In May 2012, Canadian telecommunications firm Rogers released the “Innovation Report: 2012 Trend Watch,” which indicated that 79% of internet users in Canada agreed with the statement “The internet allows me to connect to people and information in ways that make my life better,” and a majority also expect the internet’s role in their lives to increase over the next five years.

Smartphones, which eMarketer expects to be in the hands of more than 50% of mobile phone users in Canada in 2013, are increasingly factoring into the web’s growing influence. According to the survey conducted by market research agency Vision Critical, among internet users who owned a smartphone, 74% of respondents used their device to communicate with friends and family. Other popular smartphone activities included using maps and directions (59%), accessing social networks (52%) and playing games (50%), but these rates still lagged behind PC usage, which were at 86% for communicating with friends and family, 86% for maps and directions, 80% for connecting to social networks and 66% for playing games.

For now, the PC remains the No. 1 digital touchpoint for internet users in Canada. However, as smartphones gain a solid majority of mobile phone users—eMarketer estimates 62% penetration in 2016—they will become a solid and competitive secondary touchpoint.