Canada Border Services Agency Baseline Survey

Executive Summary

This report presents the findings from public opinion research conducted on behalf of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) in the winter of 2007. The research sought to establish baseline awareness measures about the Agency which, looking to the future, can be used to monitor and assess how the public's outlook and expectations regarding the CBSA and the environment in which it operates are changing.

More specifically, the objectives of this research are to:

• determine the knowledge and awareness of, and attitudes toward the CBSA and the key services and programs it offers;
• evaluate attitudes toward existing safety measures at Canada's borders;
• identify gaps in knowledge and awareness within the general population and subsegments (e.g., ethnic, regional and linguistic communities) that should be addressed;
• generate information that will help the CBSA better understand the actual concerns, barriers and opportunities perceived by Canadians on key issues; and
• establish baseline data that can be monitored over time to track changes.

The study was conducted in two phases:

• The first phase of the study drew on a representative sample of 3,025 Canadians, aged 18 years and over. With a sample this size, results of the survey may be considered statistically accurate within +/-1.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The sample of more than three thousand Canadians allowed not only for a thorough examination of the general public but of several key segments as well (e.g., ethnic, linguistic, and regional communities, including an over sample of some of those living closest to the border). Surveying on the study was undertaken between February 1 and February 19, 2007. The interviews averaged 15.2 minutes in length.
• In the second phase, a series of focus groups were undertaken from March 5 to March 13, 2007. A total of 12 focus groups were conducted in the following six centres: Toronto, Windsor, Montreal, St. Stephen (New Brunswick), Vancouver, and Calgary. Two groups were held in each centre. The selection of locations reflects the importance of having both larger and smaller centres. In addition, the choices of Windsor and St. Stephen reflected the importance of including a "border town" nuances to the survey findings.

What emerges from the research is a telling picture of how Canadians perceive the CBSA and the environment in which it operates, and their expectations for this Agency moving forward. The key findings are summarized below.

Key Findings

As a relatively new organization, the CBSA is just establishing itself at a time when the public is more preoccupied with security than at any other period in recent history. The Agency must deal with a very different set of expectations today than its predecessors would have been faced with even just ten years ago.

• In line with broader events, Canadians perceive different threats today (e.g., terrorism is the most top-of-mind concern outstripping all others by a margin of nearly three to one).
• Security trumps most other considerations, including the economy; however, most see this as a joint venture (i.e., secure the border to secure Canada's trade relationship with the United States).

In this environment, the public acknowledges the importance of the CBSA mandate; however, Canadians are neither particularly familiar with the Agency nor with the considerable amount of work that has already been done or that is currently under way to strengthen the border (e.g., collaboration with the United States government).

• Recall of specific initiatives is low and marred by misconceptions (e.g., believing that the passport requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative are a Canadian policy or that air travel security is the responsibility of the CBSA).
• The challenge becomes one of increasing awareness, which should go a long way to increasing familiarity with the steps the Government of Canada is taking to improve border security and to managing expectations for things that may affect the CBSA, but which are beyond the scope of the organization.

Despite overall low awareness of the CBSA, the public holds the Agency in high regard.

• The Agency is seen as effective in its role, and its frontline workers (i.e., border services officers) are seen as presenting an excellent "first face" for visitors to Canada.
• There also exists widespread interest in and support for the CBSA's programs (e.g., NEXUS).
• There are no major gaps in the population (e.g., the views of different ethnic, regional and linguistic groups are neither consistently nor highly divided).

Looking ahead, the CBSA has a good base upon which to build its reputation.

• The organization is already perceived in a very positive light.
• To the CBSA's benefit, the more recent and frequent the contact, the more positive the impression of the Agency.
• As most Canadians are travellers, the chances of interacting with the CBSA at some point – and in the process improving the image of the Agency – are very good.