Twenty-nine per cent of Canadians over the age of 18 "personally access the Internet." This May 1997 figure represents an increase of seven points in seven months, from the 22 per cent cited by ACNielsen in October 1996.
The number of Canadians over the age of 12 who use the Internet is almost eight million, or more than 30 per cent of the population.
Nineteen per cent of Canadians define themselves as regular Internet users.
Females are joining the traditionally male-dominated community of Internet users in greater numbers. The percentage of male users dropped slightly from 57 per cent in October 1996 to 55 per cent in May 1997.
Thirty-six per cent of Canadians access the Internet, up from 23 per cent in 1996.
Provincially, B.C. leads with 42 per cent (up from 26% in 1996), followed by Ontario with 40 per cent (up from 24%); Atlantic Canada with 37 per cent (25%); the Prairies with 35 per cent (24%); and Quebec with 29 per cent access (up from 18% last year).
Canadian Internet users usually spend between five and nine hours online per week.
Nearly one in three (36 per cent) Canadian households, or 4.2 million, had a computer in 1997, up from 30 per cent a year earlier.
However, only 13 per cent of Canadian households (1.5 million) actually accessed the Internet from home (almost double the 1996 rate of 7 per cent).
Some 40 per cent of households with modem-equipped computers don't yet use them to access the Internet.
Fewer than 30 per cent of Internet users use it for entertainment; the primary online activity is searching for information.
Among those with a computer, education level is a stronger predictor of Internet use than income. Twenty-six per cent of households with high incomes surfed the Net, while only five per cent of households with low incomes did. (That 5:1 ratio is unchanged from 1996.)
Five per cent of all web sites world wide are Canadian, and Canadians are second only to the U.S. in per capita Internet use.
Sources:ACNielsen Canadian Internet Survey, 1997 Angus Reid, Canadians and the Internet 1997 Household Facilities and Equipment Survey, Statistics Canada, Nov. 27, 1997 Canadian Association of Broadcasters, Regulating the Web, August 1997
