Survey of Canadians' Views on Statistics Canada

Consultation objectives

Over the past year, Statistics Canada has been shaping its modernization agenda to focus on user-centric service delivery, which necessarily includes an ongoing dialogue with Canadians.

The purpose of this public opinion research (POR) was to gather the opinions of Canadians regarding general knowledge and perception of Statistics Canada; access and use of Statistics Canada's information; trust in Statistics Canada and in the data it produced and the value of official statistics.

The POR data will be used to contribute to corporate activities, such as improving client services; updating corporate branding and communications strategies; and providing information for corporate performance reporting and the corporate risk profile.

Methodology

An online survey was used to collect this information from Canadians across the country. The survey was completed through the use of EKOS' online panel (designed to be statistically representative of the general public) with a sample of 2,050 Canadian adults. The survey was approximately 8 minutes in length and was conducted from June 1 - 21, 2018.

The methodology report and .csv file are available.

Results

Survey results show that 88% of Canadians trust Statistics Canada, higher than the share of Canadians who trust other government institutions (70%), banks and financial (58%) institutions, private market research or polling companies (57%) and the media (51%).

The survey also found that 80% of Canadians trust the quality of our data and 74% believe that we keep their personal information safe.

Just over two-thirds of people stated that Statistics Canada makes a major or moderate contribution to the life of Canadians.

Overall, 6 out of 10 Canadians frequently or occasionally use or refer to Statistics Canada information. General interest was cited as the most common reason for using our information, followed by research and analysis.

Most turned to the agency's official website to obtain information, but some also hear about Statistics Canada data through traditional media such as the radio and television. Younger Canadians aged 18 to 34 were more likely to use the website (85%) than Canadians over 65 years of age (46%).

For more information, please consult the Survey of Canadians' Views on Statistics Canada.

How to get involved

This project is now closed, but individuals who wish to obtain more information or to take part in a future consultation project should contact Statistics Canada by sending an email to statcan.consultations@statcan.gc.ca.

Please note that Statistics Canada selects participants for each consultation to ensure feedback is sought from a representative sample of the target population. Not all applicants will be asked to participate in a given consultation.

Statistics Canada is committed to respecting the privacy of consultation participants. All personal information created, held or collected by the agency is kept strictly confidential; it is protected by the Privacy Act and the Statistics Act.

For more information on Statistics Canada's privacy policies, please consult the Privacy notice.

Statistics Canada thanks participants for their contribution to this project. Their insights guide the agency's web development and ensure that the final products meet users' needs.