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Our latest forecasts for CTV and digital video viewers in Canada show that audiences are now a match for linear TV and exceed it in some age groups.

In Canada, it鈥檚 nine in 10 people in the population,鈥� our analyst Bill Fisher said on an episode of 鈥淏ehind the Numbers.鈥� 鈥淭his is a really, really valuable piece of advertising real estate.鈥�. The reach isn't the only attractive factor for marketers: CTV advertising offers rich features for advertisers like segmentation, targeting, and greater control over frequency.

LinkedIn鈥檚 CTV Ads鈥攏ow available for buyers in the US and Canada鈥攄eliver four times better targeting than linear TV, according to iSpot, and now include expanded access to Paramount鈥檚 streaming inventory. New integrations with Adobe Express, Innovid, and Sprinklr simplify campaign creation and cross-screen delivery for video ads.

The news: Gander Social is an upcoming Canadian social platform built on the decentralized AT Protocol, similar to Bluesky. Gander rejects algorithmic feeds, ad surveillance, and dark UX patterns, per Metricool. As an alternative to networks like X, Meta鈥檚 Threads, and Bluesky, it offers user-controlled content, privacy by design, and community-first tools鈥攈osted entirely within Canada. It will be available as a closed beta in August. Our take: As algorithmic fatigue and platform distrust grow, demand is rising for community-driven, ad-light spaces. Marketers should watch Gander as a testbed for the next wave of privacy-first, hyper-local platforms.

Despite early adoption, programmatic has stopped gaining much new ground in Canada. Though similar to the US in many respects, Canada likely owes its slightly higher programmatic penetration to Meta鈥檚 outsize influence. Like other social networks, Meta serves the vast majority of its ads programmatically. Meta will account for 30.2% of digital ad spending in Canada this year.

OTT video is popular whether it鈥檚 free or paid. Every global region and country we track is engaged with these platforms, some very deeply. But new viewers will be hard to find.

The first game, 鈥淭he Six,鈥� turns passive ad breaks into bite-sized trivia experiences, and is now available to advertisers in the US and Canada. GameBreaks appears in the first ad slot of commercial breaks and allows for brand customization, from theming to question content.

Media habits in Canada have changed, favoring digital across all formats. The GMI report for Canada is a single source for quantifying the pace of change in time spent with media, media adoption, and device ownership.

Note that GWI interviews and represents each country's online population ages 16+ (in Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Israel, Singapore, the UK, and the US) or ages 16-64 (in other markets)鈥攏ot its total population.