Introduction—16th Annual report on Government of Canada public opinion research activities
Public opinion research is one of the ways the Government of Canada reaches out to Canadians and listens to their suggestions, their concerns, and their hopes for the future. Listening and learning is important to both sides. Canadians want to be involved. They want to be heard from, and to be well informed about government plans. Likewise, the government wants to learn through research whether its policies, programs and services meet the needs of the people and align with public interests.
This annual report gives a full account of the government's public opinion research activities during the fiscal year 2016 to 2017. The centrepiece of the report is a list of projects contracted between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017. The list includes the sponsoring department, the name of the contracted supplier, the budget and the registration numbers to help locate these public opinion research reports on the Library and Archives of Canada website. The information collected by these research studies is available to everyone.
There are many issues facing Canadians for which the government uses structured approaches, such as public opinion research, to collect information and form a solid basis for decision-making. Departments rely on this information as a resource to deliver tangible results. Canadians appreciate a government that reaches out to them and values diverse perspectives in serving the public interest. Moreover, there is no more efficient way to assess and measure the development or effectiveness of existing programs and services than by asking those most directly affected, the people of Canada.
Public opinion research has demonstrated its usefulness over a long span of time. In this annual report, we document how the Government of Canada used and benefitted from this kind of research and includes information on the flow of past activities.
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