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AI-Assisted Text Capture from Paper Census Forms

Inform

What it collects that can identify you

Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Scanned images of paper census questionnaires containing personal information provided by Canadians, including names, addresses, household composition, and demographic details.
Run by
Statistics Canada (StatCan)
Where
No fixed location
Kept
Not stated by the Helpful Places.
Shared with
Accountable organization

What it is for

Inform

This system uses Microsoft Azure AI to read handwritten and printed text from paper census questionnaires, converting them into digital data for Statistics Canada. It processes personal information that Canadians provided on their census forms. The use of AI in this data-capture step is disclosed, and the system is currently under development.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Scanned images of paper census questionnaires containing personal information provided by Canadians, including names, addresses, household composition, and demographic details.

Processing

Computer Vision
  • Azure AI Document Intelligence applies optical character recognition (OCR) and layout analysis to interpret scanned page images — detecting fields, checkboxes, and handwritten or printed text on census questionnaires.

What it does

Sensing (Perceptive AI)
Human decides
  • Converts scanned images of paper census questionnaires into structured text using Azure AI Document Intelligence. GC employees review and validate the extracted text.

Outputs

Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Structured digital text records extracted from census questionnaires, containing the personal information originally written by census respondents — used for downstream census data processing by Statistics Canada staff.

Run by

Statistics Canada (StatCan)
  • Statistics Canada is the federal department that operates this AI system to digitize paper census questionnaires. Government of Canada employees are the primary users.

Government of Canada AI Register — Census Comments Data Capture

Built by

Microsoft
  • Microsoft provides the Azure AI Document Intelligence service used to perform optical character recognition (OCR) and image-to-text conversion on scanned census questionnaires.

Government of Canada AI Register — Census Comments Data Capture

Kept for

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

Shared with

Available to the accountable organization
  • Digitized census data is accessible to Statistics Canada (GC employees) for data processing, quality review, and statistical compilation. The register does not specify broader sharing.

Stored

Stored on 3rd Party Cloud
  • The system uses Microsoft Azure (a third-party cloud provider) for AI document intelligence processing. The register does not specify whether census images are transiently processed in-cloud or stored there; this entry reflects the known Azure service dependency.
  • Duration: Not specified in register
How to read the colours

Can it identify you?

Anonymized data
Data about people with the link to who is broken. Stripped of identifiers, blurred, aggregated, or noised so this system can’t reasonably tie a record back to an individual.
Pseudonymous data
Each person’s data is tied to a token (hash, ID, template) that lets this system recognise the same person across events, but the token itself doesn’t reveal a name. Reidentification is possible with extra information.
Identifiable data
The data either contains a direct identifier (name, address, account name, recognisable face or voice, plate number) or carries a token this system uses to look up legal identity during processing.

Who completes the loop?

Human decides
This mode suggests; a person decides what to do next. The AI is always advisory — a human is in the loop on every decision. Example: a triage tool ranks cases for a clinician who chooses which to see first.
Human executes
This mode decides; a person carries out the result. Example: an optimizer plans the day’s trash-collection routes, and drivers run them.
Autonomous
This mode decides and acts on its own. No person reviews each decision or carries out the resulting action.

Definitions from the DTPR standard. Amber is about your data, violet about who decides. The fuller the shape and the deeper the colour, the more identifying the data or the less a person is involved.

What you can do

Ask about this system

Questions go to the Helpful Places, not the vendor.

Your rights

  • Right to Be Informed of AI UseStatistics Canada discloses that AI is used in the processing of census questionnaires. Canadians are informed of this AI use as part of the census data-collection process.
  • Right to Purpose LimitationPersonal information on census questionnaires is collected under the Statistics Act and may only be used for statistical purposes. AI-assisted digitization is limited to this lawful purpose. Canadians can contact Statistics Canada for more information on data use.

Risks and safeguards

  • Reputational harmOCR errors may misread personal information (names, addresses, demographic data), leading to inaccurate census records for individuals.Safeguard: GC employees review and validate AI-extracted text before it enters downstream census processing; the system augments rather than replaces human data-entry oversight.
  • Civil liberties harmCensus data is highly sensitive; any breach or mission creep in AI processing could expose personal information at population scale.Safeguard: Data collection is governed by the Statistics Act, which carries strict confidentiality obligations; AI processing is limited to digitization for internal statistical use only.