This is the fourth part of my multi-series comprehensive guides on social media. This time, we’re dealing with Canada.

Let’s see what Justin Trudeau has been doing in the country and how its citizens have been using social media since January 2023.

First, some general statistics for Canada’s social media usage in January 2023:

• There were 33.10 million social media users in the country
• 85.7% of the population has been using social media
• 90.8% of the 18+ population in the country has been using social media
• 91.4% of all internet users in the country are using social media
• On average, Canadians spend around 2 hours on social media per day
• Canadians use around 6.3 social media platforms every month, on average
• 51.2% of all social media users in the country are female and 48.8% are male
• There were more than 28.5 million social media users above the age of 18 in the country
• Around 91.4% of Canada’s total internet users used at least one social media platform in the country in January 2023
• The main reason for using social media in Canada was to keep in touch with friends and family
• Facebook was the most used social media platform in the country, followed by Messenger and Instagram
• Facebook was rated as the “most favorite” social media platform in the country
• On average, Canadian users spent around 26 hours on TikTok every month

Alright, that’s enough for the generic information. Below, I’ll be going over every bit of information I can find about Canada’s social media usage. Here’s what we’ll be talking about:

Without wasting more time, let’s start!

Section I: Main Reasons for Using Social Media

Why do you think Canadians use social media? I’ve already given you the number one reason – keeping in touch with friends and family. But what percentage of social media users identify with this reason?

And what about other reasons?

See below:

• Keeping in touch with their friends and family – 54.1% of all social media users aged 16-64
• Filing spare time – 39.4% of all social media users aged 16-64
• Reading news stories – 30.4% of all social media users aged 16-64
• Finding content – 26% of all social media users aged 16-64
• Seeing what people are talking about – 25% of all social media users aged 16-64
• Getting inspired on things to do and buy – 23.7% of all social media users aged 16-64
• Posting about day-to-day events and life in general – 20.1% of all social media users aged 16-64
• Finding like-minded people and communities – 19.3% of all social media users aged 16-64
• Finding new products to buy – 18.3% of all social media users aged 16-64
• FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) – 18% of all social media users aged 16-64
• Sharing and discussing ideas – 17.5% of all social media users aged 16-64
• Seeing products and content from various brands – 16.5% of all social media users aged 16-64
• Watching live streams – 15.9% of all social media users aged 16-64
• Watching and/or following sports events – 15.2% of all social media users aged 16-64
• Work-related reasons – 15% of all social media users aged 16-64

It seems that most social media users in Canada use these platforms to stay in touch with their friends and family. And 39.4% are doing it out of boredom.

These results are not unexpected, though. Most users in most countries share this common reason of staying in touch with their family members and friends.

As for the rest of the list, it’s pretty much what you’d expect from a first-world country: finding new content, discussing new ideas, finding new things to buy, and so on.

FOMO is pretty high on this list, too (18%). It seems Canadians aren’t very stable or grounded with some of the decisions they make online.

Moving on to the following section!

Section II: Most Used Social Media Platforms

Canadian social media users aren’t any different from users in other countries. Facebook is the Holy Grail, followed by every other Meta app in existence.

But take a look at the chart below for the entire list:

Social Media Platform	% of Internet Users Aged 16-64 Who Use the Platform	Estimated Number of Users
Facebook	73.4%	20.65 million
Facebook Messenger	60.9%	Unclear
Instagram	57%	15.9 million
TikTok	41.1%	10.75 million
Twitter	39.5%	10.40 million
WhatsApp	38.3%	~12.67 million
IMessage	36.6%	Unclear
Pinterest	33.5%	8.44 million
LinkedIn	32.3%	21 million
Snapchat	29.9%	11 million
Reddit	28%	~5.27 million
Skype	16.6%	2.8 million
Discord	16%	~5.28 million
Telegram	11.3%	Unclear
Tumblr	7.2%	Unclear

Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram are the top three most used social media platforms in Canada. But remember, these stats don’t show an isolated use of a single social media platform.

For instance, based on the chart above, 73.4% of all internet users in Canada use Facebook but this doesn’t mean they’re not using other social media platforms at all.

Tumblr is the least-used social media platform in the entire country. Only 7.2% of all users frequent this platform. Not surprising since Tumblr is an extremely niche platform.

As a matter of fact, I find myself knowing close to nothing about Tumblr. I’ve never once visited it and I never hear about it among fellow socialites. I should be doing an article on it these days and see why it’s so unknown…

Anyway, let’s keep moving with the guide 😀

Section III: Advertising Audience for Canada’s Top Social Media Platforms

The advertising audience of a social media platform is the total number of users who can see ads on the platform. This number is the same as the monthly active user number and is the most utilized metric in assessing a platform’s popularity.

Let’s see the advertising audience for Canada’s top social media platforms:

Social Media Platform	Potential Ad Reach (Advertising Audience)	Ad Reach vs. Total Population	Ad Reach vs. Total Internet Users
YouTube	33.10 million	85.7%	91.4%
LinkedIn	21 million	54.4%	58%
Facebook	20.65 million	53.5%	57%
Instagram	15.90 million	41.2%	43.9%
Snapchat	11 million	28.5%	30.4%
TikTok	10.75 million	27.8%	29.7%
Twitter	10.40 million	26.9%	28.7%
Pinterest	8.44 million	21.9%	23.3%

YouTube has the largest potential ad reach, at 33.10 million users. That comes around to 85.7% of Canada’s entire population and 91.4% of its internet-using population.

LinkedIn comes in second place with 21 million users and 54.4% ad reach vs. the total population. It’s quite far from YouTube’s achievements, and the rest of the list just goes down.

Facebook and Instagram are 3rd and 4th on the list, which is surprising. You’d have expected them to be 2nd and 3rd but nope.

LinkedIn has the larger advertising audience, though how long that’s going to stay this way is unclear. I can’t say whether Facebook will outpace LinkedIn or not, considering that Facebook is almost at saturation levels with its userbase.

LinkedIn, on the other hand, is not. Plus, the platform is dedicated to entrepreneurs, up-and-coming business owners, and investors, of which we’re seeing more lately.

I guess we’ll wait and see!

Section IV: Most Favorited Social Media Platforms

We’ve seen which are the most popular social media platforms in Canada but what about the most favorite ones? I’m talking about the people’s opinions about the platforms they love the most.

See the chart below for more details:

Social Media Platform	% of Social Media Users Aged 16-64 Who Prefer a Platform
Facebook	23.3%
Instagram	14.9%
TikTok	10.4%
Facebook Messenger	7.5%
WhatsApp	7.1%
Twitter	5%
IMessage	4.9%
Reddit	3.3%
Snapchat	3.3%
Pinterest	3.2%

To no one’s surprise, Facebook comes out on top, being favorited by 23.3% of all social media users (aged 16-64%) in Canada. The second on this list is Instagram, another of Meta’s Family of Apps.

However, even Instagram has almost twice as few people who favor it compared to Facebook. Then comes TikTok with 10.4% of social media users favoriting it.

Twitter isn’t too well-liked by Canadian social media users, despite the 10.4 million users in the country. It’s the type of app you use not because you’re in love with it but because it gets the job done.

And the rest of the list is pretty canon by now. Nothing unexpected, really. In the next section, I’ll show you how much time Canadian users spend on social media per month.

Section V: Time Spent on Social Media Apps per Month

I’ve already spoiled the top-used social media app in the introduction. It’s TikTok, but if you can’t remember the exact number, all the better.

Check out the chart below first:

Social Media Platform	Average Usage per User per Month	Year-on-Year Change	Estimated Usage Per Day
TikTok	25 hours and 54 minutes	+14.6% / +3 hours and 18 minutes	~ 51.8 minutes
YouTube	17 hours and 42 minutes	+3.5% / +36 minutes	~ 35.4 minutes
Facebook	15 hours and 42 minutes	+0.6% / +6 minutes	~ 31.4 minutes
Instagram	9 hours and 30 minutes	+1.1% / +6 minutes	~ 19 minutes per day
WhatsApp	7 hours and 36 minutes	-3.8% / -18 minutes	~ 15.2 minutes per day

Is there even a reason to be surprised about TikTok’s supremacy? Canadians use it an average of 26 hours per month, per user. That’s a mind-boggling amount. That comes around to 52 minutes per day, every day.

I’m fairly sure the average TikTok daily usage time will reach an hour very soon, for Canadians. It’s one of the most used apps in the entire world, after all. And its popularity is skyrocketing.

One more thing – WhatsApp is the only app on this list where the monthly usage has dropped. By 18 minutes, no less. Does it seem that people are moving on to other messaging apps, maybe? Or perhaps WhatsApp is losing its popularity, for some reason.

Here’s one more stat if you were curious – Meta’s Family of Apps (Instagram + Facebook + WhatsApp) have together 1,992 hours of usage per month. This comes down to 66.4 minutes per day, so a little over an hour.

So, on average, the Meta apps are still more used than TikTok but this isn’t at all flattering to Meta. Quite the opposite, in fact. TikTok is an absolute beast when it comes to engaging its Canadian users.

Enough about that. Let’s move to the next section!

Section VI: Canada’s Use of Social Media for Brand Research

When it comes to researching brands and products, how do Canadians do it? Do they use social media? And if so, which type?

Let’s see the following chart:

Type of Social Platform Used	% of Internet Users Aged 16-64 Who Use a Type of Platform	Year-on-Year Change
Any Social Media Platform	60.4%	+4%
Social Networks	30.8%	-3.1%
Question & Answer Sites	18.1%	-4.2%
Forums and Message Boards	14%	-2.1%
Messaging and Live Chat Services	9.9%	+7.6%
Vlogs	8.3%	+18.6%
Online Pinboards	8.2%	+18.6%
Micro-Blogs	7%	+12.3%

Based on this chart, it’s clear that micro-blogs like Twitter, online pinboards like Pinterest, and vlogs have become much more popular lately.

People are instead staying away from social networks, forums, and message boards when researching a brand and/or product. They prefer more formal information, which is quite understandable.

Messaging and live chat services are also growing in popularity for those researching various brands. Asking the selling company about their own product makes sense, I guess.

Question-and-answer sites like Quora are losing popularity rapidly, I see. The year-on-year change is -4.2%, which is the highest among all the types of platforms.

All in all, though, 60.4% of all Canadian internet users are using any type of social media platform to get information about brands.

This is good to know if you’re a marketer. It just goes to show that social media is an incredibly powerful marketing tool for a business.

Section VII: Types of Social Media Accounts Followed in Canada

What do you think are the most popular types of social media accounts that Canadian users follow? You might have an idea about the most popular – friends, family, and people you know.

But what about the rest? The table below will show you:

Type of Social Media Account Followed	% of Internet Users Aged 16-64 Who Follow a Type of Account
Friends, Family & People You Know	53.6%
Actors, Comedians & Other Performers	26.1%
Bands, Singers & Musicians	25.7%
TV Shows & Channels	24.1%
Entertainment, Memes & Parody Accounts	23.9%
Restaurants, Chefs & Foodies	22.4%
Brands You Purchase	21%
Influencers or Other Experts	20.5%
Sports People and Teams	18.7%
Brands You’re Purchasing	18.4%
Work Contacts	16%
Events You’re Attending	15.9%
News Companies & Journalists	15%
Wildlife Organizations	14.6%
Fitness Experts	14.3%

So, 53.6% of all Canadian internet users aged 16-64 are following accounts of family, friends and people they know. It makes sense since social media is mostly used to maintain contact with those close to you.

The rest of the list, though, might be surprising to you. From actors to comedians, singers, chefs, parody accounts, and sports teams, people are following a ton of random accounts.

Around 14.6% of Canadian users are also following wildlife organizations, so there’s that. Other than that, there’s really not much I can say other than Canadians because fairly regular in the types of accounts they follow.

Most of the populations I’ve assessed turned out to follow friends and family accounts the most on social media.

Let’s see the next section!

Section VIII: Average Web Traffic from Social Media in Canada

How much referral traffic do social media platforms produce? This is what I’ll show you in this section for 10 social media platforms.

Check it out below:

Social Media Platform	Share of Web Traffic Sent to Third-Party Websites Through Links	Year-on-Year Change
Facebook	53.01%	-0.9%
Twitter	14.13%	-6.9%
Instagram	11.41%	+56.7%
Pinterest	14.33%	-7.5%
YouTube	2.29%	-16.7%
Reddit	3.01%	-15.4%
Tumblr	0.91%	+9.6%
LinkedIn	0.60%	-31.8%
VKontakte	0.04%	-42.9%
Others	0.27%	-41.3%

What you should get from this chart is that Instagram has become the nerve center of web traffic to other websites over the years.

And VKontakte, the main Russian social media platform, has lost almost as much as Instagram has gained. Not surprising, given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This was 100% expected.

LinkedIn has also dropped significantly in its referral web traffic, and I haven’t the slightest idea why this happened.

Tumblr, on the other hand, has grown by 9.6%. It seems I should really do an article about Tumblr and see what it’s all about.

Even YouTube has lost around 16.7% of web traffic referrals over the years, which is saying a lot. After all, YouTube is more popular than Tumblr. Vastly so. And yet…

Next, I’ll show you the average social media usage for 2022 in terms of frequency!

Section IX: Social Media Usage Frequency in 2022

How often do Canadians use social media? A 2022 Statista study released in March 2023 shows clear data, and it’s quite interesting.

See the chart below:

Period of Usage	% of Respondents to the Study
Daily Usage	69%
Several Times a Week	16%
Once a Week	5%
Several Times a Month	3%
Once a Month	1%
Less Often	3%
Never	3%

There’s no surprise that 69% of all Canadian respondents (1,804 in total) said that they use social media daily. It’s to be expected, after all.

What is surprising is that 3% said that they never use social media. I’m wondering what the average age for these respondents is. They should be older individuals, I’m guessing since younger people are the least likely to say that. Source – me.

The largest portion of people (85%) use social media daily or several times a week, at least. There are very few people who use social media less often, which is understandable.

Next, what about the overall opinion of Canadians about social media platforms in 2021? The next section will show the positive/negative opinion of internet users about Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp!

Section X: Positive/Negative Opinions of Canadian Internet Users About Meta Apps in 2021

The Meta Family of Apps consists of Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Out of all four, which do you think is most liked and which is most disliked?

I believe the results will surprise me. Keep reading:

Platform	Positive Opinion	Negative Opinion
Facebook	49%	40%
Messenger	66%	15%
Instagram	46%	27%
WhatsApp	32%	20%

According to Statista’s table, Facebook gathered the largest negative opinion against it based on the responses from 1,545 respondents.

Messenger, out of all four apps, had the most positive outlook, with 66% of respondents saying they have a better impression of it.

Only 15% said they have a negative opinion about it, which is the smallest percentage among all the Meta apps. Even Instagram and WhatsApp received 27% and 20% negative opinions.

So, why is Facebook receiving so much negativity from its users? I’d warrant a few guesses, based on what I learned through my research:

• Privacy Concerns – Facebook’s name has been muddied several times in multiple privacy-related scandals. Think of Cambridge Analytica where the company collected around 30 million user profiles, with Facebook claiming that the number was actually around 87 million. Because of this and other scandals, users learned to distrust Facebook, which also led to the company rebranding itself as Meta

• Misinformation Scandals – Facebook has long been a breeding ground for misinformation publications, fake news, and conspiracy theories. The Covid-19 pandemic simply brought out the worst of it, and users saw the huge misinformation monster that was hiding beneath. Similarly, this led to a general distrust of the app

• Political Bias and Censorship – There have been multiple complaints about Facebook’s political bias and “systematic oppression” of certain political viewpoints, allegedly right-wing ones. But to my understanding, there’s no clear evidence to substantiate these claims. Still, when a company’s name is associated with censorship, it loses its users’ trust big time

• Data Collection and Ad Targeting – This is largely the same privacy concern problem outlined above. But it’s also more because of the commercial purposes of Facebook’s data collection. The data collected by those ads aren’t simply kept in a drawer, never to be used. It’s used for marketing purposes, and this doesn’t sit well with users

By comparison, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp haven’t been involved in any mass privacy-related scandals or misinformation events.

That’s most likely because those three apps are more “specialized” than Facebook, which is a jack-of-all-trades platform. Instagram is purely for watching softcore porn (kidding, or am I?), while WhatsApp and Messenger are messaging apps.

I’m willing to bet anything that this distrust in Facebook isn’t limited to Canada alone. US citizens have even more reasons to lowkey “hate” Facebook because the vast majority of Cambridge Analytica profiles were from the US.

And when it comes to political bias and disinformation, the US is always the battleground for most of these conflicts.

Now, the next section is a really interesting one – the overall effect of Facebook on Canadian users’ quality of life according to 1,545 respondents.

Section XI: Facebook Effects on the Quality of Life of Canadian Internet Users

This should be fun, given that this was a social study. It means that people gave their honest opinion about Facebook’s impact on their lives.

The number of respondents was relatively low (1,545) but still, this is the standard with these social media studies.

Let’s see the chart:

Type of Impact	% of Respondents
No impact	46%
A negative impact	29%
A positive impact	25%

Almost half of those interviewed said that Facebook had no impact on their quality of life, which is assuring to know.

However, the other half was split, and this is where it gets interesting. There were more people who said that Facebook had a negative impact on their lives than people who said it had a positive impact.

29% said the platform negatively impacted their quality of life. This could mean anything but here are my guesses:

• Mental health issues – There are several studies that show how excessive use of Facebook may lead to depression, feelings of loneliness, and anxiety. The social comparison may lead to lower self-esteem, which in turn leads to mental health issues

• Addiction – Facebook (and all social media) is addictive and it will make you lose excessive amounts of time on it. This might make you neglect personal relationships, professional responsibilities, hobbies, and so on

• Harassment and cyberbullying – Some people are emotionally unstable and their quality of life will decrease through harassment and cyberbullying on Facebook

• Political and social polarization – It’s pretty clear that Facebook acts as an echo chamber in many cases. Ideas and opinions must belong to one side or the other, and this creates social and political polarization. In turn, this leads to a feeling of anxiety and stress

These are the four biggest reasons I could think of that would negatively impact one’s quality of life on the platform.

As for those people who said that Facebook improved their quality of life, I’ll go on a limb and say that those people either:

• Started running a business through Facebook or are promoting their products on the platform

Or

• Are much more emotionally stable and are responsible enough not to get addicted to the platform, instead using it with moderation

As for those who said that Facebook had no impact on their lives, they’re most likely the more emotionally stable ones who aren’t running any business on the platform.

They’re just there to spend time with friends, have fun, read memes, and aren’t necessarily gaining anything from it. And that’s not bad at all if you ask me.

Section XII: Facebook Users in Canada by Age

This one is pretty simple – we’ll look at the average age of Facebook users in Canada and see the different age groups.

Check out the chart below:

Age Group	% Of People Using Facebook
13-17	3.4%
18-24	16.3%
25-34	24.2%
35-44	18.7%
45-54	14.2%
55-64	11.8%
65+	11.4%

Most of Canadian Facebook users are in the 25-44 age range, followed by the 18-4 and 45-54 age ranges.

It seems to me that Facebook is more of a middle-aged platform rather than one focused on teens. The 13-17 age group is the least represented, with only 3.4% of Facebook users falling in that group.

Even the 55-64 and 65+ age groups have more numerous members, almost four times as many, compared to the 13-17 age group.

I can understand why this is the case, though. Facebook isn’t the glittery platform that Instagram or TikTok is. It doesn’t have super dopamine-boosting elements like short videos and sensual pictures of fitness influencers.

Facebook is more of a classic social media platform where you keep in contact with your friends, send them memes, brag about your social achievements through posts, and keep it cool.

Next, another topic that’s really interesting to me!

Section XIII: Canadians’ View on Whether Social Media Companies Should Remove Hate Speech

This study was performed in July 2021 and there were over 1,519 respondents to it. It measures whether Canadians think social media companies should monitor and remove any content they consider to be hate speech.

First, I’ll show you the results and then I’ll interpret the findings:

Type of Opinion	Share of Respondents
Agree	69%
Disagree	19%
Don’t Know	12%

So, 69% of the 1,519 Canadians who responded to this study agreed that social media companies should monitor and remove hate speech content.

19% disagreed and thought that social media companies have no business doing this. And 12% didn’t know what to answer or, to put it plainly, they didn’t really care.

My view on the matter? I think that, while hate speech is a bad thing and should be criticized, it shouldn’t be outright removed by the platform. I think that social critique would have a much better impact on bringing to light the idiocy of hate speech.

When you automatically remove things that are “considered” hate speech, you take away the chance for good-reasoned people to engage against it.

When people do that publicly, they shame the person who said hateful things. And I believe public shame and social critique have a bigger impact (and are healthier) on addressing hate speech than automatic banning.

And by “considered“, I meant that many things currently considered hate speech are…not. And social media platforms are removing content that they identify as hate speech when, in fact, it’s really not.

But that’s a discussion for another time, and I’m digressing. Plus, don’t take my word for it. Let’s get back on track, shall we?

Section XIV: Canadian’s View on the Government Regulation of Meta Platforms

Do Canadian users think Meta should be regulated for being unfair competition? An interesting question but let’s see what Canadians had to say in 2021. Here’s the data we’ll be working with:

Opinion About Meta Regulation	Share of Canadian Responders
Yes, it should be regulated and broken up	27%
It should only be regulated by the government	23%
No, it shouldn’t be regulated	20%
It should only be broken up	8%
I don’t know	22%

Reminder – this study had 1,545 respondents, so the data isn’t reflective of what the entire Canadian population believes.

It seems that the majority of responders (27%) think that the Meta Platforms should be both regulated and broken up. By “broken up“, they refer to the fact that Meta is composed of multiple giant platforms – Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

This would lower its influence, decrease its financial stability, and create a fairer competition playground for everyone else. But that doesn’t sound quite right to me…

Meta’s Family of Apps is simply too good and too popular. People know them, love them, and use them to death.

Now, if Meta were to play unfairly and try to put the competition down intentionally, that would be another story.

Many people argue that the biggest sign of unfair competition was Facebook buying Instagram and WhatsApp when they became an existential threat.

Frankly, I don’t know whether it was illegal or not but technically, I don’t see what the problem is if Facebook bought those platforms. Good for them, they’re making more money now.

It’s not like Facebook forced the CEOs of WhatsApp and Instagram to sell…right?

Going back to the chart, around 23% believe that Meta should only be regulated but not broken down, while 22% don’t know (and don’t care). It’s a pretty open-ended question if you ask me.

But enough about this – we’re very close to the end of this guide. Just one more thing to tackle – the financial stuff.

Section XV: Social Media Ad Spending by Device in Canada 2017-2026

No comprehensive guide about social media would be complete without a financial section. It’s where we understand best how well social media is doing in a given country.

Below, I’ve prepared a chart that shows the average social media ad spending in Canada, by device, from 2017 to 2026:

Year	Desktop Ad Spending	Mobile Ad Spending	Difference Between Desktop & Mobile Ad Spending
2017	$340 million	$840 million	+147% more mobile spending
2018	$440 million	$1.17 billion	+165.9% more mobile spending
2019	$480 million	$1.4 billion	+191.66% more mobile spending
2020	$560 million	$1.72 billion	+207.14% more mobile spending
2021	$740 million	$2.4 billion	+224.32% more mobile spending
2022	$920 million	$3.08 billion	+234.78% more mobile spending
2023	$1.08 billion	$3.74 billion	+246.29% more mobile spending
2024	$1.23 billion	$4.36 billion	+254.47% more mobile spending
2025	$1.35 billion	$4.93 billion	+265.18% more mobile spending
2026	$1.45 billion	$5.45 billion	+275.86% more mobile spending

It’s pretty clear that:

• Ad spending has been increasing at an astounding rate over the years in Canada. This is due to the fact that social media marketing has become more prevalent, more people have begun using social media, and more businesses need good-quality marketing

• Mobile ad spending has skyrocketed compared to desktop ad spending. This is to be expected since mobile devices are much more popular (and used) than desktop devices.

• Throughout the years, the difference between mobile and desktop ad spending has only gotten bigger. In 2022, social media platforms spent 234.78% more money on mobile ads than on desktop ads

In 2022, the total ad spending in Canada (both desktop and mobile) was precisely $4 billion, across all social media companies. Imagine how much revenue they’re making if they can afford to spend this much.

This pretty much sums it up for this guide but before I let you go, let’s go over the…

Final Highlights

• The main reason for Canadians to use social media is to keep in touch with their friends and family (54.1% of the total social media users aged 16-64)

• Facebook is the most used social media platform in Canada (73.4% of the total internet users aged 16-64 use it)

• YouTube has the largest potential ad reach in Canada (33.10 million)

• Facebook has been voted as the most favorite social media platform by 23.3% of internet users aged 16-64

• TikTok is the most used social media platform on a per-month basis, averaging 25 hours and 54 minutes

• 60.4% of all internet users aged 16-64 use any social media platform for brand research

• 53.6% of all internet users aged 16-64 follow the social media accounts of their friends, family, and people they know, as opposed to other account types

• Facebook sends the most web traffic to third-party sites via links (53% of the total traffic)

• 69% of all social media users in Canada use social media daily

• Facebook garners the most negative opinions in Canada, with over 40% of the total 1,545 respondents to a study sharing these opinions

• 46% of the total 1,545 respondents to a study believe that Facebook has no effect on the quality of life

• Facebook’s largest audience in Canada is aged 25-34 (24.2% of the total userbase)

• 69% of 1,519 respondents to a study believe that social media companies should remove hate speech

• 27% of 1,545 respondents to a study believe that the government should regulate and break up Meta Platforms

• Mobile ad spending of social media companies has been consistently higher than desktop ad spending over the years, with the difference increasing every year

• Total ad spending of social media companies has consistently increased over the years, and the growth has kept accelerating

That’s everything I could find about the social media industry in Canada. I truly hope this article is useful to you and as always, stay tuned for more data (and interpretations) on social media!

Sources

1. Data Reportal – Digital 2023: Canada
2. Statista – Social Network Usage by Frequency in Canada in 2022
3. Statista – Opinions of Selected Social Media Platforms for Internet Users in Canada as of October 2021
4. Statista – Effects of Facebook on Quality of Life According to Internet Users in Canada as of October 2021
5. Statista – Share of Facebook Users in Canada as of December 2022, by Age Group
6. Statista – Share of Adults in Canada Who Agree that Social Media Providers Should Be Required to Monitor and Remove Content They Consider to be Hate Speech as of July 2021
7. Statista – Regulation of Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) According to Internet Users in Canada as of October 2021
8. Statista – Social Media Advertising Spending in Canada from 2017 to 2026, by Device