With a country that is more diverse than ever before, understanding how ethnicity impacts technology use and media consumption is a key component of any media plan. According to the 2021 Census, almost one-quarter (23%) of Canada's total population were foreign-born and this number has been steadily increasing since the 1950s. This continued growth in ethnocultural diversity in Canada combined with increasing consumer fragmentation poses an ongoing challenge for brands as they struggle to personalize communication and stand out from competitors.
MTM Newcomers survey overview
MTM’s Newcomer survey, with a sample of over 4,000, includes Canadian citizens, permanent residents, international students, temporary foreign workers, refugee claimants, and other non-permanent residents, and provides much-needed data on the media behaviours and leisure and settlement activities of people who have arrived in Canada in the past 5 years.
MTM Newcomers 2023 survey highlights
- Watching video and television content is ubiquitous among newcomers- 99% of newcomers have watched online video in the past month and 90% have watched some form of TV content. Their online viewing is ahead of the Canadian-born population (93%) and on-par in terms of TV content (89%).
- Almost 9 in 10 newcomers (88%) have an SVOD subscription, while 52% are opting in for a paid TV service like cable, satellite or fibre optic. Almost half of newcomers (48%) have opted in for subscriptions to both an SVOD service and a paid TV service.
- Newcomers report that they are more likely to watch content in English than in any other language. Over 4 in 5 (82%) have watched TV or video content in English in the past month. This is notably higher than the consumption of content in any other language, including French (12%), Hindi (14%) and a number of others.
- High smartphone adoption has made this the preferred way for newcomers to watch content - 98% of newcomers own a smartphone, while only 64% own a TV set and 47% own an Internet-connected TV set. More than four-fifths of newcomers (83%) use smartphones to watch video content while only 28% use Internet-connected TV sets to watch online video.
About MTM
The Media Technology Monitor (MTM©) is Canada’s premier research product in the area of technology ownership and use. Based on 12,000 telephone interviews annually (including a cellphone-only sample), the MTM has spoken with over 200,000 Canadians (equally split between Anglophones and Francophones) over the past decade, making it the most accurate and comprehensive media technology tracking survey of its kind.
