ISAC is launching a survey on social assistance today, aimed at gathering data and stories from individuals who are receiving or who have recently received provincial social assistance (OW and ODSP specifically.)
We intend to use the info gathered from the survey to support our advocacy for raising social assistance rates and improving the social assistance system overall.
The responses are anonymous, and they will help form the basis of a report on social assistance that will be used to advocate for better policies and programs.
Individuals who complete the survey will have a chance to win one of four $100 gift cards. To be entered into the draw, they will have to leave their contact info (email address or phone number) at the end of the survey. Winners will be randomly chosen in a draw that will happen once the survey period closes.
The survey period officially opens today, October 21, and it was going to close on November 24, but we have extended the deadline to November 30, 2024.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and Answers:
Q: I used to receive income from OW or ODSP but I don’t receive income from OW or ODSP any more. Can I still fill out the survey?
A: YES! We want to hear from you too.
Q: I’m not on social assistance, but I know someone who is. Can I fill it out for them?
A: We encourage you to share the link directly with them instead of filling it out on their behalf. We want to hear directly from people receiving social assistance, in their own words.
Q: I want to answer the questions in the survey but I’m having a difficult time.
A: ISAC is also holding online focus groups where we will ask the same questions to the attendees. If you would like to join an online focus group instead of filling out a survey, please contact our office and we will try to accommodate your request. You will need access to a phone to dial in, or access to an internet connection to join by video.
Q: Existe-t-il une version française ?
R: Malheureusement, l’enquête est rédigée uniquement en anglais. Si vous ne pouvez pas traduire automatiquement le sondage via votre navigateur Web, vous pouvez envoyer des commentaires sur votre expérience de l’aide sociale directement à notre adresse électronique : info@isac.clcj.ca.
Q: I work for an organization that works with people receiving social assistance. I would like to promote the survey to our clients. What’s the best way to promote the survey?
A: We would love your help to promote the survey! You can help by doing the following things:
- Download and print the poster at this link, and put it up in public areas of your office where clients will see it.
- Promote the survey on your social media channels. Follow us on Twitter and re-post our posts.
- Include the info and the direct link to the survey in any newsletters you send out between now and November *30, 2024.
Q: I am nervous about leaving my contact info even though I want to be entered into the draw to win a gift card. How are you managing the contact info that is being collected through this survey?
A: We understand that people may be worried or fearful about sharing their stories for a variety of reasons. We take this worry very seriously and will take the following steps to protect the privacy of survey respondents:
- The contact info we collect is only to be used for two purposes: to reach people if they win the draw or to follow up with more questions only if they have given us specific permission to do so – this is optional and not required to finish the survey or enter the draw.
- All responses (including contact info) will be downloaded and saved to ISAC’s secure, internal computer system.
- Once saved to our system, contact info will be removed from the main data file and saved in a completely different file with no connection to the survey responses. We will keep track of whether the contact info is to be used only for the draw, or if we also have permission to save it for follow-up later.
- Only the specific ISAC staff members who are running the survey will have access to the survey data.
- The draw will happen in the two weeks following the end of the survey period.
- We will make 3-4 attempts at contacting each winner, and if we can’t reach them, we will pick another winner.
- Once we have contacted the winners, we will destroy / delete all contact info that was shared solely for the purpose of being entered into the draw.
- If you enter the draw but do not hear from us by the end of December, you should assume you did not win the draw.
- ISAC will not contact individuals about the draw after December. If you are worried or suspicious, you can call our main office phone number or email our main inbox to verify that you were contacted by us.
- If we have been given specific permission to keep contact info so we can follow up with more questions, we will save that contact info in a separate document from the survey answers and it will not be connected to the answers given in the survey. We will save this contact info for up to two years.
- If a survey respondent gives us permission to follow-up with more questions after the study is done, but they change their mind and don’t want to be contacted anymore, they can tell us at any point and we’ll delete their contact info.
In summary: the survey info including contact info is only being looked at by a limited number of ISAC staff, contact info is being separated from survey responses, the survey is password-protected, the draw will be finished by the end of December, and we will not keep people’s contact info forever even if they give us permission to follow up with them.
Thank you for contributing to our research – together we can push for positive changes to social assistance!