The average Canadian spends a lot of time online. In fact, that adds up to about 45 hours per person each month, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority revealed in early 2013. This time can be taken up doing any number of things, from banking to video conferencing to playing multi-player video games. There are virtually no limits on what people can do online these days.

However, recent information released by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission would suggest that a lot of this time is being eaten up by streaming videos online. This should come as no surprise to Canadians who keep up with the news - cord cutting is happening with more frequency these days and this report suggests that this trend won't wane any time soon.

Cord cutting on the rise, but doesn't hold the market share
While it's undeniable that more and more Canadians are taking to their computers, not TVs, to watch shows and movies, the majority of people still cling to their traditional television sets, at least for the time being.

"More Canadians than ever are watching and listening to content on their computers, smartphones and tablets, yet the vast majority of programming is still accessed through traditional television and radio services," stated Commission Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais. "It is interesting to note that Canadians' habits are evolving."

The Commission's report revealed that collectively, as of 2012, Canadians watch a total of 931.3 million hours of TV each week, and 33 per cent of us take to the Internet to do so, a statistic that far surpasses many previous releases. Those who watch TV online tune in for about 3 hours per week. Six per cent of watchers do so from either a tablet or smartphone.

How are they watching?
It's relatively difficult to track down what sites these people are using to watch TV and movies online. This is because, as CBC News reported, Netflix Canada no longer publishes the number of individuals who subscribe to accounts. The news source said that the last release, which came out in August 2011, found that 1 million Canadians had accounts, a number that is sure to have risen since then.

Netflix is just one option tech-savvy Canadians have when they want to stream TV over the Internet. They can also use iTunes to buy or rent episodes and movies, individual TV channel websites that allow for live streaming and a number of other sites that legally feature videos.