Submitted to: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
Prepared by: Ipsos Reid Corporation
POR 040-11
Contract award date: 2011-11-28
Contract #: G9178-110001/005/CY
Fieldwork completed: November 30- December 12, 2011
Contracted cost of research, including GST: $97,643.30
Contact : nc-por-rop-gd@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
«Ce rapport est aussi disponible en français sur demande»
I hereby certify as Senior Officer of Ipsos Reid 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.
Alexandra Evershed
Senior Vice President
Ipsos Reid Public Affairs
The aging of the Canadian population represents significant challenges. The 2011 Speech from the Throne stated that “this demographic challenge will impact our economic future and put long term pressures on our pension and health systems that must be addressed.” Notably:
HRSDC will use this research to examine aging and retirement issues among Canadians to ensure Government of Canada programs and services meet the needs of the Canadian public.
Past research conducted by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada suggests that many Canadians may not be saving enough for retirement. This research has also indicated that some people lack confidence in the public system and questioned whether it would be there for them when they retire.
Furthermore, this same research has identified that certain segments of the population have very low retirement planning literacy and/or ability to plan/save for the future.
This research is intended to provide a snapshot of current understanding of retirement-income related issues.
The Communications Policy of the Government of Canada states that the government must “Consult the public, listen to and take account of people's interests and concerns when establishing priorities, developing policies, and planning programs and services…,” Ensure that institutions of the Government of Canada are visible, accessible and accountable to the public they serve…,” and “Identify and address communication needs and issues routinely in the development, implementation and evaluation of policies, programs, services and initiatives.”
The Department has identified the need to conduct public opinion research to garner Canadians’ views on their financial state of readiness in planning for retirement, and factors which impact their choices. Specifically:
The methodology for this study involved a large-scale national telephone survey with a sample of 3,000 Canadians to allow for significant regional, demographic and attitudinal breakouts. A custom CATI telephone survey was conducted among Canadians aged 18 and older, sampled using random digit dialling. The average survey length was 10 minutes.
Interview quotas were set to be representative of the population of Canada as a whole based on Census 2006 data. A target number of interviews were conducted in each region to reflect its relative size within the country. The table below shows the number of completed surveys by region with the associated margins of error.
| Sample Size | Margin of Error | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 3,001 | 1.8 |
| British Columbia | 392 | 4.9 |
| Alberta | 313 | 5.5 |
| Sask./Man. | 202 | 6.9 |
| ON | 1158 | 2.9 |
| QC | 718 | 3.7 |
| Atlantic Canada | 218 | 6.6 |
In households with more than one adult member, respondents were selected on the basis of next birthday within specific quota groups based on age and gender (this enabled a more representative sample than if we had used the standard “next birthday” method which led to less need for weighting and better data quality overall).
A pre-test was conducted in both official languages achieving 15 completed interviews in English and 15 in French. Based on changes resulting from the pretest, the 30 completes obtained were removed from the final data set. The field dates for the survey were November 30 through December 12, 2011.
The survey data was weighted to ensure the sample's age, gender, and regional composition reflects that of the actual adult Canadian population according to Statistics Canada census data.
This table calculates the response rate among the respondents in this research based on the empirical calculation standard of the Market Research and Intelligence Association. More information on this method may be located here: http://www.mria-arim.ca/STANDARDS/Response.asp
| Total Numbers Attempted | 63,605 |
|---|---|
| Invalid (NIS, fax/modem, business/non-res.) | 26,176 |
| Unresolved (U) (Busy, no answer, answering machine) | 17,103 |
| In-scope - non-responding (IS) | 16,619 |
| Language problem | 555 |
| Illness, incapable, deaf | 265 |
| Household refusal | 12,864 |
| Respondent refusal | 285 |
| Qualified respondent break-off | 2,650 |
| In-scope - Responding units (R) | 3,710 |
| Over quota | 706 |
| Completed interviews | 3,001 |
| Response Rate = R/(U+IS+R) | 10% |
Hello, my name is ______________. I’m calling from Ipsos Reid to conduct a survey on behalf of the Government of Canada.
Bonjour, ici ______________ d’Ipsos Reid. Nous menons un sondage auprès d’adultes pour le compte du gouvernement du Canada.
(IF NECESSARY: So we know we are speaking with the right person)
Do you have anyone in your household who is 18-34 years old?
Puis-je parler au membre de votre foyer âgé de 18 à 34 ans ?
[IF YES] Can I speak to the person in that age group with the last birthday?
[IF YES] Puis-je parler à la personne dans ce groupe d’âge qui est la dernier à célébrer son anniversaire ?
[ARRANGE CALL-BACK IF 18-34 YEAR OLD HOUSEHOLD MEMBER IS UNAVAILABLE]
[IF NO MEMBERS OF THE HOUSEHOLD ARE 18-34 YEARS OF AGE:] May I speak to the person in the household who is 35 years of age or older, and who had their birthday last? [ARRANGE CALL-BACK IF 35+ HOUSEHOLD MEMBER IS UNAVAILABLE]
[IF NO MEMBERS OF THE HOUSEHOLD ARE 18-34 YEARS OF AGE:] Puis-je parler au membre de votre foyer âgé de 35 ans ou plus qui a été le dernier à célébrer son anniversaire? [ARRANGE CALL-BACK IF 35+ HOUSEHOLD MEMBER IS UNAVAILABLE]
[ONCE RESPONDENT IS REACHED:] Your responses will be kept entirely confidential and this survey is registered with the national survey registration system. Your participation is voluntary and the study typically takes less than 10 minutes to complete. We can do it now or at a time more convenient for you. Would you be willing to participate?
[ONCE RESPONDENT IS REACHED:] Vos réponses demeureront strictement confidentielles, et le présent sondage est inscrit auprès du système national d’enregistrement des sondages. Vous êtes libre de participer ou non à ce sondage, mais cela serait très utile. Seriez-vous d’accord pour prendre part à ce sondage? Cela ne prendra que 12 minutes à compléter. Nous pouvons le faire dès maintenant ou à un moment plus propice pour vous.
[INTERVIEWER: IF RESPONDENT HAS QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SURVEY OR ITS LEGITIMACY PLEASE REFER TO PROJECT LEAD; CONTACT INFORMATION AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE]
1. To begin, in which official language would you prefer to be interviewed?
1. Pour commencer, dans laquelle des langues officielles préféreriez-vous être interviewé?
(READ RESPONSES, CODE ONE RESPONSE ONLY)
(LIRE LES RÉPONSES, CODER UNE SEULE RÉPONSE)
2. In what year were you born?
2. En quelle année êtes-vous né?
3. Are you currently retired?
3. Êtes-vous à la retraite en ce moment?
4. Thinking of the issues facing Canada today, which one would you say the Government of Canada should focus on most? Any others? (OPEN; RECORD FIRST MENTION SEPARATELY; ACCEPT ALL RESPONSES)
4. En songeant aux enjeux auxquels le Canada est confronté en ce moment, selon vous, lequel devrait recevoir le plus d’attention de la part du gouvernement du Canada? (QUESTION OUVERTE; ACCEPTER UNE SEULE RÉPONSE)
5. How would you rate the current state of the Canadian economy? Please use a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is terrible and 10 is excellent.
5. Comment évalueriez-vous l’état actuel de l’économie du Canada? Veuillez répondre sur une échelle de 1 à 10, où 1 signifie « très mauvais » et 10, « excellent ».
6. Over the next three to five years do you think the Canadian economy will be stronger, weaker or will there be no change?
Now, I would like to ask you a few questions about retirement.
6a. At what age do you think the average Canadian retires? [NUMERICAL ENTRY: 0-100, INCLUDE RESPONSE OPTION “NEVER,” DO NOT READ]
7. Can you name any type of pension income available from the Government of Canada to older Canadians in their retirement? [DO NOT READ LIST, CHOOSE ALL THAT APPLY]
[IF Q7=NONE OR DK, SKIP TO Q9]
8. And how much income do you think <INSERT Q7 RESPONSE IF SINGLE PUNCH OTHERWISE, “these sources of income” > provides the average retiree each month?
[NUMERICAL ENTRY: 0-99999]
9. To the best of your knowledge, at what age is the average Canadian eligible to receive funds from the Canada Pension Plan? And at what age is the typical Canadian eligible to receive funds from Old Age Security? (REQUEST EXACT AGE, NOT RANGE, PROBE FOR BEST GUESS IF UNSURE)
[NUMERICAL ENTRY: 0-100]
10. Please tell me whether you agree or disagree with each of the following statements, using a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 means you strongly disagree and 10 means you strongly agree. How about … (READ AND ROTATE; PROBE FOR SPECIFIC RESPONSE; REPEAT AS NEEDED: “Keeping in mind that 1 means you strongly disagree and 10 means you strongly agree … “)
[ASK Q11-14a OF NON-RETIRED, Q3=NO/DK]
11. Thinking about your finances, how confident are you that you would be able to fully retire from paid employment in the future? (READ LIST, ACCEPT ONE RESPONSE.)
12. When thinking about your retirement years, what is the single most important source of income you expect to rely on most? (PROBE) And what other sources of income to do you expect to rely upon? (OPEN, DO NOT READ LIST; RECORD FIRST MENTION SEPARATELY, ACCEPT MULTIPLE MENTIONS)
12. En songeant à vos années de retraite, quelle est la plus importante source de revenus sur laquelle vous prévoyez compter? (SONDER) Et sur quelles autres sources de revenus prévoyez-vous compter? (QUESTION OUVERTE, NE PAS LIRE LA LISTE; INSCRIRE LA PREMIÈRE RÉPONSE, ACCEPTER PLUSIEURS RÉPONSES)
13. Some people have a specific goal in mind when thinking about the size of their retirement savings and investments. Thinking about your own expectations, what is the total dollar amount of savings and investments you expect you will need for retirement? (OPEN, PROBE TO RECORD SPECIFIC AMOUNT)
13. Certaines personnes ont en tête un objectif précis lorsqu’elles pensent à la somme de leur épargne et de leurs placements pour la retraite. En songeant à vos propres attentes, quel est le montant total en dollars de l’épargne et des placements dont vous prévoyez avoir besoin pour la retraite? (QUESTION OUVERTE, SONDER POUR INSCRIRE UN MONTANT PRÉCIS)
14. For many Canadians the age for retirement is 65. [UNDER 65 YEARS: When you reach 65 years of age] [65 YEARS AND OLDER: Now that you have reached this age], which of the following best describes what you would you like to do? [ROTATE OPTIONS]: Continue working full time; continue working part time; or stop working to earn money altogether?
14. Qu’aimeriez-vous faire lorsque vous atteindrez l’âge de la retraite? [ROTATE OPTIONS]: Continuer à travailler pour gagner de l’argent avec votre emploi actuel; continuer à travailler pour gagner de l’argent, mais avec un emploi différent; ou cesser complètement de travailler pour gagner de l’argent?
[IF Q14= CONTINUE WORKING, ASK Q14A]
14a. What is the main reason you [UNDER 65 YEARS: would like to] [65 AND OLDER: continue to] <INSERT Q14 RESPONSE> past age 65? [OPEN END – RECORD FIRST MENTION]
[ASK Q15 OF RETIRED CANADIANS, Q3=YES]
15. What is the single most important source of income you currently rely upon? (PROBE: And what other sources of income do you currently rely upon? OPEN, DO NOT READ LIST; RECORD FIRST MENTION SEPARATELY, ACCEPT MULTIPLE MENTIONS)
15. Quelle est la plus importante source de revenus sur laquelle vous comptez en ce moment? (SONDER : Et sur quelles autres sources de revenus comptez-vous en ce moment? QUESTION OUVERTE, NE PAS LIRE LA LISTE; INSCRIRE LA PREMIÈRE RÉPONSE, ACCEPTER PLUSIEURS RÉPONSES)
[SKIP Q16 IF Q3=DK]
16. Thinking about the [OUTSIDE QUEBEC: Canada Pension Plan; IN QUEBEC: Quebec Pension Plan] and Old Age Security Programs, please tell me whether you agree or disagree with each of the following statements, using a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 means you strongly disagree and 10 means you strongly agree. How about … (READ AND ROTATE; PROBE FOR SPECIFIC RESPONSE; REPEAT AS NEEDED: “Keeping in mind that 1 means you strongly disagree and 10 means you strongly agree … “)
16. En songeant au [OUTSIDE QUEBEC: Régime de pensions du Canada; IN QUEBEC: Régime de rentes du Québec] et aux , veuillez me dire si vous êtes d’accord ou en désaccord avec chacun des énoncés suivants à l’aide d’une échelle de 1 à 10 où 1 signifie que vous êtes fortement en désaccord et 10, fortement d’accord. Qu’en est-il de … (LIRE ET FAIRE LA ROTATION; INCITER POUR UNE RÉPONSE SPÉCIFIQUE; RÉPÉTER AU BESOIN: “Tout en songeant que 1 signifie que vous êtes fortement en désaccord et 10, fortement d’accord… “)
The [OUTSIDE QUEBEC: Canada Pension Plan; IN QUEBEC: Quebec Pension Plan] and Old Age Security programs do not provide enough income alone to live in retirement.
Le [OUTSIDE QUEBEC: Régime de pensions du Canada; IN QUEBEC: Régime de rentes du Québec] et les programmes de la sécurité de la vieillesse seuls ne donnent pas assez de revenu pour vivre durant la retraite.
I am concerned about whether the [OUTSIDE QUEBEC: Canada Pension Plan; IN QUEBEC: Quebec Pension Plan] and Old Age Security programs will continue to be available to me throughout my retirement years.
Je m'inquiète si le [OUTSIDE QUEBEC: Régime de pensions du Canada; IN QUEBEC: Régime de rentes du Québec] et les programmes de la sécurité de la vieillesse continueront à m'être disponibles durant mes années de retraite.
[1-10]
[READ] Now I would like to ask you a few last questions, for statistical purposes only.
[LIRE] J’aimerais maintenant vous poser quelques dernières questions qui nous serviront à des fins statistiques seulement.
[ASK D1 IF “No/DK” AT Q3; ALL OTHERS SKIP TO D2]
D1. Which of the following categories best describes your current employment status? Are you (READ LIST, ACCEPT ONE RESPONSE ONLY)
D1. Laquelle des catégories suivantes décrit le mieux votre situation professionnelle actuelle? Êtes-vous (LIRE LA LISTE, ACCEPTER UNE SEULE RÉPONSE)
D2. Which of the following diplomas or degrees have you completed? (ACCEPT ALL RESPONSES)
D2. Lequel des diplômes ou attestations d’études suivants avez-vous obtenus? (ACCEPTER TOUTES LES RÉPONSES)
D4. Which of the following categories best describes your total household income? That is, the total income of all persons in your household combined, before taxes? Please stop me when I reach your category. [READ LIST UNTIL INTERRUPTED]
D4. Laquelle des catégories suivantes décrit le mieux le revenu annuel total de votre foyer, c’est-à-dire le revenu total avant impôts de tous les membres de votre foyer combinés [READ LIST UNTIL INTERRUPTED]?
D5. Which of the following categories best reflects the value of financial investments held by all members of your household? [READ LIST, PROBE FOR BEST ESTIMATE; ACCEPT ONLY ONE RESPONSE]
D5. Laquelle des catégories suivantes décrit le mieux la valeur des placements financiers de tous les membres de votre foyer? [READ LIST, PROBE FOR BEST ESTIMATE; ACCEPT ONLY ONE RESPONSE]
D6. Do you currently own your own home, or are you renting?
D6. Êtes-vous actuellement propriétaire ou locataire de votre résidence?
[ASK D6A IF “Currently own my own home” AT D6, IF RENTING SKIP TO D7]
D6A. Do you own your home outright, or do you still make regular mortgage payments?
D6A. Êtes-vous propriétaire à part entière ou effectuez-vous encore régulièrement des versements hypothécaires?
D7A. Including yourself, How many adults 18 years of age or older currently live in your household?
D7A. Combien d’adultes de plus de 18 ans vivent actuellement dans votre foyer ?
D7B. Are there any children under the age of 18 currently living in your household?
D7B. Est ce qu’il y a des enfants de moins de 18 ans qui vivent actuellement dans votre foyer ?
[ASK D8 IF “Yes” AT D7b, IF NO/DK/REF SKIP TO D9]
D8. How many children under the age of 18 currently live in your household?
D8. Combien d’enfants de moins de 18 ans vivent actuellement dans votre foyer?
[ASK D9 IF “Yes” AT Q3]
D9. Are you fully retired or still working part-time to earn money?
[ASK D10 IF “Yes” AT Q3]
D10. What age were you when you retired, either fully or partially? [NUMERICAL ENTRY: 0-100]
[ASK D11 IF “No/DK” AT Q3]
D11. At what age do you expect to retire? [NUMERICAL ENTRY: 0-100, INCLUDE RESPONSE OPTION “NEVER,” DO NOT READ]
(READ) That concludes the survey. This survey was conducted on behalf of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. In the coming months the report will be available from Library and Archives Canada. Thank you very much for taking part, it is appreciated.
(LIRE) Voilà qui met fin au sondage. Ce sondage a été mené pour le compte de Ressources humaines et développement des compétences Canada. Dans les mois à venir, le rapport sera disponible à Bibliothèque et archives Canada. Merci beaucoup d’y avoir participé. Nous vous en sommes très reconnaissants.