Census of Population - Collective Dwelling Status and Classification Survey (CDSCS)
Detailed information for 2025
Status:
Active
Frequency:
One Time
Record number:
3907
The aim of the Collective Dwelling Status and Classification Survey is to collect and verify information for selected collective dwellings on the Statistical Building Register in preparation for the 2026 Census of Population.
Data release - Data gathered by this survey will not be released or published but will be used to update the Statistical Building Register frame for the 2026 Census of Population.
Description
The Collective Dwelling Status and Classification Survey (CDSCS) is conducted prior to the 2026 Census of Population to verify and update contact information for collective dwellings, to ensure the facilities are correctly classified, and to make the completion of the census more efficient for collective dwelling respondents in 2026. Collective dwellings refer to dwellings of a commercial, institutional or communal nature in which a person or group of persons reside or could reside and would be enumerated in the census. The dwellings must provide care or services or have common facilities shared by occupants.
The survey contacts administrators or contact persons for collective dwellings that are currently listed on the Statistical Building Register (SBgR), the frame for the 2026 Census of Population—that is, facilities or establishments that provide overnight accommodation. It asks contact persons or administrators to confirm the facility's name, address and contact information. It also collects information on the type of facility, its maximum occupancy, whether private or other collective dwellings exist at the same address as the facility, and whether the administrator is the contact person for other collective dwellings at different addresses. The survey does not ask for information about the residents of the facility; that information will only be collected by the census itself in 2026.
Data from the survey will not be disseminated or released but the results will be used to update the Statistical Building Register with any new or revised information gathered from respondents so that it is as accurate and up to date as possible for the 2026 Census. This will improve the efficiency of collecting census data from collective dwellings in 2026 and will also allow Statistics Canada to mail census invitation letters to private dwellings identified in the survey that are located at the same address as a collective dwelling. In addition, changes to facilities' contact information will be applied to the Business Register as required.
Collection period: Early May to mid-June
Data sources and methodology
Target population
The target population for this survey is a non-probabilistic selection of collective dwellings listed on the SBgR from across Canada. Excluded are collective dwellings on reserves and in remote areas, as well as certain collective types.
Instrument design
The questionnaire is largely comprised of content from the 2024 Census Test questionnaire for collective dwellings. Additional questions, such as whether other collective dwellings exist at the same address as the facility and whether the administrator is the contact person for additional collective dwellings at a different address, were included to identify any collective dwellings that might need to be added to the Statistical Building Register for the 2026 Census.
Qualitative tests using individual cognitive interviews were conducted by Statistics Canada's Questionnaire Design Resource Centre to ensure that the new questions and concepts are clear to respondents.
Sampling
This is a sample survey with a cross-sectional design.
The frame for this survey is the Statistical Building Register (SBgR), which replaces the Address Register as the source of dwellings to be enumerated in the 2026 Census.
The non-probabilistic sample for this cross-sectional survey was selected from collective dwellings listed on the SBgR from across Canada that meet certain criteria, based on data reported in the 2021 Census. Criteria for selection include establishments that may have:
• changed collective type from what was previously reported
• changed from private dwellings to collective dwellings
• reported a large number of usual or temporary residents
• reported the existence of private dwellings at the same address
• reported a non-civic or irregular address
• not responded to the 2021 Census
• opened since the last census.
The following collective dwelling types were excluded from the sample:
• Federal correctional institutions
• Provincial/Territorial custodial facilities
• Lodging and rooming houses
• Hutterite colonies
• Military bases and vessels
• Collective dwellings on reserves and in remote areas.
Sampling unit:
The sampling unit for the survey is collective dwellings, defined as dwellings of a commercial, institutional or communal nature in which a person or group of persons reside or could reside. The dwellings must provide care or services or have common facilities, such as a kitchen or bathroom, which are shared by the occupants.
Sampling and sub-sampling:
The non-probabilistic sample of approximately 13,500 collective dwellings was selected from the SBgR according to a set of rules applied to identify the dwellings that met the selection criteria. All collective dwellings meeting those criteria are included in the sample, with the exception of the collective types listed above as exclusions.
Data sources
Data collection for this reference period: 2025-05-05 to 2025-06-20
Responding to this survey is voluntary.
Data are collected directly from survey respondents.
Data are collected using computer-assisted telephone-interviewing (CATI). Respondents are able to provide the requested information in English or French.
View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .
Error detection
The survey includes automated verification edits during data collection that ask for confirmation for some answers that could lead to a dwelling becoming out of scope for the survey.
Imputation
This methodological step does not apply to this survey.
Estimation
This methodological step does not apply to this survey.
Quality evaluation
Microdata will be validated for quality and records that meet quality standards will be applied to the frame.
Disclosure control
Data gathered by this survey will not be released or published but will be used to update the SBgR frame for the 2026 Census with any new or revised information gathered from respondents. In addition, changes to contact information for collective dwellings gathered by the survey will be applied to the Business Register as required.
Revisions and seasonal adjustment
This methodological step does not apply to this survey.
Data accuracy
This methodological step does not apply to this survey.
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