A recent study by BookNet Canada, the nonprofit that tracks book sales and other statistics for the Canadian book industry, found that 71% of Canadians read at least one e-book last year. Overall, 14% of books purchased in the country were e-books, according to the study.
Among e-book buyers specifically, romance was the top fiction genre purchased at 19%, which is nearly double the 10% share romance held among all Canadian book purchases; the next two top genres purchased were suspense and thriller (16%) and fantasy (13%).
Per the study, mystery/thriller was the most popular adult fiction genre last year among e-book readers, 48% of whom said it was their preferred genre. In nonfiction, history was the most preferred subject, cited by 38% of e-book readers. Romance saw the biggest gains in terms of reader preference, rising from 28% of e-book readers naming it as their preferred genre in 2021 to 36% in 2025.
The competitive pricing of e-books has driven adoption. Overall, 41% of e-book buyers said they purchased a title at a specific location because of a good price, offer, or promotion, compared with 29% of all Canadian book buyers, according to the report.
Among total book buyers, 34% purchased an e-book in 2025, while 29% of book borrowers borrowed one, BookNet Canada reported. E-book buyers spent an average of $11.85 per e-book over the course of the year. When it comes to library usage, 55% said they borrowed rather than bought their e-books specifically to save money.
As for reading habits, 59% of respondents read between one and five e-books in 2025. Smartphones were the most common device for e-book reading, used by 36% of readers, ahead of tablets, computers, and dedicated e-readers.
BookNet Canada has tracked e-books' effect on the Canadian market since 2008, shortly after the introduction of the first Kindle in 2007.
