Table 5. Purposes of Internet use in a typical month, Canada, provinces and territories, 2003
  Canada  N.L. P.E.I. N.S. N.B. Que. Ont. Man. Sask. Alta. B.C. Y.T. N.W.T Nvt.
        % of Internet users      
Electronic mail (e-mail) 87,0 79,1 83,2 83,5 81,7 83,8 88,8 83,9 83,9 87,5 91,1 89,8 89,9 81,0
General browsing 85,2 87,4 87,1 84,7 83,8 83,5 85,6 84,9 87,0 85,9 86,3 76,0 84,0 69,9
Read about news and
current events
69,4 70,0 64,8 70,0 61,7 64,3 72,0 69,2 64,0 69,7 73,0 65,3 75,9 60,5
Search for
health-related information
49,7 50,0 52,1 49,7 48,4 45,0 50,9 49,6 50,2 47,8 55,5 50,5 53,4 26,5
Search for
weather-related information
44,9 55,4 45,5 49,6 47,3 39,8 45,2 49,2 45,6 48,7 45,5 48,6 64,0 47,9
Search for
government information
44,0 41,3 45,1 43,7 37,2 45,1 44,4 37,0 32,7 41,6 48,2 44,6 53,2 39,5
Shopping
(including browsing for
products or services but
not necessarily buying)
43,2 60,2 45,1 50,7 45,9 35,0 43,7 44,3 45,1 42,5 51,3 55,6 49,1 35,1
Banking 39,0 34,3 29,1 36,6 27,4 33,2 42,3 34,7 36,2 41,2 42,2 37,3 40,2 21,4
Obtain or save music 38,2 40,7 42,6 44,4 38,6 39,7 36,1 37,5 42,5 37,7 39,9 29,1 39,0 26,2
Search for
employment opportunities
31,7 35,1 35,4 35,6 25,2 29,9 33,4 29,7 26,8 29,1 33,3 25,5 34,4 23,1
Participate in chat groups or
other online discussions
24,5 24,6 35,4 27,2 23,3 25,3 25,3 20,2 21,2 19,0 27,0 19,7 27,2 20,6
Formal education or
training (part of a formal
learning activity such as
a course or
a program of studies)
17,4 16,6 17,9 17,7 17,0 14,2 19,2 16,0 16,3 15,6 19,6 17,3 22,4 13,0
Playing games with others 16,1 20,0 16,4 18,5 20,0 14,5 16,9 18,2 14,41 14,1 16,5 14,7 19,1 13,01

1 Lower reliability estimate due to sample size.

Source: Statistics Canada, Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, 2003.

Note: For a number of reasons, some ICTs are used more in some countries than others. For instance, while North America is ahead of Italy in Internet use, the use of cell phones in Italy is more prevalent. Such differences are becoming increasingly more important, as technological convergence expands the functionality of various ICTs, which can be used for multiple applications. For example, cell phones now support much more than voice communications, including access to the Internet. Such issues should be borne in mind where cross-country comparisons are concerned.

2.4 Use of other ICTs

In 2003, Canadians were frequent users of automated teller machines (88.6% using in a typical month) and calculators (85.6%). In recent years, cellular phones have followed a similar pattern of growth to home Internet access, as they were used by about two-thirds (65.8%) of Canadians. The fact that nearly half of these cell phone users used them on a daily basis signals that cell phones are becoming a routine part of everyday life. Just over one-half (54.5%) of Canadians used fax machines for personal use and over one-third (37.6%) made touchtone telephone transactions in a typical month.

Internationally, these ICTs were also used with considerable frequency.

Generally, the majority of respondents used calculators, cellular phones, automated teller machines and fax machines at least once a month. In terms of incidence of use, calculators were used by the greatest number of respondents. In terms of frequency of use, cellular phones were used most often. One-half of all respondents used cellular phones daily, and this use was particularly high in the European countries. Automated teller machines were used regularly but not as often in Italy and the United States. The use of touchtone phones for financial transactions, to make purchases or pay bills was popular in the United States but less common elsewhere (Chart 4). In addition, electronic personal organizers were used at work by nearly 22% of computer users who were employed - on average. This use was highest in Switzerland and Italy.