Inroads: The Canadian Journal of Public Opinion
Issue No. 27   Summer/Fall 2010

In April, Environics Institute released an ambitious study of urban Aboriginals across Canada, in which I played a small role as one of 20 members of the advisory circle. Widely quoted in the national media in the days that followed release was this two-sentence summary by the study’s project manager, Ginger Gosnell-Myers:

“When urban Aboriginal peoples are researched, it’s often about problems like homelessness and sexual exploitation. There are hundreds of thousands of us living in cities, and there are a lot of positive things happening in our communities; it’s not all crises.”

That sums it up nicely. She is not saying that urban Aboriginals have abandoned their heritage: overall, 77 per cent said they are “very proud” to be Aboriginal. But 71 per cent consider the city in which they live to be “home,” and 65 per cent like living in their city “a lot.” Only 22 per cent plan to go back to their “community of origin” – as opposed to 50 per cent who intend to stay; the remainder have yet to decide.  Read more »

On May 31st, the Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study received the Public Policy Impact Award by the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA), at its annual conference in Toronto. The Public Policy Impact Award was created in 2009, and is awarded each year to a research project in the broader public sector that has had a demonstrable impact public policy impact.

The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA) is a Canadian not-for-profit association representing all aspects of the market intelligence and survey research industry, including social research, competitive intelligence, data mining, insight, and knowledge management. Members include over 2,000 practitioners, small to large research houses, and the many buyers of research services, such as financial institutions, major retailers, insurance companies and manufacturers. The industry accounts for almost three quarters of a billion dollars in market research activities annually. For more information see www.mria-arim.ca