OTTAWA—Those who know the new head of Statistics Canada believe he is up for the challenge of moving past the mandatory long-form census controversy, but see a tough road ahead for the career public servant.

The Prime Minister appointed longtime bureaucrat Wayne Smith as chief statistician Tuesday, a role he took on an interim basis soon after his predecessor, Munir Sheikh, resigned in protest following the government’s decision to make the long-form census voluntary.

Economists, academics and groups that use StatsCan data decried the move for fear it would lead to lower response rates and less reliable information.

Smith was unavailable for an interview Wednesday, but those who have worked with him throughout his more than two decades at the agency described him as a reliable and thoughtful manager who has his work cut out for him.

“Statistics Canada employees are very loyal public servants and the government made a decision. They will certainly try to make the best possible job implementing it,” said Ivan Fellegi, a former chief statistician who has appointed Smith to a number of senior roles, including assistant chief statistician.

Gary Corbett, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, the union that represents Statistics Canada employees, said Smith will have to find a way to boost morale.

“Many of my members were really worried about the future of Statistics Canada, not only in terms of their reputation in the world, but ‘what does this mean?’ ” said Corbett, adding some employees were worried about outsourcing.

Don Drummond, senior economic adviser at TD Bank who is also member of the Statistics Canada national advisory committee, said the new politics of the job could be another source of tension.

“There obviously is some tension between the political side of the government and Statistics Canada as well, so that is something hat could either make his life awkward or something he’ll have to address as best he can,” Drummond said.

Opposition critics said they want Smith to be upfront about what axing the mandatory long form does to the integrity of the data.

“I hope Mr. Smith will level with us when the results do start coming out so we have an idea of how many people actually filled it out and how accurate he feels that data is,” said Liberal industry critic Marc Garneau.