Arlene Dickinson and many other prominent Canadians are calling on Canadians to buy Canadian consumer goods—because supporting homegrown businesses is critical to our economy and sovereignty. (See her post here: Arlene Dickinson’s LinkedIn post).
The same principle applies to Canadian media. The U.S. is imposing tariffs, renaming maps, and reshaping global narratives. The U.S. government even renamed the Gulf of Mexico—so when you pick your geo, will it be the 51st state or Canada? If platforms can be manipulated this easily, what else can they be influenced to do? What happens when Canadian content, businesses, and consumers are deprioritized?
I recently heard a marketer say, “Just give money to Meta, set your objectives, upload your creative and they’ll take care of it with AI.” But take care of it for whom? Canadian brands? Or U.S. shareholders?
Sarah Thompson’s recent article, Is it time to hit CTRL+ALT+DEL on programmatic advertising?, raises a serious question: Are advertisers wasting billions chasing inflated, manipulated digital engagement metrics while funding fraudulent content? The data suggest yes.
Meanwhile, Kevin Goodwin’s post highlights another issue: platforms are generating performance from existing customers—not truly driving incremental new business. I shared my thoughts on this here. Advertisers think they’re getting results, but in reality, they’re paying for what they would have gotten organically.
Here’s a radical idea: What if Canadian advertisers moved 40% of U.S. digital spend back into Canadian media?
- Canada Post direct mail—the only channel that reaches 100% of Canadian households daily and employs 55,000 Canadians.
- Canadian publishers like CBC, The Globe and Mail, La Presse, and Postmedia that deliver trusted journalism.
- CTV, Global, and local radio that provide real brand impact and community engagement.
We need to invest in our content, our news, and our media integrity. If we don’t, Canadian media will continue to be overwhelmed by U.S. content, and our ability to reach consumers on our terms will erode.
The question is: Will Canada’s advertisers step up?