Public opinion research on official languages in Canada

The Office of the Commissioner (OCOL) has two objectives:

1. Through public opinion research, gauge Canadians' views on official languages and bilingualism. OCOL wishes to take the current pulse of Canadians as a whole, as well as according to certain demographic characteristics, especially in preparation for the 150th Anniversary of Confederation.
2. With a view to promote bilingualism among Canadians and better target messages, OCOL wishes to obtain a more precise profile of opponents and proponents of official languages and bilingualism. Socio-cultural data, such as attitudes towards certain values, consumer habits and topics of interest to respondents, would be useful to OCOL in order to refine its communication strategies directed at Canadians according to subgroups.

For the first objective, OCOL would like the results of the survey to be generalized to the entire Canadian population, which requires a random and representative survey. The second objective, which is to obtain additional socio-cultural data, could be achieved by means of a survey or by other means, such as an online panel. OCOL therefore suggests a two-tiered methodology, as described below.

• Component I: National random survey on Canadians’ opinions of and experiences in connection with official languages and bilingualism.

• Component II: Administration of the same questionnaire and collection of additional socio-cultural data through on online panel or by other means. A methodology other than probability sampling may be used under this component.

This does not exclude the possibility of both objectives being achieved using a single survey method or methods other than those suggested here. OCOL will consider all proposals with valid methodologies that satisfy the above objectives.