Elections Canada paid researchers more than $84,000 for personality profiles of federal voters, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. .“The intention behind creating personas is so that Elections Canada can clearly envision who the agency is designing experiences for and understand electors’ personalities, motivations and goals,” said the Monday report. .Findings came from focus groups and interviews conducted by Environics Research..Elections Canada paid Environics $84,629 for the study, which included questionnaires with target groups such as single parents, Western Métis people, and snowbirds. Pollsters did not ask participants for the party they supported in the 2021 Canadian election. .Researchers labelled voters among nine personalities, which were “structured around their goals, motivations, and barriers.”.The nine personalities included "change-makers", which the report said were immigrants who vote in every election and “feel impatience toward people who express strong political opinions, yet do not vote.” Canadian-born parents were included among change-makers. .The report said "champions" are voters over 45 who are determined, outspoken, and passionate. It said champions “feel excited and hopeful to elect a candidate who shares their ideals for the future.”.The report said "followers" are young Canadians under 25 rated as inattentive and uninformed “if it wasn’t for social media feeds.” Followers do not vote except if bothered by friends, it said. ."Individualists," said the report, are Canadians of all ages who study party platforms and express their opinions on social media. It said individualists “consider voting to be a requirement of being Canadian.” .The report said "idealists" are people under 34 who value democracy. Idealists care about voting and support it moving online. ."Planners" are busy women under 45 who use the internet for all of their research. Researchers said planners see voting as “a necessary civic duty,” but they do not see themselves as political. ."Skeptics" are Canadians of all ages who follow the news, but are “guided by a general distrust in the electoral system.” Skeptics are convinced from experience policies from the winning party are not what should be enacted. ."Thinkers" come in all ages, but are unified by political anxiety. Thinkers “consider how to strategically make their choice at the ballot box so it will contribute to the best result for Canada.” ."Traditionalists" are Canadians over 65 who live outside major cities and are patriotic. Traditionalists “feel strongly it is their duty as a Canadian citizen to vote” and are more likely to vote on election day as opposed to attending advance polls..Researchers did not guess the personality representing the largest portion of voters. Elections Canada said a total 17.2 million out of 27.5 million voters cast ballots in the last election. .Elections Canada Chief Electoral Officer Stephane Perreault said it was “unfortunate” a record number of Canadians had their votes uncounted in the 2021 election. .READ MORE: Elections Canada to track uncounted ballots.“We’ve never had such a large scale vote-by-mail operation,” said Perreault. .“We are looking at every angle to see how it can be improved in the future.”
Elections Canada paid researchers more than $84,000 for personality profiles of federal voters, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. .“The intention behind creating personas is so that Elections Canada can clearly envision who the agency is designing experiences for and understand electors’ personalities, motivations and goals,” said the Monday report. .Findings came from focus groups and interviews conducted by Environics Research..Elections Canada paid Environics $84,629 for the study, which included questionnaires with target groups such as single parents, Western Métis people, and snowbirds. Pollsters did not ask participants for the party they supported in the 2021 Canadian election. .Researchers labelled voters among nine personalities, which were “structured around their goals, motivations, and barriers.”.The nine personalities included "change-makers", which the report said were immigrants who vote in every election and “feel impatience toward people who express strong political opinions, yet do not vote.” Canadian-born parents were included among change-makers. .The report said "champions" are voters over 45 who are determined, outspoken, and passionate. It said champions “feel excited and hopeful to elect a candidate who shares their ideals for the future.”.The report said "followers" are young Canadians under 25 rated as inattentive and uninformed “if it wasn’t for social media feeds.” Followers do not vote except if bothered by friends, it said. ."Individualists," said the report, are Canadians of all ages who study party platforms and express their opinions on social media. It said individualists “consider voting to be a requirement of being Canadian.” .The report said "idealists" are people under 34 who value democracy. Idealists care about voting and support it moving online. ."Planners" are busy women under 45 who use the internet for all of their research. Researchers said planners see voting as “a necessary civic duty,” but they do not see themselves as political. ."Skeptics" are Canadians of all ages who follow the news, but are “guided by a general distrust in the electoral system.” Skeptics are convinced from experience policies from the winning party are not what should be enacted. ."Thinkers" come in all ages, but are unified by political anxiety. Thinkers “consider how to strategically make their choice at the ballot box so it will contribute to the best result for Canada.” ."Traditionalists" are Canadians over 65 who live outside major cities and are patriotic. Traditionalists “feel strongly it is their duty as a Canadian citizen to vote” and are more likely to vote on election day as opposed to attending advance polls..Researchers did not guess the personality representing the largest portion of voters. Elections Canada said a total 17.2 million out of 27.5 million voters cast ballots in the last election. .Elections Canada Chief Electoral Officer Stephane Perreault said it was “unfortunate” a record number of Canadians had their votes uncounted in the 2021 election. .READ MORE: Elections Canada to track uncounted ballots.“We’ve never had such a large scale vote-by-mail operation,” said Perreault. .“We are looking at every angle to see how it can be improved in the future.”