Media Technology Monitor (MTM) has released its second annual MTM Newcomers study, giving clients access to the entire data set and a Top Trends report. MTM Newcomers 2022 focuses on the media behaviors as well as the leisure and settlement activities of people who have arrived in Canada in the past five years. 

Highlights of the research show that virtually all newcomers own a smartphone and the majority (60%) purchase or acquire a cell phone after arriving in Canada. Flanker brands such as Fido, Virgin and Freedom are popular service providers for newcomers as they tend to be more economical and flexible than the larger providers. One in five newcomers have already looked into cell phone providers prior to their arrival in Canada. 

Newcomers are 42% less likely to own a TV set than Canadian-born individuals (64% vs 91%, respectively) and they are 52% less likely than Canadian-born consumers to subscribe to a paid TV service, such as cable or satellite. An overwhelming 88% of newcomers, however, have at least one Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) service, such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. Almost 10% subscribe to a foreign-language SVOD, such as Hotstar, iQiyi or Shahid. Close to half of all newcomers feel reflected in Canadian programming, while only one in seven say they don’t feel reflected at all.

More than 80% newcomers use social networking sites or apps regularly. Facebook is the most popular network among newcomers at 75%, followed by WhatsApp (64%) and Instagram (61%). Newcomers are much more likely to consume a variety of online audio rather than traditional platforms.  Music on Youtube is streamed by 80% of newcomers versus 49% of Canadian-born individuals, and music streaming services such as Spotify and Podcast are also more likely to be listened to by newcomers. The smartphone is by far the most popular device for newcomers when it comes to consuming audio.

Three quarters of newcomers consume news content each month and are less likely to get their news from traditional sources. Social media is by far the most popular source for news among newcomers (40%) – they are more than twice as likely as Canadian-born respondents (17%) to consider this their main source. English is the most common language used to consume news, although close to one in four spend more than half of their time consuming news in other languages.