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Almost 75 per cent of Canadians aged 16 or older surfed the Net last year, but factors such as age, income, education and place of residence contribute to a “digital divide” in the country, a new Statistics Canada report says.
Seventy-three per cent, or 19.2 million Canadians aged 16 and older, went online for personal reasons in 2007, the Canadian Internet Use Survey says. That's a 5 percentage point increase from 2005, when the last survey was conducted.
Ninety-four per cent of users said they surfed the Net from home; 41 per cent said they used it at work; 20 per cent surfed from school; and 15 per cent surfed in libraries.
The breakdown of Internet users reveals a gap in the rate of use, the report says. For instance, only 65 per cent of those living in small towns or rural areas surfed the Net, while 76 per cent of urban residents did.
And 84 per cent of Canadians with at least some post-secondary education surfed the Net, compared with 58 per cent of those who had less education, the report said.
In terms of income, 91 per cent of households that generate more than $95,000 a year surfed the Net, almost double the 47 per cent of users in households that generate less than $24,000.
Overall, more Canadians are turning to high-speed connections: 88 per cent of home users are now using them, compared to 80 per cent two years ago.
More than 9 in 10 urban home users surfed the Net with a high-speed connection in 2007 compared to 7 in 10 homes in rural areas. And more than half of rural users using a slower service said that high-speed telephone or cable service was unavailable in their area.
For the first time, the survey took into account Canadians aged 16 and 17. The new demographic accounted for almost one per cent of the five-per cent increase of overall Internet use in Canada.
It's no surprise, then, that younger Canadians continue to rule in the online world: 96 per cent of people aged 16 to 24 went online, a number three times the 29 per cent of seniors aged 65 and older.
“Relatively more young Canadians” also reported posting images, writing blogs, participating in discussion groups and using instant messaging than their older counterparts, the survey said.
However, one-fifth of all home Internet users said they blogged and posted images and 50 per cent of home users chatted using an instant messenger.
“E-mail and general browsing continued to be the most popular online activities from home,” the report said.
“The Web remained popular for finding government or health information and making travel arrangements. And many Canadians also used it for banking, paying bills and ordering goods or services.”
Rates increased in every province from 2005 to 2007, and in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, the rate were higher than the national average.
