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July 15, 2002
Canadians' perceptions of personal security at odds with rosier data
OTTAWA —Canadians' personal security, based on hard data, improved for the third year in a row according to a report released today by the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD). But the fourth annual Personal Security Index (PSI) reveals a distinct gap between Canadians' perceptions of their financial and health security and personal safety and the "reality." Put simply, it seems Canadians feel less secure than they did in previous years despite improving economic and health data.
The PSI is an innovative tool that compares hard data on the economy, health and crime (The Data Index) with polling information on how Canadians perceive they are faring in these three areas (The Perception Index).
In this year's report, the data index revealed definite improvements in Canadians' economic security and modest gains in their health security when compared to previous years. (Statistics for physical safety remained basically unchanged). But the objective indicators did not jibe with Canadians' perceptions, which moved in the opposite direction.
"If we define personal security as a state of mind, then we are moving in the wrong direction," said Sylvain Schetagne, senior research associate for the CCSD and one of the authors of the PSI report. "There could be many reasons for why Canadians are feeling less secure than in the past, certainly access to health care and possible job loss are two dominant concerns."
Most notably, B.C. residents felt substantially less confident about their personal security. The province was the only region where there was greater concern over potential job losses in 2001 than there was in 2000. B.C. residents also reported a sharp drop in confidence over their employability and their access to the health care system.
The report also suggests that the tragic events of September 11th did not significantly shake Canadians' sense of their personal security. "Canadians reported that the terrorist attacks had only a marginal impact on their financial, health and physical security – findings that surprised us given the fall-out on so many fronts from that event," said Marcel Lauzière, President of the Canadian Council on Social Development.
Albertans stand out for their confident outlook in this year's PSI. Alberta was one of only two regions - the other being the Atlantic Provinces - where residents' perceptions of their economic security rose alongside the positive objective data.
Among Canadians, Quebec residents once again expressed the greatest concern about violent crime despite the fact that Quebec posted the lowest violent crime rate in Canada in 2000.
The PSI was calculated by taking 1998 - the year the survey began - as the base year and setting the indexes to equal 100.00 points for that year. The Data Index rose from 113.88 in 2000 to 116.83 in 2001. Meanwhile, the Perception Index dropped from 103.43 in 2000 to 101.37 in 2001.
National highlights:
Economic security: rose in 2001 according to the objective data, which improved almost across the board. But that did not sway Canadians' perceptions. In fact, Canadians felt less secure economically in 2001 than they have in previous years.
Health Security: also improved in 2001 in terms of the hard data indicators. But here again, Canadians saw things differently. Their perceptions of health security fell for the second year in a row. Canadians confidence in their ability to access the health care system is clearly eroding.
Physical safety: essentially remained flat in 2001 according to the hard data as violent crime rates rose and property crime rates fell. However, perceptions of physical safety declined slightly due to increased concerns about violent crime.
[The Personal Security Index (PSI) was developed in collaboration with the Insurance Bureau of Canada, Health Canada, the Canadian Labour Congress and Canadian Heritage along with the support of Human Resources Development Canada. EKOS Research Associates Inc. conducted the national survey for the PSI 2002.]
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Personal Security Index 2002 - Related Material
Canadian Council on Social Development,
190 O'Connor Street, Suite 100,
Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 2R3
Tel: (613) 236-8977, Fax: (613) 236-2750, Web: www.ccsd.ca, Email: council@ccsd.ca
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