Canada Post delivered census forms by mail to 70% of the country, primarily residents in urban areas.

[8] Population of each province and territory by age[9] and sex[10] The third release of 2006 census data[11] was on September 12, 2007 and covered families/households,[12] marital status,[13] and dwelling characteristics.

The seventh release of 2006 census data[24] was on April 2, 2008, covering ethnic origins and visible minorities[25] and commuting to work.

As a result of the finding, Statistics Canada's initial newspaper, radio and TV ads avoided mention of the legal requirement.

To encourage participation, Statistics Canada set aside $13 million for "saturation" advertising, including billboards, bookmarks, inserts in municipal tax bills, and ads on bags of sugar and milk cartons.

Despite an open public tender process, controversy arose on the announcement of a $43.3 million deal awarded to Lockheed Martin Canada—a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense contractor by defense revenue—for the purchase of scanning and printing software and hardware.

[30] Most households (80%) received the short form (2A): One in five received the long form (2B): Federal and provincial employees and their families working in embassies and National Defence bases abroad (2C): In the three northern territories and on Aboriginal communities and settlements (2D): Census of Agriculture (6): Special interest groups criticised Statistics Canada over the design of questions, accuracy, and the future of the census data:[31] In addition, Statistics Canada's online questionnaire had been criticized over accessibility issues:[35] The quality of data was further hampered by individuals who advocated minimal cooperation or non-cooperation, in protest to the outsourcing contract awarded to Lockheed Martin.

However, despite assurances to the contrary (i.e., only Statistics Canada employees would and could handle, store, and access the information), some people refused to participate fully in the census.