THUNDER BAY – The City of Thunder Bay is launching its first citizen satisfaction survey since 2019, after a one-year pandemic delay.
The results of the biannual survey will be released in May, in the lead-up to the municipal election on Oct. 24.
Results from the last survey in 2019 indicated a significant decline in residents’ satisfaction with city services and the local quality of life.
Public opinion research company Ipsos will conduct a randomized phone survey of 500 residents between April 1 and 14, with results weighted by age and gender to better reflect the city’s demographic makeup.
The survey will also be available online on the city’s Get Involved website from April 7 to 23.
The survey addresses a range of topics, from the most important issues facing the community, quality of life, satisfaction with and importance of city services, experiences of racism and discrimination, and more.
The questions remain broad and consistent over time to clearly reflect trends.
Results will be published online and presented to city council in May. City staff say the survey plays a key role in city decision-making, and in particular will inform the city’s next strategic plan in 2023.
“The [survey] really helps to track results over a period of time, so we can identify changes and trends,” said Tracie Smith, director of strategic initiatives and engagement.
“Even more importantly, it helps city council as well as administration identify priorities, plan for the future, plan budgeting. So it’s really key that people participate when the phone rings.”
The telephone survey results are considered statistically valid, and are accurate within 4.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, the city said.
In 2019, about 60 per cent of respondents were reached by landline, and 40 per cent by cell phone. Smith said the city may have to re-evaluate that mix going forward.
“It’d be interesting to examine the results and what demographics we’re hitting with the landline versus the cell phone samples,” she said. “It may be something we look at to see if we need to change the strategy in order to [get results] that are representative of the makeup of our community.”
The results will indicate whether a trend of declining citizen satisfaction identified in 2019 has continued during the pandemic.
Though 82 per cent of respondents still rated the city’s quality of life as good or very good in 2019, that was the lowest level since the first satisfaction survey in 2009, down from a high of 92 per cent in 2013.
Crime and community safety were highlighted as emerging issues of concern, flagged as the most important issue facing the city by respondents. Thunder Bay was viewed as a relatively safe city by 54 per cent, compared to an average of nearly 70 per cent over the four previous surveys.
Only six in 10 residents said they felt safe walking in their neighbourhoods after dark.
Satisfaction with the Thunder Bay Police Service dropped by six per cent from 2017, while still high at 84 per cent.
Satisfaction with city services in general decreased, with 81 per cent somewhat or very satisfied, the lowest since 2009 and continuing a downward trend from 89 per cent in 2013.
The largest declines involved police, bylaw enforcement, snow removal, and road maintenance.
Road maintenance was the only service with below 50 per cent satisfaction, at just 25 per cent, down from 53 per cent in 2015.
After delaying the survey due to COVID-19 last year, the city will return to holding the surveys every two years, with the next one set for 2024.
