Ipsos Reid Closes Edmonton Call Centre

Edmonton, AB - Ipsos Reid formally announced today that it will close its Edmonton call centre effective February 28, 2006. The Edmonton centre has been in operation since October 2000 and employs approximately 200 people.

"The decision to close the Edmonton call centre was a difficult one, but it has been increasingly difficult to staff the centre to full capacity in the highly competitive labour market of Edmonton," said Leslie Speirs, Senior Vice President, CATI Interviewing Services for Ipsos. The company noted that the call center lease expires in March 2006 and with a major tenant slated to take over the space, the call centre would have been forced to move and rebuild which carries significant business costs associated with it. "These two factors, combined, caused us to make the business decision to close our operations" she said.

Work will be shifted to other Ipsos Reid call centres in Winnipeg, Ottawa and Montreal. Ipsos will continue to maintain over 750 telephone interviewing stations in Canada.

Ipsos Reid has notified the Alberta Department of Labour and will work with them to identify appropriate opportunities for Ipsos employees and to access available government support and services. All employees will be provided with four weeks of working notice during which we will support their efforts to find work. The company has also arranged workshops to assist employees in writing resumes and interviewing for new positions and are offering a resume- review service to ensure employees are well equipped as they begin their job searches.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice President
Ipsos Reid
Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900
[email protected]

Ipsos Reid
Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader and the country's leading provider of public opinion research. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos-Reid employs more than 300 researcher professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in Canada, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and on-line panels. Ipsos Reid's Canadian marketing research and public affairs practices are staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, offering the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada - including the Ipsos Trend Report, the leading source of public opinion in the country - all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

To learn more, please visit www.ipsos.ca.

Ipsos
Ipsos is a leading global survey-based market research company, owned and managed by research professionals. Ipsos helps interpret, simulate, and anticipate the needs and responses of consumers, customers, and citizens around the world.

Member companies assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media. They measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos member companies offer expertise in advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, and public affairs research, as well as forecasting, modeling, and consulting. Ipsos has a full line of custom, syndicated, omnibus, panel, and online research products and services, guided by industry experts and bolstered by advanced analytics and methodologies. The company was founded in 1975 and has been publicly traded since 1999. In 2004, Ipsos generated global revenues of 605.6 million Euro ($752.8 million U.S.).

Visit www.ipsos.com to learn more about Ipsos offerings and capabilities.