Ipsos-Reid / Canadian Blood Services Survey

Canadians Think That One In Four People (26%) Donate Blood Each Year When In Reality Only 3.7% Donate Similarly, Canadians Exaggerate Their Own Intentions To Donate Blood With Almost Three In Ten Canadians (28%) Saying They Intend To Donate Blood In The Next Year
Ottawa, ON - According to a new Ipsos-Reid survey conducted on behalf of Canadian Blood Services, a significant gap exists between what Canadians believe is the percentage of blood donors in Canada (26% - mean/average of 25.97) versus the reality that only 3.7% of Canadians donate blood each year. In fact, only 3% of Canadians surveyed correctly identified the percentage of actual donors in Canada (3%-4%).

And while Canadians tend to over estimate the number who donate they also exaggerate their own intentions to donate with almost three in ten Canadians (28%) say they will donate blood in the next year. More specifically, 15% say they will donate in the next six months and 13% say they will donate in six months to a year. One in three Canadians say they will not donate blood in the next year but might at some time in the future (36%) or they will never donate blood (35%).

Respondents most likely to say they will donate in the next six months are:

  • residents of Alberta (20%), and

  • and those with less than a high school education (23%).

Those most likely to say they will never donate blood are:

  • residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (46%),

  • those living in rural areas (40%), and

  • older respondents (peaking at 54% among those 55 years of age or older).

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted from May 28th to May 30th, 2004. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 753 adult Canadians (excluding Quebec which is not serviced by CBS) was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population (excluding Qc) been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

Please open the attached PDF files to view the factum and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:
Mike Colledge
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(613) 241-5802

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