POR-200-06
Prepared by:
Meteorological Service of Canada &
Environment Canada’s Public Opinion Research Group
enviroinfo@ec.gc.ca
Contract # KW203-060585/001/CY
Awarded 2006-12-08
pn 6038
Cette publication est disponible en français sur demande
Air pollution constitutes one of the major environmental challenges facing Canadians and their institutions today. Air pollutants such as ozone, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide have been clearly linked to a variety of health effects, including premature mortality, asthma, bronchitis, increased respiratory distress symptoms and other adverse endpoints. Policies and programs are underway to improve ambient air quality (most recently the new Clean Air Act tabled in Parliament), but this represents a long-term process. In the meantime, a key priority is to effectively inform Canadians (especially those at greatest risk) about air quality conditions on an ongoing basis and particularly when conditions are poor. The purpose of such communication is to help Canadians to take actions to reduce their exposure and their personal contribution to poor air quality conditions.
The Government of Canada’s current Air Quality Forecast Program (AQFP) provides air quality forecasts to approximately 75 percent of Canadians on a daily basis. This program plays an important role in helping to protect Canadians’ health and well-being, but it also has several notable limitations. First, the current Air Quality Index (AQI) measures are not based on the latest scientific knowledge, in terms of what pollutants are measured and how the index is formulated; moreover, none of the AQIs currently used in Canada incorporate any measure of the health risk associated with different levels of pollution. Second, there is no common AQI used across the country, and versions developed and implemented by provinces and some municipalities lack consistency in the way in which air quality is calculated and reported. Third, while presenting air quality information to the public is an essential first step, getting Canadians to pay attention to this information and act upon it represents a difficult challenge in terms of public education/social marketing.
In 2001, the Government of Canada initiated a process to improve the Canadian AQIs with the goal of establishing a national standard that is: a) based on the most current scientific data; b) more reflective of human health risk; and c) designed to effectively communicate to Canadians in a way that will evoke attention and action. This initiative is a joint effort of the Meteorological Service of Canada-Environment Canada and Health Canada, in collaboration with provinces and other stakeholders. To support this initiative, MSC has identified the need to establish and implement a credible measurement program and tool to evaluate the effectiveness of AQFP communications in terms of reaching the target population(s) and promoting appropriate actions. Implementation of this research on an ongoing basis will provide a sound framework for evaluating the effectiveness of the AQFP, in terms of the general public’s awareness of and response to a specific air quality event (both generally and with particular reference to health-related issues). This research program will take the form of public opinion research with 400 Canadians, 18 years and older in areas affected by low air quality, with research taking place within the 24 to 48 hour period following the ending of a smog advisory in a region identified by the Meterological Service.
Each survey will attempt to answer whether:
A total of eight post-air quality event surveys will be conducted over the next three years (2007 – 2009).
When this project is completed, this document will be replaced by the executive summary from the final, summary report covering the findings from the three years of research.