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Frequently asked questions - FAQ

Project requirements

Do I have to get my principal’s approval?

We expect that teachers usually inform their principal of special class projects that they undertake. We suggest that you ask your principal to read the Letter to the principal, so that he or she will be informed of the project and may propose it to other teachers in your school.

Is it necessary to send a letter home to parents to inform them of this project?

It’s up to you whether to send the Letter to parents or caregivers home with your students. We encourage you to inform parents about your class' online survey.

Why are there two different questionnaires?

The questionnaire for elementary students has questions in common with the questionnaire for secondary students. But both also have some different questions adapted to each age group. For example, younger students are asked about their pets and whether they have allergies and older students are asked about their levels of smoking.

My principal wants to get the whole school involved. How do we do that?

The project is designed so that individual teachers can register their classes and access their results. For a school-wide activity, a project manager could be appointed to help individual teachers set up and conduct their own class surveys. The teachers could submit their class results to the project manager, who would compile them into an all-school spreadsheet and prepare a report. The students could then work with school-wide data as well as class results.

We have very few computers in our school. Can we still participate?

You might consider asking students to complete the online survey at home as homework.

Or you could do the survey by hand without contributing to the national data. Go to Survey questions on the left sidebar and print out the questionnaire for the students to complete by hand.

What system requirements do our computers need to access this project?

To access our project system, your Web browser should be Microsoft Explorer version 5.x or above or Netscape version 7.x or above. Java script needs to be enabled on your Web browser.

How do I enable JavaScript on our Web browser?

To enable JavaScript in Explorer, click on Tools in the top menu bar, then on Internet Options. Then click on Advanced and scroll down till you see the box Java logging enabled. If the box is not checked off, click on it. Now your browser is Java-enabled.

For instructions on how to enable JavaScript in other operating systems, contact our technical help-line.

We can’t enable JavaScript on our computers. What do we do?

Ask students to complete the online survey at home as homework. Or consider doing the class survey by hand without contributing to the national data.

How can I be sure that my students’ privacy and confidentiality will be respected?

At Statistics Canada, we pride ourselves on keeping all collected data confidential. Please read our privacy statement under Privacy on the left sidebar.

I am a parent who is home-schooling my child. How can I participate in this project?

Get in touch with your local association of home-schooling families. We suggest that one contact person be responsible for registering your association. On the Teachers page, at First time user, the contact person enters your association’s postal code, then its contact co-ordinates, then his or her own ‘teacher’ co-ordinates. The contact person receives the teacher password by e-mail, which allows him or her to register two groups or ‘classes’, one elementary and one secondary. These classes include all the home-schooled students in your area. The contact-person chooses a grade level that best represents the students in the group.

The contact-person then:

• sends the class ID and class password to the other participating families
• asks each family to respond to the questionnaire by a specified deadline
• retrieves the class results after the deadline and sends them to all participating families.