How many people now live in Calgary? Census results, usually out in July, won't be released until September

The results of Calgary's 2019 civic census are in — officially submitted to the province, as required by law — but they won't be made publicly available until Tuesday.

In the past, the city has typically published the results of its annual census in July.

This year, however, there has been a delay in making the data public, leaving researchers and policy wonks waiting in anticipation for the information.

A city spokesperson said the public release is now set for Sept. 3 but wouldn't say why the results are being put out more than a month later than usual this year.

By law in Alberta, municipalities that conduct a census must submit results to the Minister of Municipal Affairs before Sept. 1.

The minister's office confirmed to CBC News this week that he has received Calgary's submission for 2019.

Municipalities are not required by law to make census results public, but the City of Calgary has traditionally done so, including detailed population information for each community.

What the data is used for

In addition to a basic head count, this year's census also asked Calgarians the age and gender of each resident in their home, whether they rent or own their home and which school division (public or Catholic) they support.

"The information collected is used by the city for the planning of services, such as roads, transit, recreation and water," the city says on its census website.

"It is also used by the public and separate [Catholic] school boards for enrolment predictions, decisions on future schools, and by the provincial government for determining per capita grant allocations where available."

• FROM 2016: Young adults are Calgary's only shrinking age group

External researchers also make use of census information for a host of purposes.

"I'm always anticipating new batches of data," said Willem Klumpenhouwer, an independent data analyst who focuses on transportation issues.

Census data is especially useful for issues of public policy, he added, but federal censuses are conducted only every five years, making the annual municipal results all the more valuable when it comes to Calgary, specifically.

"It's extremely important to all kinds of different applications and basically anything you want to do to have evidence-based decision-making, he said.

Open data and innovation

Governments are increasingly moving toward the concept of "open data," Klumpenhouwer said, publishing large amounts of information that anyone and everyone can access and analyze.

He said there are philosophical reasons for this — the data is produced by taxpayer dollars and making it public allows for better transparency and oversight of government decisions — but also practical reasons, as well.

With the growing volumes of data that are being collected, he said, there is a benefit to putting the information out there and allowing for "general expertise" to analyze it in new and different ways.

"That's a lot of effort and brainpower that may end up benefiting governments in the long run — that they don't pay for — if they open up the data," he said.

"Having this data public enables innovation."