MySurvey has been been around for a long time. They have millions of members around the world and offer their survey panel to Canadians in both English and French. Here’s my experience with them.

The Survey Taking Itself

Many Different Topics
Especially if you drink alcohol regularly, MySurvey seems to have a lot of surveys available on this topic. I have completed surveys on soft drinks, cell phone providers, banking, alcohol, restaurants, cars, and electronics. There also seemed to be quite a few surveys aimed at people who have children (I don’t have any), so stay at home parents would probably especially benefit from this!

Varied Formats
The format of the surveys were also pretty different. I did a few surveys where I watched a commercial and using a live slider beneath the video to rate the parts I liked and disliked about it. Some were traditional in that they were just a series of questions. Some had images of potential product designs, etc. Even the look of the surveys with regards to colours, graphics, etc. really varied. I think this had to do with the fact that some studies said they were being hosted by “trusted research partners”, so I guess not all surveys were actually conducted by MySurvey, though you’ll still get your points.

Starting Where you Left Off
If you get halfway through a survey, and can’t complete it, you can always just exit the screen and it’ll still be listed under “Surveys Available”, under your account. I really liked this feature, especially if I was in a rush, and wanted to get a head start on a longer survey that was worth a lot of points.

Tip! You might want to try completing the longer surveys – they tend to be worth more points for every minute spent, compared to the shorter surveys offered.

Rewards Amounts Are No Surprise
As soon as you click the name of the survey, you’re brought to a screen where it’ll state the length of time it’ll take you to complete the study, as well as how many points you’ll receive for finishing it. If you get screened out of the survey, you’ll usually get an entry into the monthly sweepstakes.

Reward Options

The reward options available are in a sort of catalogue form, where you can sort by points value, category, or by brand to find the reward you like. Although MySurvey claims that “1,000 MySurvey Reward Points have a value equivalent to $10.00″, if you look at the rewards below, it seems to be a bit less than what they say. You also get a 10 point bonus after being a member for a month.

PayPal:
$10 payment = 1142 points
$15 payment = 1712 points
$20 payment = 2283 points
$100 payment = 11623 points

Approximate point conversion for PayPal:
1 point = $0.00875
10 points = $0.0875
100 points = $0.875

Amazon:
$10 gift certificate = 1120 points
$25 payment = 2800 points

Approximate point conversion for Amazon:
1 point = $0.00893
10 points = $0. 0893
100 points = $0.893

You’ll notice points are worth more when you convert them for Amazon gift cards.

Gift Certificate Options
You can redeem your points for gift certificates or electronic gift cards from: Starbucks, Aldo, Canadian Tire, Applebees, Cactus Club Café, Burger King, Olive Garden, Pier 1 Imports, American Eagle Outfitters, and more.

They also offer an assortment of random merchandise such as a blender, toaster, kettle, earrings, small electronics, etc. Merchandise is shipped for free.

If you’re feeling very generous, you’ll get the most mileage for your points if you convert them for charity donations. For instance, a $10 donation to UNICEF or the Canadian Red Cross can be made for only 1110 points.

Redeeming Your Points

My Survey’s catalogue made it really easy to redeem my points. Just log into your account, click the “My Rewards” button on the top, then the big “Redeem” green button, and you’re brought to the catalogue.

Select the reward you want, and click “Redeem Now”. You’ll be shown your “shopping cart”, which will look something like this:

Hit the “redeem” button again, and that’s it!

Note: My Survey’s reward catalogue seems to be managed by “Perks Plus”, which is why you’ll get your PayPal payment from them, and not from MySurvey directly.

I received my PayPal reward in 2 weeks after requesting it.

Referring Friends

MySurvey offers a pretty generous 150 points for any friends or family members (who don’t live with you) you refer to them. You can email your friends directly from your account. Just log in, click on “My Friends” at the top, and it’s easy to send an email to your friends where upon their registration with MySurvey, you’ll get 150 points credited to your account.

Monthly Sweepstakes

Every month, 10 prizes of 10,000 Reward Points (worth around $90, depending on which reward option is chosen) is awarded to 10 winners.

You can get following number of entries via the following methods:

• Get 5 entries every month, just for being an active member. You don’t even have to take any surveys to get this.
• Get 1 entry when you complete certain surveys during any given month, or when you’re screened out of certain surveys. You’ll see something that says “Receive one (1) Survey Completion Bonus sweepstakes entry”, which means you’ll get an entry into this monthly sweeps draw.

Survey Frequency

I receive surveys pretty regularly from MySurvey, and I didn’t bother filling out any of the “LifeStyle Surveys”. These are questionnaires available in your account available for you to take any time, which are basically used to pre-qualify you for certain studies. I’m sure if I filled these out, I would receive even more surveys, but I am already getting enough as it is.

Customer Service

I had one issue with a survey at one point. I basically finished the whole thing, and when I hit “submit” at the end, I got a message saying I didn’t qualify for the survey. I contacted them through the web form under Help –> Contact Us, and within a few hours, I got an apology as well as my points. So overall, that was very positive.

Conclusion

MySurvey seemed pretty organized in terms of the surveys themselves – the topics were interesting, the format was usually engaging, and I never felt that there was a shortage of surveys to take. The reward options are really good, but I did think it took a little longer than I had expected to earn enough points to redeem for a reward. When I have requested a reward though, I got it within a couple weeks.

Overall, I’d say MySurvey is a good survey panel, but if you’re impatient, you might be better off joining Opinion Outpost, who seem to pay a bit faster. That said, with plenty of surveys seemingly always available, they’re a survey website you can really rely on.

If you’re not a member, click this link to join MySurvey for free.

Attention all medical specialists!

We’ve just been notified by Brand Institute, that they are urgently seeking health care professionals from Canada. We’ve had them listed on Canadian Paid Surveys for a while now, but they are really revving up their recruitment from Canada, as right now they have a lot of studies available for healthcare professionals which they really need filled.

At this time, Brand Institute is urgently seeking individuals from the following occupations to join their medicine-related panel:

• Physicians / Doctors of Medicine (MD)
• Physician Assistants (PA)
• Nurses
• Pharmacists
• Health Care Executives
• Other health care professionals

If you haven’t heard of Brand Institute, they specialize in brand consultancy, primarily for healthcare related products. In 2012 alone, they worked on 57% of 2012 Health Canada approved drug names. In the US, the number is even higher, as they worked on 71% of 2012 FDA approved names. With hundreds of clients and over 1500 brand projects under their belt, Brand Institute (who is the parent company of Drug Safety Institute (DSI), is a big organization who takes market research very seriously.

What you get for participating

The first question they’ll ask you during the registration form, is how you’d like to be paid: via cheque or via PayPal. It’s up to you to decide, though getting paid via cheque is slower, as a check has to be printed and mailed, versus a PayPal payment which is more instant. Either way, you are paid in cash.

Earn $5 – $30 per survey

Each online survey completion is worth between 5 and 30 dollars, though as a medical professional, you will almost always earn at least $10 for completing a survey. The e-mail inviting you to take the survey will state what the study is worth if you complete it. Like all survey panels, you can choose whether or not you wish to complete a study.

Here’s a picture of a $55 cheque that we received:

If you’ve heard enough, you can join Brand Institute for free by clicking the button below. This registration form takes less than 5 minutes to complete. Otherwise, you can read more about them here.

Your signup link search ends now!

It’s that special time of year again when Pinecone Research opens up their online survey panel to most Canadians! If you’ve been looking for a signup link to this invitation-only panel, join quick before their recruitment closes again.

No Surprises: Get Paid $3.00 Every Time
Why does Pinecone have such a great reputation? They’re predictable and honest. Earn $3.00 for every survey you complete and get paid via cheque or by PayPal – the choice is yours.

Chances to Win Prizes
On top of getting paid for every survey, you could also be the lucky winner of a sweepstakes, just for completing screeners. Occasionally Pinecone also offers product testing assignments, which offer different compensation amounts.

Hurry Up!
You can join other survey panels as you please, but Pinecone is never around for long. It always seems like only moments after opening their program up to new members, they close it down again. So if you’re hesitating joining this panel – don’t! You might have to wait 6 months to a year before they accept members again.

*Please note that although many who try to join Pinecone will be accepted, you might be rejected based on your demographic details. Pinecone almost always only recruits people of certain age groups, backgrounds, etc. at any given moment.

Taking Surveys Pays – Now We Can Prove it To You

If there ever was a doubt that the survey panels we have listed on our website are legitimate, we are on our way to proving to you that they are. Not only are all the panels listed on CanadianPaidSurveys legitimate, but they are all 100% free to join!

We have scanned cheques and taken screenshots of emails, PayPal payments as well as gift vouchers in order to prove to you that we have received compensation from the survey companies listed on CanadianPaidSurveys.

We have updated the following survey companies with proof of payment. Some of these were uploaded in the past, others are new:

• Angus Reid Forum – $50 cheque
• My Survey – $10 PayPal payment
• Opinion Outpost – $10 PayPal payment
• Tellwut – $10 Amazon gift voucher
• Brand Institute – $55 cheque
• SurveySavvy – $30.55 cheque

Scroll down to the middle of the pages listed above to view the payment proofs.

More will be added soon!

Looking for Something New?

Happy Easter Everyone!

We’ve been scouring the internet to find you the best online survey opportunities, and happily, we managed to find a few new ones.

• Canada Snack Lab
• Ipsos Vocalpoint Voice
• Special Credit Card Survey
• Special Study for MS Patients

Reminder for immigrants to Canada: Ethnic Voice Accord pays cash for each survey taken! Get $2 credited to your account, just for joining.

We’re hoping to find more studies just like this and we’ll post them here when we do.

Thanks everyone for your support!

With the March 1st RRSP deadline looming, it’s time to think about personal income taxes again. Filing your 2012 taxes is not due until April 30, 2013, but if you’re anticipating a refund, it’s better to file early and collect your money sooner rather than later!

In the fall we wrote an article entitled “Taking Surveys for Tax Savings” in which we illustrated how taking online surveys can result in tax reductions through the use of charity donations. Not only is this a great way to pad your potential refund without spending any money, but it also really helps some great non-profit organizations who are in desperate need of donations.

We’ve also got some information on how to claim your survey earnings on your tax returns on our website here: http://www.canadianpaidsurveys.com/about-surveys/do-canadians-have-to-pay-taxes-on-online-surveys-income/ Remember that if you are a low-income earner, you will likely not have to pay any taxes (especially if your total income for 2012 was under $11,000), however you should still claim your survey earnings so that you’re not hiding anything from the government in case of an audit.

If you’re new to Canada this year, we sure hope you don’t get too scared away by our high taxation levels! If you’re an immigrant from Europe however, you might be pleasantly surprised! In any case, don’t forget to check out the newly listed and cash-paying Ethnic Voice Accord, as they are specifically seeking membership from new Canadians.

If you were lucky enough to win a contest from a Canada-based survey company this year, and are a Canadian resident you do not have to claim the cash value of your prize. So, if you were one of the lucky winners of LegerWeb’s monthly $1,000 cash prize draw, the money is yours to keep, tax free! Because the prize is a game of pure chance, it is not subject to Canadian income tax, however if you lived in the US, depending on your state (among other things), you would have to pay taxes on your winnings.

It sure is good to be Canadian, eh?!

Are you an immigrant to Canada? Or are you the son or daughter of an immigrant? If so, you may qualify to join the Ethnic Voice Accord, a special online survey panel aimed at giving ethnic Canadians a voice.

It is free to join and benefits of becoming a member include:

  Get paid for each and every survey you complete
  Get $2.00 automatically deposited into your account after joining
  Get paid quickly by cheque
  Take surveys on issues that matter to you and your community

Join 15,000 other immigrants to Canada who are already part of this great survey panel.

BONUS: if you do not feel comfortable taking surveys in English, you may choose to take surveys in Hindi or Chinese instead.

If you’d like to find out more about Ethnic Voice Accord before joining, please click here.

Have an iPhone? If so, we’ve got a very special survey panel to tell you about, only available for a limited time.

If you qualify to join, you will receive a free $5 Starbucks or Amazon gift card.

You’ll also receive an additional $5 in gift cards (Amazon, Starbucks, Cineplex) every month for 6 months (for a total of $35) when you participate fully.

You must have an iPhone and be 18 years of age or older to participate.

So, stop taking pictures of yourself in the mirror and join today!

Don’t You Hate it When That Happens?

People sign up to take online surveys because they are excited to share their opinions, make a difference, and also earn rewards for their time. There are a variety of topics and many different types of respondents, and panelists usually receive invitations to surveys that are relevant to them and their individual lifestyles.

However some panelists find that when they follow the survey link from their email invitation that the survey is already closed and they are no longer able to take part. This can obviously be frustrating, especially if it happens more than once, so why does this happen and how can a survey taker ensure that they are able to access more open surveys?

Why Surveys Close

Most surveys are conducted because a business, company or service agency is looking for specific feedback from certain ademographics. This is why each survey begins by asking personal questions such as age, gender, education level and annual income. This information screens out some survey takers who fall outside of these pre-determined demographics, and those who do qualify continue on to complete the survey.

However, a panelist may meet the criteria that a company is looking for and still find that the survey is closed. This can happen when the company only needs 100 respondents for example, and if the panelist is number 101 they will be told the survey is closed.

Another reason a respondent may be told the survey is closed is that the survey itself was time sensitive. For instance, a survey regarding an upcoming election or the government’s latest budget may need to be ready for the next evening’s newscast. This means the survey must be created, the right amount of respondents found, completed, returned and analyzed within twenty-four hours.

Market research companies will leave their surveys open as long as possible, as they want to give a fair chance to all panelists to give their opinions. So survey takers will only receive a closed out notice when the survey has reached it’s target number of respondents or has a specified end time from the makers of that particular survey.

How Survey Takers Can Avoid Getting ‘Survey Closed’ Notices

There are several steps that a panelist can take to ensure they are not screened out of surveys. These are simple to follow and will allow respondents to complete more surveys and earn more rewards.

To ensure eligibility in time-sensitive surveys, panelists should check their email accounts at least once a day. It is important to check junk mail folders as well, and ensure that the email addresses of all panel pages respondents are members of are added to their contact list. Those with smart phones that have email accounts paired with their devices can get notified instantly and in some cases even complete the survey immediately right on their phone.

Panelists should also make sure to read each email survey invitation carefully, as most will state if there is a specified close date for that particular survey.

Keeping personal information updated with each panel a survey taker is a member of will ensure more accurate surveys are sent out in the first place. This means the panelist is less likely to get screened out even if they survey is still open.

Even when a panelist attempts to complete a survey and is told the survey is now closed, many survey companies still compensate the respondent by entering them in a monthly draw or give them a small amount of points as a thank you for their time.

That time of year is approaching quickly – Christmas lights adorn the streets and holiday music blares in stores. With so much pressure to buy the “perfect” gift, it’s no wonder that as December 25th nears, the strain on shopper’s faces increases.

Here are our recommendations for how online surveys and market research can help out with paying your Holiday bills as well as last minute gift ideas.

Top Survey Company for the Holidays: Tellwut

Tellwut – Offering: Gift cards to Amazon, Future Shop, Best Buy, Cineplex, and more.
Gift cards, although often accused of being impersonal, is a safe bet for anyone on your list who is difficult to buy for, or for those times when you need a last minute gift idea.

Tellwut offers its members the opportunity to earn these quickly through its daily surveys and polls. In around two weeks you can be ready to redeem your points for a gift card or voucher. Once you make your request, you should receive an email with gift voucher code usually within a period of a couple days. Or alternatively, you will be mailed your gift card a couple of weeks after requesting it. If you get in on this offer quickly, you can get gift cards in time for the Holidays! Become a free member of Tellwut Surveys.

Ease Holiday Bills with PayPal

Consult our list of online survey panels in Canada who offer cash payments via PayPal. You can transfer your PayPal balance to your bank account at any time. Or better yet, pay for your next online purchase using your PayPal balance for a safe and convenient way to shop. See all PayPal paying survey companies.

You Can’t Go Wrong With Amazon

Amazon is officially the world’s largest online marketplace, with millions of products available for purchase. Earn your way to an Amazon gift card from survey companies including Opinion World, Hotspex, and more. Gift it to someone special as a gift, or keep it for yourself. See the full listing of survey companies who offer this.

Participate in a Focus Group for Last Minute Cash

If you live in a major city in Canada, you’re in luck. Market research companies who conduct focus groups look for new participants all the time to voice their opinions on everything from music to health to beauty products.

Focus group opportunities come and go. Check out our list of studies available in your area: Check back frequently, as the list is updated as often as possible.

Wrap Up

Hopefully we’ve given you some ideas on how to use online surveys and other market research opportunities to help you out with Christmas this year.

We’d also like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and to thank you all for helping make CanadianPaidSurveys.com such a great resource for surveys information in Canada!