Over 15 million households in Canada should be receiving the big beige census cards in their mailbox within the next few days.

In the card is an access code to complete the census online, as well as instructions on alternatives if the resident wishes to complete it through other means. Roughly 75 percent should receive the short questionnaire, while 25 percent should see the longer questionnaire which includes more in-depth questions about home, property and economic factors.

Swift Current Online reached out to the city of Swift Current to discuss the importance of the census; and specifically the importance of accuracy.

Tim Marcus, the city's Chief Administrative Officer:

"We get...rough estimate, about $250 per capita between all the grants that we get from both levels of government. So for instance our previous census was based on roughly 16,600 people, but we know based on health cards and utility collections that there's more than what's on the census."

In Marcus' example, roughly 2,000 people failed to fill out the census, meaning that $500,000 per year in funding simply never comes to Swift Current to be spent on capital projects or improvements.

Over a five-year period between censuses, that amounts to $2.5 million.

For Marcus, however, it's not all about the money, although that is certainly the larger missed opportunity.

"When businesses want to locate in a community, they'll often look at the census numbers and, if we're missing a large number of our population, business might think that we're smaller than we are, or there are not enough people. So it can affect your economic development."

The city has its own access to that data as well and uses it for everything from parks and parking planning to schools and major roadway improvements. And even how quickly a city chooses to plan for growth.

Marcus pointed out that if the growth pattern of the city can seem slower than it really is due to a number of people not counting themselves on the census, not only does that change how (and where) the city can look to plan in the future, but it also throws a proverbial wrench into the calculations for what the capacity for their ongoing operations can be.

Even something as simple as estimating how many cars pass through an intersection on a regular day can be thrown off by a missing 2,000 residents, leading to wrong estimates about pavement lifespan, for example.

"It's beneficial to both the city, but it's also beneficial to everyone including the province. You're not giving away anything that people don't already know. It's just being officially counted in a place where the numbers can then be used to benefit everyone involved."

The census is due by May 11, 2021.