Non-Users and Access Barriers

Table 3.1 tracks the main barriers to Internet access from home identified in the 1997, 1999 and 2000 Rethinking the Information Highway telephone survey. This question was addressed to respondents who did not have access to the Internet from home. A majority of these respondents were also defined as non-users, as they had not had access to the Internet in the last three months, either at work, at school or from a public access point. ⁴

The proportion of respondents who identify lack of interest as the main reason they do not have access from home has remained steady over the last three iterations of the survey (approximately 30 per cent). The significant shift from 1997 to 1999 in the proportions of Canadians who identify cost vs. need as the main barrier (wide swing towards cost in 1999) retreated somewhat in 2000. Cost remains the most significant barrier to home access in 2000, as indicated by a plurality (38 per cent) of respondents. The shift from need to cost may be a reflection of the substantial increase in the number of Internet users during that time period (strong growth rate among Internet users from 1997 to 1999).

⁴ Methodological note: The survey item “What is the main reason why you do not have access to the Internet from home?” is an open-ended question. In other words, respondents were not asked to select which answer is closest to their opinion or most accurately reflects their situation. Open-ended questions are coded post-facto, where the answers provided by respondents are classified into broader (inclusive) categories. When we say that the respondent identified “cost” as the main barrier, the response may have included answers such as “too expensive” or “cannot afford it”. The three main barriers, cost, need and interest, capture most of the answer categories offered by respondents to this survey item. The percentages represent the frequency of responses among these three barriers, and not the overall (gross) frequency of responses. The same methodology was applied to the 1997, 1999, and 2000 survey data.