====== Impact Canada ====== {{ ::impact_canada.png?200|}} **Impact Canada** is a Canadian government initiative based out of the [[Privy Council Office]]'s Impact and Innovation Unit in [[canada:ontario:Ottawa]], [[canada:Ontario]]. It has been described as the [[Government of Canada]]'s "behaviour-nudging team".((Delacourt, S. (2021, February 21). //“The nudge unit”: Ottawa’s behavioural-science team investigates how Canadians feel about vaccines, public health and who to trust.// The Star Vancouver. http://archive.today/2021.06.21-034312/https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2021/02/21/the-nudge-unit-ottawas-behavioural-science-team-investigates-how-canadians-feel-about-vaccines-public-health-and-who-to-trust.html)) ===== History ===== Impact Canada was established in 2017.((//About Impact Canada.// Impact Canada. Retrieved February 13, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.02.13-220315/https://impact.canada.ca/index.php/en/about)) ((//Project Timeline.// Canada Beyond 150. Retrieved June 10, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.06.10-185726/http://www.canadabeyond150.ca/timeline-en.html)) ==== COVID-19 ==== Starting in April 2020, Impact Canada conducted a "scientific experiment", mostly "under the radar", using [[behavioural science]] in which "ordinary citizens were the laboratory subjects."((Delacourt, S. (2021, February 21). //“The nudge unit”: Ottawa’s behavioural-science team investigates how Canadians feel about vaccines, public health and who to trust.// The Star Vancouver. http://archive.today/2021.06.21-034312/https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2021/02/21/the-nudge-unit-ottawas-behavioural-science-team-investigates-how-canadians-feel-about-vaccines-public-health-and-who-to-trust.html)) The study is called COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring (COSMO), and captures the "attitudes and behaviour on all things pandemic-related" of about 2,000 participants while implementing the "[[World Health Organization|WHO]] Behavioural Insights tool on COVID-19 to inform response efforts, including policy, interventions and communications."((//COSMO Canada.// Impact Canada. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.01.31-124327/https://impact.canada.ca/en/cosmo-canada)) On February 5, 2021, [[Theresa Tam]] acknowledged that such studies were being "carried out by the Privy Council Office, where there is a behavioural insight team," which had contributed to "the intention for Canadians to get the vaccine" increasing since the beginning of [[Canada]]'s [[COVID-19 vaccines|COVID-19 vaccine]] rollout.((Delacourt, S. (2021, February 21). //“The nudge unit”: Ottawa’s behavioural-science team investigates how Canadians feel about vaccines, public health and who to trust.// The Star Vancouver. http://archive.today/2021.06.21-034312/https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2021/02/21/the-nudge-unit-ottawas-behavioural-science-team-investigates-how-canadians-feel-about-vaccines-public-health-and-who-to-trust.html)) She then stated that the government planned to "work with the internet and [[social media]] companies and that has been happening with [[Facebook]], [[Google]], [[YouTube]] and others." From March 11-30, 2021, Impact Canada ran their fourth study on COVID-19 vaccines titled "Messaging in Response to Adverse Events Following Immunization". The study tested seven possible messages, delivered randomly by the "Government of Canada, a top Canadian medical professional, or a spokesperson for the vaccine manufacturer." Impact Canada concluded that "behaviourally-informed messages" "significantly outperformed the status quo communications strategy" when publicly addressing reports of adverse events related to COVID-19 vaccines.((//Applying BeSci to the COVID-19 Response.// Impact Canada. Retrieved June 10, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230610193828/https://impact.canada.ca/en/behavioural-science/timeline)) A May 2021 memo titled "Testing Behaviourally-Informed Messaging In Response To Severe Adverse Events Following Immunization" disclosed via an Access to Information (ATIP) request describes messaging guidance very similar to Impact Canada's study, including recommending "that any COVID vaccine-related injuries or deaths be carefully managed with 'winning communication strategies' as to not 'shake public confidence.'"((//Postmedia News. (2023, June 6). Privy Council advocated downplaying COVID vaccine injuries or deaths.// Toronto Sun. http://archive.today/2023.06.06-205005/https://torontosun.com/news/national/privy-council-advocated-downplaying-covid-vaccine-injuries-or-deaths)) ===== Organization ===== ==== Personnel ==== ^ Impact Canada - Team((//Our People.// Impact Canada. Retrieved June 10, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230610185615/https://impact.canada.ca/en/our-people)) ^^^ ^ Name ^ Position ^ Notes ^ | [[Rodney Ghali]] | Lead | Former Director General of the [[Public Health Agency of Canada]]; former Board member of the [[Propel Centre for Population Health Impact]];((//Rodney Ghali.// LinkedIn. Retrieved June 10, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.06.10-192410/https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodney-ghali-b51949b4/)) various positions at [[Health Canada]]((//Rodney Ghali Biography.// (2013, May). Canada 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20230610191918/https://canada2020.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Rodney-Ghali-Biography.pdf)) | ==== Partners ==== Partners of the Impact Canada Initiative include:((//About Impact Canada.// Impact Canada. Retrieved February 13, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.02.13-220315/https://impact.canada.ca/index.php/en/about)) * [[Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada]] * [[Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]] * [[Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation]] * [[Canadian Space Agency]] * [[Department of Fisheries and Oceans]] * [[Employment and Social Development Canada]] * [[Environment and Climate Change Canada]] * [[Indigenous Services Canada]] * [[Infrastructure Canada]] * [[Global Affairs Canada]] * [[Health Canada]] * [[Natural Resources Canada]] * [[Public Health Agency of Canada]] * [[Public Safety Canada]] ===== External links ===== * [[https://www.linkedin.com/company/equipe-impact-canada-team/|LinkedIn]] * [[https://impact.canada.ca/|Website]]