Tuesday, May 10th is census day across Canada.

Imagine missing out on $9,000 every year. Steinbach Mayor Chris Goertzen says that is what happens for every person left off the census. Because a lot of funding is based on per capita,

(Wilf Falk with Manitoba Bureau of Statistics)Goertzen says it works out to more than $46,000 lost per person for the five year period in between each census.

"Those are significant dollars that could come to a province, come to a municipality, that would help deliver those services," explains Goertzen. "Those services will still have to be delivered and so what that will mean is that taxes would have to go up."

Wilf Falk is Director of Manitoba Bureau of Statistics. He says data from the census is also valuable for community planning. For example, it paints a picture of what a community is and how that community has changed over time. It also helps local communities determine their needs, based on traffic patterns and population placement.

Further to that, Lorne Anderson with Statistics Canada says it is important to be able to compare what happened in the five year period in between each census.

"Where is a good place to set up a business, where do we need to put in roads or schools or hospitals, ambulances, things like that," says Anderson.

(Lorne Anderson from Statistics Canada)"So it's crucial that we have the high quality data that really informs those decisions."

According to Anderson, in the eight days leading up to census day, 5.7 million households had already filled theirs out. All but approximately 120,000 filled theirs out online. He notes there was a glitch with their online system during the first day. However, it lasted only about 45 minutes and Anderson says it has been working fine ever since.

The 2016 census has a short and long version. The long form goes to one in four households, which are randomly determined. However, the long form is not as long as last census because questions on religious affiliation are only asked every other census and because they have removed all questions pertaining to income.

Meanwhile, should you happen to receive two packages this year; one for your home and another for a cottage, Falk says you need only to fill out one. He says fill out the one for your primary residence, noting Stats Canada will anyway quickly figure out the duplicate, should you complete both.