The overall volume is stunning. More than 2.7 polls per day are released in Canada. A plurality of these polls are national in terms of their data collection such that 43 national polls were released in June of this year; 1.4 polls per day.
1.4 unique poll releases represents a massive public investment in understanding what Canada as a nation thinks about issues, political combat, brands and lifestyle choices.
Below is a link to a report on the data that highlights some of the findings and allows those interested to do some of their own analysis (e.g. examine the geography of different modes of data collection). Some interesting facts about the number of releases in Canada.
- In terms of volume, May (81) and June (82) had a similar number of public opinion releases but there were slightly fewer unique surveys in June.
- June had a higher number of provincial polls than in May (28 versus 19).
Number of Releases versus Unique Surveys from April to June 2016
Online (panel, including representative panels) is the most used data collection method representing 48% of all releases with telephone (24%) and IVR (23%) next most used.
Poll sponsorship is very intriguing. Just over a fifth (21%) were sponsored by a non-media sponsor while another 23% were sponsored by the media (e.g. CTV, Global, La press). While we do not know for certain if the media paid for the poll results, we are assuming that the media did not attach its credibility to a poll that someone else paid for. Of the 82 releases, 38% of them did not have an identified sponsor.
Public opinion releases are primarily about public policy (34/82 or 41%) or political polling (18/82 or 22%) but there are many public polls about other things including lifestyle issues. Marijuana (recreational and medical) was the subject of 4 releases and assisted dying was the subject of 3 releases in June.
The polls highlight the competition between interests (groups who want to influence policy), between media groups (for audience) and for market research brands looking to distinguish themselves in the public sphere.
Report on June analysis is available here with updated information on surveys identified since this original article was published.
About the data: All of the data reported here were collected by Jenkins Research Inc. Best efforts have been made to be as accurate as possible. Monthly results are updated based on new information. If you are interested in the methodology, you can find the information here.