February's Canada Winter Games was a good investment for the city that will boost tourism, according to results of a University of Northern B.C. student survey.
The survey, a project for a third-year political science class at the university, was aimed at gauging the perceived benefits from the Prince George-hosted event earlier this year.
Representatives from the class presented their findings to city council Monday on night.
The poll is an annual project by students of the undergraduate Canadian politics and policy class, who in the past have gathered public opinion on issues such as safe injection sites and the Northern Supportive Recovery Centre being located at the former Haldi elementary school.
A slim majority of respondents agreed that the 2015 Games was a good investment for the city (26 per cent strongly agreeing, 25 per cent agreeing), while a total of 26 per cent of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed.
An overwhelming majority agreed Prince George should host similar events in the future (82 per cent), while 70 per cent believed the Games would increase tourism to the area. Less (34 per cent in favour versus 35 per cent disagreeing) were sure the Games would increase those looking to make Prince George their home.
In response to a question from Coun. Brian Skakun as to whether survey participants knew the cost of the Games to the taxpayers the students said a good portion probably didn't.
"We couldn't give them that information," said student Wendel Schwab, as the survey had to be conducted based on what respondents already knew.
Skakun as well as Coun. Murry Krause expressed an interest in having more studies conducted gauging the business experience during the Games.
"It wasn't a win-win for everybody," Skakun said.
The survey also asked respondents whether the 2015 Games increased civic pride. Sixty-four per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the sentiment, while only a quarter of participants disagreed or strongly disagreed.
Seniors aged 75 and better were more likely to report that spike of heightened Prince George pride, while the least likely to feel that same boost were in the 18-24 age demographic. An increase in civic pride was also most likely to be felt by those bringing home between $70,000 and $110,000.
Students polled 393 respondents at Canadian Tire, Books and Co., Superstore, Exploration Place and Integris Credit Union over the last two weeks of March. Nearly 98 per cent of respondents were Prince George residents, with 65 per cent of them participating in the Canada Winter Games in some fashion. The survey has a margin of error of 4.93 per cent.
The results are in line with what an urban sociology professor discovered in the fallout to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
At the end of January, Harry Hiller - the director of the University of Calgary's Cities and Olympics project - came to Prince George to present finding from his years of research into how large events such as the Olympic Games affect host cities.
"We asked a 'worth-it' question: Do you think it was worth it? And even four years later people are saying it was worth it," Hiller told The Citizen prior to his Jan. 30 lecture at UNBC. "The point is that it implies that what people got out of it is more than economic."
The UNBC study is the first real report back on the Canada Winter Games, said Coun. Jillian Merrick.
"I assume we'll have many, many more as the Canada Winter Games (host) society starts to wrap up... I suspect even opinions on this may change years down the road once we see a longer-term vision of how the Games have had an impact."
