There are important differences in the main reasons cited for remaining offline across Internet non-user segments:

• At 30 per cent and 31 per cent “no computer/computer too old” is the main reason “new near users” and “accelerating/rejoining near user” have not used the Internet in the past three months. Cost tends to underlie this reason.
• 36 per cent of “drop-out/infrequent users” indicate a lack of interest or need is the main reason they have not used the Internet in the past three months. 30 per cent, however, cite “no computer/computer too old”.
• Slightly less than one in two “core non-users” (47 per cent) have never used the Internet due to a lack of interest or perceived need. “No computer/computer too old” is the second most pervasive reason for remaining offline at 16 per cent.

Tier Two Digital Divide: Access

As the characteristics of Canada’s evolving information society take shape, considerations of location and type of access have become central to accurately evaluating the accessibility of a substantively similar online experience for all Canadians. The tier two digital divide is concerned with location and type of access. The divide is centred on differences in availability of access from key locations and differences in availability of high-speed home access between subgroups.

The household is, increasingly, the dominant usage location for Canadian Internet users by a substantial margin:

• 84 per cent of Internet users have used the Internet at home in the past three months.
• The workplace is the second most pervasive access location at 37 per cent, trailing home usage by 47-percentage points.
• A narrow 5 per cent of Internet users went online from a public access site in the past three months.