More Canadians Accessing Net from Home
The proportion of households that contained at least one regular user jumped to 41.8 percent from 35.9 percent in 1998, according to Statistics Canada.
Canadians are logging on to the Internet in growing numbers, according to Statistics Canada. In 1999, the proportion of households that contained at least one regular user jumped to 41.8 percent from 35.9 percent in 1998.
Internet use, measured by household, was higher from both homes and schools, according to data from the 1999 Household Internet Use Survey, while personal Internet use at work decreased slightly, and access from public libraries remained unchanged.
For the first time, the survey found the home to be the most popular location for Internet use at 21.9 percent at 28.7 percent of households in 1999, up from 22.6 percent of households in 1998. This might reflect expansion of Internet services offered to households and lower connection costs.
Regular household Internet use from work dropped into second place at 21.9 percent in 1999 from 23.3 in 1998. This could be due in part to the development of workplace policies limiting personal Internet use. The third most popular location was from school, which rose to 14.9 percent from 12.1 percent in 1998. Internet use from public libraries was steady at 4.5 percent in 1999. Other locations, such as homes of friends, neighbors, and relatives as well as Internet cafés, saw an increase to 4.1 percent in 1999, up from 2.6 percent the previous year.
Alberta continued to lead with the highest proportion of households with regular Internet users, from any location, at 50.8 percent in 1999, up from 45.1 percent in 1998. British Columbia was a close second at 48.1 percent in 1999, compared with 42.0 percent in 1998. The province with the highest proportion of regular home Internet use was British Columbia (35.8 percent), just ahead of Alberta (34.1 percent) in 1999.
Among urban areas, Calgary had the highest proportion of households with regular Internet users at 60.1 percent in 1999. Close behind were Ottawa (59.9 percent), Victoria (56.4 percent), and Halifax (52.4 percent). Victoria and Halifax swapped positions from 1998 to 1999.
| Percent of Households in Canadian Metropolitan Areas with at Least One Regular Internet User* |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Area | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
| Calgary | 41.1 | 52.8 | 60.1 |
| Ottawa** | 55.6 | 55.4 | 59.9 |
| Victoria | 40.1 | 48.5 | 56.4 |
| Halifax | 39.2 | 50.3 | 52.4 |
| Vancouver | 35.9 | 45.7 | 49.7 |
| Edmonton | 35.9 | 43.9 | 48.8 |
| Toronto | 38.0 | 42.0 | 48.5 |
| London | 31.8 | 41.2 | 45.9 |
| Kitchener | 34.9 | 42.4 | 43.7 |
| Hamilton | 30.4 | 41.2 | 43.1 |
| Winnipeg | 33.1 | 37.8 | 42.1 |
| Montréal | 24.3 | 31.6 | 39.1 |
| St. Catharines-Niagara | 26.1 | 29.3 | 34.4 |
| Québec | 23.9 | 28.6 | 33.9 |
| Windsor | 25.7 | 26.8 | 33.6 |
| Canada | 29.4 | 35.9 | 41.8 |
| * Access from all locations: home, school, work, etc. ** Ontario portion of Ottawa-Hull Census Metro Area Source: Statistics Canada |
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