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Media Satisfaction with Elections Canada Services


Contact with Elections Canada during the Federal Election

The interviews also consisted of questions designed to asses the experience of contact with Elections Canada.

During the recent federal election, nearly all participants (95%) contacted Elections Canada to get information to prepare for their stories. Among those journalists many consulted the Elections Canada website (95%) and many called the Elections Canada 1-800 Media Line (85%). Journalists claimed to use the website first to look for information and if they could not find what they were looking for, they then consulted the media line.

Frequency of contact with Elections Canada varied among participants. On average, journalists contacted Elections Canada during the federal election 4 times. However, the frequency of contact during the election ranged from 1 time to 30 times.

When asked about the experience with this contact, nearly all the journalists surveyed reported a positive experience in dealing with Elections Canada during the past federal election. Many commented on the timeliness of the service provided and that it was generally an easy and pleasant experience. Nearly all journalists (86%) claimed that they received a response to their Elections Canada requests within the same day.

Main reasons for dissatisfaction among the small percentage of journalists who expressed negative comments included representatives failing to provide information specific to certain regions

Approximately one in five (20%) could recall a time in which Elections Canada initiated contact with them without any request on their part.

In terms of contacting a media representative from Elections Canada, most journalists claimed this to be fairly simple and easy. About two in five (38%) reported that contacting a media representative was very easy.