Statistics Canada will be hiring people in all 33 communities across the Northwest Territories for the 2021 census this May.
Geoff Bowlby, the director general for the census at Statistics Canada, says his department will be hiring 180 employees for the census, 39 of whom will be in Yellowknife.
“We go to every single community, that means we have to have staff in every single community,” he says.
The available positions will primarily be enumerators.
Bowlby adds, Statistics Canada is particularly hopeful to find employees who speak any of the Indigenous languages.
“We want to make sure that the census is inclusive for all and having the enumerators that can speak the language makes it so much easier for us to do our our work,” he says.
Residents filling out the forms can also request the paperwork be in their Indigenous language.
Enumerators are typically responsible for going door-to-door and reminding residents of the census as well as helping them fill out the necessary forms. But this year will be a little different.
“Normally, we would do a lot more of that door-to-door activity, especially in the North. But because of the pandemic, we’re opening the internet option to all people living in Canada, so long as your community has good internet access,” he says.
But with access to the internet being a major challenge across the North, Bowlby says there is a toll-free number residents can call to request a paper questionnaire to mail-in.
The enumerator positions pays $29 dollars an hour for 20 to 40 hours of work a week.
Census day is May 11, but Bowlby says there will be work starting earlier as Statistics Canada prepares.
Anyone interested can apply here.
