My name is ____. and I work for Statistics Canada. We are conducting a travel survey between Canada and other countries and we would be interested in knowing about your trip to Canada.

Information from this voluntary survey will be used by the Canadian tourism industry to better understand and serve the travelling public. Your information may also be used by Statistics Canada for other statistical and research purposes.

We would appreciate it if you could spare 10 minutes of your time to answer this questionnaire.

Your answers are collected under the authority of the Statistics Act and will be kept strictly confidential. To enhance the data from this survey, Statistics Canada may combine it with information from other surveys or from administrative sources.

1. In which country do you live?

If Canada, end of survey, thank respondent for their time.

Country:

• Australia
• Brazil
• China
• France
• Germany
• Hong Kong
• India
• Japan
• Mexico
• South Korea
• Taiwan
• United Kingdom
• United States
  • In which state?
  • What is your Zip code?
• Other – specify

2. Are you travelling as a member of a crew or a military or diplomatic corps?

• No
• Yes – End of survey, thank respondent for his/her time.

3. Are you In Transit to/from other countries without passing through Canada Customs?

• No
• Yes – End of survey, thank respondent for his/her time.

4. Where and when did you enter Canada?

Name of Canadian border crossing or Canadian airport

Date

This survey asks questions about spending for this trip, including transport, food, beverages, entertainment and other purchases.

Are you travelling alone? If yes, enter 1 at question 7, then go to question 8.

7. Including yourself, how many people (who travelled together) can you report spending for on this trip?

For this survey, these people are considered to be your travelling party. Please answer for these people for the remainder of the questions.

8. If respondent is travelling alone ask, Can you please tell me what your age is? Please go to question 9

For this next question, we would like to know the age and sex of each member of your travelling party.

Can you now tell me the age and sex of each member of your travelling party?
(If the person is less than one year old, report their age as zero).

9. What was your (your travelling party's) main reason for coming to Canada? Was it for personal reasons, for business and work related reasons or are you in transit to or from another country?

If in transit, mark check box and continue with next question. If reason is personal or business, read respondent the choices under the respective category.

• In Transit to/from other countries and passing through Canada Customs
• For personal reasons
  • Holidays, leisure or recreation
  • To visit friends or relatives
  • To shop
  • Attend a non-business conference, convention or trade show (for a club, association or hobby)
  • To go to school or to study
  • For medical or health reasons
  • For religious reasons
  • Other personal reason – specify
• For business or work related reasons
  • Commuting to work
  • For a meeting, sales or service call
  • Attend a conference, convention or trade show
  • On diplomatic or military orders
  • As a seasonal worker
  • Other business reason – specify

The next series of questions concern the transportation you used to enter Canada

10. For this trip, what means of transport did you use to enter Canada? Check only one.

• Commercial plane
• Private

If respondent did not answer commercial plane, bus, train or boat, Please go to question 12

11.a) What was the name of the transport company?

11.b) What was the flight number (for plane travel only)?

12. Excluding stopovers at airports, where did you come from immediately before entering Canada?

• Country
  • If United States, from which state

13. When entering Canada, did you travel...

• from the United States only
• directly from a country other than the United States
• from another country via the United States

The following questions concern the transportation you are using to leave Canada

14. For your departure flight from Canada, what is:

1. the name of the carrier
2. the flight number

15. Excluding stopovers at airports, where will you go to immediately after leaving Canada?

• Country
  • If United States, from which state

16. When leaving Canada, will you travel...

• to the United States only
• directly to a country other than the United States
• to another country via the United States

We now have some questions on package or inclusive trips

17. Did any part of your trip include a package? A package is any combination of transportation, accommodation and food for which you paid a single price. If no, skip to Question 18.

1. How would you best describe the package or inclusive trip that you took?
   • Was it a cruise
     • Yes. What was the name of the cruise line?
     • No
   • How would you best describe the package trip
     • Escorted tour
     • All inclusive holiday package
     • Adventure holiday
     • Resort package
2. Which of the following items were included in the single price you paid? Check all that apply.
   • Commercial transport to and from Canada (by plane, bus, train, boat)
   • Transportation while in Canada
   • Accomodation
   • Recreation and entertainment
   • Food and/or beverages
   • Other – specify
3. How many nights were covered by the package portion of your trip?
4. How much did the total package for your travelling party cost
   • Is this amount in Canadian dollars? If no, what was the currency type?
     • U.S. Dollar
     • Euro
     • Chinese Yuan
     • Mexican Peso
     • Japanese Yen
     • Australian Dollar
     • British Pound
     • Other currency type – specify
5. Only ask this question if the respondent took a cruise
   How much did you (your travelling party) spend on the ship that was not included in the package cost, including excursions, beverages, tips, pictures, gifts?
   • Is this amount in Canadian dollars? If no, what was the currency type?
     • U.S. Dollar
     • Euro
     • Chinese Yuan
     • Mexican Peso
     • Japanese Yen
     • Australian Dollar
     • British Pound
     • Other currency type – specify

The next few questions are about your fares to enter and leave Canada

18. What were your (your travelling party's) total fares, excluding fares that were part of package costs (reported in Question 17)?

1. Round trip fare
2. One way tickets:
   • Fare to enter Canada
   • Fare to leave Canada
3. What type of fare was used? Check all that apply.
   • First class
   • Business class
   • Economy class
   • Charter
   • Travel reward program

Were these fares in Canadian dollars? If no, what was the currency type?

• U.S. Dollar
• Euro
• Chinese Yuan
• Mexican Peso
• Japanese Yen
• Australian Dollar
• British Pound
• Other currency type – specify

The following questions relate to your travels while in Canada

19. For this trip, what means of transportation did you (your travelling party) use while in Canada? Check all that apply.

• Commercial planes
• Private

20. While in Canada, what place(s) did you (your travelling party) visit?

Include all places visited in which you stayed overnight as well as the main places that you visited for a same-day trip.

• Name of city/town visited and province or territory (please print)
• Number of nights (put "0" for same-day visit)
• Where did you (your travelling party) stay? Check all that apply.
  • Hotel
  • Motel
  • Home of friends or relatives
  • Camp or trailer park
  • Cottage or cabin
  • Other

21. Does anyone in your travelling party own any of the accommodations used on this trip (include time shares)?

• Yes
• No

The next few questions are about your spending while in Canada

For this series of questions, we would like you to recall the total spending while in Canada (for all persons in your travelling party).

22. What was your total spending while in Canada in each of the following categories? Please exclude package costs already reported and commercial transport costs to enter and leave Canada.

• Accommodation
• Transportation while in Canada (include gasoline, rented car, intercity plane, bus, train, boat, local bus and taxi)
• Food and beverages (include restaurants)
• Recreation and entertainment
• Clothes and gifts
• Other – specify

Were these costs in Canadian dollars? If no, what was the currency type?

• U.S. Dollar
• Euro
• Chinese Yuan
• Mexican Peso
• Japanese Yen
• Australian Dollar
• British Pound
• Other currency type – specify

23. Was any part of your trip paid for by...

• Frequent Flyer points or other travel rewards programs
• An incentive travel program from your employer
• Not applicable

24. What percentage of total spending, including commercial fares, was paid...

• personally (including family and friends)?
• by business?
• by government?

The following questions are for travellers who left Canada and then returned

25. After your first arrival in Canada, did you (your travelling party), at any time during this trip, leave Canada, then return?

• Yes, How many times?
  • If Yes, ask respondent to report place(s) and date(s) of exit and the place(s) of re-entry, the number of nights spent outside Canada and the country(ies) visited:
    • Place of exit from Canada (Canadian border crossing or airport)
    • Date of exit
    • Place of re-entry to Canada (Canadian border crossing or airport)
    • Number of nights
    • Country visited
• No, Please go to question 26

26. Was this your first visit to Canada?

• Yes
• No
  • If no, how many times, including this trip, have you visited Canada for one or more nights, in the last 5 years?

The final questions ask about your activities while in Canada

27. I am now going to read a list of activities. Please let me know if you (your travelling party) participated in these activities while in Canada. Check all that apply.

• Visit friends or family (include wedding, anniversary, graduation, family reunion)
• Go to a casino
• Visit a theme or amusement park
• Shop
• Attend an aboriginal event (pow wow, performance, other)
• Sightsee
• Go to the movies
• Visit a museum or art gallery
• Go to restaurant, bar or club
• Visit an historic site
• Go wildlife viewing or bird watching
• Visit a zoo or aquarium
• Visit a national or provincial nature park
• Attend a sports event as a spectator
• Go for medical or other health treatment
• Attend a festival or fair
• Attend a business meeting, conference or seminar
• Attend a performance such as a play or concert
• Participate in sports or outdoor activities
  • Play individual or team sports
  • Use all terrain vehicle (ATV, quad, 4 x 4)
  • Boating
  • Canoeing or kayaking
  • Camping
  • Hiking or backpacking
  • Fishing
  • Go to a beach
  • Hunting
  • Golfing
  • Cycling
  • Snowmobiling
  • Downhill skiing or snowboarding
  • Cross-country skiing or snowshoeing
  • Other – specify

Comments

Consultation objectives

In January and February 2018, Statistics Canada conducted its annual website evaluation by collecting feedback from visitors on a number of topics, including:

• satisfaction
• success in task completion

Methodology

A pop-up intercept was used from January 8 to February 2, 2018, to invite website users to complete a short questionnaire. In total, 10,027 visitors participated in the consultation.

Respondent profile

In order to better understand our respondents' profile, a few demographic questions (e.g., occupational profile, statistical proficiency, frequency of visits, etc.) were included in the short questionnaire.

When asked their occupational profile, 53% of respondents indicated that they were employed; 24% said they were students; and the remainder was a mix of self-employed (8%), retired (8%), unemployed (4%) and not in the workforce (2%).

Of those employed, almost half (47%) were from the business/private sector, approximately one third (34%) worked in government and the remainder were from non-governmental organizations (11%) and other sectors (8%).

Respondents were also asked how they would define their statistical proficiency: 25% said they had a high proficiency (can manipulate datasets and do univariate or multivariate analysis); 59% said medium (can analyze and interpret data tables and turn them into useable information); 13% said low (can calculate a percentage and can display in a graph); and 3% indicated that they have no statistical proficiency at all.

Additionally, respondents were asked about the frequency of their visits to the website: 33% were frequent visitors (visited the website six or more times in the last six months) and 67% were infrequent visitors (visited the website fewer than six times in the last six months).

Results

Overall satisfaction

In 2018, 73% of respondents expressed overall satisfaction with the Statistics Canada website, unchanged from 2017.

Information sought

The consultation revealed that 66% of visitors were looking for data and data tables on a specific topic; 10% searched for studies, articles or publications on a specific topic; and 24% were looking for a variety of things, such as surveys to complete, reference information, and standard classifications.

Task completion success

Like the 2017 results, those from 2018 show that more than three quarters (76%) of respondents completed their task successfully.

Among successful respondents, 79% took less than 6 minutes to find the information they were seeking and 79% reported that finding information was easy.

Frequent visitors indicated a higher success rate in completing their tasks (83%) than infrequent visitors (73%).

Respondents in the provincial (78%) and federal (79%) government sectors had the most success in finding information.

Among all visitors, the success level was highest for respondents looking for information in The Daily, at 93%.

How to get involved

This consultation is now closed, but individuals who wish to obtain more information or to take part in a future consultation project should contact Statistics Canada by sending an email to statcan.consultations-consultations.statcan@statcan.gc.ca.

Please note that Statistics Canada selects participants for each consultation to ensure feedback is sought from a representative sample of the target population. Not all applicants will be asked to participate in a given consultation.

Statistics Canada is committed to respecting the privacy of consultation participants. All personal information created, held or collected by the agency is kept strictly confidential; it is protected by the Privacy Act and the Statistics Act.

For more information on Statistics Canada's privacy policies, please consult the Privacy notice.

Statistics Canada thanks participants for their contribution to this consultation. Their insights guide the agency's web development and ensure that the final products meet users' needs.

These online lectures present a compendium of courses and training, and represent the high level of expertise required to make a statistical agency function.