A new report from ComScore has again confirmed that Canadians spend the majority of their online time on mobile devices — but it also makes clear just how much that trend skews towards millennials.
ComScore’s Global Mobile Report compares cross-platform trends across the U.S., U.K. and Canada. It’s the first time ComScore has taken an in-depth look at how these markets differ in terms of mobile and desktop consumption.
Canadians now spend a little over half of their digital time (52%) on mobile, up from an even split earlier this spring when ComScore released its first Canadian multiplatform MMX results. Americans, by contrast, spend 61% of their digital time on mobile.
Chart from ComScore Global Mobile Report
Breaking down the numbers by age category shows that Canadians of all ages have adopted mobile slower than their U.S. counterparts, but the differences are especially pronounced among adult age groups 35-54 and 55+.
In the 35-54 category, Canadians lag the U.S. in mobile usage by 10 percentage points (53% to 63%), but are roughly on par with Brits (54%). Among the over 55 crowd, Canadians still spend nearly two thirds (61%) of their time on desktop, compared to just over half (51%) in the U.S. and a minority (45%) in the U.K.
Chart from ComScore Global Mobile Report
Despite spending less time overall in mobile, however, Canadians of all age groups spend more time with tablets than Americans, and with the exception of the 55+ category, more than Brits as well.
In terms of total mobile minutes, Canada is the only one of the three markets where adults over 35 still spend the majority of their time on desktop. In fact Canadians 35+ spend more total hours on desktop each month than do their counterparts in either market.
Chart from ComScore Global Mobile Report
One of the reasons that’s surprising is that Canada still has the highest rate of smartphone penetration in every age group, according to the report. The vast majority of Canadians 18-34 have smartphones (95%), while almost as many of 35-54s have them (89%). That’s compared to 90% and 81% in the U.S., respectively.
Even among Canadians 55+, 62% own smartphones, compared to 57% in the U.S. and 60% in the U.K.
Canadians favour social, gaming
The breakdown between app usage and mobile browsing was fairly similar across markets, though Americans spend substantially more total time on apps. Canadians spend roughly 87% of their mobile time in an app, versus just 13% on mobile browsers.
Compared to Brits and Americans, Canadians spent more time with social platforms and online games across platforms. About a quarter of total digital time in Canada goes to social media, compared to 21% in the U.S. and U.K. Canadians were also most likely out of the three markets to do their banking online.
Chart from ComScore Global Mobile Report
