Health, Attitudes, and Behavioural Insights Tracker (HABIT) Survey

 

 

SUMMARY

 

 

Submitted to

Privy Council Office (PCO)

 

Prepared by

Leger

 

Ce rapport est aussi disponible en français

 

Contract number: 35035-23-0995

Registration number: POR #030-23

Contract Value: $99,713.46 (Including HST)

Award date: August 08, 2024

Delivery date: March 27, 2024

 

For more information on this report, please contact the Privy Council Office at: por-rop@pco-bcp.gc.ca

 

 

 

Health, Attitudes, and Behavioural Insights Tracker (HABIT) Survey

 

Methodological Report

Prepared for Privy Council Office of Canada

Supplier Name: Leger

March 2024

 

This public opinion research methodological report presents the technical aspects of a web survey conducted by Leger Marketing Inc. on behalf of the Privy Council Office of Canada. The research was conducted with Canadians 18 and over who could understand and express themselves in either French or English.

 

Cette publication est aussi disponible en français sous le titre : L'ENQUÊTE SUR LA SANTÉ, LES ATTITUDES ET LES CONNAISSANCES COMPORTEMENTALES (SACC)

 

This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes only. Prior written permission must be obtained from the Privy Council Office. For more information on this report, please contact the Privy Council Office at por-rop@pco-bcp.gc.ca or at:

 

Privy Council Office

Blackburn Building

Ottawa, ON K1A 0A3

 

Catalogue Number:

CP22-215/2024E-PDF

International Standard Book Number (ISBN):

978-0-660-70914-7

 

Related publications (registration number: POR 030-23):

Catalogue number: CP22-215/2024F-PDF
ISBN: 978-0-660-70915-4

 

 

 

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 2024

 

 

1. Executive Summary

Leger is pleased to present The Privy Council Office of Canada, as well as the Government of Canada, with this technical report outlining the methodology employed in the study to comprehend the evolving beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of Canadians concerning public health.

This report was prepared by Leger who was contracted by The Privy Council Office (contract number 35035-23-0995 awarded August 10th, 2023). This contract has a value of $88,242.00 (excluding HST).

1.1            Background, Purpose and Objectives, Methodology

Background

In partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), PCO requires ongoing quantitative data collection and analysis to maintain a real-time understanding of Canadians’ evolving beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours relating to public health.

Outlined in the 2023-2024 budget, the federal government is committed to supporting the health of those living in Canada, along with the health care system, across the provinces and territories to promote health, prevent diseases, and enable better delivery of programs and services.

In continued partnership with PHAC, the IIU proposed to launch a series of 3 population-based research surveys to examine a range of topics central to the Government of Canada’s health priorities. The study objective was to offer important tracking of changes in the national health context over the fall and winter, establish baseline data for new and emerging public health issues, and analyze key factors predicting health outcomes and differences in those outcomes across different groups in the population, as well as track changes over.

Purpose and Objectives

This survey objective was to offer a flexible infrastructure to generate rapid insights on emerging topics of timely value to PHAC, as they arise, in addition to knowledge translation products, and recommendations on key priority areas. Ongoing access to this platform and associated rapid advice will continue to support PHAC as a world leading, data-driven public health organization.

Insights garnered from this quantitative study will enable the Government of Canada to further develop and refine policies, program implementation, and communication strategies to achieve its goals to improve Canadian health and well-being.

1.2            Notes on The Interpretation of The Findings

The respondents were randomly selected from members of our panel (LEO) who were recruited using a probabilistic methodology.  While the Leo panel is meant to be representative of the Canadian population, it is not probabilistic; the results cannot be inferred to the general population of Canada as respondents are selected among those who have volunteered to participate/registered to participate in online surveys.

Respondents were randomly selected among LEO panellists who were recruited using a probabilistic methodology, ensuring that the sample closely resembles the actual population of Canada. The margins of sampling error cannot be calculated for surveys using internet panel. However, for comparative purposes, the margin of error for a probabilistic sample of 2,000 Canadians is ±2.19%, 19 times out of 20.

The data have been weighted to reflect the demographic composition of the target population. Detailed information about the weighting process is presented in annex A.1.

1.3      Declaration of Political Neutrality and Contact Information

I hereby certify, as chief agent of Leger, that the deliverables are in full compliance with the neutrality requirements of the Policy on Communications and Federal Identity and the Directive on the Management of Communications—Appendix C (Appendix C: Mandatory Procedures for Public Opinion Research).

Specifically, the deliverables do not include information on electoral voting intentions, political party preferences, party positions, or the assessment of the performance of a political party or its leaders.

Signed by: 

Christian Bourque

Executive Vice President and Associate

Leger

507 Place d’Armes, Suite 700

Montréal, Quebec

H2Y 2W8

cbourque@leger360.com

 

 

1.4      Methodology

Data was collected online through three repeated cross-sectional surveys of nationally representative samples of adult Canadians (18 years of age and older). The sample included Canadian citizens as well as permanent residents.  35% of the survey content remained the same across all waves.

The targeted sample consisted of adults living in Canada 18 years of age and older, aimed for appropriate representation of gender, age and regional split, using data from Census 2021.

 

The sample for the first wave consisted of 1,800 general population respondents with an oversample of respondents residing in the Atlantic and Prairies provinces (n=200). The sample for the second wave consisted of general population respondents (n=1,800) and an oversample of respondents from Northern regions (n=200). The sample for the third wave consisted of general population respondents (n=1,800) and an oversample of respondents living with a disability (n=200).

 

The respondents were randomly selected from members of our panel (LEO) who were recruited using a probabilistic methodology.

 

1.5 Quotas

A series of quotas were implemented for this project. Quotas were cross-referenced by gender and age groups and were also imposed on the region of residence of respondents. The first quota is 50% men and 50% women for the gender sample. These gender quotas were also respected within the following age groups: 18-34, 35-54 and 55 and over. Those gender and age quotas had to be respected at the regional level. The Canadian regions were split as follows:

●            Atlantic Canada (Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick);

●            Quebec;

●            Ontario;

●            Manitoba/Saskatchewan/Nunavut;

●            Alberta/Northwest Territories;

●            British Columbia/Yukon.

 

The following table details the targeted distribution of the general population sample across the provinces and territories for each wave.

The sample distribution was planned as follows:

 

Provinces and Territories

NL

NS

PE

NB

QC

ON

MB

SK

AB

BC

NU

NT

YT

# of general population respondents

25

47

7

38

414

692

66

55

207

243

2

2

2

 

In addition to the above, Leger targeted the following age quotas:

·       18-34 years old - 28%

o   18-24 years old - 11%

o   25-34 years old - 17%

·       35-54 years old - 32%

·       55+ years old - 40%

 

As with any general population sample derived from a national survey, the final results were weighted by region, age group, gender, level of education, as well as any other variables used for the oversample when necessary to make the final samples representative of the actual population of Canada.

1.6 CAWI Approach

For these online surveys, a computer-aided web interviewing (CAWI) method with self-administered questionnaires was used.

All interviewees were contacted by Leger. All invitations were bilingual to ensure that no respondent gets a unilingual invitation in the wrong official language.

Each invitation email contained a unique URL link that respondents could simply click to access the survey in the language of their choice. Upon arrival on Leger’s online survey servers, the respondent was asked to confirm their choice of language before entering the survey. Respondents were also allowed to answer the survey in more than one continuous if they desired. They could simply leave the survey and come back at a later time using the same unique URL that was provided to them for their initial visit. All data entered contained strictly on Leger’s Canadian servers and will be protected using an SSL process.

1.7 Survey accessibility

Surveys were programmed under the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.

1.8 Increasing Participation Rate

Some measures were taken to increase the participation rate among online survey respondents, as well as to reduce the number of incomplete questionnaires and increase the representative nature of the final sample. The following methods helped increase participation rates, hereby reducing non-response bias with some subgroups:

 

1.9 Compensation

All panelists received an incentive to participate in our surveys. The incentive to complete a 20-minute questionnaire is $2.00.