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Canadian ad spend has fallen by more than 50% during the pandemic: SMI report


Author: Chris Powell

After bottoming out during the worst of the pandemic in April, ad spending bounced back slightly in May, according to a new overview of the Canadian market from ad intelligence firm Standard Media Index (SMI).

Total ad spending in April was down 52.5% from the corresponding year-earlier period, reversing modest gains of 3% in January and 2.23% in February. May ad spending was still down 50.47% compared to May 2019 (see chart below).

Year to date spending is 26.6% lower than it was during the same time period last year, while spending in the March to May period was 40.1% lower than it was in 2019.


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