Fewer British Columbians have home Internet connections than they did last year, but the province has a higher proportion of households that have Internet connections than does any other province.
While 84% of British Columbians have home Internet connections, only
79% of Canadians have that same access, according to Statistics Canada data released May 25.
Quebec, with a 70% home Internet penetration rate, had the lowest level in the country.
In 2010, both B.C. and Alberta had 85% of their populations connected to the Internet at home. (See “Western Canadians wired to the web” – issue 1073; May 18-24, 2010.)
Wealth continues to determine who has home Internet access.
Most Canadian households (97%) with an income of $87,000 or more had an Internet connection.
Only 54% of households that had an income of $30,000 or less had an Internet connection.
Smartphone sales have been brisk, but most Canadian households (65%) do not have a member who uses such a device, according to the government data collector.
Most connected households had either a desktop computer (71%) or a laptop (64%). And, a slim majority of households (54%) used more than one type of device to go online.
Glen Korstrom
Twitter: @GlenKorstrom