Statistics Canada
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Table 5
Purposes of Internet use in a typical month, Canada, provinces and territories, 2003

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  Canada N.L. P.E.I. N.S. N.B. Que. Ont. Man. Sask. Alta. B.C. Y.T N.W.T Nvt.
% of Internet users
Electronic mail (e-mail) 87.0 79.1 83.2 83.5 81.7 83.8 88.8 83.9 83.9 87.5 91.1 89.8 89.9 81.0
General browsing 85.2 87.4 87.1 84.7 83.8 83.5 85.6 84.9 87.0 85.9 86.3 76.0 84.0 69.9
Read about news and current events 69.4 70.0 64.8 70.0 61.7 64.3 72.0 69.2 64.0 69.7 73.0 65.3 75.9 60.5
Search for health-related information 49.7 50.0 52.1 49.7 48.4 45.0 50.9 49.6 50.2 47.8 55.5 50.5 53.4 26.5
Search for weather-related information 44.9 55.4 45.5 49.6 47.3 39.8 45.2 49.2 45.6 48.7 45.5 48.6 64 47.9
Search for government information 44.0 41.3 45.1 43.7 37.2 45.1 44.4 37.0 32.7 41.6 48.2 44.6 53.2 39.5
Shopping (including browsing for products or services but not necessarily buying) 43.2 60.2 45.1 50.7 45.9 35.0 43.7 44.3 45.1 42.5 51.3 55.6 49.1 35.1
Banking 39.0 34.3 29.1 36.6 27.4 33.2 42.3 34.7 36.2 41.2 42.2 37.3 40.2 21.4
Obtain or save music 38.2 40.7 42.6 44.4 38.6 39.7 36.1 37.5 42.5 37.7 39.9 29.1 39.0 26.2
Search for employment opportunities 31.7 35.1 35.4 35.6 25.2 29.9 33.4 29.7 26.8 29.1 33.3 25.5 34.4 23.1
Participate in chat groups or other online discussions 24.5 24.6 23.2 27.2 23.3 25.3 25.3 20.2 21.2 19.0 27.0 19.7 27.2 20.6
Formal education or training (part of a formal learning activity such as a course or a program of studies) 17.4 16.6 17.9 17.7 17.0 14.2 19.2 16.0 16.3 15.6 19.6 17.3 22.4 13.0
Playing games with others 16.1 20.0 16.4 18.5 20.0 14.5 16.9 18.2 14.41 14.1 16.5 14.7 19.1 13.01
1 Lower reliability estimate due to sample size.
Source: Statistics Canada, Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, 2003.