Canadian Nature Survey 2012

The 2012 Canadian Nature Survey is part of a series of national surveys on the importance of nature to Canadians. The purpose of the survey is to provide reliable, current information about Canadians’ awareness of nature related concepts, their decisions related to nature, and their involvement in nature-based activities. The 2012 edition updates and expands on information provided by Canadians in the 1996 Survey on the Importance of Nature to Canadians, and the 1981, 1987, and 1991 surveys on the Importance of Wildlife to Canadians. The 2012 Canadian Nature Survey was developed through active collaboration between the federal government and all 13 provincial and territorial governments.

During 2012 and 2013 the survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of approximately 15,000 Canadian adults and a selection of nearly 9,000 Web panelists. Data collection consisted of: 1) A mail survey with a Web response option administered to a random sample of residential addresses in Canada stratified by province and territory (excluding Nunavut) and urban versus rural location; 2) A Web survey administered to Web panelists who were recruited to complete the survey by a third party; 3) An opt-in supplement in the Northwest Territories where local Department of Environment and Natural Resources officials: a) contacted a small number of potential respondents, provided an electronic version of the survey, and asked for their participation; and b) provided hard copy versions of the survey at Department offices; 4) An opt-in community-based survey in Nunavut involving door-to-door administration, using paper-based data collection instruments. The survey was offered in English, French, and Inuktitut (in Nunavut).

You are encouraged to read the report on the results of the 2012 Canadian Nature Survey, which can be downloaded free of charge from www.biodivcanada.ca. In particular, please review the section entitled Survey Methods which provides detailed descriptions of the sampling approach, the numbers of respondents by geographic and demographic category, the data collection process, the weighting applied to the different samples, and advice on using the data for further analysis. The 2012 Canadian Nature Survey questionnaire is provided as a separate file and is reproduced in the above report in Appendix B: Survey Instrument.

The dataset provided is a public use microdata file. Please review the data user's guide provided which contains information on applying weights to the records in the dataset, comparison with previously published results, and the disclosure control strategy applied to the data.