About 75 per cent of Canadians over the age of 16 were surfing on the Internet last year. This is according to a new Statistics Canada report. Factors such as age, income, education and where you live still contribute to a “digital divide” in Canada.
About 19.2 million Canadians aged 16 and older went online for personal reasons in 2007 the Canadian Internet Use Survey states. This is an increase of 5 percent from 2005 when the last survey was done.
Many of the Internet users searched the web from home, about 94 per cent. At work, 41 per cent said they used it, at school 21 per cent said they used it and about 15 per cent in libraries.
Still, in small towns or in rural areas, the Internet is not being used as much. About 65 per cent of those living in small towns and rural areas are using the web, compared to 76 per cent in urban places.
As well, education levels play a big role in how people are using the Internet. Those Canadians with at least some post-secondary education surfed the net at a rate of 84 per cent. Compare this to about 58 per cent of those who are less educated the report said.
Source: http://post-secondary.blogspot.com/2008/06/statistics-canada-report-reveals.html
