Executive Summary

Consumer time spent with mobile devices now accounts for almost 3 hours daily in Canada. By 2020, consumers’ time spent with mobile will exceed that of TV. For advertisers, the emergence of mobile devices as dominant media consumption tools is leading to mobile-first marketing and, in some cases, mobile-only media buying. In 2018, more than one-third of all advertising dollars in Canada will be spent in mobile channels.

What is the forecast for mobile ad spending in Canada?

Mobile now accounts for more than one-third of all ad spending in Canada (33.9% in 2018), surpassing the CA$5 billion mark. That’s up 37.5% over 2017, according to our latest forecasts. By 2020, mobile ad spending will be C$7.11 billion. Mobile social and search lead the way in attracting mobile ad dollars, but new channels including messaging and gaming have begun to deliver results for advertisers.

How much time do consumers in Canada spend on mobile?

We find consumers in Canada spend 2 hours, 54 minutes on smartphones, feature phones and tablets daily, not including voice activities. On mobile, most consumers discover breaking news or other events in daily life. Like in other countries, mobile media time in Canada is dominated by apps, making up an 85% share of mobile time in the country, according to comScore.

How much mobile time do consumers in Canada spend on apps and social networks?

In Canada, 85% of online mobile time is spent in apps vs. the mobile web, a rate similar to the US (88%) and the UK (83%). Many countries even report app time shares in excess of 90%. Most of this time is occupied by apps under the corporate umbrellas of Facebook and Google.

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? This report covers our forecast for consumer time spent with mobile and mobile advertising in Canada. It also highlights the prominence of certain app categories.