Statistics Canada is looking for workers to help with the upcoming census starting in March.
The 2011 Census is hoping to staff 16 positions in the Fort St. James, Fraser Lake, Vanderhoof, Stikine Region and the regional electoral areas of Bulkley-Nechako C, Bulkley-Nechako D and Bulkley-Nechako F areas, according to Sarah Miller, with Statistics Canada.
The information gathered in the census are used to plan schools, roads, waterworks, public transit, police and fire services as well as for housing requirements, health care and day-care centres. The population numbers the census gives are also key information used to determine the amount of transfer payments from higher levels of government. Federal government allocates money to the provinces, the provinces then allocate money to the municipalities based on these numbers. It also determines the number of members of parliament we will need.
Potential jobs are for two types of positions, supervisory and non-supervisory and would require a time commitment of 20 hours per week minimum. Non-supervisory positions include enumerators who take census data and do any required follow-up. These positions start at just over $14 an hour. The supervisory positions are crew leader positions, where a person is responsible for a small district with a number of enumerators under them. These positions start at $18 an hour.
Statistics Canada is looking to hire local people to do the census in their area, and anyone interested in applying for these positions should visit: www.census2011.gc.ca.