About EKOS Politics

We launched this website in order to showcase our election research, and our suite of polling technologies including Probit and IVR. We will be updating this site frequently with new polls, analysis and insight into Canadian politics. EKOS's experience, knowledge and sophisticated research designs have contributed positively to many previous elections.

Other EKOS Products

In addition to current political analysis, EKOS also makes available to the public general research of interest, including research in evaluation, general public domain research, as well as a full history of EKOS press releases.

Media Inquires

For media inquires, please contact: Frank Graves President EKOS Research Associates t: 613.235-7215 [email protected]

Advances in Creating More Scientifically Accurate and Practical Probability

The following presentation was delivered by Frank Graves to CIPHER 2023 conference, hosted by the Center for Economic and Social Research on March 9, 2023. [More...]

A Brief Post-Mortem on Election 44

[Ottawa – September 21, 2021] After an exciting campaign, the 44th Canadian general election has come to a close. We at EKOS believe we did a very good job in charting the direction of what was one of the tightest and most unpredictable campaigns in recent memory. In the end, we correctly predicted that the Liberals would retain power (we noted that a minority government was the most probable scenario), although we acknowledge that our final estimate of Conservative Party and People’s Party support fell well outside the margin of error. [More...]

New Brunswick polling retrospective

[Ottawa – September 16, 2020] In our New Brunswick provincial poll release last Saturday evening, prior to Monday’s provincial election, we correctly stated that the Progressive Conservatives were on track to winning the most seats, and that they were “on the cusp of a majority”. This was based on our poll, which suggested the Tories and the Liberals were tied at 32 points each. In reality, the Tories did much better than this; they won 39% of the popular vote, five points ahead of the Liberals. [More...]

Conservative Fortunes Waning as Liberal Fortunes Rise in Nearly Deadlocked Race

The political landscape is now clearly shifting in favour of the Liberals and to the detriment of the Conservatives. The Scheer-led Conservatives have seen their 11-point lead from just a month ago shrink to a narrow 2.7-point lead as of last night. [More...]

Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC): Update Statement

TORONTO, November 27, 2018—Key decisions were made at a November 13 Board Meeting of the Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC) held at the Toronto offices of Ipsos Canada.

The organization continues to build up, as the nine founding CRIC Board Members voted to approve articles of incorporation, bylaws and other policies. Steps will be taken immediately to incorporate CRIC as a non-profit organization, and key direction was taken regarding important industry programs such as standards and advocacy, and the CMRP designation. [More...]

Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC)

Momentum continues to build for the Canadian Research Insights Council (“CRIC”), the new industry association established to represent market and survey research agencies and industry partners.

Since its inaugural meeting on August 30, members of the Interim Board have taken a number of steps to formalize the association. The new name is meant to recognize both traditional and emerging research methodologies, as well as the constantly evolving industry landscape.

The decision to launch CRIC follows the demise of MRIA in July, which left a major void in the industry. The Interim Board is aiming to hold its first open board meeting in Q1 of 2019. [More...]

Establishment of a New Industry Association for Research Agencies

On August 30, the CEOs of some of Canada’s largest market and survey research firms held the inaugural meeting of a new industry association for market and survey research agencies and industry partners.

The leadership of Environics Research, Ipsos Canada, Leger, Nanos Research, EKOS Research Associates, Corporate Research Associates, CRC Research and Canada Viewpoint attended a planning meeting in Ottawa, where the decision was made to immediately establish the new association.

The association’s primary mandate will be to act as the standard-bearer for quality research and world-leading industry standards, and ensuring that member firms conduct research that is rooted in a foundation of rigorous and ethical data collection. Its scope will include advocacy on regulatory and legislative matters, the continuation of the Survey Registration System, and the upholding of the Canadian Charter of Respondent Rights. [More...]

Joint Statement by the Heads of Canada’s Largest Market and Survey Research Firms in Reaction to the Winding-down of the Market and Survey Research Association (MRIA)

Earlier this morning, the CEOs of some of Canada’s largest market and survey research firms held a conference call to discuss the statement issued today by the Market and Survey Research Association (MRIA) that the organization was ceasing operations.

Participants on the call included the leadership of Environics Research, Leger Analytics, Leger 360, Nanos Research, EKOS Research Associates, Corporate Research Associates and CRC Research. The joint statement below captures their initial reaction. Other industry leaders will be included in future discussions about the vital need to continue to uphold industry standards and certification practices in the absence of the MRIA. [More...]

Public Transit Seen as Top Priority in the GTHA

BIG BOLD CHANGES CAN FIX A SYSTEM OFTEN SEEN AS INCONVENIENT; MOST DOUBT GOVERNMENTS PUT THE NEEDS OF PEOPLE AHEAD OF POLITICS; MOST EXPECT PUBLIC TRANSIT WORKERS TO BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION

[Ottawa – June 28, 2016] EKOS Research Associates, on behalf of ATU Canada, has completed a scientific survey of n=2,045 adults in the GTHA to provide an essential benchmark on how the public views the current state of public transit in the region and what they expect in the years ahead.

Remarkably, public transit stands at the pinnacle of issues of public concern… [More...]

CRTC asked to clarify whether survey research is telemarketing

September 29, 2014 (Ottawa) Probit Inc., one of Canada’s leading survey research companies, is asking the CRTC to explain why it believes that professional researchers who survey Canadians are actually telemarketers. On September 10 the CRTC demanded extensive information about every telephone call made by Probit from October 2012 and September 2012, and in the same letter told Probit that it had already decided that Probit was telemarketing by offering people prizes to encourage them to participate in surveys.

Applications filed today by Probit with the CRTC ask it to give the company a chance to defend itself before… [More...]

Press Release Archives

Conservative Ads on Trudeau Backfiring? – April 19, 2013

[Ottawa – April 20, 2013] – From Wednesday to Friday of this week, we interviewed a representative sample of some 1,828 English speaking Canadians to gauge reactions to the recent ads about the new leader of the Liberal Party. These ads were introduced by the Conservative Party immediately following his election to leader. Unlike surveys which rely on memories or second hand impressions, the entire sample viewed one of two different ads using digital media. Both ads received very similar responses, and the overall responses are summarized here.

The ads were widely recognized. More than one-third of respondents… [More...]

AFFIDAVIT BY FRANK GRAVES – December 3, 2012

Earlier this year, EKOS published a study that presented evidence which strongly suggests that there was a targeted program of voter suppression in the 2011 federal election campaign.

On August 8, 2012, Dr. Ruth Corbin, CEO of market research firm CorbinPartners, filed an affidavit, critiquing our methodology. Later that month, we published two affidavits responding to her critcisms, one sworn by Frank Graves*, President of EKOS Research Associates, on August 23, 2012, and the other by Dr. Neil Nevitte on August 28, 2012. In response, Dr. Corbin filed a sur-reply affidavit on August 31, 2012. Below… [More...]

SORRY! A MESSAGE FROM EKOS RESEARCH ASSOCIATES REGARDING LATE NIGHT CALLS – November 20, 2012

[Ottawa – November 20, 2012] – This is a note to apologize for calls that were made on November 19, 2012, past 9:30 pm local time. Households were erroneously called past the time that we programmed into the system. On weekdays, we set a calling window limit of 8:40 pm local time for our automated interviewing operations.

On November 19, 2012, upgrades were made to the system that inadvertently over-rode the call window parameter setting. We have since worked with our interactive voice response (IVR) supplier and have fixed the problem. This will not happen again.

We have… [More...]

AFFIDAVITS BY FRANK GRAVES AND NEIL NEVITTE – August 27, 2012

In April 2012, EKOS published a study that presented evidence which strongly suggests that there was a targeted program of voter suppression in seven subject ridings during the 2011 federal election campaign:

    › Nipissing-Timiskaming in Ontario
    › Yukon
    › Elmwood-Transcona in Manitoba
    › Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar in Saskatchewan
    › Winnipeg South Centre in Manitoba
    › Don Valley East in Ontario
    › Vancouver Island North in British Columbia

In response, Dr. Ruth Corbin, CEO of market research firm CorbinPartners, filed an affidavit, critiquing our methodology. Below are two replies, one filed by Frank Graves, President of EKOS Research Associates, and… [More...]

A Study of the Incidence and Effects of Misleading Calls in the 41st National Election – April 24, 2012

Summary:

This study has presented evidence which strongly suggests that in the subject ridings there was a targeted program of voter suppression in place. It was reported to be administered to tens of thousands of electors based on these samples.

These activities were clearly targeted at non-Conservative voters in a highly improbable manner. They included erroneous reports of false voting station changes and faux calls ostensibly coming from Elections Canada. In reality, there were no calls from Elections Canada and there were virtually no voting station changes, yet many thousands of voters in these seven ridings claimed to… [More...]

CHANGE TO EKOS REPORTING SCHEDULE – June 29, 2010

[Ottawa – June 29, 2010] EKOS Research Associates would like to announce that during the summer months, we will be returning to bi-weekly reporting on vote intention. Our next vote intention poll will be released on July 8th and we will continue to report every two weeks after that.

Reporting on federal vote intention every second week will allow us to augment our sample size, allowing for even more robust regional samples… [More...]

STATEMENT FROM FRANK GRAVES – April 23, 2010

[Ottawa – April 23, 2010] – In the course of an interview with the Globe and Mail columnist, Lawrence Martin, this week, I made some suggestions for a strategic course that presented itself to the federal Liberal Party.

My intention was to foment debate. However, I used incendiary language that had not been carefully enough considered. I recognize now that my stark language was understandably offensive to some Canadians.

In that light, I wish to retract my remarks and unreservedly apologize for making them.

Unfortunately, my comments have led to some misunderstanding about me and EKOS Research… [More...]

Season’s Greetings from EKOS Research Associates – December 22, 2009

Due to the upcoming holidays, we will be taking a short hiatus and we will return with an update on Canadian federal voting intentions on January 7, 2010.

Happy holidays and best wishes for the new year… [More...]

CBC VIEWERS SUGGEST EKOS QUESTIONS – November 19, 2009

[Ottawa – November 19, 2009] – EKOS Research Associates is pleased to announce that, starting today, its highly successful series of weekly polls conducted for exclusive release by the CBC will be moving into a new phase in cooperation with Evan Solomon’s Power and Politics program on the CBC News Network.

Later today, on Power and Politics, Evan will be releasing the results of a survey question suggested by a viewer.  We will be reporting on a similar viewer-suggested question every second week on Power and Politics.

The CBC will be selecting the question for each of these… [More...]