Survey of Official Agents following the 44th General Election – Executive summary

Final report

Prepared for Elections Canada

Supplier Name: Environics Research Group

Contract Number: CW2245597

Contract Value: $68,478.00 (including HST)

Award Date: 2022-10-19

Delivery Date: April 26, 2023

Registration Number: POR 064-22

For more information on this report, please contact Elections Canada at: rop-por@elections.ca.

Ce rapport est aussi disponible en Français

Survey of Official Agents following the 44th General Election Final Report

Prepared for Elections Canada by Environics Research Group.

Delivery Date: April 26, 2023

This public opinion research report presents the results of an online survey conducted by Environics Research Group from February 16-March 26, 2023.

Cette publication est aussi disponible en français sous le titre Sondage auprès des agents officiels à la suite de la 44e élection générale – Rapport final.
Permission to reproduce

This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes only. Prior written permission must be obtained from Elections Canada. For more information on this report, please contact Elections Canada at: rop-por@elections.ca.

Catalogue Number:

International Standard Book Number (ISBN):

© Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, 2023.

 

Background and Objectives

Elections Canada (EC) commissioned Environics Research to conduct a survey of Official Agents (OAs) following the 44th federal General Election (GE) that was held on September 20, 2021.

An official agent is the person responsible for administering the candidate's campaign financial transactions and for reporting those transactions to Elections Canada as required by the Canada Elections Act.

The survey aimed to assess official agents' views and experiences of the election and with Elections Canada with regards to fulfilling the financial reporting obligations of the candidate campaign in order to identify areas for improvement. The survey was conducted as part of the evaluation and development of EC's programs and services.

Methodology

Environics conducted an online survey with Official Agents from February 16 to March 26, 2023. From a list of 1,486 unduplicated emails of OAs provided by Elections Canada, a total of 548 Official Agents completed an online interview, for a participation rate of 37%. The participating respondents had the following regional distribution:

Breakdown/Location Total Atlantic Quebec Ontario MB/SK Alberta BC/Terr
Number of completed interviews 548 54 101 217 42 55 79
% of completed interviews 100% 10% 18% 40% 8% 10% 14%
Number of OA unduplicated contacts 1,486 130 331 553 110 160 202
% of total OA contacts 100% 9% 22% 37% 7% 11% 14%

This was an attempted census of the Official Agent population, and as such, there is no margin of sampling error for this study.

Contract value

The contract value was $68,478.00 (HST included).

Report

This report begins with an executive summary outlining key findings and conclusions, followed by a detailed analysis of the survey data. Provided under a separate cover is a detailed set of "banner tables" presenting the results for all questions for the total and identified subgroups of interest. These tables are referenced by the survey question in the detailed analysis.

In this report, quantitative results are expressed as percentages unless otherwise noted. Results may not add to 100% due to rounding or multiple responses. Net results cited in the text may not exactly match individual results shown in the tables due to rounding.

Note on timing: Although official agents are required to file campaign returns four months after election day, many campaigns requested extensions to submit the return, and some official agents were still completing their activities at the start of the survey. Nonetheless, those official agents who filed the campaign return within the prescribed timeframes may have experienced an 18-month gap between when they filed and the start of the survey, which could contribute to recall issues. As well, a few activities included in the survey (opening a campaign account, training materials and use of other services available during the campaign) occurred over 20 months prior and thus recall may be an issue for some.

Use of research: The information gained through this public opinion research will assist in the evaluation of EC's administration of the political financing regime. It will also assist in identifying areas where EC's various products and services may be improved.

Key findings

  1. Information about Official Agents
  2. Getting the campaign underway
  3. Completing and submitting the electoral campaign return
  4. Electronic Financial Return (EFR)
  5. Political Entities Service Center (PESC)
  6. Elections Canada products and services
  7. Elections Canada audit
  8. Closing of the campaign and other comments

Political neutrality statement and contact information

I hereby certify as senior officer of Environics that the deliverables fully comply with the Government of Canada political neutrality requirements outlined in the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, and Procedures for Planning and Contracting Public Opinion Research. Specifically, the deliverables do not include information on electoral voting intentions, political party preferences, standings with the electorate, or ratings of the performance of a political party or its leaders.

Brenda Sharpe Senior Research Associate, Corporate and Public Affairs Environics Research Group brenda.sharpe@environics.ca

Supplier name: Environics Research Group PWGSC contract number: CW2245597 Original contract date: 2022-10-19 For more information, contact Elections Canada at rop-por@elections.ca