Surveys tell you what your customers, members or staff actually think. For Canadian organizations, the challenge is to reach a bilingual, geographically spread audience and to handle their answers in line with PIPEDA and, in Quebec, Law 25. Mailpro’s survey builder is built for exactly that.
Common uses in Canada
- Customer satisfaction: after a purchase, stay or service call. See our customer satisfaction survey tools.
- Market research: test a product idea in Ontario before launching in the West, or compare preferences between English and French markets.
- Member and donor feedback: associations and charities checking priorities before an AGM or budget cycle.
- Employee engagement: anonymous pulse surveys for teams spread across provinces.
- Events: post-conference or post-festival feedback while the experience is fresh.
Two languages, one set of results
Create the survey in English, duplicate it in French, and keep question order identical so you can compare results across languages. Record the language as a variable. Differences between English and French respondents are often among the most useful findings for a national brand.
Smarter questionnaires
Use branching logic to skip questions that don’t apply: a respondent in British Columbia doesn’t need to answer a question about a Quebec-only program. Shorter surveys get higher completion rates.
Reaching respondents
You can share a survey by email campaign, link, QR code or website embed. When you invite contacts by email, remember that a survey invitation with a promotional angle may count as a commercial electronic message under CASL, so send it to contacts with consent and include your identification and unsubscribe link. Schedule invitations by time zone so no region receives them in the middle of the night.
Results as they arrive
Live survey statistics show charts as responses come in. Filter by language, province or customer segment, then use segmentation to follow up: thank promoters, and contact dissatisfied customers personally.
Incentives and contests
A prize draw can lift response rates, but contests in Canada come with their own rules. Under the Criminal Code, contests commonly include a skill-testing question so they are not treated as illegal lotteries, and official rules should state the odds, the prize value and how to enter without purchase. Contests open to Quebec residents can carry additional requirements. If in doubt, a small guaranteed thank-you, such as a discount code for every respondent, is simpler to run.
Survey ideas by sector
- Restaurants: a two-question survey after a visit, or menu feedback before a seasonal change. See surveys for restaurants.
- Education: course evaluations and parent feedback at the end of each term.
- Non-profits: member priorities before an annual general meeting.
- Retail: product feedback after delivery, including questions on shipping times to rural or northern addresses.
Privacy by design
Only ask for personal information you need, say how answers will be used, and offer anonymous options for sensitive topics. Survey data is stored in Switzerland, outside US jurisdiction, encrypted with TLS 1.3 and never sold or rented. That supports your PIPEDA accountability and your Law 25 assessment for Quebec respondents; if you also survey people in Europe, the GDPR applies to them.
Ready to write your questionnaire? Follow our guide on how to create an online survey in Canada.