Coquitlam is set to change the way it reaches out to residents to see how satisfied they are with civic programs and services.
On Monday (March 6), city staff said they'll contact residents every two years — rather than annually — through an Ipsos survey to avoid "engagement fatigue."
And, as more people have cellphones, they'll now invite residents randomly by mail to fill out an online poll, as well as call residents on their landlines to conduct the statistically valid survey.
City staff say using cellphones for the Ipsos survey would be too costly.
Residents invited to the online questionnaire will be mailed a unique code to take part; respondents can also call Ipsos directly if they don't want to use a computer.
Still, the mailed-out invite typically yields a 10 per cent response rate, according to other Lower Mainland jurisdictions using Ipsos for their customer satisfaction surveys, said Graham Stuart, Coquitlam's director of corporate planning.
Conducted each year in Coquitlam since 2003, the Ipsos poll gauges community trends and the public’s perceptions and attitudes about the city's performance on such issues as emergency protection, housing and roads.
"The value of this is finding the issues that percolate in the community," Stuart said at the committee-in-council meeting.
"This is important data that we collect," Coun. Craig Hodge added. "It is helpful to see the change in trends."
The cost to Coquitlam taxpayers for administrating the poll will jump from $27,000 a year to $40,000 every two years — a savings of $14,000, according to a report.
In 2021, the spring Ipsos survey drew nearly 500 respondents of which 96 per cent said they were satisfied with the city services and 89 per cent said the municipality offered good value for their tax dollars.
The 2021 findings also showed the COVID-19 pandemic had little effect on the public's sentiment of city hall; however, 59 per cent of respondents said the pandemic affected their mental health.
