Satisfaction survey shows diverging trends on quality of life, city services

THUNDER BAY – Results from the City of Thunder Bay’s citizen satisfaction survey suggest residents’ quality of life has continued to decline, while satisfaction with most city services was strong.

Results from the 2022 survey, now available at the city’s website, will be used to inform the city’s next strategic plan in 2023. They also offer insight into the community’s mood and priorities in the run-up to the Oct. 24 municipal election.

The survey gathers feedback from 500 local residents, collected by public opinion firm Ipsos using random digit dialing. Results are weighted to better reflect the city’s age and gender makeup, and considered accurate within 4.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Residents are questioned on topics including quality of life, city services, important issues facing the community, experiences of racism and discrimination, and more.

In 2019, results indicated residents’ overall satisfaction with their quality of life was declining.

The 2022 data suggest that trend has continued, with residents rating their quality of life lower, even while concerns about crime and safety appear to have eased.

Satisfaction with city services, on the other hand, stabilized and in some cases increased.

Overall, 76 per cent of respondents rated their quality of life as good or very good. The figure is down 6 per cent since 2019, and has fallen consistently since a peak of 92 per cent in 2013.

Many of the 18 per cent who responded with ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ cited crime and safety issues.

The percentage of residents who strongly agreed that they’re proud to say they’re from Thunder Bay and who have a strong sense of community belonging also fell.

Positive perceptions of the community were higher among older residents.

Crime still reigns as the most important issue facing the city according to residents, cited by 51 per cent of respondents (up from 44 per cent in 2019).

Next were the economy (41 per cent) and social issues (39 per cent). The environment jumped significantly, identified as an important issue by 18 per cent, up from 3 per cent in 2019.

Despite concerns over crime, the percentage of respondents who feel Thunder Bay is a “relatively safe city” jumped to 82 this year. The figure had fallen to 54 per cent in 2019, after averaging around 70 per cent in previous surveys.

Fully 83 per cent of respondents agreed it was safe for children to play outside in their neighbourhood, up from 75 per cent.

Only 68 per cent of respondents said they perceive racism and discrimination as a serious issue in Thunder Bay, the lowest level ever tracked, and down from 80 per cent in 2019.

The number of respondents who reported experiencing racism or discrimination also went down somewhat.

Residents aren’t keen to see the city build new or recreation-related infrastructure, the results suggest.

Support for infrastructure like roads, bridges, and stormwater drainage remained high at around 89 per cent, but support for other projects like trails or indoor sports facilities was down by 10 to 20 points.

Satisfaction with services the city is already delivering was consistently high, however.

Overall, 81 per cent of respondents said they’re satisfied or very satisfied, matching the 2019 total.

Thunder Bay Fire Rescue scored the highest satisfaction, with 94 per cent, followed closely by the public library, EMS, parks and trails, special events, and the Canada Games Complex, all above 90 per cent.

Street maintenance was lowest with 64 per cent satisfaction, followed by stormwater drainage (67 per cent) and snow removal (69 per cent).

Satisfaction with the city’s police force, typically steady, dropped significantly from 87 to 76 per cent. It’s the first time the figure has come in below 85 per cent since the city launched the survey in 2009.

Fewer than half of residents (46 per cent) said they had opportunities to participate and engage with the city on topics of interest to them, down by 10 points.

The number who said they hadn’t tried to engage because they hadn’t wanted to participate doubled, to 14 per cent.

Participation in the online version of the survey drew record participation of almost 2,800 people, however, staff reported. Those results aren’t considered statistically valid but are shared with city council.

The satisfaction survey has been held every two years since 2009, with the exception of the one-year pandemic delay in 2021.

Like in 2019, the results include a mix of 60 per cent landline and 40 per cent cell phone respondents.

Only 5 per cent of survey respondents were Indigenous, compared to a census estimate of over 13 per cent for the Thunder Bay CMA.