Read about the 2026 Census of Population dissemination strategy and release plans.
Release date: May 13, 2026
Statistics Canada is currently planning the dissemination strategy for the 2026 Census of Population, including planning for the development of products and services that will be available for users. The dissemination strategy will aim to meet a wide variety of user requirements.
The three components, including subcomponents, will form the 2026 Census of Population dissemination strategy:
Statistics Canada will release all topics and the 2026 Census content through major releases by December 2027. To add additional value and insight for Canadians, the agency will continue to disseminate complementary data and analysis related to the released content after the major releases are done.
Downloadable calendar (ICS) Printable poster (PDF)
Starting on February 10, 2027, there are seven data releases planned to disseminate all of the different census topics for the 2026 Census of Population. These data releases will vary in the scope of product offerings. For example, there are five releases where the full suite of census products will be released, such as The Daily, Census in Brief, data tables, the Census Profile, and reference guides. There will be two releases whereby the product offerings will be limited and will include The Daily, Census in Brief, a limited number of data tables, and reference guides (note that the Census Profile will not be available on those dates).
The five release dates where the full suite of census products will be offered are detailed in Table 1 below.
The two release dates in which there will be a limited number of product offerings are September 8, 2027, and October 27, 2027 (refer to Table 1). Articles in The Daily will be released, as well as a Census in Brief for each topic. A limited number of data tables will be made available per topic. Statistics Canada will release additional data products and reference materials per topic at the subsequent census releases (i.e., September 28 and December 1, 2027).
Given the number of census topics that will be available through the 2026 Census of Population, the aim of this release strategy is to spread out the number of topics on a given release day with the goal of respecting timeliness and disseminating information on each topic.
Table 1 provides information regarding the dates, types of release, and topics for the major releases. A downloadable calendar is available to import the release calendar into a variety of calendar applications (e.g., Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, or Apple Calendar). A printable poster is also available to users and stakeholders to keep track of the release plans.
If you have questions or comments about what’s new for the 2026 Census of Population, please email us at 2026 Census dissemination consultation.
Statistics Canada will release additional data products and reference materials per topic at the subsequent census release.
