Discovery Research

What Discovery Research does

Discovery Research is a privately held, founder-owned Canadian full-service market research firm founded in 1998 by Cale Lewis and headquartered in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. The company designs and executes survey-based research programs covering telephone surveys (CATI), mail surveys, online surveys, onsite data collection (face-to-face and mall-intercept), panel surveys, mystery shopping, and audits, and complements data collection with research consulting, statistical analysis, and three reporting formats - full written reports with executive summaries, tabular cross-tabulations, and live dashboards. Its technology infrastructure rests on three pillars: a proprietary online panel of over 400,000 Canadian members across every province, with more than 200 profiling variables, double opt-in registration, and digital-fingerprint fraud detection; CATI calling capability with bilingual (English, French, Spanish) interviewers and U.S. outbound capacity; and a deployed fleet of more than 45 data-enabled tablets configured for offline programmatic use. Service delivery is supported by a coast-to-coast network of professional interviewers with team leaders in each major Canadian city.

Revenue is generated primarily through project-based professional services fees, with subscription/recurring access to the proprietary online panel offered to other research firms. The customer base is anchored by municipalities and regional districts across Canada (Cities of Campbell River, Cranbrook, Duncan, Prince George; Districts of Coldstream and Lake Country; Township of Esquimalt; Okanagan Basin Water Board; Senate of Canada) and supplemented by enterprise accounts in transportation (VIA Rail Canada), postal and retail (Canada Post, La Senza), energy (FortisBC), international development (World Bank), and large-scale events (Calgary Stampede, NHL 4 Nations, Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix), with partnerships alongside research consultancies (Stone-Olafson, LANARC, Evergreen Economics). Go-to-market is consultative and direct, with lead generation primarily through industry directory listings (GreenBook, ESOMAR, MRIA, CCAB) and earned regional press coverage.

Name

Discovery Research

Legal name

Discovery Research Ltd.

Website

https://discoveryresearch.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Discovery Research is a Canadian full-service market research firm founded in 1998, conducting telephone, mail, online, and onsite surveys for municipalities, government agencies, and enterprises across Canada using a 400,000+ member proprietary panel and a coast-to-coast field interviewer network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Survey, Panel & Fieldwork Services (BPAHALAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Fieldwork & Data Collection (Online Panels, CATI/CAPI, Fieldwork) (MPAAALAD)

Keywords

• Market research services
• Survey data collection
• Online survey panels
• Telephone survey fieldwork
• Citizen satisfaction research

Headquarters

HQ city

Vernon

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Market Research Services: Discovery Research provides a full range of market research services including telephone surveys, mail surveys, online surveys, onsite interviewing, panel surveys, mystery shops, and audits. Revenue is generated through project-based fees for research design, data collection, analysis, and reporting services. They work with municipalities, government agencies, retail companies, and research firms.
2. Online Panel Access: Access to their proprietary online panel of over 400,000 Canadian members for targeted survey research. Panel includes robust quality controls with double opt-in, profiling data, and fraud detection.
3. Onsite Data Collection: Field services including retail exit interviews, customer satisfaction surveys, mall-intercepts, product testing, mystery shopping, and respondent recruiting conducted through their network of interviewers across Canada.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Discovery Research provides full-service market research including telephone surveys (CATI), mail surveys, online surveys, onsite interviewing, panel surveys (proprietary Canadian panel of 400,000+ members), mystery shops, and audits, conducted through a coast-to-coast network of professional interviewers across Canada. The firm also offers research consulting (questionnaire design, methodology selection, statistical analysis, segmentation) and three reporting formats (full written reports, tabular cross-tabulations, and live dashboards). Services support customer/resident satisfaction tracking, employee surveys, public opinion polling, customer profiling, awareness studies, and audits for municipalities, government agencies, retail enterprises, and other research firms.

Product overview

Discovery Research provides a full-service market research platform offering a comprehensive suite of survey and data collection methodologies. The core offering consists of six integrated service lines: Onsite Data Collection (field services with face-to-face interviewers), Online Panel (proprietary 400,000+ member Canadian panel), Online Surveys, Mail Surveys, Telephone Surveys (CATI), and Research Consulting. These services are complemented by three reporting format options (Full Written Reports, Tabular Reports, and Live Dashboard Reports) that deliver insights across all data collection methods. The services collectively support customer satisfaction tracking, employee surveys, public opinion polling, customer profiling, awareness studies, mystery shopping, and audits for municipalities, research companies, retail, travel/transit, and government/NGO clients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Onsite Data Collection Field services including onsite interviews (retail exit interviews, customer satisfaction surveys, mall-intercepts, product testing), mystery shopping, and respondent recruiting conducted by a network of professional interviewers across Canada. Uses 45+ data-enabled tablets programmable for remote offline use.
• Online Panel Access to a proprietary Canadian online panel with over 400,000 members across all provinces, offering CAWI and CATI data collection, programming, coding, translation, and analytics. Quality controls include double opt-in, digital fingerprinting fraud detection, and 200+ profiling questions for targeted respondent matching.
• Online Surveys Customizable online survey platform with mobile rendering, support for complex logic, skip patterns, and data validations. Surveys can be distributed via embed links, social media, or targeted email lists with follow-up capabilities.
• Mail Surveys Mail survey services covering questionnaire design, printing, mailing, and data entry, achieving response rates consistently exceeding 25% and sometimes exceeding 40% on citizen satisfaction projects.
• Telephone Surveys CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) services with bilingual interviewers (English, French, Spanish) and calling capability across Canada and the United States, with live monitoring of survey progress via dashboard.
• Research Consulting Consulting services covering questionnaire design, data collection methodology selection, secondary research, statistically valid sample selection, computer tabulation, statistical analysis, database management, brand mapping, and market segmentation.

Named customers20 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Pollara Strategic Insights: Pollara is a Toronto-based full-service Canadian research firm offering custom research, panel, and public opinion polling. Comparable to Discovery Research in its Canada-focused multi-methodology approach and government/enterprise client base.
• Abacus Data: Abacus Data is an Ottawa-based Canadian research firm offering online panel, public opinion, and custom research. Comparable to Discovery Research in its Canadian online panel approach and government/political research focus.
• Environics Research: Environics Research is a Toronto-based full-service Canadian research firm with strong public-sector and social research credentials. Overlaps directly with Discovery Research in survey research, public opinion polling, and government/NGO client work.
• Maru/Matchbox: Maru/Matchbox is a Canadian research and insights firm offering proprietary panels (Maru Voice), telephone, online, and qualitative research. Directly comparable to Discovery Research in proprietary Canadian panel infrastructure and multi-methodology service delivery.
• Angus Reid Group: Angus Reid operates one of Canada's largest proprietary online panels (Angus Reid Forum) and offers custom research and public opinion polling. Highly comparable to Discovery Research's proprietary-panel-led Canadian research model.
• Léger: Léger is the largest Canadian-owned market research firm, offering panel access (LEO), telephone, online, and qualitative research across Canada. Directly comparable to Discovery Research in full-service Canadian fieldwork and panel offerings, but at substantially larger scale and broader service portfolio.
• Forum Research: Forum Research is a Toronto-based Canadian market research firm offering telephone, online, and public opinion research. Comparable to Discovery Research in CATI-based Canadian survey work and government/political research focus.
• The Strategic Counsel: The Strategic Counsel is a Toronto-based full-service Canadian research firm specializing in public opinion, stakeholder, and corporate research. Comparable to Discovery Research in survey-based custom research for government and enterprise clients in Canada.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos (Canada): Ipsos is one of the world's largest market research firms with substantial Canadian operations across all major methodologies. Represents a broad incumbent competing against Discovery Research for enterprise and government contracts, though Ipsos serves a global portfolio at much larger scale.
• NielsenIQ (Canada): NielsenIQ is a global measurement and data analytics company with Canadian research operations across consumer and retail research. Comparable to Discovery Research's retail/consumer brand work and citizen research, but operates at a global scale and across a much broader data portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/discovery-research-canada
• Facebookfacebook.com/discoveryresearch.ca

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Discovery Research