Are Canadians Getting Bored of the Web? No, They're Just Moving to Mobile

After years of web use on desktops and laptops skyrocketing in Canada, the growth is grinding to a halt.

But that's not because Canadians are tired of the web—in fact, it's the opposite. We're simply now fascinated by the next frontier of web: mobile. So while web use on our clunky home computers may be stagnating, our tablets and smartphones are red-hot in that area.

According to the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, there are now well over 25 million mobile phone subscribers in the country, up more than a million since the start of the year. And Bryan Segal, vice-president at comScore, estimated recently that 40% of Canadians with mobile phones have already upgraded to smart devices like BlackBerrys and iPhones—an exceedingly high penetration when compared with the global average.

Regular mobile users are completely tuned out of internet-on-the-go, but those with smartphones are quick to adopt mobile web-browsing habits. For this reason, Bryan expects mobile internet usage to spike in 2012. Because with millions of "dumb" phone contracts due to end, the vast majority of these consumers will buy smartphones, triggering a mass surge in mobile web usage. Plus, most young Canadians getting their first device will choose a smartphone, paving the future.