Variance by Age

The generational aspect of Internet usage and the similarly sharp differences in the profile of non-users by age group are closely related. The pervasiveness of Internet usage for younger generations has meant that the few members of these younger age groups have at least some experience online and are less likely to be “core non-users”. Inversely the low level of overall usage among senior peer groups have left most with no direct experience using the Internet, relegating most to the “core non-user” category
[Table 2b].

• With the pervasiveness of Internet usage for younger Canadians, those few non-users belonging to this generation are largely “rejoining/accelerating near user” (38 per cent) or “drop-out/infrequent users” (46 per cent).
• A narrow 14 per cent of non-users less than 25 years of age and 29 per cent of those 25 to 44 years of age are “core non-users”.
• A majority of non-users seniors have no direct experience using the Internet, with less than one in 20 being either a “rejoining/accelerating near user” (4 per cent) or a “drop-out/infrequent users” (4 per cent).
• Though 80 per cent of non-user seniors are “core non-users”, this group is no more or less likely, relative to the overall average, to be “new near users” (12 per cent).

Variance by Gender

While there are some slight differences in overall Internet usage trends between men and women, there are no statistically significant differences in the non-user profile between the sexes [Table 2b].