Ontarians (92%) see Public Register of Licensed Trades Professionals as Important Tool that Protects Consumers

Toronto, ON - Most (92%) Ontarians `agree' (53% strongly/39% somewhat) that the public register of the Ontario College of Trades, which allows consumers to verify the credentials of a skilled trades professional, `is an important tool that protects consumers', according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of the Ontario College of Trades. Few (8%) Ontarians `disagree' (1% strongly/7% somewhat) with this position.

In fact, when thinking about the Ontario College of Trades and its various mandates, 97% of Ontarians like (63% very much/33% somewhat) the fact that `it maintains a register of members to allow the public to easily confirm a tradesperson's qualifications'. Other mandates of the college which most Ontarians favour include `promoting the skilled trades as a career choice to youth and underrepresented groups' (96% like - 63% very much/33 % somewhat) and `ensuring that individuals performing the skills of compulsory trades have the training and certification required to legally practise their trade in Ontario' (97% like - 66% very much/31% somewhat).

Given the high level of support for the register, it's not surprising that nine in ten (86%) Ontarians `agree' (39% strongly/47% somewhat) that they will `use the public register the next time they hire a skilled trades professional', while just 14% disagree (3% strongly/11% somewhat) that they'll use the register'.

The register doesn't just benefit consumers, however, but is also perceived to help trades professionals as well. Nine in ten (91%) Ontarians `agree' (47% strongly/43% somewhat) that `being listed on the public register gives a trades person a competitive advantage', while only one in ten (9%) `disagree' (2% strongly/8% somewhat) that it does.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between April 21st and 24th, 2015 on behalf of the Ontario College of Trades. For this survey, a sample of 802 adults from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ - 3.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Ontarian adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Vice President
Ipsos Public Affairs
(416) 572-4474
[email protected]

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