Some surveys exempt from Do Not Call list

BY JANET GIBSON

The National Do Not Call List gives consumers a choice about whether or not to receive telemarketing calls, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission says on its website. But the CRTC reminds consumers their phones are still going to ring with calls from organizations doing market research, surveys and public opinion polls.

"These types of calls are not telemarketing calls because the caller is not asking you to purchase, lease or rent products or services," the website says.

One such survey is the public health telephone survey done by a majority of Ontario's health units. Each month, the Institute for Social Research at York University calls 100 randomly selected households in the region served by the Sudbury and District Health Unit, said Michael King, an epidemiologist with the resources, research, evaluation and development division.

"This information allows us to plan and deliver policies and programs that best meet the needs of the people we serve," King said. This month, for example, people will be asked about the media outlets they look at and sun tanning. "The tool is vital because it allows us to track behaviour before and after a campaign."

The health unit has enjoyed a good response rate to the survey - better, in fact, than the provincial average. But the response rate fell from 68 per cent in 2006 to 61 per cent in 2007.

King attributes the decline to people's attitudes toward telemarketing.

The surveys done in Ontario are similar to those done south of the border. The U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System is the world's largest, on-going telephone health survey system, tracking health conditions and risk behaviours since 1984.

For those wondering if public health surveys will ever show up on Do Not Call Lists, don't hold your breath. "That's not a subject that's been discussed," said a CRTC staffer. "The government still needs surveys."