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Results of CIC’s Web Site Evaluation

In the winter of 2005, we asked you what you thought of this Web site. More than 3,000 of you filled in our survey. Another 800 CIC employees shared their views in an internal survey. Details of what we heard can be found below.

We thank all of our participants for taking the time to give us feedback. Your comments will be very valuable as we continue working to improve this Web site.

Summary of Findings

Key Highlights

• Reliance on the CIC Web site is growing: 23.6 million visits in 2004. We are quickly becoming one of the core on-line communications channels of the Government of Canada.
• Generally speaking, most find what they are looking for, but they have difficulty finding it and are left with unanswered questions.
• Complaints span all aspects of the service, including technical problems, limited content, outdated information/posting delays, level of language and difficult navigation.

External Web Site Evaluation

Clients sought information on a wide range of topics, but most were looking for information on immigration to Canada.

Over half the respondents were able to find the information they were looking for. However, the proportion of users who did not find what they were looking for has more than doubled over the past five years.

As illustrated, three out of four visitors would recommend the Web site to family, friends or work colleagues and also confirmed they would visit the site again in the next year. However, one-third of the visitors indicated feeling lost on the Web site and 22% reported not understanding all the information.

The duration of visits to the Web site has dropped considerably.The majority of visitors now spend less than 10 minutes on our site compared to a near equal proportion who spent over 10 minutes in 2000.

Internal Web Site Evaluation

As illustrated below, while 82% of employees use the Web site in order to be able to do their job, others use it in their dealings with CIC clients (60%) and external stakeholders (28%). A smaller proportion are involved in providing content for the Web site.

For many, the Web site is considered an important tool for accomplishing their daily tasks. In addition, two-thirds indicated that it is also an important tool to communicate information to CIC clients and/or external stakeholders.

Of the employees who use the Web site to deal with CIC clients and/or external stakeholders, 64% mentioned having referred them to the site.

Almost half of the employees reported receiving feedback from CIC clients and/or external stakeholders who were referred to the Web site. Some of the feedback included difficulty finding information/navigating the site (39%) and difficulty understanding the information provided (34%). Only 23% indicated that they were generally satisfied with the site.

Overall Satisfaction

Employees are more satisfied with the Web site than external visitors. The proportion of dissatisfied external users has dramatically increased over the past five years.

In line with previous findings, employees are supportive of the site infrastructure but critical of the content. Clients, on the other hand, find the information useful but the layout challenging.

For more information please contact:
Public Environment Unit
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
(613) 957-2685