by SavingsMix.com |  A personal finance website that focuses on Canadian money management and personal finance Canada. 

Statistics Canada has recently released the outcome of the Digital Economy Survey that was conducted from July 2017 to June 2018.

The survey aims to find out how Canadians (18 years old and up) would respond to various personal finance questions that are relevant to learning about Canada's digital economy, going forward.

A study on Canadians' digital activities would give us a general overview on how Canadians purchase online, what sort of digital products do they use, what sort of digital platforms do they access to sell items, how much they earn on average from online selling, how much could Canadians spend for digital products, and how do Canadians pay for their personal spending.

What do Canadians prefer when paying for personal purchases? 

Would they rather use, debit card or credit card? 

Are Canadians comfortable with online banking? 

Would Canadians use pre-authorized payments? 

How did Canadians respond to using cash or cheques? 

How about when it comes to using rewards points and gift cards?

Let's go dig some findings.

Questions asked on this Digital Economy Survey, included the following:

• ‘What payment methods are Canadians using most for their personal spending?’
• ‘A glimpse at Canadian’s digital use or purchases of digital products’
• ‘Percentage of Canadians who used online bulletin boards to sell products’
• ‘Average income earned from selling products via online bulletin board’
• ‘What was the average amount spent on digital products’

Here are some of the findings:

When asked about: ‘What payment methods are Canadians using most for their personal spending?’, seventy-six percent (76%) said they prefer the use of credit card, debit, online banking, and pre-authorized payments. Twenty-one (21%)  percent said they use cash or cheque. And about three-percent (3%) responded to using rewards points or gift cards. 

Taking 'A glimpse at Canadian’s digital use or purchases of digital products’,  sixty-four percent (64%) of Canadians surveyed said that they purchase video downloads or streaming services, like for example, having subscribed to Netflix or CraveTV.

Then about fifty-seven (57%) of those surveyed said that they used mobile apps, computer software, and other online subscriptions. While fifty-one percent (51%) purchased music downloads or music streaming subscriptions, like for example, Spotify, Google Music, Apple Music.

So, how did Canadians respond to the use or purchase of e-Books, audio books, online newspaper, magazines, and podcasts? 

Well, we could see that about thirty-three percent  (33%) responded positively to these forms of digital media.

How about looking at online gaming  or gaming services? Thirty-one percent (31%) said they purchase these kinds of services.

When it comes to online selling, about twenty-six percent (26%) said they use online bulletin boards.

So, how much on average do Canadians earn from selling products using online bulletin boards? The average amount is seven-hundred twenty-two dollars ($722). 

Finally, when asked how much do Canadians spend on digital products? It is interesting to note that the average amount is four-hundred twenty-two dollars ($422).

Source: Statistics Canada, Results from the Digital Economy Survey, August, 29, 2018. Reproduced and distributed on an "as is" basis with the permission of Statistics Canada.
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