Angus Lockhart
Senior Policy Analyst
COMMENTARY
By Angus Lockhart, Senior Policy Analyst
Toronto Tech Week is here – a city-wide celebration of tech and the professionals at the cutting edge of the digital economy, featuring events across the city.
But in Toronto, like other cities and communities across the country, there remains a clear digital divide – between ‘Haves’ who have access to tech tools and internet connection, and ‘Have-Nots’ who remain without the tools, connectivity or skills to participate in digital society.
In a metropolitan city like Toronto, one would assume that all residents are connected to the internet. Yet, our survey research finds that there is a persistent 2% of Torontonians who don’t have home broadband internet. Totalling about 60,000 adult residents, Toronto’s Have-Nots number more than the entire population of cities like Belleville and North Bay. These disconnected residents are disproportionately likely to be immigrants, lower income, and less digitally literate. When we asked them about the impact of being disconnected, nearly half (45%) say it limits their ability to access government services, and a third (31%) are limited from accessing financial services.
That 2% gap is hard to close, and we’ve seen it consistently since 2021. These digital Have-Not residents cite a range of barriers – from the cost of home broadband, to a lack of perceived need. An increasing number of residents are opting to rely solely on a cell phone with data in place of home internet, likely due to the rise in “unlimited” plans.
As we’ve written about before, access is only one aspect of the digital divide. The most digitally connected and equitable countries – like Finland – take a more holistic view of empowering citizens to use the internet effectively. For instance, we asked residents if they would be confident accomplishing three different types of tasks online: using a device to browse the internet, connecting to a video call, and finding information from the City of Toronto. In each case, between 4 and 12% of residents said they were not very confident in the task. This group represents a set of residents who – even with a device and access to the internet – are still not able to cross the digital divide on their own to benefit from connectivity.
The City of Toronto has been taking important steps to address the digital divide. The City operates a network of public wifi locations across community centres, civic centres, plazas, and other public spaces like the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal. These existing networks – alongside other public wifi networks operated by organizations like the Toronto Public Library – already provide an essential service for residents who either lack home internet access or need connectivity while moving throughout the city.
ConnectTO – a City program responsible for improving access to digital connectivity – currently operates more than 100 public wifi networks across the city. In our survey, more than a quarter of Toronto residents say they use these networks and most of those users are using them every week. Again, this is supported by residents using the internet at public library locations, where 29% of residents say they have been to use the internet.
However, there is still room to do more. If the divide is caused by a combination of a lack of access and a lack of knowledge and skills, then the access gap is only part of the problem. Creating public wifi networks is half the battle; the other half is creating environments where the people who need wifi can actually make use of it.
Right now, public wifi is disproportionately used by older residents, residents in single-family homes, and residents who earn more—all groups that are actually more likely to have home internet.
This trend suggests that we need to go beyond public wifi access points to help underserved communities get online.
We asked public wifi users how helpful a range of supports would be for them, from physical needs like a place to sit or somewhere to charge devices, to support using devices (either navigating them or language help), all the way to digital literacy training. Needs differed across communities: low-income residents want somewhere to sit and language assistance; those living with a disability want help navigating their device; and those with low digital literacy ask for training.
Taken together, this suggests that to fully realize digital access in Toronto, the City needs to consider a range of supports. Helping those who have yet to cross the digital divide will require an expanded vision of digital inclusivity that goes beyond providing access to free wifi.
Toronto needs to seize the opportunity before us. Tech Week reflects the strength of our tech sector, but we need to improve our underlying digital infrastructure to capitalize on its full benefits. Ensuring widespread internet access, and supporting people from all walks of life to realize the benefits of digital access and understanding will be essential to a thriving city.