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Canada is having a cultural moment. Are the ad dollars following?

Telling the best story While there is momentum, growing pains mean that some EV brands are still running on old media playbooks. One key reason is organizational: “Many are still working on developing strong local media expertise,” said Christine Wang, media strategy director at Mediaplus China. “As a result, Chinese EV brands continue to rely heavily on performance media because it delivers immediate, trackable results.” A key challenge is measurement and establishing a credible link between brand investment and commercial outcomes. As a result, brand-building is often delayed, which can limit long-term pricing power and differentiation in competitive international markets, Wang said. “That said, we are seeing growing internal alignment and preparation, and we expect more structured brand investment from Chinese EV brands to materialize from next year as part of their next phase of global expansion.” This brings to mind campaigns like Volkswagen’s “Think Small” or BMW’s “The Ultimate Driving Machine,” which help shift market sentiment and build their advertisers into iconic automakers. Could a memorable campaign be in the cards, too, for this new breed of carmakers? “I believe the focus has shifted. Previously, it was about exporting products. Now, it’s about exporting brands,” Chen said. “The winner is the one who tells the best story, translating technological advancements into values and lifestyles that resonate with global consumers. This is the crucial lesson to learn as we transition from ‘Made in China’ to global brands.”
Christian Ray Blaza / Shutterstock / The Current

In 2024, 94% of digital ad dollars went to non-Canadian platforms, up from 76% in 2017, according to a recent report by Canadian Media Means Business, a coalition of the country’s top media owners and industry associations.

The report concluded that global tech walled gardens are “siphoning” Canadian ad dollars, contributing to an overhaul of the local media and advertising sector: Agency and PR jobs are growing, while news media roles — publishing, broadcasting and more — are contracting.

The data puts renewed focus on efforts to increase investment in local media. In 2021, the Canadian Media Directors’ Council (CMDC) launched the Canadian Media Manifesto, with a goal of directing 25% of all media investment to local media, up from 19%.

The pledge has made strides. WPP Media Canada, for instance, pledged that half of its total client media spend would go to Canadian properties by the end of this year. But there’s still work to be done.

At the same time, Canada has found itself the center of wider cultural moments over the last year, from live sports — like the Toronto Blue Jays playing in last year’s MLB World Series, and the 2026 Winter Olympics gold medal men’s and women’s hockey games — to TV hits like Heated Rivalry.

For media buyers, advocates say the moment presents a rare opportunity to rally around local media while audience engagement is high.

“Ours is a smaller, more interconnected market. The distance between advertiser, agency, publisher and platform is shorter here,” Sarah Armstrong, general manager and country manager for Canada at The Trade Desk, wrote in a recent op-ed for The Current.

“And when Canadians show up for a moment … the brands and publishers that invest in premium, accountable environments are the ones that will capture it. Not because they got lucky. Because they were positioned to.”

Making the case for local media

Ultimately, that aforementioned 25% goal is a “starting point, not the end point,” Micheal Bispo, director of media effectiveness and planning at OLG, told The Current.

“Our goal is to build an ecosystem that proves that Canadian media delivers better outcomes,” he said. “We’re building an impartial measurement framework that will demonstrate that value.”

He said that OLG tries to understand local publishers’ own business goals — where they want to grow their audience, for instance — and then connecting that to its own plans.

“How do we partner and co-create? That elevates the product and our opportunity to reach more customers and bring Canadians into the ecosystem. It’s important to do that because they are our stories, our perspectives. We need to have our brand next to Canadian points of view.”

Of course, not all brands or agencies share those goals. But during The Trade Desk’s OpenForum event in Canada last week, Andrew Butts, general manager of Ontario and West at Cossette Media, said that the walled gardens are “presenting challenges that leave the door open for premium content, and that case becomes increasingly compelling.”

“The notion of moving away from major global platforms that are focused on immediate, low-funnel results, versus a long-term, brand-driven view for improved incrementality or ROAS, that will innately drive you to more premium content and better advertising mediums across the country.”

Mark Mandato, senior manager of key growth initiatives at CBC-Radio/Canada, made the case onstage that Canada’s recent spate of cultural moments is as good a time as ever to invest in local media, as it “builds cultural relevancy with your audience.”

The live sports opportunity

As in the U.S., live sports are a robust opportunity for premium investment in Canada that transcend any larger headwinds.

“Live sports remain the most powerful form of unscripted drama on any screen, and that’s exactly what drives attention, emotion, and, ultimately, performance for brands,” said Ryan Matier, senior manager of sports and Olympics media sponsorships at CBC/Radio-Canada.

This year’s Winter Olympics delivered 89 million video views on CBC’s digital and streaming platforms, “without compromising” linear TV, Matier said, which saw over 30 million Canadians tune in.

Further, this summer’s World Cup will be jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. And women’s sports are a major part of Canadian sports growth, including a new WNBA team, the Toronto Tempo, which played their first game last week.

“We’re seeing a significant surge in both audience demand and marketer interest in women’s sports in Canada,” Matier said. “Brands recognize that these are highly engaged, values-driven audiences, but, increasingly, they’re also seeing the performance upside. The investment is accelerating globally, and Canada is right at the center of that momentum.”

The Current is owned and operated by The Trade Desk, Inc.