Notice of release
Québec, May 24, 2022. – In 2020, 96% of Québec businesses had an Internet connection. This proportion was 84% in 2012. Moreover, 36% of businesses used a very high speed connection, meaning a connection with a speed of 100 megabits per second or more on the service contract, compared to 17% in 2016. These are some of the findings from the bulletin L’utilisation d’Internet et des technologies dans les entreprises québécoises en 2020.
Businesses are increasingly interested in social media
Since 2020, the share of businesses with a website (54%) has been lower than the share of businesses with a social media presence (60%). In 2016, 49% of businesses had a website and 46% were present on social media. This reality differs by industry. Businesses in the retail trade and accommodation and food services industries are proportionally more present on social media, while businesses in the manufacturing and wholesale trade industries are more likely to have a website.
About 2 in 3 businesses are doing e-commerce
Between 2018 and 2020, the share of businesses that engaged in e-commerce increased by 7 percentage points to 65%. 25% of businesses sold online and 59% made purchases online.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on businesses’ use of digital technologies
Across all businesses, 9% have started selling their products online due to the pandemic and 37% have introduced teleworking. In addition, the share of businesses that use video conferencing more than doubled between 2018 and 2020 to 38%.
The results come from the Survey of Internet Integration Into Business Processes carried out by the Institut de la statistique du Québec on behalf of the Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation. More than 8,300 businesses answered the survey between November 24, 2020 and April 11, 2021. Its objective is to provide a portrait of Internet access and use as well as information and communication technology (ICT) use by Québec businesses.