Statscan Survey of How Canadians Use Online Government Information

Statistics Canada today released Connecting with Canadians: Assessing the Use of Government On-Line, a study of the extent and reasons for which Canadians use the Internet to connect with all levels of government.

Among the major findings:

"GOL (government online) users—those who used the Internet from home to search for government information or to communicate with government—represented more than 8 million adult Canadians (or 33%) in 2005. These users were asked more detailed questions about their GOL experience. While the majority of GOL users reported searching for government-related information (72%), a substantial proportion also used it to access information on government programs or services online... In addition, about one-half reported downloading government forms, while roughly one-quarter submitted a completed form, used the Internet to file their income tax, or communicated with government departments or elected officials".

(...)

"The majority of GOL users reported using the Internet to contact the federal government (62%); however, slightly more than one-half (51%) also reported contacting provincial levels, and more than one-quarter indicated that they had contacted a municipal level of government (28%). Most GOL users indicated that they used the Internet to search for information on government programs or services in Canada on a monthly (26%) or less frequent (55%) basis; less than one in ten (7%) used the Internet for this purpose on a weekly basis".