What We Heard in the 2024 Programs and Services Survey
The latest survey of clients and partners found 85 per cent of respondents were satisfied with Safety Codes Council (the Council) programs and services, up from 80 per cent the previous year.
Between September 18 and October 10, 2024, 1,477 clients and partners participated in the Council’s 2024 programs and services survey. The Council is committed to continual improvement and actively seeks feedback to identify ways to better meet the needs of safety codes system users.
While overall satisfaction is up, reflecting the positive impact of ongoing work to enhance programs and services, the survey also highlighted areas where the Council can do even better — and teams have been thoughtfully considering the results and incorporating the feedback as they continue working to enhance programs and services.
Thanks to everyone who participated in the survey!
Key Findings
High Satisfaction
- 8 in 10 respondents believe Council programs meet client and partner needs, up from 7 in 10 in 2023.
Respondents expressed the highest satisfaction with:
- fuel storage tank installer approval (95 per cent)
- accreditation (94 per cent)
- master electrician certification (91 per cent)
While they were least satisfied with:
- complaint investigation (63 per cent)
- appeal system (64 per cent)
Digital Platforms
The survey revealed that users were most satisfied with:
- Council Connect (84 per cent)
- The Council members portal (81 per cent)
- The website (80 per cent)
Conversely, they were least satisfied with:
- eSite (67 per cent)
- eServices (66 per cent)
Feedback and Suggestions for Improvements
Ninety-six respondents provided general feedback, emphasizing the Council’s value, employee professionalism, and helpfulness; some noted a need for more feedback and support.
There were 293 suggestions for improvement, with training and education garnering more than 1/3 of the comments.
Participating Client and Partner Profile*
Role
- 50% Master Electrician
- 32% Construction Tradesperson
- 30% Safety Codes Officer
- 30% Homeowner
- 9% Permit Issuer for an Accredited Organization
- 7% Safety Codes Council Member
- 7% Quality Management Plan Manager
- 1% Petroleum Tank Contractor
- 5% Other
- 1% Prefer Not to Answer
Working for
- 64% Accredited Organization**
- 27% Construction Industry Business or Non-profit Organization
- 14% Nominating Organization***
- 6% Other
- 2% Prefer Not to Answer
*Only client and partner data shown above; multiple response question. Numbers may exceed 100%
**Organizations that administer the Safety Codes Act in a specified jurisdiction.
***Organizations that provide volunteers that make up the Council membership.
Perception of the Council
Precents shown represent users who agree or strongly agree
Alberta safety codes officers have the knowledge and skills to fulfill their roles and responsibilities.
The Council provides information that is easy for people like me to understand.
The Council delivers its delegated programs and services.
The Council provides information that is complete to people like me.
The Council values what clients and partners say and uses their input to make decisions.
The Council makes it easy to find the information that people like me need.
The way the Council runs its programs and services matches what Alberta needs right now.
The Council is forthcoming with information that might be damaging to the organization (e.g., not meeting targets, mistakes).
Key Actions in Response
The Council is actively responding to feedback to better meet user needs.
Complaint Investigation and Appeals
The Council is taking steps to enhance appeals and complaint investigation services, such as hiring a compliance officer and creating more resources to help appellants navigate the process.
Digital Platforms
The most frequent recommendation across all digital platforms was to improve user-friendliness.
The Council is committed to improving digital platforms to meet users’ needs and enhance the user experience — and is developing a technology roadmap for improvements it will make over the next few years, focusing on those that will bring the greatest value to the safety codes system.
The certification and training section of the website has been recently updated to better meet the needs of current and prospective safety codes officers (SCO) and master electricians.
There are two new landing pages, one for master electricians and one for SCOs. Each SCO discipline also has its own page, with up-to-date information on code updates, resources, and more.
Training and Education
Training and education were most frequently mentioned when asked about opportunities for improvement.
The Council continues to look at ways to evolve educational programming to provide clients with the knowledge and competencies the system requires, now and into the future.
Curriculum modernization and service improvements are two areas of focus for the team.
Curriculum modernization:
- In 2024, applied and scenario-based learning was added to two courses in the plumbing and electrical utilities disciplines; several additional modernized courses will be released throughout 2025 and 2026.
- In late 2024, the Council initiated a redesign of its assessment model toward fewer, more meaningful assessments to better evaluate practical skills and real-world problem-solving abilities.
Service improvements: The Council introduced a new learner support model to connect students with experts and peers through virtual office hours and is developing a new student orientation that will be introduced in 2025.