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SATISFACTION WITH OVERALL SERVICE QUALITY

This section reports on the levels of client satisfaction with service received from Service Canada during the previous six months. Respondents were asked to focus on the service they received, not on the government programs themselves.

Clients who had contacted Service Canada regarding more than one program or service were asked to focus on one service only. Priority was given to the program/service that matched the Service Canada client list on which their name appeared (e.g. if the respondent had identified EI and was on the EI client list, that program/service was the focus). In other instances, one program/service was selected at random for multiple service users.

Widespread Satisfaction with Overall Quality of Service

Satisfaction with the overall quality of service received from Service Canada was widespread. In total, 84% expressed satisfaction with the service received during the previous six months, with more than half (55%) saying they were very satisfied. Among those who did not express satisfaction, 9% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, and 6% expressed dissatisfaction. Respondents used a 5-point scale to rate their level of satisfaction (5 = very satisfied; 1 = very dissatisfied).

This translates into an index score of 82.75 out of 100, using the Common Measurements Tool index.

Q25: How satisfied were you with the overall quality of service you received from Service Canada related to [INSERT PROGRAM/SERVICE USED] during the last six months? Please use a 5-point scale, where ‘1’ is very dissatisfied, and ‘5’ is very satisfied, and ‘3’ is neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

The following table presents differences in overall satisfaction by the number of channels used and by total number of contacts. While the levels of overall satisfaction change relatively little (i.e. scores of 4 and 5 combined), there are significant differences in the proportion of clients who claim to be very satisfied. This drops by 14% when three or more service channels are used (compared to one only), and by 10% when more than 10 contacts are made (compared to one contact only).

Q8: During the last six months, in which of the following ways did you contact Service Canada? Please focus on contact with the government itself, nervice received through another organization delivering programs or services funded by the Government of Canada. How about [insert service channel]?

Q9: How many times in the past six months did you use… [insert service channel]? (ASK SEPARATELY FOR EACH CHANNEL USED BY RESPONDENT)

Positive Perceptions of Different Aspects of Service

In addition to satisfaction with the overall quality of service, clients were asked to rate various aspects of the service they received. Using another 5-point scale (5 = strongly agree; 1 = strongly disagree), respondents were asked to express their level of agreement with 15 service-related statements:

Staff were knowledgeable and competent.
Staff were responsive to your needs.
You were treated fairly.
You received service in the official language of your choice (i.e. English or French).
The information you received was clear and easy to understand.
Staff were courteous.
You were informed of everything you had to do in order to get the service.
Staff gave you what you needed or guided you to others who could help you.
You received consistent information or advice.
It was clear what you could do if you had a problem or question.
You are confident that any personal information you provided to Service Canada will remain confidential.
Staff went the extra mile to make sure you got what you needed.You were satisfied with the amount of time it took to get the service.
You were satisfied with the accessibility of the service.
Decisions were clearly explained to you.

Over two-thirds offered positive assessments in each of these areas. Moreover, agreement was much more likely to be strong than moderate for each. In fact, majorities expressed strong agreement with 13 of 15 issues.

Surveyed clients were most likely to agree that they received service in the language of their choice – this received near unanimous agreement (97%), with the vast majority (85%) expressing strong agreement. There also was widespread agreement among clients that they were treated fairly (87%) and courteously (85%), were fully informed about the service (83%), received information that was clear and easy to understand (83%), that they were satisfied with the accessibility of service (81%), that staff were responsive (81%), and that staff gave them what they needed or guided them to those who could help (80%).

Nearly identical numbers (77-79%) agreed that staff were knowledgeable and competent, that decisions were clearly explained, that they were confident that personal information would remain confidential, that they received consistent information or advice, and that it was clear what to do if they had a problem or a question. Approximately three-quarters (74%) were satisfied with the time it took to get service, while about two-thirds (68%) agreed that staff went the extra mile to get them what they needed.

Disagreement with these statements was relatively limited (15% or less) and was highest regarding timeliness of service.

Q10-24: Thinking about the service you received during the past six months, please tell me how much you agree or disagree with the following statements, using a 5-point scale where ‘1’ means strongly disagree, ‘5’ means strongly agree, and ‘3’ means neither agree nor disagree. If something does not apply to you, please just say so.

Most Got What They Needed

Fully 83% said they got what they needed from Service Canada, with an additional 8% saying they received part of what they needed. Seven percent said they did not receive what they needed.

Relatively Few Experienced Service-Related Problems

In total, 86% of surveyed clients experienced no problems with the service they received from Service Canada during the previous six months. Conversely, 13% said they did experience one or more service-related problems.

Q26: In the end, did you get what you needed?

Q27: During the past six months, were there any problems with the service you received from Service Canada?

Timeliness, Information Quality & Access Issues – Main Problems Encountered

Problems encountered by those who did experience service-related problems (N = 528) tended to fall into three categories: issues related to timeliness of service, information quality, and access to service. Just under half (44%) pointed to issues related to information quality. This included receiving conflicting information (12%), mistakes made by government (12%), receiving incorrect information (11%), and no explanations being given (9%) (multiple responses accepted). Approximately one-third (34%) encountered problems related to the timeliness of service, including it taking too long to process applications/get a decision (14%), taking too long to receive money/benefit payments (11%), or simply taking too long in general (9%). Almost as many (31%) had problems with access issues, including getting bounced around (9%), busy phone lines (9%), trouble with the automated message system (7%), and not knowing where to go for information (6%).

Other problems included having problems with staff (9%), and not getting the forms/information needed (4%) or the funding wanted (3%). Some (4%) said they encountered multiple problems. Included in the ‘other’ category are problems with the website, difficulty filing out forms, problems establishing citizenship, language barrier, the amount of paperwork needing to be filled out, and confusing paperwork.

Q28: What problems did you encounter? Any others?

Likelihood of Having Problems Increases with Number of Contacts & Channels Used

The likelihood of experiencing service-related problems increased significantly with the number of channels used, from 10% of those who used one channel only, to 23% of those who used three or more channels. The situation is similar based on the total number of contacts that clients had with Service Canada, increasing from 7% of those with only one contact to 23% of those who had more than 10 contacts.

Considerable Dissatisfaction With Way Problem(s) Handled

Clients who experienced service-related problems (N = 528) provided mixed assessments of the way their problem was handled (using a 5-point scale: 5 = very satisfied; 1 = very dissatisfied). The largest proportion (41%) expressed dissatisfaction, with over one-quarter 27%) saying they were very dissatisfied. Only 27% expressed satisfaction (and almost the same number, 26%, expressed neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction).