Country context · World Bank / ITU
Internet use in Canada
The World Bank / ITU internet-use indicator reports 94.4% for Canada in 2024, the latest non-missing year in this extract.
Individuals using the internet · National indicator · Percentage of the source-defined population · No 2025 value supplied for Canada
The indicator targets internet use from any location in the past three months. Historical source notes include different age groups and reference periods. The 2024 cell supplies no exact age cutoff or detailed survey question, so this is not labelled an adults-18+ estimate.
Source: World Bank, IT.NET.USER.ZS, original provider International Telecommunication Union. Exact Canada / 2024 observation. Data retrieved 2026-10-08; the retrieval date is not the year measured.
35 reported annual observations, with their limits
The record begins in 1990 and its latest value is from 2024. Each dot is one published estimate. Dots are deliberately not connected: source, survey universe and measurement can change between years.
Published value Documented scope note▲ Source-note change× Missing, not zero
The vertical scale is 0–100%. No growth rate, interpolated value, comparable-country ranking or uncertainty interval is inferred. A source-note change is a caution, not proof of a methodology break.
Source: World Bank / ITU, IT.NET.USER.ZS, source 2. Social Usage creates this chart from unchanged source values. Read every observation and footnote.
Read the chart’s survey-scope and source-change markers
Documented scope and methodology notes
- 2000: Source and notes: Statistics Canada., Survey result, scope age unknown.
- 2001: Source and notes: Statistics Canada., Survey result, scope age unknown.
- 2002: Source and notes: Statistics Canada., Survey result, scope age unknown.
- 2003: Source and notes: Statistics Canada., Survey result, scope age unknown.
- 2004: Source and notes: Statistics Canada., Survey result, scope age unknown.
- 2010: Source and notes: Statistics Canada., Survey was redesigned, therefore comparison with previous years should not be done. The source explicitly warns against comparison with earlier years.
- 2012: Source and notes: CIUS., Residents of Canada 16 years of age or older excluding: Residents of the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Inmates of Institutions, Persons living on Indian Reserves, and Full time members of the Canadian Forces.
Changes in the supplied source notes
These markers follow changes in the name provided by the annual footnote. They do not establish that all methods stayed constant between markers.
- 2006: Cell source changes to ITU estimate; comparability has not been established.
- 2007: Cell source changes to Statistics Canada; comparability has not been established.
- 2008: Cell source changes to ITU estimate; comparability has not been established.
- 2009: Cell source changes to Statistics Canada; comparability has not been established.
- 2011: Cell source changes to ITU estimate; comparability has not been established.
- 2012: Cell source changes to CIUS; comparability has not been established.
- 2013: Cell source changes to ITU estimate; comparability has not been established.
- 2018: Cell source changes to OECD; comparability has not been established.
- 2019: Cell source changes to ITU estimate; comparability has not been established.
- 2020: Cell source changes to Statistics Canada - Canada Internet Use Survey; comparability has not been established.
- 2021: Cell source changes to ITU estimate; comparability has not been established.
- 2022: Cell source changes to Statistics Canada; comparability has not been established.
- 2023: Cell source changes to ITU estimate; comparability has not been established.
- 2024: The cell-specific source footnote is not supplied for this year; this does not prove a survey or method change.
Canada’s survey redesign matters to the history
The 2010 source footnote explicitly says the survey was redesigned and that comparison with previous years should not be made. Its marker in the chart is a documented comparability warning, not a Social Usage estimate of the redesign’s effect.
The 2012 footnote describes residents aged 16 or older and excludes the territories, institutional residents, people living on Indian reserves and full-time Canadian Forces members. That recorded survey universe is more specific than the generic indicator title. It must not be silently applied to every other year, including the latest cell, whose age and detailed scope are not supplied.
Interpretation follows the original country/year footnotes reproduced below. See how source universes are preserved →
Internet use does not establish platform use
The indicator does not say whether someone used Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or another named service. It also does not measure the share of households online or the number of subscriptions. Platform-specific evidence retains its own question, country scope and audience definition.
Full annual table: estimates, missing years and exact source footnotes
| Year | Internet use | Original source footnote | Source status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Not available | No cell-specific note supplied. | None supplied |
| 2024 | 94.4% | No cell-specific note supplied. | None supplied |
| 2023 | 94.1% | Source and notes: ITU estimate., | None supplied |
| 2022 | 94.0% | Source and notes: Statistics Canada, | None supplied |
| 2021 | 93.9% | Source and notes: ITU estimate., | None supplied |
| 2020 | 92.3% | Source and notes: Statistics Canada - Canada Internet Use Survey, | None supplied |
| 2019 | 91.9% | Source and notes: ITU estimate., | None supplied |
| 2018 | 94.6% | Source and notes: OECD, | None supplied |
| 2017 | 92.7% | Source and notes: ITU estimate., | None supplied |
| 2016 | 91.2% | Source and notes: ITU estimate., | None supplied |
| 2015 | 90.0% | Source and notes: ITU estimate., | None supplied |
| 2014 | 87.1% | Source and notes: ITU estimate., | None supplied |
| 2013 | 85.8% | Source and notes: ITU estimate., | None supplied |
| 2012 | 83.0% | Source and notes: CIUS., Residents of Canada 16 years of age or older excluding: Residents of the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Inmates of Institutions, Persons living on Indian Reserves, and Full time members of the Canadian Forces. | None supplied |
| 2011 | 83.0% | Source and notes: ITU estimate., | None supplied |
| 2010 | 80.3% | Source and notes: Statistics Canada., Survey was redesigned, therefore comparison with previous years should not be done. | None supplied |
| 2009 | 80.3% | Source and notes: Statistics Canada., | None supplied |
| 2008 | 76.7% | Source and notes: ITU estimate., Estimate based on Survey's results 2007 and 2009. | None supplied |
| 2007 | 73.2% | Source and notes: Statistics Canada., | None supplied |
| 2006 | 72.4% | Source and notes: ITU estimate., Estimated based on Survey's results 2005 and 2007. | None supplied |
| 2005 | 71.7% | Source and notes: Statistics Canada., | None supplied |
| 2004 | 66.0% | Source and notes: Statistics Canada., Survey result, scope age unknown. | None supplied |
| 2003 | 64.2% | Source and notes: Statistics Canada., Survey result, scope age unknown. | None supplied |
| 2002 | 61.6% | Source and notes: Statistics Canada., Survey result, scope age unknown. | None supplied |
| 2001 | 60.2% | Source and notes: Statistics Canada., Survey result, scope age unknown. | None supplied |
| 2000 | 51.3% | Source and notes: Statistics Canada., Survey result, scope age unknown. | None supplied |
| 1999 | 36.2% | Source: Statistics Canada. | None supplied |
| 1998 | 24.9% | Source: Statistics Canada. | None supplied |
| 1997 | 15.1% | Source: Statistics Canada. | None supplied |
| 1996 | 6.8% | Source: Statistics Canada. | None supplied |
| 1995 | 4.2% | Source: Statistics Canada. | None supplied |
| 1994 | 2.4% | Source: Statistics Canada. | None supplied |
| 1993 | 1.2% | Source: Statistics Canada. | None supplied |
| 1992 | 0.9% | Source: Statistics Canada. | None supplied |
| 1991 | 0.6% | Source: Statistics Canada. | None supplied |
| 1990 | 0.4% | Source: Statistics Canada. | None supplied |
The source response supplies no standard errors or confidence intervals. Missing years are not zero. The API’s generic decimal-display metadata is retained in the download separately from the original values.
Download all four countries’ original values and credited metadata (CSV)
Methods, dates and permitted reuse
Definition, denominator and uncertainty
The World Bank describes internet users as individuals who used the internet from any location in the previous three months, regardless of device. Its methodology describes weighted responses divided by the number of in-scope individuals. That target definition does not erase the different historical scopes recorded in this country’s footnotes.
These are national aggregate observations. The selected API does not supply a consistent age range, survey instrument, fieldwork period, respondent count or sampling uncertainty for every year. We do not infer state or local estimates, calculate person counts, or combine these percentages with another survey’s activity share. No comparison calculation has been approved for these historical country series.
Original definition, methodology and limitations · How the digital-behavior release handles incompatible data
Evidence dates, release and source revision
- Latest country observation
- 2024
- Source API database revision
- 2026-10-08
- Source retrieved
- 2026-10-08
- Assisted review
- 2026-10-08
- Site data release
- digital-behavior-2026-10-08-v1
Sampled observations were also checked against a separate World Bank CSV download carrying a July 13, 2026 update header. Those samples match the JSON values; the distribution revision dates remain separate. A website retrieval or database revision does not change the year measured. Assisted review is not independent human editorial review.
Credit and reuse
World Bank: World Development Indicators, IT.NET.USER.ZS. Original data provider: International Telecommunication Union (ITU), World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database.
Social Usage selected countries, organized the records and created original charts; underlying percentage values are unchanged. Display values may be rounded.
The selected indicator is published under CC BY 4.0, with World Bank dataset terms. Retain attribution, source links, dates and change notices when reusing permitted downloads. World Bank and ITU do not endorse this page; no source logos or artwork are reproduced.
More country context
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