Summary of Public Opinion Research into Biotechnology Issues in Canada (PDF, 1806 KB)

Since 1999, the Government of Canada's Canadian Biotechnology Secretariat and its partners have maintained a large-scale tracking program of public opinion research. During that time, it has commissioned 12 public opinion surveys and more than 80 focus groups. In all, there are more than 18,000 data points available in what is North America's largest and most comprehensive investigation into attitudes about biotechnology and the public policy that surrounds it. The program is designed to produce two waves of research each year with a large tracking component and chapters of more intensive inquiry into specific issues like genetic privacy, genetically modified (GM) food and stem cell research. Results have been remarkably consistent since the inception of the research program.

The 11th wave of research was completed in March 2004, and for the second time, carried out a cross-national study of attitudes towards biotechnology in Canada and the United States.