Seniors Getting More and More Connected!

Successive surveys by CEFRIO, a partner agency of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, have shown beyond any doubt that many aged 50+ are far from being technophobes.

Various NETendances surveys published last spring have a lot to say on this subject. For example, the percentage of people with a smartphone is reported to have increased from 13% to 73% between 2009 and 2018 in Quebec. In people aged 55–64, that number has increased to 57%. This percentage is lower in the next age group, but we can still see that in 2018, 37% of Quebecers aged 65 and over used their smartphones a little, a lot and even passionately!

As for e-commerce, a CEFRIO survey shows that 64% of Quebec adults made at least one online purchase in 2018. More specifically, that’s 72% of 45–54 year olds, 47% of 55–64 year olds and 35% of 65–74 year olds. While the percentage does drop significantly from one age group to the next, it’s still clear that there are many more people aged 55 and over using technology than you might think.

Another NETendances survey shows that all age groups are using social media more. In 2018, 83% of 45–54 year olds, 78% of 55–64 year olds, 57% of 65–74 year olds and 34% of people 75 years and over were using social networks!

As you can see, a significant and growing proportion of people aged 50 and over are connected and proud of it. For those who are more reluctant, but would still like to master computers and new technologies, there are FADOQ.ca workshops. This is a selection of affordable courses given throughout Quebec to small groups of seniors by educators from the same age group, in a few three-hour blocks.

Would you like to learn about computers, tablets, social networks or Word and Excel software? Thanks to the Réseau FADOQ, it’s easy. Happy learning!