Variance by Employment Status

Similar to usage trends, perceived importance varies most significantly between those within and those outside of the labour force [Table 6d].

• Self employed and part-time employed Canadians attribute a higher level of importance to household Internet access with 44 per cent and 35 per cent viewing the home access as “essential”, 7 on a 7 point scale. This result may be related to the lower likelihood that these employment types have used the Internet at work in the past three months relative to full time employees.
• 62 per cent of unemployed Canadians believe household Internet access is “highly important” to “essential”, 5 to 7 on a 7-point scale.
• 82 per cent of students view household Internet access as “highly important” to “essential”, 5 to 7 on a 7-point scale.
• 45 per cent and 60 per cent of retirees and homemakers report household Internet access is “highly important” to “essential”, 5 to 7 on a 7-point scale.
• This number climbs to 78 per cent and 83 per cent if the responding retirees or homemakers have used the Internet in the past three months.

Variance by Employment Type

A majority of all employment types view household Internet access as “highly important” to “essential”. Labourers, who are least likely to use the Internet or report workplace usage, however, are the most likely to view household access to the Internet as “essential”. This result is indicative of the perceived necessity of household access for those who do not have access at work, but want to use of the Internet [Table 6d].

• 39 per cent of labourers view household Internet access as “essential”, 7 on a 7-point scale. An additional one in four (25 per cent) believe it is “highly important”, 5 to 6 on a 7-point scale.