Despite being some of the world’s heaviest Internet users, more than half of Canadians are still nervous about shopping online.

A new comScore survey commissioned by PayPal revealed 51% of Canadians surveyed feel anxious when making a purchase online.

Canadians log more online time than their international peers, but they are also more concerned about protecting their security than online shoppers in other countries, said Darrell MacMullin, country manager for PayPal.

According to the survey, 40% of Canadians are not confident that online retailers are able to keep their financial information safe. By comparison, a PayPal survey of American shoppers showed only 27% of Americans worry e-retailers are unable to keep financial information secure.

Protecting their credit cards and bank accounts is an even bigger concern with small or unknown e-commerce sites; 66% of Canadians said they are reluctant to purchase from an unfamiliar site because they want to keep their information safe.

MacMullin said lengthy checkout processes are another reason Canadians aren’t shopping online.

“It takes longer online than it does in a traditional retail site, which seems backwards,” he says. The survey showed 43% of Canadians think it takes too long to fill out credit card information when shopping online.

High shipping costs are another barrier for Canadians; 56% said they have abandoned a virtual shopping cart after seeing the shipping costs.

At a panel hosted yesterday by Pay Pal, several e-commerce retailers discussed shipping pricing and other industry challenges.

After seeing a spike in orders during a free shipping promotion, Dell Canada decided to ship all orders for free, said Dell Canada’s senior business manager Prashant Ramesh.

Similar tactics worked for online drug store Well.ca, which saw sales jump after it began offering free shipping. Well.ca ships every order for free, regardless or price, “Even if you live in Nunavut,” said CEO and founder Ali Asaria.