Internet use among Canadians aged 15 years and older reached 95 per cent in 2022, up from 92 per cent in 2020, says Statistics Canada.
Andrea Piacquadio
“As the use of digital technologies grows, Canadians are becoming more acquainted with newer technologies and incorporating them into their daily routines,” said the federal agency.
“More than three in four Canadians (78 per cent) used the Internet to conduct general online banking, and one in six (16 per cent) used it to manage investments online, such as stocks, mutual funds and cryptocurrencies.
“About two-thirds (68 per cent) of Canadians stated that they have noticed the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in various applications online. Examples include chatbots (48 per cent), recommendation algorithms that suggest content, products or services to users (48 per cent) and content moderation (26 per cent).
“The use of Internet-connected smart home devices continued to grow, up from 42 per cent in 2020 to 47 per cent in 2022, with smart speakers (30 per cent) being the most popular device. Although many Canadians noticed the role of AI and used smart home devices, some said that they did not trust AI technologies (31 per cent), smart speakers (40 per cent) and other smart home devices (28 per cent) with their personal information.
StatsCan said that overall the largest increase was seen among Canadians aged 75 years and older, up from 62 per cent in 2020 to 72 per cent in 2022.
“The proportion of Canadians who experienced cyber security incidents increased from 58 per cent in 2020 to 70 per cent in 2022. The most common incidents reported were receiving unsolicited spam (60 per cent) and receiving fraudulent content (40 per cent). Other incidents included being redirected to fraudulent websites asking for personal information (22 per cent), having a virus or other malicious software installed without permission (11 per cent) and experiencing fraudulent payment card use (nine per cent). In 2022, among those who experienced a cyber security incident, six per cent reported a financial loss,” said the report.
“In 2022, eight per cent of Canadians felt victimized by an incident online, such as incidents related to bullying, harassment and discrimination, or related to the misuse of personal pictures, videos or other content. Among various age groups, younger Canadians aged 15 to 24 years (11 per cent) had the highest proportion of people who felt victimized online.
“About half (51 per cent) of Canadians said that they had seen content online that may incite hate or violence, and three-quarters (73 per cent) of Canadians reported that they had seen content online that they suspected to be false or inaccurate, such as misinformation.”
Mario Toneguzzi
Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list)
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