 have been counted.

Efu said the next step is to identify which homes weren't counted, and then extrapolate the populationbased on information like water consumption.

The census was originally slated to close in June, but that was extended because of low participation.

The municipality ran marketing campaigns, including offering prizes to residents who filled out their census online. This year 35 per cent of residents completed the census online, the rest was collected via door-knocking.

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Efu said he attributes the low participation to the pandemic. The census opened in April, but that's when COVID-19 cases were at a peak in Fort McMurray. In a typical year, door-to-door enumeration would start shortly after the census opened, but that wasn't possible.

"The council enacted a state of local emergency because of the rapidly growing infection rate at the time," said Efu.

He said if it weren't for the pandemic, he believes they would have been able to reach 100 per cent of the population.

"Participation this year has been lower if we look at the fact that we didn't reach the total dwelling that we set out to do."

So far, the total population counted is about 57,000 and the team still needs to extrapolate the data for about8,000 homes.

The last municipal census was in 2018, and the population was recorded at 111,687 for Wood Buffalo. In 2015, the population was 125,032.

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About 35 per cent of the dwellings were counted from people counting themselves with a pin mailed to them and then filled out online.

The census cost about $500,000 this year. Efu said that's down from the $1 million in 2012.

Accurate census data is important for non-profits, according to Cathy Steeves, executive director of the United Way Fort McMurray and Wood Buffalo.

She said the data helps the agency allocate funding.

For example, the last census showed that half the community is composed of newcomers and seasonal workers, which told the agency they neededfunding for programming that assisted newcomers, like English as a second language.

She said it's distressing that there was a low response rate to the census.

"It's more difficult for us to do our jobs properly."

Unlike in the federal census, the municipality's shadow populationpeople who work Wood Buffalobut don't live there permanentlyis also counted. Steeves said that's vital information to have.

She said the shadow population uses local services, but "if we don't know exactly how many of them there are then our ability to respond to their needs and to the needs of the permanent residents is compromised."

"Numbers really count in this [non-profit] industry," said Steeves. "Without an accurate number we're really floundering and we're guessing."

That's not the only organization that uses the municipal census numbers, the Chamber of Commerce uses them to help with business development in town.

Dianna de Sousa, executive director for the chamber of commerce, said it can be used to help target specific demographics in marketing campaigns, or deciding what businesses are needing in certain areas of town.

The census is expected to be released in late fall.