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Usage Patterns
| Total Online Population (000's) in 2011 | 26,960 |
| Percentage of Population Online in 2011 | 79.2% |
Demographics
There were 26,960,000 internet users in Canada (representing 79.2% of the population) in March 2011, according to Internet World Stats. (Internet World Stats, August 2011)
The weekly internet usage of online Canadians has moved ahead of the number of hours spent watching television, according to the latest Inter@ctive Reid Report by Ipsos Reid that tracks online Canadians usage of the internet. This is a first since the start of their tracking research.
Overall, online Canadians are now spending more than 18 hours a week online, compared to 16.9 hours watching television. Internet usage is up from 14.9 hours last year. The number of hours watching television also experienced an increase in the last year, rising from 15.8 hours. Other media, such as newspapers, radio and magazines have all remained relatively stable in the last year.
Interestingly, males are spending significantly more time online than females (20 hours compared to 16). Also of interest is the minimal gap between age groups - on average, 18-34 year olds are spending 20 hours a week online, compared to 18 hours for those over the age of 35. (Ipsos, March 2010)
More than 69% of the population is online in Canada in 2009, according to eMarketer. This compares with less than 65% in the US.
Internet users and penetration in Canada, 2008-2013:
- 2008: 22.6 million (68.1% of the population)
- 2009: 23.4 million (69.2%)
- 2010: 24.1 million (70.9%)
- 2011: 24.8 million (71.9%)
- 2012: 25.4 million (74.1%)
- 2013: 25.9 million (74.9%)
A large part of the personal time internet users in Canada spend online is taken up with e-mail and instant messaging (IM). Two-thirds of the Web users polled said they checked their e-mail often during an average day, and 95% checked at least once a day. In addition, over one-third of respondents used IM several times a day. (eMarketer, March 2009)
Digital Media
Online Canadians have reported a significant decline in the number of weekly emails received, according to the latest Ipsos Interactive Reid Report. The average number of email received in the past week (including spam) has declined by 35% from 198 in late 2008 to 129 today.
Generally, 18-34 year olds do everything more online than their older counterparts. However, this age group now receives the fewest emails each week with an average of 116. Those respondents with high school educations or less also receive significantly fewer emails each week.
One of the reasons that email usage may have declined so dramatically are emerging communications platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and various Instant Messengers. In fact, Facebook users send an average of 16 messages inside of that platform each week. Those using MSN Messenger or Blackberry Messenger are sending even more messages on a weekly basis.
Interestingly, there are some demographic and gender differences by communications platform. Facebook tends to be used more often by females and those with lower household incomes. Twitter, MSN Messenger and Blackberry Messenger tend to be used more frequently by males. MSN Messenger is used more frequently by those aged 18-34, while Blackberry is used more by males aged 35-54, and those with higher household incomes. (Ipsos, June 2010)
Search Engines and Searches
Experian Hitwise revealed the top search engines in Canada for the 12 weeks ending May 22 2010, by volume of searches.
Top search engines for the industry "All Categories" in Canada, ranked by volume of searches for the 12 weeks ending May 22 2010 by % of visits:
1. www.google.ca: 76.63%
2. www.bing.com: 6.80%
3. ca.search.yahoo.com: 5.03%
4. www.google.com: 4.81%
5. www.ask.com: 3.99%
Top search engines for the industry "Computers and Internet - Search Engines" in Canada, ranked by visits for the week ending May 22 2010:
1. Google Canada: 64.51%
2. Google: 11.57%
3. Bing: 8.64%
4. Yahoo! Canada Search: 3.49%
5. Ask: 3.19%
6. Yahoo! Search: 1.27%
7. msn Video: 0.76%
8. Sympatico Bing Search: 0.52%
9. mywebsearch: 0.47%
10. Google France: 0.41%
(Experian Hitwise, May 2010)
Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 February 2012 15:54
