Statistics Canada conducts a labour force survey every month across the country, focusing on different parts of each province, and in May, included Southeast Manitoba.

Labour force survey Manager Vincent Dale, says employment and unemployment data has been collected since 1946. "It's one of the quickest surveys we do, the collection is done over 10 days, and we actually release the results within 10 days of doing the collection. You can think of it as the most timely indication on how the Canadian economy is doing because within three weeks we can select a sample, complete the interviews, and release an unemployment that gives an up to date picture of how the economy is doing."

Approximately 56,000 households take part in the confidential survey each month, with information collected on each family member over the age of 15 that resides in the home. Dale says one member of the household can answer questions for each family member and then will remain a part of the survey once a month for a total of six months.

"Because this is one of the most important surveys Stats Can does, it's actually a mandatory survey. We rely on the goodwill of our respondents, and we have an extremely high response rate for the labour force survey. Once we do the first interview the first month, the response rate is more than 90% for the follow-up months."

Dale says all of the interviews are done by trained and qualified Statistics Canada employees who will identify themselves, adding, they should have no hesitation to give you a phone number to their regional office who will be able to verify the survey is legitimate, and the person is who they claim to be.

The survey can be done at your convenience from home online after the first month, and Dale says they encourage that as much as possible.