In 2023, almost half of the surveyed parents in Canada reported enforcing weekday limits for their children's screen time, while 32 scheduled screen time limits for their kids. Additionally, 19 percent of parents said they collect their children's devices for the same purpose.

As of the third quarter of 2023, Canadians spent an average of one hour and 17 minutes per day using social media and more than six hours per day using the internet in general. TV consumption was also high at over three hours, while Canadians devoted less time to music streaming or gaming activities.

Internet usage trends in Canada Canada’s online population has steadily increased over the past two decades. In 2024, the number of internet users in Canada surpassed a record 36.7 million, which translates to approximately 96.5 percent of the Canadian population using the internet for information, communication, and entertainment. Given that most traditional media formats can now be accessed online, Canadians have gradually shifted from TV, radio, and magazine consumption towards digital channels. That said, some forms of analog media and entertainment experienced a surge in demand following the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020.

What are the leading social media platforms in Canada? Social media has become one of the most popular online activities among Canadian internet users. In 2024, Canada’s social network user penetration stood at 94 percent, and according to the latest forecasts, this figure will surpass 98 percent by 2028. This rapid increase in social media usage is spearheaded by rising mobile adoption and the ever-increasing selection of digital platforms that Canadians can use to upload photos, send direct messages, or simply pass the time. Facebook was the leading mobile social media website in Canada as of 2024, outpacing Pinterest and Instagram by a large margin of visits.

According to a March 2023 survey of internet users in Canada with children under 18, half of respondents said their kids spent most of their screen time playing games. Additionally, 38 percent of parents reported that their kids spent most of their screen time watching TV, while around a quarter stated their kids used their screen time to socialize via messaging and chat apps.

The average weekly time spent watching television in Canada from September 2023 to May 2024 was around 19 hours a week among adults aged 18 or above. Those between the age of 25 and 54 watched 10.2 hours per week. Meanwhile, teens watched just seven hours each week. Traditional vs. digital media consumption in Canada According to the most recent data, Canadians spent over 10 hours a day with major media in 2021. Taking a deeper look at the specific media split, on average, adults in the country spent 288 minutes with traditional media, and the largest portion of time – 326 minutes – consuming digital media of all sorts that year. Online video users in Canada In 2021 it was measured that 27 percent of the Canadian population watched TV online. The ability to watch time-shifted TV, as opposed to live viewing, has brought about services such as subscription video-on-demand. It is believed that in 2021 there were 18.6 million people subscribing to Netflix in Canada. The popularity and accessibility of programming on such platforms also introduced the notion of binge viewing, defined as watching at least three episodes of a TV show in one sitting.