Level of access and regional differences

While the most striking difference in the level of access to the Internet has been expressed in terms of generational gaps, a number of economic conditions, including income and employment status, also determine the extent to which Canadians have access to the Internet, either at home or elsewhere. These divergences can also be expressed in geographic terms, noting that have and have-not provinces present evidence of different levels of access to the Internet.

The results from the 1999 survey are presented in Table 4.3. The highest levels of access are recorded in Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia (56 per cent overall). In Quebec and in New Brunswick, the rate of access is significantly lower (40 per cent). All other regions hover near the average rate (51 per cent).

Access from home, at 40 per cent overall, is significantly higher among respondents from Ontario (46 per cent) and British Columbia (44 per cent). Internet access from home falls to 30 per cent in Saskatchewan and 29 per cent in Quebec. The major difference in these two provinces with lower home access is in the types of non-users. In Saskatchewan, a slim majority (52 per cent) of non-users are what we have called nearusers (cost the major barrier). In Quebec, on the other hand, while cost is still the most important factor, it is not cited to the same extent (42 per cent). This is the same as the national average. In Quebec, a relatively higher proportion of respondents say they do not have Internet access from home because of lack of interest (36 per cent). This is perhaps a result of the apparent language barrier.

In 2000, the results are very similar. Ontario, British Columbia, and, to a lesser extent, Alberta, remain above the national average (60 per cent) in terms of overall Internet access. Although there has been a distinct increase in the proportion of respondents from Quebec that say they have used the Internet in the past three months, Quebec still lags nine points behind the overall average (51 per cent, up from 40 per cent in 1999). The 2000 rate of Internet access in Newfoundland is similar to the 1999 findings, which rank the province far below the national access levels for 2000. Due to the small sample size from Newfoundland, however, it would be prudent not to analyse and comment further on these results.