Canada’s National Reading Campaign Releases Results of Pleasure Reading Survey
Based on a nationally representative sample of 1,001 Canadians, the survey results revealed a population of passionate readers still very engaged with traditional reading platforms, and a group of Canadians not reading for pleasure in any medium.
82% of Canadians read for pleasure as often or more often than they did last year.
Books are the overwhelmingly preferred medium, with 70% of readers preferring them to magazines, newspapers, and blogs.
While level of education is linked to the amount of reading done for pleasure, level of income is not. Those reading the most have family incomes of from $30,000 to under $50,000.
Although the percentage of Canadians reading for pleasure is high, 12% of Canadians reported reading for pleasure less than they did last year and 5% admitted to not reading for pleasure at all. These figures combine to reveal that one in five Canadians does not read for enjoyment or does so less than they used to.
The study additionally revealed that:
- 49% have used library services in the past year
- 45% of Canadians reported that their reading of electronic publications has increased in the past year
- More men report an increase in reading e-publications
- Library use is higher in urban centres

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.