Five accomplished research professionals earned their CMRP designation in 2020. Four of these were exam takers, whereas the fifth was an experienced practitioner who qualified for the industry certification under the experienced professional pathway reserved for those with over eight years of proven experience in the industry.

These achievers are: 

Chris Bandak, CMRP, Executive VP, MDB Insight

Jennifer Suzanne Henderson, CMRP, Research Analyst, Royal Bank of Canada

Ahmed Serag, CMRP, Data Scientist (Customer Analytics), Cogeco Connexion

Latika Sharma, CMRP, Consultant, Frost & Sullivan

Liam Macdonald, CMRP, BC Lottery

The next exam dates fall on 18th and 19th of February, with consequent sittings fairly regularly through the months of March-April, June, August and November with some flexibility in custom schedule. The programme, hosted on a secure virtual learning management platform that also delivers the corporate Gold Seal to member firms, is supported by partners and institutes like the ICCP (Institute for Certification of Computing Professionals) to enable a seamless proctoring experience in keeping with the international standards the certification curriculum maintains. Experienced practitioners with over eight years of experience are eligible to apply for a pathway that matches their professional outcomes in a stream reserved for successful applicants in this category. 

The MRIA’s certification committee is chaired by Dr. Mark Loo and includes John Corbett, CMRP, Albert Lam, CMRP, and Arundati Dandapani, CMRP, MLITT.  Active CMRP members come from a variety of firms and can be found here. 

For more information on how to obtain your CMRP, write to info@mria-arim.ca. 

This is to advise you that PSPC has posted a Request for Information (RFI) to obtain feedback from Industry on a draft Request for Standing Offers (RFSO) for public opinion research (POR): 

Please follow this link. 

La présente a pour but de vous informer que SPAC a affiché une demande de renseignements (DDR) afin d'obtenir les commentaires de l'industrie sur une ébauche d’une demande d'offres à commandes (DOC) pour la recherche en opinion publique (ROP): https://achatsetventes.gc.ca/donnees-sur-l-approvisionnement/appels-d-offres/EPS-20-WS2665464632-Doc2665497044. 

SPAC coordonne la ROP au gouvernement du Canada (GC) et est responsable de l’élaboration d’outils d’approvisionnement pangouvernementaux, comme les offres à commandes et les arrangements en matière d’approvisionnement, pour les services de ROP. 

SPAC vous invite à répondre à la DDR afin de nous aider à mettre au point la DOC, qui devrait être affichée sur Achatsetventes.gc.ca en 2021.

Link to registration for the virtual information Session.

Public Opinion Research services (WS2665464632)

Tender Notice - Letter of Interest (LOI)/Request for Information (RFI)

Publication date    2020/10/20

Amendment date   2020/10/20

Date closing          2020/11/17 23:59 Eastern Standard Time (EST

• 80141510: Market research telephone surveys
• 80141512: Market research on location surveys
• 80141513: Market research one on one interviews
• 80171501: Polling and survey and public opinion monitoring and analysis
• 80171502: Focus group and public feedback meeting facilitation and analysis
• 81131504: Sampling surveys
• 93141511: Social groups studies or related services
• 93141602: Population sample surveys services
• 93141610: Demographic studies

A virtual information session will be held on November 3, 2020. The English session will be from 10:00 a.m. EST to 12:00 p.m. EST. The French session will be from 1:30 p.m. EST to 3:30 p.m. EST.    The scope of the requirement outlined in the Request for Standing Offers (RFSO) will be reviewed during the session and questions will be answered. It is recommended that Suppliers who intend to submit an RFI response attend or send a representative.  

Suppliers are requested to register before the session to confirm attendance via the web-based registration form below. Participants will be provided with the attendance details following their registration. In their registration form, suppliers should provide the name of their organization, the name(s) of the person(s) who will be attending, which session they will be attending (English or French) and a list of questions they wish to put on the table, no later than October 27, 2020.  

The registration form may be found by clicking here.  

Any clarifications or changes to the RFI resulting from the information session will be included as an amendment to the RFI. Suppliers who do not attend will not be precluded from submitting an RFI Response.  

Any clarifications or changes to the RFI resulting from the information session will be included as an amendment to the RFI. Suppliers who do not attend will not be precluded from submitting an RFI Response.  

The MRIA is proud to introduce Excelerate, your very own learning management system meant to power your career and educational aspirations in research.

We are here to help you gain your research certification, and bring you courses and connections to better position you as an industry leader.

We hope to bring you truly accelerated excellence in research through MRIA's Excelerate program. Whether you are a learner or a teacher, there is an opportunity for everyone to meet their professional outcomes.

Click here to view the platform. 

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the untimely passing of Margaret Imai-Compton, MLIS, CUG, FMRIA, a distinguished Fellow of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association and long-standing leader in the qualitative research community in Canada and the US. Imai-Compton served as an experienced group moderator and innovation facilitator for nearly three decades. She was the Principal of Imai-Compton Consulting Inc., and also worked at Research Management Group for the last five years.

Her instructional course “Moderator Training” was rated as the top course taught at the MRIA. An active voice in the marketing research and innovation community, member of the Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA) and the American Marketing Association (AMA), Imai-Compton was constantly sought by her peers across industries for her generous mentorship to all. She lived a full life of mountaineering, devoted to family, work and a rich variety of interests. Born in Japan in 1952, her life ended on the evening of April 12, 2020 at the Princess Margaret Hospital ending a seven-year long battle with ovarian cancer.

Her legacy can be found here. Imai-Compton leaves behind a life of enduring courage and inspiration for all. She was a monthly columnist at the VUE magazine, and you can read one of her many articles on the MRIA blog in memorium. Her legacy of a life led by character and purpose casts resilience and hope for Canada’s research industry. May her soul rest in peace. We urge you to reflect on her contributions and share your favourite memories of her on our social forum.

Albert Lam, of Canada's Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA), says that in the wake of the recent public health crisis COVID-19, opinion and market research firms in Canada continue operating as essential services.

“Governments must have timely, accurate, reliable data when officials reach decisions on what to do about events as critical as how to confront the COVID-19 outbreak," said Lam. "Most market research helps companies, the public and non-profit organizations serve their clients, stakeholders and customers. Not every decision in public safety needs to rely on polling, but if governments and health officials need to know how Canadians are dealing with COVID-19, then the insights of survey research carried out by professional opinion research firms are essential."

"Almost since opinion polling began," said Lam, "Governments and health authorities have relied on polls to guide their choices in protecting the public."

Opinion research has long informed successful public safety campaigns including anti-smoking ads, H.I.V.-AIDS messages, programs to stop drunk driving and increase seatbelt use. While the advertising, marketing, public relations, and volunteer efforts helped build these success cases, credit should also be attributed to the research that tested the advertising and guided the strategies. Opinion research helps produce the ideas that make health campaigns succeed.

Lam added, "The government has no other way — accurately — to measure compliance with health directives, assess the population's health needs and give the public a voice for its concerns over COVID-19 than by asking the people. Giving people a voice is the mission of opinion polls. Our business helps keep the public safe, and we are ready to serve."
Lam also noted that many survey research firms represented by the MRIA have adapted to the public health crisis by enabling their employees to work remotely.

The MRIA is a Canadian not-for-profit, member-driven Association representing all aspects of the market and opinion research and business intelligence industry. Its members follow the Canadian Standards and the Charter of Respondent Rights. Also, the Association is the professional certification body for market and social researchers in Canada. Please contact the MRIA for more information at info@mria-arim.ca.

Albert Lam
Marketing Research and Intelligence Association
+1 855-561-4286
board@mria-arim.ca

Calling All Data Wizards and Marketing Heroes! If you are looking to expand your horizons in the insights marketplace and have the next million-dollar idea you want to talk about, here’s your chance. We are looking for your unique take on marketing research and insights. Consider diverse ranging themes in the marketing insights landscape that bridge connections across technology, data, marketing, and information systems. Send us a brief 50–100 word pitch/synopsis of your proposed article Accepted articles will be featured in our newsletter, website, and partners’ websites, as well as being promoted widely on our social platforms. Creativity is encouraged, as is access to new and unique data sources. We can’t wait to read your work. Send your submissions to info@mria-arim.ca.

No matter how you look at the numbers—be they seats, votes, or polling results before the vote on Oct. 21—everyone claims some sort of victory and points out someone else’s loss. In analyzing the federal election in which everyone seems to have lost something, the only winners may be the pollsters. With the exception of a few outliers, most of the major polling houses did very well in the Canadian 43rd General Election. Here is a quick look at the score of the final polls of the top five finishers, all taken between the 16th and 20th of October:

*MOE = Margin of Error

All pollsters did a good job; Leger, best of all. The one party that tripped up the most polls was the NDP, predictions for whom varied between 16% and 21%. Apart from this, however, none of the top pollsters were further away than one or two points from the actual election result for each party.

While this lends credence to the assumption that pollsters observe each other's' work and "herd" toward the end of an election period, this is not the case. Each pollster has his or her own weighting formula, which take into account turnout modelling, allocating undecided votes and estimating late shifts. While they are all different, these formulas have the effect of harmonizing towards Election Day, as voters become more sure of their intentions and late trends become clearer.

In Election 43, the online pollsters were the most accurate, but not by much. Random selection methods are also in the top five. It is obvious, however, that online, self-selection polling methodologies can no longer be dismissed out of hand.

So, while the Liberals lost 20 seats and their majority, the Conservatives lost their chance at forming a government, and the NDP lost half their caucus, the Greens lost the battle of the millennium, and the PPC lost their leader, Canada's pollsters—the best of them, at least—won the day with uncannily accurate prescience about the outcome of our quadrennial bun fight.

Technology has changed the way research professionals are doing their work.

There are interactive voice-recognition phone surveys, online communities, and new software programs that make surveys quick and convenient on cell phones. There is also an array of dashboards and analytics programs, complemented with unique links that track a customer’s journey.

“A lot has changed in the years since we formed in 2004,” said Albert Lam, board chair of Canada’s Marketing Research and Intelligence Association.

“In response, we are changing our logo to better reflect who our members are and what they do.”

The new logo remains green and blue, as it recognizes the history of the association. The colours, however, shift in colour to show adaptability, which has been and continues to be critical as technology and society change.

“The data points on the logo represent not just the data, but the insightful analysis our members do, as well as the many varied research concentrations that make up our Canadian insights industry,” said Lam.

About the MRIA

The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association has served as the voice of Canada’s survey industry, which includes social research, competitive intelligence, data mining, insight and knowledge management, since 2004. Newly reorganized, the MRIA is a member-driven association that advocates for ethical and transparent conduct by all who do qualitative and quantitative research, including polling, customer surveys, and online panel communities.

For more information

Albert Lam, Board Chair: 905-604-6620; 1-833-604-6620; albert.lam@brainvision.ca

Lee Robinson, Executive Director: 905-767-2195; lrobinson@mria-arim.ca

With more than 20 years of experience working in marketing insights for businesses and charities, Albert Lam is leading Canada’s foremost market research industry association. 

Albert Lam, the Founder, and CEO of BrainVision Market Analytics is the newly elected chair of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA). He brings not just the experience in market research and data insights, as he worked with the Christian Children’s Fund of Canada, World Vision Canada and the YMCA of Greater Toronto to not only broaden their marketing but also build donor engagement.

“My mission is to use technology and analytics to help retailers with their digital marketing so they not only can promote their business but stay competitive,” said the University of Toronto statistics and business management graduate.

With his statistics degree and business management diploma, Lam went on to obtain the prestigious Certified Marketing Research Professional (CMRP) designation.

Lam was one of the first Certified Market Research Professionals (CMRP) since its inception in 2004. Lam merges market research, analytics, and technology to create problem-solving solutions for businesses. In a rapidly changing digital era, new innovations are needed to complement these needs. He shares this passion for innovation as he mentors post-secondary software engineering and statistics students. Currently, he is the 2020 mentor with the University of Toronto’s Statistical Sciences department.

Lam has assisted the newly reorganized MRIA with defining its vision and mission, its branding, and connecting with partners to ensure that the CMRP curriculum remains not only relevant but cutting edge. He has also led the development of the Research Registry, MRIA's survey validation system, in time for the federal election. 

“For 15 years, the MRIA’s members have advocated for world-class standards, ethics, and professionalism in the research industry in Canada,” said Lam.

“This advocacy is critical today, especially as Canadians prepare to vote on Oct. 21. We want to ensure researchers and pollsters are transparent and honest with Canadians so Canadians can trust us and confidently give us their honest feedback, which is critical in shaping a better Canada—whether in government services or consumer goods.”

Transparency and gaining public confidence matter—and Canadians need to be able to verify that your poll or project is indeed legit.

The MRIA is opening its Research Registry System to all Canadian pollsters just in time for the federal election. Follow the link here to register your firm and your election polling.

“We are working on behalf of not just our industry, but for consumers as well as potential survey participants, as we ensure that research is not used as a marketing or sales tactic,” said MRIA board chair Albert Lam, CMRP, principal of BrainVision Market Analytics, a marketing research and data intelligence consultancy headquartered in Markham, Ontario.

“We are advocating that high standards be followed by all, so the public can confidently participate, which not only makes surveys and polling easier but more importantly improves the quality of research we all do. Working together as we build transparency and a database of research projects will benefit everyone in our industry, now and in the future.”

For more information on standards, visit here.

About the MRIA

The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association has served as the voice of Canada’s market research industry, which includes surveys, social research, competitive intelligence, data mining, and insight and knowledge management, since 2005.

Newly reorganized, the MRIA is a member-driven association that advocates for ethical and transparent conduct by all who do qualitative and quantitative, market, and social research.

For more information, please contact

Albert Lam, Board Chair: 905-604-6620; 1-833-604-6620 albert.lam@brainvision.ca.

Lee Robinson, Executive Director: 647-612-7200 lrobinson@mria-arim.ca.