Variance by Gender

Men continue to be more likely to use the Internet and use it more frequently. This divide, however, is slight in relation to the division present in other subgroups [Table 1b].

  • 76 per cent of men are Internet users, compared to 72 per cent of women.
  • 57 per cent of men and 49 per cent of women are daily Internet users.

Variance by Age Group

“I have no reason to have a computer. I never needed one all my life. Why start now? I’ve been retired 12 years. My Canada Pension won’t come off the computer!”
      (Moncton, far non-user)

“My son helped me send emails to friends in another province.”
      (Moncton, far non-user)

“We bought the computer because my daughter needed it for her homework. That’s when I started using the Internet.”
      (Moncton, far non-user)

There is a significant generational aspect to Canadian Internet usage. For younger Canadians, the Internet is something they, and virtually all of their peers, use daily. Inversely, the Internet remains foreign for a large number of seniors [Table 1b].

This aspect of the digital divide may decline as those who began using the Internet before reaching retirement bring the technology into the peer environment of those 65 years and over. However, this effect will be slow. Speeding this process and addressing the differences across generations may be an important part of increasing cross-generational inclusion, communication and the sharing of our common history.

  • 93 per cent of those under 25 and 86 per cent of those 25 to 44 years of age are Internet users; an additional 6 per cent and 8 per cent have used it before.
  • 70 per cent of Canadians 45 to 64 years of age have used it in the past three months. However, more than one in five (22 per cent) have never used the Internet before.
  • A narrow 35 per cent of seniors have used the Internet in the past three months; 60 per cent have never used the Internet.