Federal reports detail Internet stats and Canadian Heritage spending in 2002

Two recently released reports from Ottawa, the CRTC’s Broadcasting Policy Monitoring Report and Canadian Heritage’s Performance Report, provide a detailed snapshot of Canadian Internet use and government spending in the sector. The Heritage document details spending on the Canadian Cultural Online Program as well as other Internet and cultural funding programs. According to the report, in Heritage’s 2001-2002 fiscal year, it spent money on the following programs: Canada-TELUS New Media Learning Fund, $1 million; Canada New Media Fund, $6,058,223; Canadian Culture Online Program, $430,913; Partnerships Fund, $2,282,488; Electronic Copyright Fund, $1,750,722; and Applied Research in Interactive Media Fund, $1 million. These numbers reflect actual spending on programs in the 2001-2002 fiscal year, ended March 31/02. The CRTC’s third annual broadcasting report provides an in-depth look at Canada’s Internet use. Among other findings this year, the commission lists 2.89 million .ca domain names at Jan. 1/02, up from 2.36 million a year earlier and 1.67 million in 2000. Canada’s is the second most popular country domain name. Top level Canadian sites represent two per cent of total hosts worldwide. Penetration rates varied greatly across the country, according to the report, in March 2002. The rate had grown to 58 per cent in Atlantic Canada, up from 57 per cent a year earlier. The rate fell to 60 per cent from 64 per cent in Quebec over the same period, according to the report. In Ontario, penetration grew slightly from 71 per cent to 72 per cent. In the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, penetration nosedived from 72 per cent to 63 per cent between March 2001 and March 2002. The rate remained stable in Alberta, falling slightly from 70 per cent to 69 per cent. There was a significant rise in British Columbia from 71 to 75 per cent, and overall, the Canadian penetration rate fell just slightly from 68 per cent to 67 per cent. The commission also reports that of Canadians with no Internet access, 44 per cent cite "no need" as their reason and 15 per cent say it is because they have no computer at home. The CRTC report can be found here and the Canadian Heritage Performance Report is available here.

Federal reports detail Internet stats and Canadian Heritage spending in 2002

News | 11/28/2002 5:00 am EST

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