Internet usage in Canada - statistics & facts

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Published by Statista Research Department, Jul 6, 2022

With over 33 million internet users, Canada counts among the biggest online markets in the Americas. In fact, digital audiences in Canada are projected to grow to nearly 35 million online users by 2023, reaching nearly 90 percent of the Canadian population. In 2021, 86 percent of online adults had accessed the internet via desktop or laptop computer. Although the use of computers and tablets saw a decline over the last four years, TV and smart home devices have been growing in popularity since 2017 with 71 percent of Canadians claiming to own at least one smart device at home.

Video is the new face of social media

In 2021, the average Canadian spent 6.5 hours per day online, with half of those being spent watching TV either via live broadcast or streaming. E-mail was by far the most widely performed online activity, named by nearly 90 percent of Canadian internet users in March 2020 followed by online banking and social media. As text and image formats make way for the advent of video – as seen with TikTok, the most highly downloaded app across the country in April 2021 - users spent most of their time online on YouTube, which has grown since its infancy to become one of the world’s largest social media sites.

Users are happy to spend when it comes to online dating apps

Social apps in general feature strongly in Canada, with 88 percent of internet users having social networking apps and 84.7 percent claiming to use chat and messaging services. Maps and online shopping apps were also relatively popular. Surprisingly however, only 9 percent had admitted to using mobile online dating platforms. Users seem more willing to spend on such apps however, with popular social and dating app Tinder having earned the highest revenue in the Canadian app store during April 2021 - nearly double that of streaming platform Disney+.

Canadians embrace online shopping

With the onset of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdowns, most of the world turned to online shopping – Canada being no exception. The local e-commerce sector surged that year, growing by 18 percent and is expected to continue to see an annual increase until at least 2025. Despite the growing trend of e-wallets and mobile payment, most online purchases (73 percent of buyers) in Canada were still made via computer.

This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.

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