We appreciate everyone's survey response. We are now looking through the responses and are excited to learn what was said.

Each year the District of Kitimat will ask the public how we're doing as far as communications. This information helps us know where to reach you, what you want to know, and how we can respond better to what you have to say.

Paper copies of this survey can also be found at:

• Riverlodge Recreation Centre
• Tamitik Jubilee Sports Complex
• Kitimat Municipal Office (third floor of City Centre Mall)
• Kitimat Public Library

This survey closed on February 9, 2024.

After our survey in January 2023, we reviewed what we heard from the public about what they want to hear, where they hear it and how they communicate with us.

Kitimat.ca website

We heard that for information from the District of Kitimat itself, people turn to our website, www.kitimat.ca.

The work is ongoing, but we are actively streamlining our website to make it more useful and practical.

• Adding more details to enhance clarity about District services and documents
• Using simplified URLs for marketing to direct users better (i.e., www.kitimat.ca/camping, www.kitimat.ca/trails, www.kitimat.ca/snow, etc.)
• Improving common website search results
• Making information more visible, and less 'buried' in sub-pages
• Finding a balance of making information factual but also easier to read

Social media

When it came to information of any kind, residents largely said their day-to-day source of information was Facebook and, depending on age group, Instagram was also a popular information source.

We want communications to meet people where they are so we improved in these areas.

• Increased the use of our Instagram page to match content quantity with our Facebook page
• Continued to refine the look of our social media graphics to meet a consistent and easy to read style
• Respond to fact-seeking questions on social media in the public comment section of posts
• Answer questions promptly sent privately to our social media accounts
• Share information as we can that provides more context and background to municipal issues
• Continue to use a soft, conversational, and at times humourous style of writing for social media

Policy

In 2023 we implemented a Communications Policy. This policy largely formalizes the work we are already doing

• Setting an established time that public inquiries need to be acknowledged. (e.g., don't sit on e-mails until ready, let the sender know it was received)
• Use plain language in communications (easier to read, visualize, and understand)
• Additional notes, such as a requirement to include the Haisla land acknowledgement on our major reports and publications
• This policy is under the Policies section of our bylaws page here.

Get Involved Kitimat

The site you are on now, Get Involved Kitimat, aimed to answer a number of thoughts received through our survey.

• Improve information sharing about our active municipal projects
• Provide public engagement tools as appropriate to our projects
• Provide a specific contact person from our organization so the public can always know who to contact for more information
• Provide a venue for public feedback to make a difference to our projects

We have been happy with the use of the site to date, and encourage more residents to use this page as a source for learning about municipal projects and engaging on our active projects.

We will continually add more projects to take advantage of the tools offered on this platform.

Here is the report submitted to Council of the results of the 2024 communications survey.

This was part of the March 25, 2024 Regular Meeting of Council. You can find the full agenda here.

Background:

For the past two years, the Economic Development & Communications Department has conducted a communications survey to better understand where the Kitimat public receives their information, whether in general or about the municipality specifically, to better understand the public’s perception about how they interact with our organization.

The intent of the survey is to guide where and what we share to better reach the public about municipal services and operations. Results from the survey are used by Staff to make changes that improve the public’s interactions with the District.

Attached is a report summarizing results of this year’s survey.

While the results in many ways lines up with what we heard in 2023, here are a few items to highlight:

1. This year, we had 81 survey responses. This is down from 154 responses in 2023.

a. Sixty per cent of respondents this year were persons who are 50 years of age or older.

2. Last year, our municipal website – Kitimat.ca – was residents’ top ranked choice for how they receive District-specific information. Our Facebook page is now the top choice in 2024.

3. In people’s day-to-day lives we saw that ‘Online news’ and search engines ranked higher in this year’s results for how people receive information than last year. The top two choices, however, remain ‘social media’, and ‘friends and family’.

RESULTS

From January 17 through to February 9, the Economic Development and Communications Department shared a survey asking the public to provide feedback on how they receive information from the District and how easily they feel they can interact with our organization.

The following are the results of this survey.

How we promoted this survey

This survey was hosted on the District of Kitimat’s Get Involved Kitimat page.

We shared a link to the survey on the District of Kitimat’s Latest News section at www.kitimat.ca, we paid for advertising in the Northern Connector and the Northern Lights publications, shared on our Facebook and our Instagram social media pages, in the District’s external newsletter. Posters for this survey were placed in District of Kitimat facilities, the library, Kitimat 50+ Seniors Centre, and City Centre Mall.

The survey itself could also be filled out on paper with copies of the survey left in the public lobbies of District of Kitimat facilities, and at the Kitimat Public Library and the Kitimat 50+ Seniors Centre.

It was also shared to District of Kitimat employees through the February internal newsletter.

Who filled out the survey

The survey was filled out by 81 total respondents.

Thirty-five per cent (28) identified as 65 or older. Twenty-five per cent (20) identified as 50 to 64. Twenty-three per cent (19) identified as 36 to 49, and fifteen per cent (12) identified as 20 to 35. There were two respondents identified as 19 and under.

Six printed copies of the communications surveys were received.

Which of the District’s direct methods of communications do you rely on?

This question asks which communication channel that we directly manage do people use the most.

80 per cent of respondents selected “Facebook”, followed by our website (Kitimat.ca) at 65 per cent. The Kitimat Leisure Guide ranked third at nearly 50 per cent. In descending order from there was: Voyent Alert, printed newsletter, Contacting District offices directly, RecycleCoach, watching Council meetings, Get Involved Kitimat, materials posted in our facilities, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X (Formerly Twitter).

In your day-to-day life, how do you typically receive information of any kind?

This question sought to know if the District’s communications channels lined up with how they otherwise receive information in their lives.

Social media was the top selection at 77 per cent, followed by Friends and Family at 66 per cent. Third was “online news” at 48 per cent of responses.

In descending order from there the selections were: Search engines, directly on an organization’s website, newspaper (print), traditional television, bulletin boards/shop windows, radio, YouTube, Podcasts, Magazines.

In a follow-up to this question we also asked which social media platform in particular residents used. Facebook ranked the top at 86 per cent, followed by Instagram at 20 per cent.

The public’s one primary place they rely on for information

To further focus on a primary source of information, we asked this as an open-ended question.

We have highlighted the following, ranked in order of mention:

• Facebook (including references to specific Facebook pages): 23 mentions
• Email: four mentions
• Online news: three mentions
• Internet: three mentions
• TV news: two mentions
• “dok”: Two mentions
• Google: two mentions
• Radio: two mentions

Thinking of the overall content of our communications, please select up to two of the following (options)

This question is to determine if our communications are easy to understand and that they include the right level of detail.

62 per cent said they believed communications were easy to understand, and 55 per cent said they provide enough information.

Only 11 per cent said they are difficult to understand, with 26 per cent saying there is not enough information in communications.

Which of the following topics most interest you?

This question asked which from a list of topics is the most interesting or relevant to the public. The results are summarized in the table below:

In what way do you usually reach out to the District of Kitimat?

The majority of respondents, 58 per cent, preferred to phone District offices directly.

39 per cent usually chose to e-mail the District, and 33 per cent said they visit our offices in person.

At 14 per cent and 13 per cent respectively, the contact form at www.kitimat.ca and messaging the District on social media were the additional selections.

Do you feel comfortable reaching out to the District of Kitimat?

Eighty per cent of respondents said they are. Eighteen per cent said they are not comfortable.

If any, what are some of the barriers to contacting the District of Kitimat

While the plurality of responses did not identify any barriers to contacting the District (38 per cent), a sizeable number indicated that they don’t know who to talk to (28 per cent) and that they don’t feel their messages will make a difference. (23 per cent)

Also, 18 per cent indicated they have difficulty reaching District staff, and 11 per cent simply want to stay anonymous.

Six per cent of respondents noted accessibility issues as a barrier to contacting the District.