55% of CANADIANS ALREADY CONNECTED TO INTERNET

NOW 12.7 MILLION CANADIAN INTERNET USERS - UP 13% SINCE SEPTEMBER 1997
HOME&WORK (19%), HOME ONLY (19%), WORK ONLY (14%) CANADIAN INTERNET SHOPPERS SPEND AN AVERAGE OF $560 PER ANNUM, THE EQUIVALENT OF APPROXIMATELY $1.3 BILLION PER YEAR SPEND ON CANADIAN E-COMMERCE CANADIANS ARE ON THE INTERNET 6.3 HOURS PER WEEK ON AVERAGE SIGNIFICANT PROPORTIONS OF CANADIANS SAY THEY HAVE PURCHASED ON-LINE (20%), COMPARISON SHOPPED ON-LINE (36%) OR USED FINANCIAL ON-LINE SERVICES (21%)

This National Angus Reid/Globe and Mail poll is based on a national telephone poll conducted between June 3rd and June 9th, 1999 among a representative cross-section of 1,500 Canadian adults.

These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional, age and sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to 1996 Census data.

With a national sample of 1,500, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results are within +2.5 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been surveyed. The margin of error will be larger for other sub-groupings of the survey population. The sub-sample of those who have access to the Internet (819) has a margin of error of + 3.4 percent, nineteen times out of twenty.

A new Angus Reid Group poll on the Internet and e-commerce finds that more than half (55%) of Canadians are connected to the Internet - up 13 percentage points since September 1997 - the equivalent of 12.7 million Internet users in Canada. Of those who have access to the Internet, 19% have access both at home and at work, 19% have access at home only and another 14% are connected at work only. Of those Canadians who shop on the Internet, the average spent is $560 per year. This works out to a total Canadian e-commerce of approximately $1.3 billion spent over the past year. Canadian Internet users, on average, are spending 6.3 hours per week hooked up to the Internet. When asked what kinds of e-commerce activities users have taken part in, 20% say they have purchased on-line, 36% have used the Internet to comparison shop and another 21% have used financial services on-line.

These are the highlights of a national Angus Reid Group/Globe and Mail telephone survey of 1,500 Canadian adults. Interviews were conducted between June 3rd and June 9th, 1999. A sample size of 1,500 is said to have a corresponding margin of error of +2.5 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty. The margin of error will be larger for other sub-groupings of the survey population - specifically, the sub-sample of those who have access to the Internet (819) has a margin of error of + 3.4 percent, 19 times out of 20.

For further information contact:

Steve Mossop
Senior Vice President
Angus Reid Group
(604) 257-3200
or download the PDF (above)

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