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.
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.