According to recently released data from the Canadian Internet Use Survey, 95% of Canadians aged 15 years and older used the Internet in 2022, an increase of 3 percentage points from 2020.
In terms of age category, the largest increases were among older Canadians, with over 8 in 10 (82.6%) seniors (those aged 65 years and older) used the Internet in 2022, up 6.3 percentage percentage points from 2020. For those aged 75 years and older, the increase was even larger: up by 10 percentage points to 72%.
Nearly 9 in 10 (89.6%) seniors in British Columbia used the Internet in 2022, the highest percentage among the provinces and followed by Ontario (85.4%) and Alberta (84.3%).
More seniors staying in touch
When surveyed about various online activities, email usage was the most common one for seniors. About three in four (74.7%) of those aged 65 years and older sent and received emails in 2022, up 7.7 percentage points from 2020.
About half (50.9%) of seniors sent messages using an instant messaging app in 2022, while over 4 in 10 (43.5%) used social networking websites or apps.
Over one-third (37.8%) of seniors made online voice calls or video calls in 2022, virtually unchanged from 2020 (37.2%). However, the proportion of seniors making these calls in 2020 was up 16.6 percentage points from 21.2% in 2018, largely due to increased virtual communication due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
An uptick in banking and booking appointments
For seniors, the surveyed online activity with the largest increase from 2020 was booking appointments. Over 4 in 10 (40.7%) seniors did so in 2022, up 10.9 percentage points from two years earlier. Over half (55.4%) of seniors used government online services in 2022.
Also seeing a large increase among seniors was conducting online banking, as nearly 6 in 10 (58.0%) seniors did so in 2022, up 6.1 percentage points from 2020.
More streamed video and music
Excluding live television, over 4 in 10 (44.5%) seniors watched video streaming services in 2022, up 10.4 percentage points from 2020.
Over 4 in 10 (42.7%) seniors listened to music, 15.4% played video games, and 15.3% listened to podcasts, .
Looking for love
In 2022, 2.3% of seniors used dating websites or apps. Who would’ve thought!
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