The Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC), Canada’s voice of the research, analytics, and insights industry, announced today at its 2nd Annual General Meeting that it had gained 13 new members in the last year, between March 2020 and March 2021. This growth represents a 31% increase in its overall membership, and comes as a welcome surprise given the challenges brought on globally by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the midst of a very challenging year for all, CRIC has been able to maintain and even grow its membership,” said Gary Bennewies, President of Ipsos Canada and CRIC Chair. “We see this growth as a tremendous expression of trust and satisfaction in the work we do,” he added.
New members include a mix of research agencies, as well as an academic institution and a client organization. Having initially focused on building its membership with research agencies, CRIC will now be focusing on growing its client-side membership – a key priority for 2021.
“This growth from all facets of the industry speaks to the exceptional support that exists for CRIC’s work in the area of world-leading industry standards,” said Nik Nanos, President of Nanos Research, CRIC Vice-Chair and Chair of the Standards Committee. “It’s yet another testament to the weight the sector places on CRIC as the voice of the industry in Canada.”
Despite having to adapt to the new realities brought on by the pandemic, the last year has been a productive one for CRIC, with multiple accomplishments, including:
- Supporting the industry through the pandemic by promoting the importance of investing in insights, issuing guidance on conducting research in a pandemic, and highlighting relevant government support for the industry.
- Responding to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s (OPC) AI Consultation and creating a specialized working group on privacy, to review various initiatives including federal Bill C-11, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2020.
- Launching the CRIC Pledge to Canadians that highlights the commitment of CRIC member companies to the highest ethical standards and helps Canadians distinguish requests to participate in legitimate research from other requests they receive.
- Hosting a series of 15 webinars in partnership with ESOMAR and the MRII, all of which remain available on demand on the CRIC website.
- Supporting the successful ESOMAR Insights Festival that was held in place of the ESOMAR Congress and organized the session “The Future of Insights in Canada in a Post-Pandemic World.”
- Submitting recommendations to the Government of Canada to help them prepare a Request for Standing Offer that ensures that Canada will continue to have access to high-quality public opinion research at a fair price.
- Presenting a webinar on “Confronting Exclusion and Racism in Canada’s Research & Insights Industry and Encouraging Industry Support to Confront Racism and Exclusion”.
- Continuing to offer other key benefits including the CRIC Accredited Agency Seal, preferred rates on individual ESOMAR memberships, preferred rates on MRII/University of Georgia courses, and significant savings on insurance from PROLINK that in some cases completely offsets CRIC membership fees.
Although the pandemic period of 2020-21 saw great accomplishments for CRIC, it also presented significant challenges. The growth in membership was fortuitous, allowing the organization to maintain its strong financial position and offset lost revenue opportunities resulting from the postponement of a number of planned in-person events and conferences. While CRIC was also able to pivot to online events, it looks forward to once again hosting events when conditions permit.
CRIC was created in August 2018, immediately following the bankruptcy of a former national industry association. CRIC has grown to 55 corporate members, representing a wide range of interests within the research, analytics, and insights industry, as well as the vast majority of the revenues generated by the sector. In less than three years, CRIC has successfully:
- Launched the Research Verification Service to allow Canadians to verify the legitimacy of an invitation to participate in research. Over 3,800 research projects have been registered since its launch in September 2019.
- Developed and adopted world-leading standards.
- Advocated on a number of governmental issues that have the potential to impact the industry.
- Assisted in the creation of CAIP Canada, the professional body for Canada’s Certified Analytics and Insights Professionals (CAIPs). CAIP has already grown to almost 250 members.
- Launched three Thought Leadership Councils to help position the industry at the forefront of technological, methodological, and regulatory trends.
- Established strategic global partnerships with Esomar, the Market Research Institute International (MRII), and Women in Research (WIRe).
Going forward, CRIC will be looking to increase the value that it offers to the industry. CRIC will be actively advocating for the industry on the new data privacy legislation and working closely with the federal government to ensure Canada has a robust privacy framework that aligns with CRIC’s world leading standards. It will also be working in partnership with ESOMAR and CAIP Canada to build a strong content offering that will most likely be offered virtually. The organization is also planning to offer exclusive events and resources for CRIC Member companies.
About CRIC
The Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC) is Canada’s voice of the research, analytics, and insights profession both domestically and globally. CRIC represents the highest standards, ethics and best practices; provides effective promotion and advocacy of the industry; serves as a source of information and thought leadership; and is a forum for collective industry action. For more information, visit www.canadianresearchinsightscouncil.ca or contact John Tabone at [email protected].
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