Executive summary -- The Boreal Avian Modelling Project (BAM) recently asked the Breeding Bird Atlas Committee of Canada (committee) to consider having future atlases conduct point count surveys relative to two time intervals (0–3, 3–5 min) and two distance intervals (0–50 m, > 50 m; 2 x 2 design). The committee thought it was feasible to have their paid survey crews collect the data in this manner but asked BAM to first more clearly articulate why they needed these data and how much data would be required. In this white paper we address this request.