POR Annual Report 2001-2002

Highlights of Key Public Opinion Research Projects

Each year the Government of Canada conducts a wide range of public opinion research that touches on an almost infinite variety of topics. This section of the report illustrates the large spectrum of issues and themes.

Health Canada

While a significant proportion of this year's research was linked to the Federal Tobacco Control Strategy and its associated social marketing campaigns, a broad range of qualitative and quantitative studies were conducted in the areas of health promotion and health safety, on issues such as:

• diabetes
• hepatitis C
• nutrition labelling
• organ and tissue donation
• sudden infant death syndrome
• breast cancer
• assisted human reproduction
• family violence
• fetal alcohol syndrome
• air pollution

These studies were among many different target populations, and for many different purposes—from assessing the communications impact of potential new messages, products and advertising campaigns, to seeking to understand how potential policy changes might affect broad public attitudes, motivations and behaviour.

Human Resources Development Canada

HRDC had projects concentrated in the broad areas of skills and learning, income security, Employment Insurance and labour, as well as projects that advanced the Government On-Line agenda to make government programs, services and publications accessible on the Internet.

Projects included several related to assessing the impact of elements of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy; others assessing policy and communications in the areas of labour market information, the Canada Child Tax Benefit, and skills and learning; and many Web sites and Web site-cluster concepts and usability tests. Target populations under study covered the broad spectrum of Canadian society, from youth-at-risk to pensioners, from parents to university students.

Communication Canada

The greatest number of projects this fiscal year involved collecting data for the Research Branch's communications survey Listening To Canadians. In addition, the department conducted research that dealt with a variety of Government of Canada advertisements, including the We All Belong campaign. Communication Canada also initiated five projects that focussed on quality of service in relation to the Canada Pavilion.

Industry Canada

Industry Canada conducted projects concentrated in several broad areas: developing policy and communications for the Government of Canada's innovation agenda; advancing Government On-Line; assessing the needs of small and medium-sized businesses; and protecting consumers.

Some specific projects included assessing public attitudes toward the changing electricity marketplace, toward biotechnology and toward consumer debit card services; doing research that ensured that elements of the Business Gateway and Canadian Consumer Information Gateway achieve maximum communications effectiveness; and testing usability for many Web sites. Target populations ranged from the general population to small business and industry leaders.

Environment Canada

Environment Canada's research dealt with a variety of issues. Tracking research was conducted to continue monitoring the public's attitudes toward Climate Change. A major survey of Canadians was undertaken to measure usage of and satisfaction with meteorological products and services. In addition, several surveys were conducted with residents living in specific locations where weather warnings had been issued just days prior to the surveys. In these cases, the surveys were intended to assess the level of recall of weather warnings and to gather information about actual behaviour following the issuance of a weather warning.

Research Highlights

This fiscal year there were several public opinion research studies conducted by the Government of Canada. Below is a brief description of some of the more notable of these studies, ranging from on-line studies to studies dealing with social cohesion following the events of September 11, 2001.

On-Line Studies

Two of the projects conducted on-line this fiscal year involved the Government of Canada's presence on the Internet. In January 2001, the Canada Site, the primary Internet portal for information on the Government of Canada's programs and services, was revised. The research utilized both qualitative and quantitative methods to determine the best design for the welcome and home pages for the Canada Gateway.

A second Internet-related study was conducted by the four natural resource departments (Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) and Health Canada that are partners in the development of the Environment, Natural Resources, Fisheries and Agriculture (ENRFA) Cluster on the Canada site. The purpose of the cluster is to create a Web portal where Canadians can go to find information related to sustainable development. The research project was conducted to determine public reaction to this proposed cluster.

Rural Youth Migration Study

Agriculture and Agri-food Canada conducted a study entitled the "Rural Youth Migration Study" on behalf of the Canadian Rural Partnership, which is composed of federal departments and other rural stakeholders. The goal of the Canadian Rural Partnership is to ensure that federal programs, policies and activities provide support to rural communities. The study surveyed rural youth about their aspirations and perceived opportunities regarding education, employment and preferred location to live. Community leaders were also asked for their views on the need for post-secondary schooling, the opportunities to create jobs for young people, support for entrepreneurial self-employment opportunities for youth and the availability of other community resources for rural youth.

Statistics Canada Town Hall Meetings

A number of town hall meetings and focus groups were held to help give Statistics Canada guidance with respect to the possibility of amending the Statistics Act to allow historical census records to be made available to the public. The research was intended to ensure, if access to historical census records is provided, that it be done in a manner that respects the concerns of Canadians for privacy and for the integrity of government.

Official Languages

The Treasury Board Secretariat—in collaboration with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, Communication Canada and Canadian Heritage—undertook a research project into the current attitudes towards the use of both official languages within the public service of Canada. The purpose of the research was to identify the barriers and opportunities to increasing the active use of both official languages in the Government of Canada workplace and to increasing the capacity of employees to use both official languages in the service of Canadians.

Social Cohesion

Canadian Heritage (which served as the lead department), Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Communication Canada commissioned a research project that was designed to determine attitudes towards racial and religious minorities and immigrants in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. This study on social cohesion utilized both quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Published: August 2002 Updated: 2004-04-01	Top	Important Notices