Wayne Smith (statistician)

Wayne R. Smith is a Canadian economist who served as the Chief Statistician of Canada from 2 September 2010 to 16 September 2016. He was appointed after his predecessor, Munir Sheikh, resigned in protest over the Federal Goverenment's decision to end the mandatory long-form census. Smith also resigned in protest over concerns about the Federal Government's centralization of IT services. He argued that Statistics Canada needed to control its own IT infrastructure to protect its independence.

Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Economics in 1979 and a Master's degree in Economics in 1985 from Carleton University in Ottawa. He had worked for Statistics Canada since 1981. Throughout his career at the agency, Smith served as the Director of the Communications Division, the Director of the Special Surveys Division, the Director General of the Regional Operations Branch, and the Assistant Chief Statistician of the Communications and Operations Field and the Business and Trade Statistics Field.