Prepared for Veterans Affairs Canada
For more information on this report, please contact Veterans Affairs Canada at commsresearch-commsrecherche@Veterans.gc.ca
This report summarizes results from two surveys; one of 2008 and one of 2035 Canadians.
Cette publication est aussi disponible en français sous le titre : Services d'ACC pour les vétérans et vétéranes 2023-2024 : mise à l'essai des concepts et OÉCP
This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes only. Prior written permission must be obtained from Veterans Affairs Canada. For more information on this report, please contact Veterans Affairs Canada at commsresearch-commsrecherche@Veterans.gc.ca
Related publications (registration number: POR 070-23):
© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, 2024
As part of its mandate, Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) supports the well-being of Veterans and their families through the delivery of programs such as disability benefits, financial benefits, rehabilitation, pension advocacy, education and training supports. VAC serves 143,835 clients (as of March 2022) out of the 461,240 Veterans in Canada (according to the 2021 Census). Public opinion research conducted in 2021-22 revealed that half of non-clients are not familiar with the programs and services available for Veterans and their families. The transition for life after service can be supported through financial, mental, physical and social factors. Veterans and the general population of Canada can benefit from increased awareness of the services and benefits offered through VAC to benefit the well-being of Veterans. In 2024, an advertising campaign was conducted to raise awareness about VAC services and benefits, including financial, career development, education, mental health and supports for post-traumatic stress disorder.
VAC's services for Veterans advertising campaign has been marketed to an extensive demographic with nominal post-campaign recall. The Services for Veterans Advertising Campaign had a comprehensive set of advertising products to raise awareness about VAC services and benefits, including financial, career development, education, mental health, and supports for post-traumatic stress disorder. To raise awareness for this program, digital creatives were used for this campaign. This included 30, 15 and seven second video advertising creatives, as well as a banner advertisement.
As the services for Veterans advertising campaign media buy exceeded $1,000,000, public opinion research is required by Treasury Board using the Advertising Campaign Evaluation Tool (ACET), with additional validating and benchmarking questions following the ACET instrument. Data collection to evaluate the campaign supports the Government of Canada's goal of effectively gauging Canadians' awareness and knowledge of Government of Canada initiatives and determining the effectiveness of the campaign.
Specifically, the purpose of the quantitative post-testing was to evaluate the services for Veterans advertising campaign and to gauge:
Information obtained from this research will allow VAC to determine the impact of its advertising campaign and provide direction on areas where the campaign can be adjusted to reach a broader Canadian public. The findings will provide useful information to improve future campaigns which are more targeted, informative and geared to the target population.
Two bilingual, national, online surveys were conducted: one as a baseline, in advance of the campaign, and one following the end of the campaign to measure change in awareness and intent to visit over time, to assess impact of the campaign. The baseline included 2,008 Canadians 18 years of age or older, collected between February 14 and 25, 2024 and the post-campaign sample included 2,035 Canadians, also 18 years of age or older, collected between March 25 and April 10, 2024. The associated margin of error in both surveys is up to plus or minus 2.2%, at a .05 confidence interval (i.e., 19 times out of 20). Each survey instrument was based on the Advertising Campaign Evaluation Tool (ACET) questions used by the Government of Canada in all of its advertising evaluation research, adding a few campaign-specific questions testing the impact on perceptions targeted though the campaign. Each survey instrument included a sample of randomly selected respondents from all provinces and territories.
Each survey sample relied on Ekos' Probit panel, which is assembled using a random digit dial process for sampling from a blended land-line cell-phone frame, and provides full coverage of Canadians with telephone access. The distribution of the recruitment process is meant to mirror the actual population in Canada (as defined by Statistics Canada). As such, the more than 120,000 member panel can be considered representative of the general public in Canada (meaning that the incidence of a given target population within the panel very closely resembles the public at large) and margins of error can be applied.
Appendix A provides the details of the methodology for the baseline and post-campaign surveys. The baseline and post-campaign questionnaires are found in Appendix B and C.
The contract value for the POR project is $129,288.95 (including HST).
To obtain more information on this study, please e-mail commsresearch-commsrecherche@Veterans.gc.ca.
This certification is to be submitted with the final report submitted to the Project Authority.
I hereby certify as Senior Officer of Ekos Research Associates Inc. that the deliverables fully comply with the Government of Canada political neutrality requirements outlined in the Policy on Communications and Federal Identity and the Directive on the Management of Communications.
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.
Signed by Susan Galley (Vice President)
The survey was conducted in two phases: a benchmarking phase prior to the campaign, and a post-campaign phase. Each survey instrument consisted of the ACET questions used by the Government of Canada for evaluating campaigns over $1,000,000. The post-campaign survey added questions testing recall of one of three videos and a banner ad key to the campaign, along with questions testing the intention of the creatives on perceptions and behaviour. The average time it took respondents to complete the questionnaire was seven minutes for the baseline, and nine minutes for the post-campaign survey. There was a pretesting phase conducted for each survey between February 14 and 15, 2024 (baseline) and between March 25 and 26, 2024 (post-campaign) to ensure each questionnaire was working well. This entailed completing cases with 35 English and 40 French (baseline), and 16 English and 24 French (post-campaign) respondents with a suite of questions appended at the end to allow respondents a chance to describe their experience with the survey, in terms of comprehension, relevance, and technical issues. The results of the pretest surveys were reviewed to check for programming and logic errors.
In each case, respondents to the online survey were 18 years of age and older and were randomly selected. The sample included all provinces and territories, and the survey was administered in English and French, as well as with an accessible link for those using a mobile phone or screen reading technology. The survey sample relied on an Ekos' Probit panel, which is assembled using a random digit dial process for sampling from a blended land-line cell-phone frame, and provides full coverage of Canadians with telephone access. The distribution of the recruitment process is meant to mirror the actual population in Canada (as defined by Statistics Canada). As such, the more than 120,000 member panel can be considered representative of the general public in Canada (meaning that the incidence of a given target population within the panel very closely resembles the public at large) and margins of error can be applied. All households/individuals in the Probit panel are contacted by telephone and the nature of the panel is explained in greater detail (as are privacy policies) and demographic information is collected. At this time the online/off-line as well as landline/cell phone status is ascertained in order to determine the method of completing surveys (i.e., online, telephone, or mail). This variable of ‘type of telephone service' (cell phone only, landline only or both) collected at the time of screening is used to determine cell phone only sample. As with any random digit dialling sample, Probit panel cases are considered to be a probability-based sample.
In each survey, respondents completed the survey online. For most, participation was prompted through an initial or one of several email reminders. A small percentage (14 per cent in the baseline and 15 per cent the post-campaign) of online completions, however, were prompted by follow-up telephone calls reminding non-respondents to complete the survey online using the link in one of the emails sent. Calls were typically made with non-respondents in lower response segments including those under 35 years of age.
In the baseline survey, the number of total completed cases in the sample is 2,008, and in the post-campaign survey, the number of total completed cases in the sample is 2,035. Both surveys have an associated margin of error of up to plus or minus 2.2%, at a .05 confidence interval (i.e., 19 times out of 20). Following the testing component, the baseline survey was collected between February 15 and 25, 2024. The post-campaign survey was collected between March 27 and April 10, 2024.
The regional distribution of the sample is as follows:
| Province/Region | Baseline | Post-Campaign |
|---|---|---|
| British Columbia | 282 | 278 |
| Alberta | 230 | 251 |
| Manitoba & Saskatchewan | 142 | 131 |
| Ontario | 778 | 775 |
| Quebec | 427 | 457 |
| Atlantic | 144 | 137 |
| Territories | 5 | 6 |
| Total | 2,008 | 2,035 |
Survey data collection adhered to the Standards for the Conduct of Government of Canada Public Opinion Research—Online Surveys, as well as all applicable industry standards. Ekos informed respondents of their rights under the Privacy Act and the Access to Information Act, and ensured that those rights were protected throughout the research process. This included: informing respondents of the purpose of the research; identifying both the sponsoring department and the research supplier; informing respondents that their participation in the study is voluntary, and that the information provided would be administered according to the requirements of the Privacy Act.
Once the survey data was collected, each database was reviewed for data quality. Coding was also completed. Survey results were weighted based on Statistics Canada census data[1] according to age, gender and region to ensure the sample was representative of the general public aged 18 years and older.
Data tables were created for each survey to isolate results for major subgroups to be used in the analysis (e.g., results for each age segment, gender, education segment, employment, income segment, region, households with children under 18, those born outside of Canada, by mother tongue, and awareness of ads).
The response rate for the online baseline survey is 10.1%, using the formula recommended by the Government of Canada: Response Rate = R/(U + IS + R). A total of 24,212 email invitations were sent, of which 151 were returned as undeliverable, leaving 21,508. A total of 2,008 valid cases were completed, combined with another 433 sampled panel members who were screened out of the survey due to their responses or a filled quota as the responding units in the numerator in the calculation of the response rate.
For the post-campaign online survey, the response rate is 6.1%, using the same formula. This includes 43,645 email invitations sent, of which 303 were returned as undeliverable, leaving 40,393 cases. The 2,035 valid cases completed are combined with another 597 sampled panel members who were screened out of the survey due to their responses or a filled quota as the responding units used as the numerator in the calculation. A total of 2,578 non-respondents in the baseline survey and 4,435 non-respondents in the post-campaign survey were reached by telephone and reminded to complete the survey online.
| Result | Pre-campaign Baseline | Post-Campaign |
|---|---|---|
| Total Invited | 24,212 | 43,645 |
| Invalid | 151 | 303 |
| Remaining Valid Sample | 24,061 | 43,342 |
| Unresolved (U) | 21,508 | 40,393 |
| In-scope non-responding (IS) | 112 | 317 |
| Responding units (R) – Not eligible/Quota filled | 433 | 597 |
| Responding units (R) - completed | 2,008 | 2,035 |
| Response Rate (R/(U+IS+R) | 10.1% | 6.1% |
A comparison of each unweighted sample with 2021 Census figures from Statistics Canada suggests that there are similar sources of systematic sample bias in each survey, following patterns typically found in most general public surveys. These include a more educated sample in each survey than found in the population with 40% reporting university degrees in the baseline survey and 41% in the post-campaign survey, compared with 29% in the general population. Each sample underrepresents Canadians with a high school level of education or below (24% in the baseline survey, and 23% in the post-campaign compared with 39% in the population as per 2021 Census figures). There is also an under representation of Canadians born outside of Canada in each survey (17% in the baseline survey and 16% in the post-campaign, versus 26% in the general population). This is reflected in an under representation of native speakers of non-official languages and an over representation of native English speakers. In the baseline survey, 10% of the sample reported having a mother tongue of something other than English or French, which increased to 11% in the post-campaign survey. This is less than half of the 26% incidence in the population at-large. In the baseline survey, 78% of respondents reported English as their mother tongue and 76% in the post-campaign, compared to 56% in the general population. As previously described, each sample was weighted by age, gender, and region.
Thank you for taking a few minutes to complete this survey on current issues that matter to Canadians. Si vous préférez répondre à ce sondage en français, veuillez cliquer sur français.
Your participation is voluntary and your responses will be kept entirely confidential. The survey takes about 5 minutes to complete.
Click here and enter registration # 20240213-EK978 if you wish to verify the authenticity of this survey. To view our privacy policy click here
If you require any technical assistance, please contact online@ekos.com
Does anyone in your household work for any of the following organizations?
Select all that apply
What is your gender?
In what year were you born?
In which of the following age categories do you belong?
In which province or territory do you live?
Are you a Canadian Veteran, or do you personally know a Canadian Veteran? If so ... what is your relation to the Canadian Veteran?
Select all that apply
Are you or a member of your household currently serving in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) or the RCMP?
Select all that apply
Are/were you or a member of your household a member of a Veterans' organization?
Select all that apply
Over the past three weeks, have you seen, read or heard any advertising from the Government of Canada?
Think about the most recent Government of Canada ad that comes to mind. What do you remember about this ad?
Over the past three weeks, have you seen, read or heard any Government of Canada advertising about services and supports for Canadian Veterans?
For this survey, a Veteran is any former member of the CAF or the RCMP
Where have you seen, read or heard this ad about services for Veterans?
Select all that apply
What do you remember about this ad?
Over the past three weeks, have you seen or read information related to services and supports for Canadian Veterans on the VAC website (veterans.gc.ca) or on VAC social media sites such as YouTube, TikTok or LinkedIn?
Select all that apply
What do you think is the biggest issue or problem facing Canadian Veterans these days?
How common do you think it is for Veterans to experience challenges finding services and supports?
How confident are you that Canada's Veterans have access to various services and supports?
As far as you know, which organizations can Veterans and their families go to for help accessing services and supports?
As you may know, Veterans Affairs Canada offers services and supports for Veterans and their families. How satisfied are you with how Veterans Affairs Canada communicates about services and supports available to Veterans and their families?
Are you aware of Government of Canada programs and services for Veterans, CAF members, and their families?
Would you know where to obtain Government of Canada information on programs and services for Veterans?
Which of the following categories best describes your current employment status? Are you...
What is the highest level of formal education that you have completed?
Are there any children under the age of 18 currently living in your household?
Which of the following categories best describes your total annual household income, including income from all household members, before taxes are deducted?
Where were you born?
In what year did you first move to Canada?
What is the language you first learned at home as a child and still understand?
Select up to two
Do you consider yourself to be any of the following?
Select all that apply
That concludes the survey. This survey was conducted on behalf of Veterans Affairs Canada. In the coming months the report will be available from Library and Archives Canada. We thank you very much for taking the time to answer this survey, it is greatly appreciated.
Unfortunately, based on your responses you are ineligible to participate in this survey. Thank you for your time!
Thank you for taking a few minutes to complete this survey on current issues that matter to Canadians. Si vous préférez répondre à ce sondage en français, veuillez cliquer sur français.
Your participation is voluntary and your responses will be kept entirely confidential. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete.
Click here and enter registration # 20240213-EK978 if you wish to verify the authenticity of this survey. To view our privacy policy click here
If you require any technical assistance, please contact online@ekos.com
Does anyone in your household work for any of the following organizations?
Select all that apply
What is your gender?
In what year were you born?
In which of the following age categories do you belong?
In which province or territory do you live?
Are you a Canadian Veteran, or do you personally know a Canadian Veteran? If so ... what is your relation to the Canadian Veteran?
Select all that apply
Are you or a member of your household currently serving in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) or the RCMP?
Select all that apply
Are/were you or a member of your household a member of a Veterans' organization?
Select all that apply
Over the past three weeks, have you seen, read or heard any advertising from the Government of Canada?
Think about the most recent Government of Canada ad that comes to mind. What do you remember about this ad?
Over the past three weeks, have you seen, read or heard any Government of Canada advertising about services and supports for Canadian Veterans?
For this survey, a Veteran is any former member of the CAF or the RCMP
Where have you seen, read or heard this ad about services for Veterans?
Select all that apply
What do you remember about this ad?
Over the past three weeks, have you seen or read information related to services and supports for Canadian Veterans on the VAC website (veterans.gc.ca) or on VAC social media sites such as YouTube, TikTok or LinkedIn?
Select all that apply
What do you think is the biggest issue or problem facing Canadian Veterans these days?
How common do you think it is for Veterans to experience challenges finding services and supports?
How confident are you that Canada's Veterans have access to various services and supports?
As far as you know, which organizations can Veterans and their families go to for help accessing services and supports?
As you may know, Veterans Affairs Canada offers services and supports for Veterans and their families. How satisfied are you with how Veterans Affairs Canada communicates about services and supports available to Veterans and their families?
Are you aware of Government of Canada programs and services for Veterans, CAF members, and their families?
Would you know where to obtain Government of Canada information on programs and services for Veterans?
Here are some ads that have recently been broadcast on various media. Click here to watch.
Here are some ads that have recently been broadcast on various media. Click here to watch.
Here are some ads that have recently been broadcast on various media. Click here to watch.
And this internet banner ad was displayed
Over the past three weeks, have you seen, read or heard these ads?
Where have you seen, read or heard these ads?
Select all that apply
What do you think is the main point these ads are trying to get across?
Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements about these ads.
These ads catch my attention
These ads are relevant to me
These ads are difficult to follow
These ads do not favour one political party over another
These ads talk about an important topic
These ads provide new information
These ads clearly convey that the Government of Canada provides supports and services for members of the Armed Forces
Which of the following actions did you take as a result of seeing/hearing this advertising?
Which of the following categories best describes your current employment status? Are you...
What is the highest level of formal education that you have completed?
Are there any children under the age of 18 currently living in your household?
Which of the following categories best describes your total annual household income, including income from all household members, before taxes are deducted?
Where were you born?
In what year did you first move to Canada?
What is the language you first learned at home as a child and still understand?
Do you consider yourself to be any of the following?
Select all that apply
That concludes the survey. This survey was conducted on behalf of Veterans Affairs Canada. In the coming months the report will be available from Library and Archives Canada. We thank you very much for taking the time to answer this survey, it is greatly appreciated.
Unfortunately, based on your responses you are ineligible to participate in this survey. Thank you for your time!