One in seven Canadians has trouble getting enough sleep, with a large proportion of them lucky to cop five hours of shut-eye a night, according to Statistics Canada.

More than three million Canadians suffer from insomnia, says the study.

Based on the 2002 Canadian Community Health Survey, insomniacs were defined as those reporting trouble going to sleep or staying asleep "most of the time" or "all of the time."

A commuter sleeps on a subway car as it leaves the platform at the Yonge and Bloor Station in Toronto. (CP photo)

One-fifth of the 3.3 million Canadians age 15 and over who reported having trouble sleeping said they averaged five hours of rest a night. On average, insomniacs slept 6.5 hours a night, compared with 7.5 hours a night for the others surveyed.

Nearly one-third of the insomniacs said they used sleep medication at least once in the previous 12 months.

The study found links between insomnia and stress and chronic, painful conditions like arthritis.

For example, nearly one-quarter of respondents who described most of their days as being either "quite a bit" or "extremely" stressful reported insomnia. This was more than twice the proportion among people who reported little or no life stress.

Respondents aged 45 to 64, widowers and people with little education had high odds of being sleep deprived, the study found.

Canadians who were obese, heavy drinkers and frequent users of marijuana were also likely to be insomniacs, it says.

The prevalence of insomnia also rose with age. About 10 per cent in the 15-to-24 age group had sleep problems, compared to 20 per cent in the 75-and-older category.