Prepared for Parks Canada
Supplier name: Advanis Inc.
Contract number: 5P004-200222 001 CY
Contract value: $36,160.00 (including HST)
Award date: August 5, 2020
Delivery date: October 31, 2020
Registration Number: POR 021-20
For more information on this report, please contact Parks Canada Agency at: information@pc.gc.ca
Ce rapport est aussi disponible en français
Prepared for PARKS CANADA
Supplier name: Advanis Inc.
October 2020
This public opinion research report presents the results of an online/telephone survey conducted by Advanis Inc. on behalf of Parks Canada. The research was conducted with 1,056 adult Canadians between September 9th and October 4th, 2020.
Cette publication est aussi disponible en français sous le titre : Sondage 2020 sur la satisfaction des visiteurs – rapport méthodologique.
This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes only. Prior written permission must be obtained from Parks Canada. For more information on this report, please contact Parks Canada at:
1-888-773-8888 or information@pc.gc.ca or at:
Parks Canada
30 Victoria Street
2nd Floor (PC-02-E)
Gatineau, Québec J8X 0B3
Catalogue Number:
R62-570/2020E-PDF
International Standard Book Number (ISBN):
978-0-660-36108-6
Related publications (Registration # POR -21-20):
Catalogue number R62-570/2020F-PDF (Methods Report, French)
ISBN 978-0-660-36109-3
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, 2020
Parks Canada protects and presents nationally significant examples of Canada's natural and cultural heritage on behalf of the people of Canada, and fosters public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment in ways that ensure the ecological and commemorative integrity of these places for present and future generations. In a typical year, Parks Canada undertakes self-administered onsite paper surveys (randomly sampled visitor parties from mid-May to mid-October) at select parks/sites annually to acquire feedback and measure performance. Parks Canada receives between 10,000 and 20,000 returned surveys annually depending on participating places in a given year.
Due to COVID-19, onsite intercept surveys, in paper or electronic format, were not feasible during the 2020 season. Parks Canada does not maintain a contact database of visitors. Therefore, it has sourced a third party (Advanis) to find people in the general population that had visited a national park or historic site during the designated period of mid-May to September 2020.
The Parks Canada Visitor Satisfaction Survey aimed to gather feedback from Canadians about their experiences and satisfaction with operations during their visit to national parks and/or national historic sites or waterways during the summer of 2020. The survey aimed to collect feedback about:
The probability-based study was conducted, in both English and French, using a two-step approach where respondents were recruited by telephone to participate in an online web survey. To source the sample, questions were added to other studies being conducted by Advanis asking about whether people had visited a national park or national historic site/waterway during the summer of 2020. Overall, 1,056 people completed the survey between September 10th and October 4th, with a response rate of 51.4%, and a margin of error of 3.1% (19 times out of 20 at a 95% confidence interval). The data was weighted based on geographic region, using actual visitation volumes by region provided by Parks Canada. The total cost of this research was $36,160 (including HST).
Political neutrality certification
I hereby certify as Senior Officer of Advanis 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.
Signed:
Nicolas Toutant, Vice-President, Research and Evaluation
Parks Canada cancelled its on-site /in-person visitor surveys in 2020 to align with health and safety protocols associated with COVID-19. The organization sought an alternative approach to obtain feedback from visitors and address performance measurement requirements.
Parks Canada sought a probability-based sample of 1,000 Canadians age 18 and older drawn from the general population who had visited a national park and/or national historic site during the summer of 2020. Visitation was lower due to park/site closures and travel limitations related to COVID-19, so rather than sampling by specific province and territory, the study aimed for regional distributions to match actual visitation patterns provided by Parks Canada.
The probability-based study was conducted using a two-step approach where respondents were recruited by telephone to participate in an online web survey. Given the difficulty of finding respondents in the general population who had visited a national park or national historic site during a shortened season and during a pandemic, random digit dialing to find respondents was not employed. Instead, Advanis first added pre-screener questions about park visitation to other studies it was running among the general population, to pre-determine if respondents had visited a park/site within the summer of 2020. Questions asked for the specific place visited to ensure there was no confusion between national and provincial parks or historic sites under other levels of jurisdiction. These records were gathered between the end of July and early September 2020. In total approximately 47,000 people were recruited to other studies. Among those who completed these surveys, the incidence of national park or national historic site visitors was approximately 7% (or approximately 2,445 people).
Overall, 2,445 respondents indicated they have visited a national park and/or national historic site during the designated period in 2020. These respondents were then contacted by telephone and recruited over the phone to participate in the Parks Canada Visitor Satisfaction Survey. In total, 2,352 phone numbers were called between September 10 and October 4 2020, and 2,056 people were recruited to the survey, for a response rate on the recruit of 87.4%.
Of the 2,056 eligible participants, 1,228 accessed the survey. 136 people were subsequently disqualified from the survey because they were unable to indicate which specific national park and/or national historic site they had visited. In total, 1,056 were eligible and completed the full online survey, for a response rate among those recruited of 51.4%. The margin of error for the study was +/-3.1%, at a 95% confidence interval (i.e., 19 times out of 20).
Among those completing the survey online, the average survey length was approximately three and a half minutes.
The Parks Canada Visitor Satisfaction Survey was designed by Parks Canada. The Government of Canada’s standards for pre-testing were adhered to, with pretests being conducted in both English and French. The pretest was conducted on September 9th, 2020. During this pretest, we recruited 144 people by phone in English and French. This led to 52 completed online surveys (13 French, and 39 English). The validation of the data was completed the morning of September 10th. Frequencies of the data were provided to Parks Canada to review. No changes were made to the survey following the pretest.
During the computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) recruit, Advanis requested permission to send the survey link to respondents’ mobile phones via a Short Message Service (SMS). The advantage of SMS survey invitations is that, unlike email invitations, they avoid issues with incorrect email addresses and spam filtering. If the recruited respondent did not have a smartphone or preferred email, survey links were sent via email. Of the respondents who completed the CATI screener, 99% were recruited via SMS, and 1 percent were recruited by email. Of those recruited to the online survey by SMS, 51.4% completed the survey. Among those sent an email invitation, the completion rate of the online survey was 41.7% percent, although only 12 email invitations were sent in total. Invite reminders were sent 3 days and 6 days after the initial invitation. Once Advanis had reached the target of 1,000 completed surveys reminders were no longer sent out.
The target audience for this project was Canadians, across all provinces and territories, who were 18 years and older who visited a national park and/or national historic site during the summer of 2020. The goal was to achieve a regional distribution similar to actual visitation numbers provided by Parks Canada for the 2020 season.
The sample consisted of a core sample of 2,445 Canadians aged 18 and older that declared they had visited a national park and/or national historic site during the summer of 2020. To collect this sample Advanis added visitation questions to country-wide random selection studies, being conducted by Advanis, surveying the Canadian population on topics of interest such as COVID related matters. These records were then contacted and recruited over the phone to participate in the Parks Canada Visitor Satisfaction Survey. In total, 2,352 phone numbers were called, and 2,056 people were recruited to the survey. Overall, 1,056 Canadians completed the Parks Canada Visitor Satisfaction Survey.
This study focused on people who had visited a national park/national historic site during the 2020 summer season – it was not a general population study. As there is no known ‘population’ of Canadian visitors and who visits a particular national park/national historic sites varies by a range of circumstances, there was no possible comparison (nor was it necessary to compare to the Canadian population) to determine weights or reponse bias. Rather the final sample of 1,056 was weighted based on geographic region, using actual visitation volumes by region provided by Parks Canada for the 2020 season.
| Region | Unweighted N |
Weighted N |
Weight Proportion |
Weight |
| Atlantic | 86 | 106 | 10% | 1.2279 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central | 284 | 317 | 30% | 1.1155 |
| Prairie | 60 | 53 | 5% | 0.8800 |
| West/North | 626 | 581 | 55% | 0.9278 |
Advanis utilizes technology to maximize quality control in survey programming. Having developed a proprietary survey engine tool, Advanis professionals are able to design and program a survey in a browser-based environment, eliminating the need to involve a programmer who is less familiar with the survey subject matter. Below are the steps followed to ensure the quality of the survey.
The CATI recruit script was programmed on Advanis’ proprietary CATI platform with no unforeseen challenges. Advanis was able to leverage its experience for the survey programming and the reminder process to achieve high quality standards.
Advanis implemented the following to ensure the highest quality data collection:
To ensure high interview quality, our interviewers are trained to use various interviewing techniques. As well as maintaining a professional attitude, our interviewers must also be convincing, read word-for-word, take notes, probe deeper on semi-open and open questions, systematically confirm the information given and listen to the respondent.
All Advanis Web surveys are hosted internally by Advanis, and we employ a rigorous and stringent set of data collection control mechanisms to ensure the highest quality for the data collected, including:
For all of the data collected, Advanis develops rules to check the validity of the data. These rules include items such as:
Advanis staff have used the SPSS Statistics Software for over 20 years and are very proficient users of the software. All data cleaning performed on projects are outlined in syntax files with intermediate data files saved throughout the process. This ensures that the original raw data file is never overwritten, and that if an error is discovered in our code, we can quickly and easily rerun the syntax to produce a new data file. Individuals developing code incorporate internal checks in their code (e.g., crosstabs) to ensure the syntax had the desired effect. In addition, all syntax is reviewed by another team member or technical specialist for accuracy.
After the data collection was completed, data cleaning was performed to ensure high quality results. Data cleaning involved converting the national park and national historic site lists back into 1 list not split out by province and/or region. The data for the additional comments question was also coded into common themes.
The Government of Canada is conducting research on the topic of national parks and national historic sites. Advanis (http://advanis.net) has been hired to administer this survey. This survey uses Advanis' Tell City Hall (http://www.tellcityhall.ca) data collection methodology. Si vous préférez répondre au sondage en français, veuillez cliquer sur français.
The survey takes about 5 minutes to complete and your participation is voluntary and confidential. No individual will be associated with the survey’s results – the results are rolled up into large categories to protect the confidentiality of each participant. The information you provide will be managed according to the requirements of the Privacy Act, the Access to Information Act, and any other pertinent legislation.
Should you have any questions about the survey please contact Advanis at 1-866-820-5163 or survey+parks@advanis.net and reference project number 5660.
Please note: You have been selected at random to participate in this study. No contact information was provided by the Government of Canada for the purposes of this study.
If you get interrupted while doing the survey, you can click on the same link to pick up right where you left off.
age
First, to confirm, what is your age?
TD3 Show if Under 18
Thank you for your interest in this survey, but you must be 18 or older to participate in this study.
Q1
Did you visit a national park, national historic site or national waterway (canal) this summer?
If you visited multiple national parks/national historic sites, please consider only the one you visited last (i.e., most recently).
T1 Show if Q1 No
We're sorry but for this study you must have visited a national park, national historic site or national waterway this summer. Thank you for your time.
Q1a Show if Q1 National Park
In what region of Canada was the national park you visited located?
Q1a1 Show if Q1a Western Canada
What specific national park did you visit?
British Columbia
Q1a2 Show if Q1a Central Canada
What specific national park did you visit?
Ontario
Q1a3 Show if Q1a Atlantic Canada
What specific national park did you visit?
Newfoundland & Labrador
Q1a4 Show if Q1a Northern Canada
What specific national park did you visit?
Yukon
T2 Show if Q1a No parks
We're sorry but for this study you must have visited one of these national parks to participate.
Thank you for your time.
Q1b Show if Q1 Historic Site or Waterway
In what region of Canada was the national historic site/national waterway you visited located?
Q1b1 Show if Q1b Western Canada
What specific national historic site/national waterway did you visit?
AlbertaQ1b2 Show if Q1b Ontario
What specific national historic site/national waterway did you visit?
Q1b3 Show if Q1b Quebec
What specific national historic site/national waterway did you visit?
Q1b4 Show if Q1b Atlantic Canada
What specific national historic site/national waterway did you visit?
Newfoundland and LabradorQ1b5 Show if Q1b Northern Canada
What specific national historic site/national waterway did you visit?
T3 Show if Q1b No sites or waterways
We're sorry but for this study you must have visited one of these national sites or national waterways to participate. Thank you for your time.
Q2
Parks Canada regularly conducts visitor surveys in national parks and national historic sites, engaging with tens of thousands of people annually onsite. The current COVID-19 situation makes these in-person interactions difficult. However, visitor feedback is still important. As a recent visitor to a national park or national historic site, Parks Canada welcomes your feedback on your visit.
Was this your first visit to <<Park/Site/Waterway>>?
Q4 - Please rate your level of satisfaction with the following elements of your visit.
Trip planning information (e.g., what to expect prior to arrival, what was open, what to bring)
Staff making you feel welcome
Health and safety measures in place on site (e.g., distancing, signage, sanitizers, protective screens)
Q4d - Please rate your level of satisfaction with your overall visit to <<Park/Site/Waterway>>.
Q5 - How important were the following in your decision to visit this year?
I wanted to stay local
I wanted to get into nature (be away from my neighbourhood)
I wanted to visit places with fewer tourists this year
I considered the park/site a safe place to visit
The park/site was important to me
Q6 - National parks and historic sites were closed early in the season due to COVID-19. How important was their re-opening (to access and enjoy) to the following:
Your mental health
Your physical health (for exercise, recreation)
Your feelings of a sense of normalcy during this time
Q7 - Any additional comments you would like to share about your visit?
Please do not enter personally-identifying information (e.g., name, email address, phone number, mailing address), as anything you enter may be shared with the sponsor of this research.
Q8 - In which province or territory do you currently live?
We have asked you all of our questions. The team at Parks Canada thanks you for taking the time to provide your thoughts. They look forward to seeing you in 2021.
If you'd like to see results from other studies conducted by Advanis via TellCityHall, please visit tellcityhall.ca/surveys.
Le gouvernement du Canada mène des recherches sur le thème des parcs nationaux et lieux historiques nationaux. Advanis (https://www.advanis.net/fr) a été embauché pour administrer cette enquête. Cette enquête utilise la méthodologie de collecte de données de MaVilleÉcoute (http://www.mavilleecoute.ca/), propriété d'Advanis. If you prefer completing the survey in English, please click on English
Il vous faudra environ 5 minutes pour répondre à ce sondage et votre participation est volontaire et confidentielle. Aucune personne ne sera associée aux résultats de l’enquête – les résultats sont regroupés en grandes catégories afin de protéger la confidentialité de chaque participant. Les renseignements que vous fournissez seront gérés conformément aux exigences de la Loi sur la protection des renseignements personnels, de la Loi sur l’accès à l’information et de toute autre loi pertinente.
Si vous avez des questions concernant l’enquête, veuillez communiquer avec Advanis au 1-866-820-5163 ou nous envoyer un courriel à l’adresse survey+parks@advanis.net en indiquant le numéro de référence de l’étude 5560.
Notez s’il vous plaît : Vous avez été sélectionné au hasard pour participer à cette étude. Aucune information de contact n’a été fournie par le gouvernement du Canada aux fins de cette étude.
Si vous êtes interrompu, vous pouvez appuyer sur le même lien et reprendre là où vous étiez rendu.
Âge
Premièrement, pour fins de confirmation, quel est votre âge ?
TD3 Voir si moins de 18
Merci de votre intérêt envers ce sondage, toutefois pour participer à cette étude vous devez avoir 18 ans ou plus.
Q1
Avez-vous visité un parc national, un lieu historique national ou une voie navigable nationale (canal) cet été? Si vous avez visité plusieurs parcs nationaux ou lieux historiques nationaux, veuillez ne prendre en compte que le dernier que vous avez visité (c’est-à-dire le plus récemment).
T1 Voir si Q1 Non
Nous sommes désolés, mais pour participer à cette étude vous devez avoir visiter un parc national, un site historique national ou des canaux historiques et des voies navigables cet été.
Merci pour votre temps.
Q1a Voir si Q1 Parc national
Dans quelle région du Canada se trouve ce parc national que vous avez visité ?
Q1a1 Voir si Q1a Ouest du Canada
Pouvez-vous m'indiquer l'endroit que vous avez visité ?
Colombie-Britannique
Q1a2 Voir si Q1a Centre du Canada
Pouvez-vous m'indiquer l'endroit que vous avez visité ?
Ontario
Q1a3 Voir si Q1a Provinces de l’Atlantique
Pouvez-vous m'indiquer l'endroit que vous avez visité ?
Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador
Q1a4 Voir si Q1a Nord du Canada
Pouvez-vous m'indiquer l'endroit que vous avez visité ?
Yukon
T2 Voir si Q1a pas de parcs
Nous sommes désolés, mais vous devez avoir visité un de ces parcs nationaux pour participer.
Merci pour votre temps.
Q1b Voir si Q1 lieu historique ou voie navigable
Dans quelle région du Canada se trouve ce lieu historique ou cette voie navigable que vous avez visitée ?
Q1b1 Voir si Q1b Ouest du Canada
Pouvez-vous m'indiquer l'endroit que vous avez visité ?
AlbertaQ1b2 Voir si Q1b Ontario
Pouvez-vous m'indiquer l'endroit que vous avez visité ?
Q1b3 Voir si Q1b Québec
Pouvez-vous m'indiquer l'endroit que vous avez visité ?
Q1b4 Voir si Q1b Provinces de l’Atlantique
Pouvez-vous m'indiquer l'endroit que vous avez visité ?
Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador
Q1b5 Voir si Q1b Nord du Canada
Pouvez-vous m'indiquer l'endroit que vous avez visité ?
T3 Voir si Q1b pas de lieu historique ou voie navigable
Nous sommes désolés, mais vous devez avoir visité un de ces sites nationaux ou un des canaux historiques ou voies navigables pour participer. Merci pour votre temps.
Q2
Parcs Canada mène régulièrement des enquêtes auprès des visiteurs dans les parcs nationaux et les lieux historiques nationaux, en s’entretenant avec des dizaines de milliers de personnes chaque année sur place. La situation actuelle de pandémie de COVID-19 rend les interactions en personne difficiles. Cependant, les commentaires des visiteurs sont toujours importants. En tant que visiteur récent d’un parc national ou d’un lieu historique national, Parcs Canada vous invite à faire part de vos commentaires sur votre visite.
S’agissait-il de votre première visite <<aux/au/à la/à>> <<Parc/Site/voie navigable>>
Q4 - Veuillez évaluer votre niveau de satisfaction concernant les éléments suivants de votre visite.
Renseignements sur la planification du voyage (par exemple, ce à quoi s’attendre avant l’arrivée, ce qu’il faut apporter, ce qui était disponible)
Le personnel vous fait sentir le bienvenu
Mesures de santé et de sécurité en place sur les lieux (par exemple, éloignement, signalisation, désinfectants, écrans de protection)
Q4d - Veuillez noter votre niveau de satisfaction pour votre visite en général <<aux/au/à la/à>> <<Parc/Site/voie navigable>>.
Q5 - Quelle importance ont eu les éléments suivants dans votre décision de visiter cette année?
Je voulais rester dans la région
Je voulais être dans la nature (être loin de mon quartier)
Je voulais visiter des endroits avec moins de touristes cette année
Je considérais le parc/lieu comme un endroit sûr à visiter
Le parc/lieu était important pour moi
Q6 - Les parcs nationaux et les lieux historiques nationaux ont été fermés en début de saison en raison de la pandémie de COVID-19. Quelle a été l’importance de leur réouverture (pour y accéder et en profiter) ?
Votre santé mentale
Votre santé physique (pour l’exercice, les loisirs)
Votre sentiment de normalité pendant cette période
Q7 - Avez-vous d’autres commentaires à faire sur votre visite ?
Veuillez ne pas entrer d'identifiants d'information personnelle (par ex., nom, courriel, numéro de téléphone, adresse postale), puisque toute information pourra être partagé avec le commanditaire de cette étude.
Q8 - Dans quelle province habitez-vous ?
Nous vous avons posé toutes nos questions. L'équipe de Parcs Canada vous remercie d'avoir pris le temps de partager vos idées. Ils ont hâte de vous voir en 2021.
Si vous souhaitez consulter les résultats de d'autres études réalisées par MaVilleÉcoute d'Advanis, veuillez visiter http://www.mavilleecoute.ca/sondages.html.