A new study has revealed that Canadians are now spending more time on the internet than they do watching television.

The research was carried out by Ipsos Reid last autumn and it discovered that the average Canadian spends 18 hours a week on the internet, compared with 16.9 hours watching TV.

These figures are both up from 2008, when Canadians spent 14.9 hours online and 15.eight viewing television.

In the same time period, readership levels of newspapers and magazines, as well as radio listenership levels, all remained fairly static.

The findings also revealed that the age gap in terms of internet use in Canada is narrowing. On average 18-34 year olds spend about 20 hours a week online, while those over the age of 35 spend approximately 18 hours viewing online news and other online content.

Mark Laver, the author of the report, said: "The data indicates that not only are people of all ages spending more and more time online, but it also points to a shift in how online Canadians are consuming media and where they are spending their free time.”

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