Legitimate Online Paid Survey Sites for Canadians

In a recent article I discussed several sites online where Canadians could sell used books, noting that most such sites only accept Americans. Here I'd like to take a similar approach to another source of online work that a growing number of people are turning to to supplement their incomes and get a little extra spending money: filling out surveys. Once again, many of these sites are limited to specific nationalities. Usually American.

This is understandable, of course: most companies who are paying to conduct polls are interested in American opinions, on American politics and the American economy. Nevertheless, there are many opportunities in this sector for Canadians as well. Below I identify nine online survey companies which Canadians may register with. This is not an exclusive list - there are others as well, and I may produce another article in the future identifying more.

In this list, however, I focus only on those companies with which I have some direct personal experience. There are numerous scam artists active in this industry -- and it is easy to get caught because of the now-standard industry activity of making you accumulate points or credits to a certain level (typically $20-$25) before you actually see a penny in cold, hard cash. So I've tried to limit myself to sites that I can recommend with confidence.

Survey Companies from which I have received a pay cheque in the past:

Global Test Market - http://www.globaltestmarket.com/ - Surveys are sent through email. Global Test Market has a points-based system in which you accumulate "MarketPoints" at the rate of 5 cents per point, and can cash them out when you reach 1000 MarketPoints (in other words, $50). Payment is by cheque in the mail.

Opinion Outpost - http://www.opinionoutpost.com/ - Another company that operates a points-based system and then pays you through mailed-out cheques. In this case, one point equals ten cents, and you can apply for a cheque at 50 points (in other words, $5). Recently, Opinion Outpost has added the option of getting a $5 gift code for Amazon.com in place of the pay cheque. The advantage to this (apparently - I've never got one) is that you get the code immediately, whereas you usually have to wait a little over a month to get the cheque.

Survey Lion - http://www.surveylion.com/ - This site sends out surveys a little bit less frequently, and the online interface is a little bit awkward. Nevertheless, I do recommend signing up here if you sign up anywhere. Their online account tracks your income directly in cash rather than an awkward points-based system, and after you get your first paycheque, you're allowed to request another one at any time -- there's no messing about with limits and thresholds. Of course, you may feel just a little bit silly sending a request for a cheque for just $3.00, and there's nothing wrong with waiting until the number is a little higher first. Survey Lion has to pay someone to write these cheques for them, and if we raise their business costs, then we also lower the amount they'll pay us survey-takers, too.

Survey Savvy - http://www.surveysavvy.com/ - Tracks directly in cash, and you can request a mailed cheque. Has a comprehensive multilevel marketing scheme in which you get paid a credit for surveys filled out by people you refer, as well as people they refer. Surveys are usually worth a couple of dollars each.

Survey Spot - http://www.surveyspot.com/ - Survey Spot used to have a cash-based accounting system similar to Survey Savvy and Clearvoice, below. They've recently switched to a new incentive system. I haven't filled out enough surveys to have a clear idea what's going on here, but they used to pay out before, so they're certainly a legitimate company. The only question I can't answer is what their new incentive system is.

Web Perspectives - http://www.webperspectives.ca/ - This used to be my favourite survey company, because surveys were infrequent, but they always paid $5 and you were automatically paid via PayPal for each and every survey. Now they've gone to a points system, where one point is equal to one cent and you get paid out when you reach 1000 points (or $10). Surveys usually pay around 400-500 points ($4-$5), but there are some measly clunkers for less, too. Their invitations have also got much more frequent since Web Perspectives made its transition, at least in my experience. I think they still also pay in PayPal but I'm waiting to get my first payment under the new points-based system.

Survey Companies which seem legitimate but with which I don't yet have enough points/income to qualify for a cheque:

Clearvoice Surveys - http://www.clearvoicesurveys.com/ - I don't qualify for many surveys from here so I haven't been paid out yet. The online account tracks you in cash. There is one complication here: Clearvoice won't actually send you a paycheque, or even a deposit in your PayPal account. Instead, you have three choices once you've accumulated $10: an Amazon gift certificate, a Dining Dough restaurant gift certificate (I've never heard of this restaurant, but the gift certificate is worth $25), or a Payoneer prepaid Mastercard. I guess I'll pick the third option when I get there.

SurveyHead - http://www.surveyhead.com/ - SurveyHead gives you a generous start with several dollars in sign-up bonuses and preliminary surveys (these are a common tactic for survey sites to build up specific user profiles, but most of them don't actually pay you to fill them out). I joined this site a couple of weeks ago and haven't accumulated enough points to qualify for a payment yet. The online account tracks in dollars and in theory I get a cheque when I reach $25. One innovation here is that you get to see all available surveys in a console on the website as they come in, along with an estimated percentage likelihood that you will qualify to fill it out and get paid. How accurate this percentage is, I have no idea. So far I don't seem to qualify for many surveys here. Also, most surveys are pretty cheap, at just $1 or $2.

Toluna - http://us.toluna.com/ - In my opinion, this is the most exciting of the new sites. I haven't been paid by Toluna, but I think I will be (eventually - they've actually raised the threshold since I got there). Toluna has a points-based system, where you must reach 60 000 points, to get a cheque for $20. Toluna doubles as a social networking site and you can accumulate a small number of points for answering single-question sponsored "quick surveys" as well as for participating in online discussions with other members. Before leaping, however, remember that the points values here are almost ridiculously high: they'll offer you 15 points for answering a "quick survey," for example, but at 3000 points to a dollar, that's actually only half a penny. The real surveys are usually valued between $1 and $3.

I hope this brief little survey of survey sites (ouch... sorry about word choice there) has been helpful. As I mentioned in the introduction, there are many more available, even to Canadians. A second article will take a look at some of the newer and slightly less popular entries into the survey industry in Canada.

Did I miss some major survey opportunities? Please discuss this topic in the comments section!