Variance by Employment Status

The presence of a household Internet connection varies significantly by employment status. As observed with usage patterns, this variation is most pronounced between those within and those outside of the labour force [Table 7d].

• Approximately three in four self-employed, part-time and full-time employed Canadians have household access to the Internet (76 per cent, 75 per cent and 74 per cent). These employed Canadians are also more likely to have high-speed, 42 per cent, 42 per cent and 44 per cent.
• While having only an average level of household access (63 per cent), unemployed Canadians are significantly less likely to have to rely on a dial-up connection at only 20 per cent.
• Students are the most connected with 84 per cent reporting household access; a majority 55 per cent have a high-speed connection at home.
• Slightly below the 50-percentile mark, 43 per cent of retirees report having household Internet access. With only 16 per cent having high-speed overall, most of the limited number of retirees with home access make use of slower less efficient dial-up connections (24 per cent).

Variance by Employment Type

Results also vary significantly by employment type [Table 7d].

• At 54 per cent and 27 per cent, semi-skilled are significantly less likely to have home or high-speed access.
• Similarly, despite attributing significantly higher importance to household Internet access (see Table 6d, page 68), 43 per cent of labourers have no household Internet access. 30 per cent, however, have high-speed.
• By contrast, 77 per cent and 75 per cent of professionals and those employed in management positions have access to the Internet. 43 per cent of each group have high-speed.