Results of the voter experience questionnaire

Nearly 1,000 people completed our questionnaire on voting in the official language of your choice during the 2019 federal election! Your comments have helped us better understand Canadian voters’ experience in terms of official languages so that we can continue our collaborative work with Elections Canada.

The journey map below shows some of the feedback we collected through the questionnaire for each step of the voting process.

 

Text version: Journey of voters who responded to the questionnaire

The journey map illustrates the journey of voters who responded to our questionnaire with respect to the levels of satisfaction with services received in both official languages. This journey is divided into six voting stages: pre-arrival, visual information, reception, additional help, obtaining the ballot and deposit ballot/exit.

There are three levels of satisfaction: higher, moderate and lower levels of satisfaction.

Individuals from the English and French majorities—who did not identify themselves as members of either the French-speaking minority community outside Quebec nor the English-speaking minority in Quebec—have expressed the following levels of satisfaction at each stage of the voting process:

• Pre-arrival: higher level of satisfaction
• Visual information: moderate level of satisfaction
• Reception: higher level of satisfaction
• Additional help: moderate level of satisfaction
• Obtaining the ballot: higher level of satisfaction
• Deposit ballot / exit: higher level of satisfaction

Individuals who identified themselves as being members of the English-speaking community in Quebec have expressed the following levels of satisfaction at each stage of the voting process:

• Pre-arrival: between higher and moderate level of satisfaction
• Visual information: moderate level of satisfaction
• Reception: between moderate and lower level of satisfaction
• Additional help: lower level of satisfaction
• Obtaining the ballot: moderate level of satisfaction
• Deposit ballot / exit: moderate level of satisfaction

Individuals who identified themselves as being members of the French-speaking community outside Quebec have expressed the following levels of satisfaction at each stage of the voting process:

• Pre-arrival: between higher and moderate level of satisfaction
• Visual information: lower level of satisfaction
• Reception: lower level of satisfaction
• Additional help: lower level of satisfaction
• Obtaining the ballot: lower level of satisfaction
• Deposit ballot / exit: lower level of satisfaction

 

• Methodology

  The purpose of the questionnaire was to gather feedback on Canadians’ voting experience in the official language of their choice during the 2019 Canadian federal election. The questionnaire was available through an open link from October 1 to 31, 2019.

  It is important to note that the questionnaire was distributed as an open link to a non-probability (or non-random) sample of respondents. It was designed and administered as an opportunity for public consultation rather than a statistical measure of public opinion. Therefore, the results cannot be projected to the target Canadian population (aged 18+), and no margin-of-error estimates can be calculated.

  Number of respondents

  A total of 964 respondents completed the questionnaire, and 887 of them shared their voting experiences. Please note that some of the respondents answered "Do not know" or "Not applicable" to the questions. When determining the levels of satisfaction, these responses were excluded.

  Sampling and recruitment strategy

  For this questionnaire, the following sampling and recruitment strategy was used:

  • An open-link to the questionnaire was made available on the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages’ website from October 1 to 31, 2020.
  • The Commissioner of Official Languages sent an e‑mail to organizations representing official language minority communities across Canada to inform them of the launch of the questionnaire.
  • The Commissioner also sent an official e‑mail to the heads of a number of federal institutions, to the official languages champions of the federal institutions subject to the Official Languages Act and to academics interested in official languages to inform them of the launch of the questionnaire.
  • The Office of the Commissioner conducted a social media campaign on its Facebook and Twitter accounts to promote the questionnaire.
  • The Commissioner’s representatives in the regions also promoted the questionnaire.

  Defining levels of satisfaction

  For the purpose of the presentation, results are shown for respondents who answered "Very satisfied” or "Somewhat satisfied” and are categorized according to the percentage of satisfied respondents, from the lowest to the highest percentages, including an intermediate one. For the purposes of this analysis, the following levels of satisfaction were defined:

  • Lower level of satisfaction: 0 to 60% of respondents who shared their experiences said they were "Very satisfied” or "Somewhat satisfied” with the service provided by Elections Canada in the official language of their choice.
  • Moderate level of satisfaction: 61 to 80% of respondents who shared their experiences said they were "Very satisfied” or "Somewhat satisfied” with the service provided by Elections Canada in the official language of their choice.
  • Higher level of satisfaction: 81 to 100% of respondents who shared their experiences said they were "Very satisfied” or "Somewhat satisfied” with the service provided by Elections Canada in the official language of their choice.
• Demographics

  • 53% of respondents answered that they identified as a member of a French-speaking community outside Quebec.
  • 8% respondents answered that they identified as a member of an English-speaking minority community in Quebec.
  • For the purposes of this analysis, 36% of respondents answered that they did not identify as either a member of a French-speaking community outside Quebec or a member of an English-speaking minority community in Quebec. These respondents are therefore considered to be members of an official language majority group.
  • A very small group of respondents did not know or preferred not to answer this question. It was therefore not included in the analysis.

  Age

  • 50% of respondents were between 35 and 54 years old.
  • 26% were between 18 and 34 years old.
  • 22% were between 55 and 74 years old.
  • A very small percentage of respondents were 75 years old or over, or preferred not to answer.

  Location

  The representation of respondents from across Canada was as follows:

  • 35% from Ontario
  • 15% from Quebec
  • 14% from New Brunswick
  • 14% from Alberta
  • 9% from Nova Scotia
  • 4% from British Columbia
  • 2% from Manitoba
  • 2% from Prince Edward Island
  • 2% from Newfoundland and Labrador
  • 1% from Yukon
  • 1% from Saskatchewan
  • 1% from Northwest Territories
  • <1% from Nunavut
  • <1% from outside Canada
• Description of the voting process

  Pre-arrival

  Information and services received during the election period (period before the vote) about the details of the election.

  This step might include:

  • The voter information card
  • Promotional material, website and publicity
  • Interactions (by telephone, in person and on-line)

  Visual information at the polling station

  This step might include:

  • The presence of a pictogram such as:
    

    
  • Posters and documents
  • Promotional material

  Reception services at the polling station

  This step might include:

  • Active offer of service in both official languages (such as "Hello, bonjour!” or "Next, suivant.”)
  • Interactions with employees

  Additional help at the polling station (registration, accommodation needs, etc.)

  This step might include:

  • Active offer of service in both official languages (such as "Hello, bonjour!” or "Next, suivant.”)
  • Interactions with employees

  Obtaining the ballot

  This step might include:

  • Active offer of service in both official languages (such as "Hello, bonjour!” or "Next, suivant.”)
  • Interactions with employees

  Assistance when depositing the ballot or exiting the polling station

  This step might include:

  • Active offer of service in both official languages (such as "Hello, bonjour!” or "Next, suivant.”)
  • Interactions with employees

Quotes

Many people also shared details about their experience voting in the official language of their choice. Here are a few of them.

Very disappointed not to receive services in my mother tongue (official language of Canada) during a federal election. It’s unbelievable! [translation]

I was pleasantly surprised to receive these services in French at my advance polling station [in my predominantly English-speaking riding]. [translation]

Elections Canada is doing well to ensure we can vote in English in Quebec.

Only the pictogram was visible at the identification verification desk; no one made an effort to greet anyone in a language other than French.

I really appreciated having someone take me through the various voting stages instead of having to ask for service in French every step of the way. It was a clear improvement. [translation]

I was told, "Hello, bonjour.” I responded with a nice, "Bonjour!” which was completely ignored. I was served in English. [translation]

Thank you to all those who completed the questionnaire!