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  • Articles and reports: 56F0004M2008016
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    The Internet's rapid and profound entry into our lives quite understandably makes people wonder how, both individually and collectively, we have been affected by it. When major shifts in technology use occur, utopian and dystopian views of their impact on society often abound, reflecting their disruptiveness and people's concerns. Given its complex uses, the Internet, both as a technology and as an environment, has had both beneficial and deleterious effects. Above all, though, it has had transformative effects.

    Are Canadians becoming more isolated, more reclusive and less integrated in their communities as they use the Internet? Or, are they becoming more participatory and more integrated in their communities? In addition, do these communities still resemble traditional communities, or are they becoming more like social networks than cohesive groups?

    To address these questions, this article organizes, analyzes and presents existing Canadian evidence. It uses survey results and research amassed by Statistics Canada and the Connected Lives project in Toronto to explore the role of the Internet in social engagement and the opportunities it represents for Canadians to be active citizens. It finds that Internet users are at least as socially engaged as non-users. They have large networks and frequent interactions with friends and family, although they tend to spend somewhat less in-person time and, of course, more time online. An appreciable number of Internet users are civically and politically engaged, using the Internet to find out about opportunities and make contact with others.

    Release date: 2008-12-04

  • Articles and reports: 56F0004M2005012
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    This paper investigates relationships between adult literacy skills and use of information and communications technologies (ICTs). Using the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL), it becomes possible to compare respondents' ICT use, based on self-assessed ICT use patterns and attitudes toward computers, with literacy skills and a number of socio-demographic characteristics, including age, gender and educational attainment. The paper offers data for Canada, its provinces and territories, as well as five other countries (Bermuda, the United States, Italy, Norway and Switzerland), allowing international and inter-provincial comparisons. An important objective of the paper is to examine outcomes associated with literacy skills in combination with patterns of ICT use, and this is achieved by profiling these characteristics and studying their relationships with respondent income. In addition, it offers a portrait of adults' computer and Internet use, including purposes of use, attitudes toward computers, and use of other ICTs, and analyzes such use, with a detailed focus on Canada.

    Patterns of Internet and computer access confirm the existence of "digital divides" both within and between nations. Apart from Italy, differences between the countries included in this study are not large. However, as found elsewhere, large divides exist within countries when examining respondents grouped by their level of income. In Canada, the Western provinces, the territories, and Ontario emerge as leaders in ICT use, although regional patterns are complex and vary depending on the specific technology examined.

    Many other factors are also strongly associated with respondents' ICT use. Age, gender, educational attainment, and level of literacy proficiency help predict whether a respondent is a "high-intensity" computer user. A significant decline in ICT use is found to occur after age 45 in all countries. The findings for ICT use by gender, however, were mixed. In the European countries included in this study (Italy, Norway and Switzerland), clear gender differences emerge but no such gap exists in North America. Respondents with less than upper-secondary education are significantly less likely to use computers for a range of purposes, and this pattern is most pronounced in Italy and Bermuda. In addition, scales that measure individuals' use of computers and the Internet, and attitudes toward computers, tend to increase with the literacy proficiency of respondents.

    Finally, literacy and computer use profiles are strongly related to the likelihood that respondents have high earnings. In most countries included in this study, adults who have average or higher literacy skills and who are intensive computer users have about three to six times the odds of being in the top quartile of personal income, compared to respondents with below average literacy skills and less intensive computer use.

    Release date: 2005-12-05

  • Journals and periodicals: 89-617-X
    Geography: Canada, Province or territory
    Description:

    The International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey, undertaken in 2003, measured the proficiencies of a representative sample of Canadian adults aged 16 and over in four domains: prose literacy, document literacy, numeracy and problem solving, and benchmarked performance against an international standard. The proficiency scores are compared between provinces, territories and nations, and over time. Moreover, literacy performance is examined in relation to differences in variables such as educational attainment, employment and unemployment, earnings and self-assessed health. Analyses of the literacy performance of groups of special interest, including women and men, young adults and seniors, recent and established immigrants, and Aboriginal populations are included.

    Release date: 2005-11-30

  • Articles and reports: 88-003-X20050038762
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    The penetration of information and communications technologies (ICTs), most notably computers and the Internet, has been analyzed extensively in recent years. Studies of the digital divide have identified important gaps in access and use of ICTs between different groups of people, depending on their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. The results of a Statistics Canada survey combined measure of individuals' computer use and literacy in order to get to such outcomes.

    Release date: 2005-10-26
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  • Articles and reports: 56F0004M2008016
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    The Internet's rapid and profound entry into our lives quite understandably makes people wonder how, both individually and collectively, we have been affected by it. When major shifts in technology use occur, utopian and dystopian views of their impact on society often abound, reflecting their disruptiveness and people's concerns. Given its complex uses, the Internet, both as a technology and as an environment, has had both beneficial and deleterious effects. Above all, though, it has had transformative effects.

    Are Canadians becoming more isolated, more reclusive and less integrated in their communities as they use the Internet? Or, are they becoming more participatory and more integrated in their communities? In addition, do these communities still resemble traditional communities, or are they becoming more like social networks than cohesive groups?

    To address these questions, this article organizes, analyzes and presents existing Canadian evidence. It uses survey results and research amassed by Statistics Canada and the Connected Lives project in Toronto to explore the role of the Internet in social engagement and the opportunities it represents for Canadians to be active citizens. It finds that Internet users are at least as socially engaged as non-users. They have large networks and frequent interactions with friends and family, although they tend to spend somewhat less in-person time and, of course, more time online. An appreciable number of Internet users are civically and politically engaged, using the Internet to find out about opportunities and make contact with others.

    Release date: 2008-12-04

  • Articles and reports: 56F0004M2005012
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    This paper investigates relationships between adult literacy skills and use of information and communications technologies (ICTs). Using the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL), it becomes possible to compare respondents' ICT use, based on self-assessed ICT use patterns and attitudes toward computers, with literacy skills and a number of socio-demographic characteristics, including age, gender and educational attainment. The paper offers data for Canada, its provinces and territories, as well as five other countries (Bermuda, the United States, Italy, Norway and Switzerland), allowing international and inter-provincial comparisons. An important objective of the paper is to examine outcomes associated with literacy skills in combination with patterns of ICT use, and this is achieved by profiling these characteristics and studying their relationships with respondent income. In addition, it offers a portrait of adults' computer and Internet use, including purposes of use, attitudes toward computers, and use of other ICTs, and analyzes such use, with a detailed focus on Canada.

    Patterns of Internet and computer access confirm the existence of "digital divides" both within and between nations. Apart from Italy, differences between the countries included in this study are not large. However, as found elsewhere, large divides exist within countries when examining respondents grouped by their level of income. In Canada, the Western provinces, the territories, and Ontario emerge as leaders in ICT use, although regional patterns are complex and vary depending on the specific technology examined.

    Many other factors are also strongly associated with respondents' ICT use. Age, gender, educational attainment, and level of literacy proficiency help predict whether a respondent is a "high-intensity" computer user. A significant decline in ICT use is found to occur after age 45 in all countries. The findings for ICT use by gender, however, were mixed. In the European countries included in this study (Italy, Norway and Switzerland), clear gender differences emerge but no such gap exists in North America. Respondents with less than upper-secondary education are significantly less likely to use computers for a range of purposes, and this pattern is most pronounced in Italy and Bermuda. In addition, scales that measure individuals' use of computers and the Internet, and attitudes toward computers, tend to increase with the literacy proficiency of respondents.

    Finally, literacy and computer use profiles are strongly related to the likelihood that respondents have high earnings. In most countries included in this study, adults who have average or higher literacy skills and who are intensive computer users have about three to six times the odds of being in the top quartile of personal income, compared to respondents with below average literacy skills and less intensive computer use.

    Release date: 2005-12-05

  • Journals and periodicals: 89-617-X
    Geography: Canada, Province or territory
    Description:

    The International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey, undertaken in 2003, measured the proficiencies of a representative sample of Canadian adults aged 16 and over in four domains: prose literacy, document literacy, numeracy and problem solving, and benchmarked performance against an international standard. The proficiency scores are compared between provinces, territories and nations, and over time. Moreover, literacy performance is examined in relation to differences in variables such as educational attainment, employment and unemployment, earnings and self-assessed health. Analyses of the literacy performance of groups of special interest, including women and men, young adults and seniors, recent and established immigrants, and Aboriginal populations are included.

    Release date: 2005-11-30

  • Articles and reports: 88-003-X20050038762
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    The penetration of information and communications technologies (ICTs), most notably computers and the Internet, has been analyzed extensively in recent years. Studies of the digital divide have identified important gaps in access and use of ICTs between different groups of people, depending on their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. The results of a Statistics Canada survey combined measure of individuals' computer use and literacy in order to get to such outcomes.

    Release date: 2005-10-26
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