Research Program

Commencing our social values research program in Canada and around the globe in 1983, Environics became the first firm to bring social values measurement to Canada. The Environics Research Social Values measurement system measures the prevalence, growth, and decline of social values across society, as well as the concentration of values in particular social groups, such as youth or city-dwellers. Our annual surveys of thousands of Canadians let us measure and track social change over time. Since 1983, we’ve built the largest database of social values trends in North America, encompassing over 100 distinct constructs.

Responding to growing public and government interest in environmental and natural resource issues, Environics launched the Environmental Barometer. This ongoing public opinion survey of Canadians has covered topics ranging from environmental regulation to pipeline construction.

We extended the Environics Research Social Values measurement system into the United States, developing the capacity to not only study American social change in its own right but to compare the United States to other societies, including Canada.

Introduced as part of the development of our Financial Services practice area, the Advisor Perception Study is the most comprehensive tool of its kind in Canada. Environics acquired the study in 1997 from its creator Dan Richards, in order to provide subscribers with an insider’s perspective of current trends and emerging forecasts for the future of the industry.

A key platform in our Health and Wellness practice area, MDConnect™ was created by Environics Research in partnership with IQVIA, a nationally respected provider of healthcare data, software, research and consulting services. The partnership supports a unique segmentation tool that combines Environics’ robust values-based segmentation model with physician data from IQVIA.

Introduced to extend the value our Health and Wellness practice delivers to clients, PatientConnect™ is a values-based segmentation tool that provides organizations with a deeper understanding of the attitudes and behaviours that drive patients’ decision-making. The tool groups patients into five distinct groups based on opinion and perceptual data gathered over time, and helps leaders understand the values orientations that shape patients’ responses to information, advice and offerings.

The Focus Canada research program moved from Environics Research to the Environics Institute, where it continues to explore issues of public importance, ranging from trust in institutions to migration and multiculturalism. The Focus Canada database contains some of the richest and longest-running public opinion tracking data, enabling thoughtful analysis of changes in Canadian society over time.