Nearly One in Two Young Canadians Don't Pay for Cable, Study Finds

The report from Communications Management revealed that 44.5 percent of Canadians under 30 are cord-cutters or cord-nevers, as they opt for Netflix and other online TV alternatives.

Nearly half of young Canadians have abandoned traditional television, according to a study from Communications Management Inc.

Based on an estimate of household spending from the latest Statistics Canada data released on Dec. 12, the Winnipeg, Manitoba-based consultants found 44.5 percent of Canadians under 30 were "cord-cutters" or "cord-nevers."

The study put the overall percentage of Canadian households not paying for a traditional cable, Internet Protocol TV or satellite TV package at 17.8 percent, up from 7 percent in 2012, as they also opt for Netflix, Amazon Prime, Crave and other online TV alternatives.

That leaves 76 percent of Canadian households as subscribers to a cable, IPTV or satellite TV package. The Communications Management study revealed age is the biggest factor in determining whether a Canadian household has a traditional TV package or views TV video from a computer, tablet or smartphone.

The study found 31.2 percent of Canadians between 30 and 39 years of age were cord-cutters or cord-nevers, while 18.9 percent of Canadians aged 40 to 54 years of age were in the same category. The consultants did not estimate the number of cord-cutters among Canadians, in contrast to cord-nevers, as the Statistics Canada data compiled by a government agency did not indicate previous TV subscription arrangements.

The Canadian over-the-top TV market continues to be dominated by Netflix, which in 2018 has an estimated 7 million subscribers, or is present in around half of all domestic TV households.

That's followed by Amazon Prime and Crave, a local OTT player, having around a 9 percent Canadian market share each, ahead of smaller OTT players like CBS All Access and Starz.