Canada and the Americas in the 2025 advertising figures

Updated November 2026

WARC estimated Canadian advertising at US$17.9 billion in 2025, up 2.3%, with 4.6% growth expected in 2026 when the World Cup comes to the country. Magna's earlier estimate was higher at 5%, which shows why every figure here carries its source and date.

Canada in the WARC update

The December 2025 forecast from WARC, reported by Manifest Media, gives Canada +2.3% in 2025, for US$17.9 billion. It expects +4.6% in 2026 and +6.4% in 2027. Next door, the same report shows Mexico at -8.8% in 2025 and $7.5 billion, then +6.6% and +7.2%, and the United States at +8.9% and $421.1 billion, 35.3% of the world total. The report says Canada and Mexico should benefit from hosting World Cup matches in 2026.

The same report gives Brazil +10.7% for 2026 and links the United States figure for that year, +7%, to the men's World Cup and the midterm elections. We keep to the three North American neighbours here, since they share a calendar, a border and, for 2026, a tournament.

A second Canadian figure, and why it differs

In June 2025, Magna listed Canada at +5% for 2025, with Australia and France, below Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom at 6% and above Germany at 3%. The gap between 5% and 2.3% is large, yet neither is an error. Magna measured media-owner revenue and WARC measured advertising spend, at different dates, and the economy moved between June and December. Both numbers appear here, each next to its author.

The Americas view from dentsu

dentsu's June 2025 forecast put the Americas at +4.2% and $429.6 billion, a 43.3% share of world advertising, with Brazil the most dynamic market at +7.1%. For comparison it gave EMEA +4.5% and global growth of 4.9% to $992 billion. A Canadian organiser reading these lines should note that North America is mostly a mature market, where growth comes from taking share and not from new audiences.

A calendar of events, and what it does to the numbers

Magna's June 2025 outlook, reported by TheWrap, explains that 2025 had no US elections and no Olympics, and that traditional media owners would have been flat without that effect. For 2026 it forecast global growth of 6.3%, above $1 trillion for the first time, and named the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, and the US midterms as drivers. Event years move budgets, which is why Canadian teams, festivals and trade shows can expect crowded calendars and noisy attention in 2026.

Where the global money sits

Magna's June update, as relayed by TheWrap, shows the shape of the world market that Canadian advertisers sit inside. Digital players totalled $715 billion, up 8%. Within that, search and retail media made $357 billion, social media $242 billion with 11% growth, and short-form video $80 billion with 7%. Traditional media owners totalled $264 billion, down 3%, with television at -5%, radio at -1%, publishing at -6% and out-of-home with cinema at +5%.

The United States alone was 41% of global spend in that report, at $398 billion, and the top five markets together 73%. Canada is therefore a smaller market than its neighbour by a wide margin, which is one more reason to keep national figures apart from global ones.

Limits and method

The Canadian numbers here come from two forecasts, not from a census of Canadian advertisers. They do not break out French-language and English-language media, seasons, or the size of the advertiser. They do not measure what any outdoor or live activity produced. We did not open Canadian industry surveys in full, so we make no claim about Canadian digital revenue. We prefer to leave a gap than to fill it with a figure that we could not read ourselves.

We also have not opened the Canadian digital revenue survey in full, only a search listing. A search listing is not a source. When that survey is read in full, it would be the right basis for any statement about search, social or programmatic in Canada.

What this changes for a team, an event or a company in Canada

A summer festival, a winter carnival and a hockey club all live by the calendar. When a World Cup year raises background noise, an organiser may want something that is visibly present on site. A custom mascot can be made in your team or company colours, with your logo and wording in English, French or both.

The sources do not show that a mascot increases attendance or sales, and we make no such promise. They support a smaller statement: growth in the Americas is concentrated in digital channels, so a seasonal, in-person character is a different kind of tool, to be judged on its own terms.

For a Canadian reader, Magna's report and WARC's agree on one thing: 2026 is an event year. Magna lists the Winter Olympics, the World Cup and the midterm elections, WARC the World Cup and the midterms. Neither says what share of Canadian spending goes to live or local events, and neither separates winter festivals, summer fairs or trade shows from the rest. A seasonal organiser has to treat the calendar as context and keep local ticket, attendance and sponsor data as the real measure.

Sources

• WARC via Manifest Media, December 2025
• Magna via The Media Leader, June 2025
• dentsu, June 2025 forecasts
• Magna via TheWrap, June 2025

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