Advanis helps municipalities ask tough questions in simple, accessible ways, giving leaders clear and defensible evidence for confident decisions. While municipal decisions affect every resident, traditional engagement frequently misses equity-deserving communities, youth, and newcomers. This issue is compounded by tendency for vocal individuals or interest groups to dominate public hearings, correspondence, and social media.
At Advanis, we employ accessible outreach methods to elevate underrepresented voices. This allows us to ensure that the silent minority of a community is heard and the opinions collected are reflective of all citizens. Once proper representation is obtained, advanced analytics are applied to turn tough financial choices into simple questions. See how we apply thoughtful sampling and advanced analytics to acquire the information that municipalities need for informed decision making with 3 of our recent case studies.
Alcohol in Public Parks
The Client: City of Edmonton
The Challenge: Decide whether to make a pilot program permitting alcohol in specific public parks permanent, weighing resident sentiment, safety concerns, and park management trade-offs across diverse communities.
Our Solution: Advanis used several recruitment methods including representative telephone surveys, on-site park intercept interviews, email invitations to site registrants, and an open web survey to obtain a representative sample of the community. The study used a segmentation analysis and Best Object Scaling (BOS) approach, reported through a Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) lens. This allowed us to highlight the relative importance of resident sentiment, safety concerns and park management trade-offs among various segments within the community.
The Results: The Council, with confidence from extensive and insightful research, made the policy permanent and refined park signage, site criteria, and community guidelines.
Community Priorities Survey
The Client: Town of Okotoks
The Challenge: Strategic planning and future budget decisions required statistically valid citizen input on quality of life, service satisfaction, and shifting priorities.
Our Solution: Advanis utilized probability-based, multi-channel recruitment methods (a postcard to every household plus phone recruiting to an online survey) with a Key Driver Analysis (KDA) and a capitol trade-off exercise. This analysis was used to determine what was most likely to drive satisfaction with and investment in the Town.
The Results: Nearly all (99%) respondents rated quality of life highly and more than half (63%) rated value for tax dollars highly. Road infrastructure, growth management, and recreation planning emerged as the primary investment drivers, which shaped the Town's strategic priorities.
Citizen Satisfaction and Budget Prioritization
The Client: Sturgeon County
The Challenge: Annual service level adjustments needed a representative read on resident satisfaction and spending priorities across distinct geographic divisions.
Our Solution: Advanis employed personal letter invitations with secure online survey links to every household in the county. The results of which were used to execute a budget allocation exercise, a service ranking task and division-level subgroup analysis. This enabled the acquisition of key information on the communities satisfaction with the county and preferences for spending.
The Results: We were able to provide the county with evidence-based direction for aligning service budgets, optimizing tax dollar allocation, and addressing the needs of residents across all divisions.