Media Beat: The Reading Habits of Canadians (Column)

What Canadians Do with Our Time

BookNet, the non-profit organization that gathers data on Canadian book sales, has released its annual survey of the market that includes a cornucopia of fascinating facts about what we do with our time.

In terms of the activities Canadians do most frequently, here are the top 10 activities Canadians participated in at least once a day in 2023:

1. Browsing social media/web (75%)

2. Watching videos/TV/movies (73%)

3. Cooking (69%)

4. Listening to music (64%)

5. Spending time with family (48%)

6. Exercising/working out (37%)

7. Listening to radio shows (34%)

8. Reading or listening to books (31%)

9. Playing video games (25%)

10. Listening to podcasts (18%)

Readership patterns

* 49% of Canadians read or listened to books weekly in 2023, with 31% of Canadians reading or listening to books once a day.

*Half of all Canadian readers (52%) read between one and five books in 2023.

*Canadian readers attended more book clubs and book-related events in 2023, both online and in person.

* Spending on books in 2023 is similar to 2022, however, less Canadian readers in 2023 did not have limitations on the number of books they could buy (23%) and more bought books within their budget (44%).

* Older demographic groups (ages 45-54, 55-64, 65+) are more likely to acquire free books of all formats than younger demographics (ages 18-29, 30-44).

* Canadian readers in 2023 continued to prefer print books the most (59%).

* Canadian readers’ interest in abridged audiobooks, audiobooks with sound effects and/or music, and environmentally friendly print books is on the rise.

* Adult Fiction books remain the most popular book subject for Canadian readers across all formats, but Children’s books and Young Adult books are continuing to see increases in readership across all formats in 2023.

In terms of spending on leisure activities in a given month, most Canadians spent between $1 and $49 (19%) or between $50 and $99 (19%). The third largest share spent between $100 and $149 per month (14%). No real clear trends emerged when comparing spending in 2023 to spending in 2022.

In 2023, BookNet tracked sales for 847,477 unique ISBNs, which translated to 48,791,765 physical books sold at a total value of $1,102,387,350.

Books by Canadians made up 12% of print book sales in Canada in 2023.

Gary Slaight in His Own Words

Gary Slaight is a big donor, not one to give up on a cause he believes in, a shy man, more private than an attention seeker. The Slaight Foundation is one of Canada’s largest private donors.

In the Billboard Canada Power Player's own words in a new interview with Toronto Life:

“Since 2013, the foundation has donated roughly $251 million to several initiatives. I try to look at what’s going on in the world and identify causes where we can make a difference. We’ve supported hospitals, children’s charities, Indigenous groups, senior living, the rights of women and girls, Covid relief, and now dementia.”

“Because a lot of people are cheap. I apply pressure by demonstrating my own contributions. If someone comes to me trying to raise money for a cause they believe in, the first thing I ask is what they’ve given out of their own pocket. There are a lot of people in Toronto with a lot of money — and a lot of them don’t give much. I won’t name names, but there are folks who need to be doing much more.”

Asked about his thoughts on legacy: “I’m focused on philanthropy and music. My legacy will take care of itself."

An Elegy for Newsprint

The following was posted by Alan Niester on Facebook earlier this week. It says a lot about the sad state of newspapers today.

My life has literally revolved around newspapers.

When I was a kid, my first job was delivering The Niagara Falls Evening Review. It was a lesson in running a small business, and as eager as I was, I always lost money Because one or two subscribers didn’t pay.

I grew up clipping pictures and articles of hockey and baseball players and sticking them into scrapbooks.

Later in my life, I wrote for newspapers...The Globe and Mail for 35 years...and the Montreal Gazette and Windsor Star, and others.

Now, in my dotage, I still start every day with coffee and The Toronto Star.

But I can tell this habit is about to end. Many smaller journals, my beloved Evening Review among them, have ceased printing physical versions.

Yesterday, my Toronto Star was delivered to my door, as usual. It boasted just 26 pages total and was supported by just two paying ads. It was as light as a Kleenex.

Hard to believe even giants like The Star and Globe and Mail can continue much longer.

Last one out the door, turn off the lights.