Survey description
This report is based on the Survey of Emergency Preparedness and Resilience in Canada (SEPR). The SEPR is a new survey that was conducted by Statistics Canada for the first time from January to June 2014. Developed in partnership with Defence Research and Development Canada’s Centre for Security Science and Public Safety Canada, and in consultation with experts in the field of emergency management and community resilience, the purpose of the SEPR is to improve the understanding of community resilience across Canada’s provinces. Data were collected on factors that affect how well individuals and communities are able to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from major emergencies or disasters. The main objective of the survey is to provide estimates of emergency preparedness and resilience at the community, provincial and national levels.
Survey methodology
The target population for the SEPR included all persons 15 years of age or older, residing in Canada’s 10 provinces, excluding full-time residents of institutions. This voluntary survey was conducted via the telephone, using a Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) system. Therefore, persons living in households without telephone service (approximately 1%), were also excluded. One individual per household, 15 years of age or older was randomly selected to complete the survey. The overall response rate for the SEPR was 53%. The sample size for the SEPR was 72,953 with a total of 32,171 completed surveys. Respondents in the sample were weighted so that their responses represent the non-institutionalized Canadian population aged 15 years or over, in the 10 provinces.
Data limitations
Data for SEPR were collected only from Canadians living in the 10 provinces, and therefore, results are not representative of the Canadian territories. However, a separate feasibility study was undertaken in 2014 to help determine the appropriate content and best method of collecting information on emergency preparedness and community resilience in the territories. The SEPR also does not include Canadians who do not have a working telephone, or full-time residents of institutions. In addition, certain populations which may be considered vulnerable or in greater need of support in emergency or disaster situations, are not included. Such populations include the homeless, residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
The SEPR is a sample survey. Consequently, due to the nature of sampling surveys, the results produced are subject to sampling error. Somewhat different results might have been obtained if the entire population had been surveyed. This report uses the coefficient of variation (CV) as a measure of the sampling error. Any estimate that has a high CV (over 33.3%) has not been published because the estimate is too unreliable. In these cases, the symbol 'F' is used in place of an estimate in the figures and data tables. An estimate that has a CV between 16.6% and 33.3% should be used with caution and the symbol 'E' is referenced with the estimate. Where descriptive statistics and cross-tabular analysis were used, statistically significant differences were determined using hypothesis tests with a 5% significance level (i.e., the probability of incorrectly concluding that the estimates are different is at most 5%).
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