Household Internet use - 1999

Canadians are logging onto the Internet in growing numbers. In 1999, the proportion of households that contained at least one regular user jumped to 41.8% from 35.9% 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 in public libraries remained unchanged.

For the first time, home was the most popular location for Internet use at 28.7% of households in 1999, up from 22.6% 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% 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, school, rose to 14.9% from 12.1% in 1998.
Internet use from public libraries was steady at 4.5% in 1999.
Other locations, such as the homes of friends, neighbours and relatives as well as Internet cafes, saw an increase to 4.1% in 1999, up from 2.6% the previous year.
Alberta continued to lead with the highest proportion of households with regular Internet users, from any location, at 50.8% in 1999, up from 45.1% in 1998.
British Columbia was a close second at 48.1% in 1999, compared with 42.0% in 1998. The province with the highest proportion of regular home Internet use was British Columbia (35.8%), just ahead of Alberta (34.1%) in 1999.
For the first time, among urban areas, Calgary had the highest proportion of households with regular Internet users at 60.1% in 1999. Close behind were Ottawa (59.9%), Victoria (56.4%) and Halifax (52.4%). Victoria and Halifax swapped positions from 1998 to 1999.
Households in top 15 Census Metropolitan Areas with at least one regular user
All locations 1997 1998 1999 % of households Canada
29.4 35.9 41.8 Calgary
41.1 52.8 60.1 Ottawa(1) 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 Montreal
24.3 31.6 39.1 St. Catharines-Niagara 26.1
29.3 34.4 Quebec 23.9 28.6
33.9 Windsor
25.7 26.8 33.6
1 Ontario portion only of the Ottawa-Hull Census Metropolitan Area.
Note: The 1999 Household Internet Use Survey (HIUS) was conducted in November as a subsample of the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The LFS is a monthly household survey whose sample is representative of the civilian, non-institutionalized population 15 years of age or older in Canada's 10 provinces. The HIUS collected information on the household as a whole. In total, 43,034 households were eligible for the HIUS and 36,241 or 84.2% responded.
Custom tabulations are available upon request. The 1999 HIUS public use microdata file and research papers highlighting how Canadian households use the Internet will be available in the summer.