The latest MTM report on newcomers to Canada shows that cellphones are literally in everyone’s hands, whether they’re newcomers to the country, or Canadian-born. The ubiquitous cellphone is the device that newcomers turn to for almost all online activities except for watching TV and movies on SVOD services.

Close to three in five newcomers, mostly older newcomers, acquire their cellphone after arriving in Canada. Those aged 45 and older are 12% more likely acquire a cellphone after arriving than those aged 35 to 44. The older group is 9% more likely to do this than those between 25 and 34, and 33% more likely than newcomers aged 18 to 24. Additionally, newcomers with incomes between $35K and $75K seem to prefer getting their cellphones after arriving in their new country of residence.

Cellphones are the most commonly-owned device among newcomers (100%) as well as Canadian-born individuals (97%). While newcomers overwhelmingly turn to their cellphone for all online activities asked about in the survey, a little more than half (57%) watch movies and SVOD services via a smartphone. This could be influenced by lower ownership of other devices such as TV sets, connected TV sets, tablets, smart speakers and game consoles compared to the Canadian-born population.

The iPhone still holds the biggest share of the smartphone market with newcomers at 48%, followed by Samsung at 32%, with the remaining 20% opting for other brands. Cellphones are most often purchased at a service provider’s store or kiosk (47%) followed by the service provider’s website or app (25%), and going to a retail store other than the service provider’s (19%).

Most newcomers have cellphone and home Internet services but less than half have paid TV service, and very few have landlines. Canadian-born individuals are 53% more likely to subscribe to paid TV services (69% compared to 45% of newcomers) and are 800% more likely to have landline phone service subscriptions, 32% compared to 4% of newcomers. Almost all newcomers rely solely on cellphones.

More than four in five newcomers rely on apps like Messenger and WhatsApp to make long-distance voice calls, particularly apps offering options for making video calls across the globe for free or deeply-discounted rates. The most popular online activity performed by newcomers on their smartphone is using social media, closely followed by watching non-SVOD online content.