Digital Ads Dominate Federal Government's $60M Ad Spend

The federal government's ad spend has been dominated by digital platforms in recent years, with nearly $60 million spent across various departments in the 2025-26 fiscal year. According to documents tabled in Parliament, the lion's share of this expenditure went towards digital campaigns, accounting for 63% ($40.57M) of net media placement costs.

One notable example is Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), which reported ad expenditures of nearly $10.2 million in the 2025-26 fiscal year, close to $10 million of that on its “Building Canada’s Economy” campaign. The campaign ran across multiple digital platforms, including Amazon, CBC/Radio-Canada, YouTube, Bell Media, Rogers, Corus Entertainment, Netflix, and others.

Canadian Heritage spent a smaller amount of $687,525 on government advertising in the 2025-26 fiscal year, with $498,747 allocated to various digital campaigns. The vast majority of government ad spending went to digital campaigns, which have been heavily favoured over traditional broadcast media in recent years.