{"id":3511,"date":"2026-07-15T10:50:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T10:50:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/?p=3511"},"modified":"2026-07-15T11:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T11:21:08","slug":"social-media-statistics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Media Statistics in Canada (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social media is part of everyday life for most Canadians. More than 33 million people use at least one social platform, spending nearly two hours a day on social media for entertainment, news, shopping, and staying connected.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the way Canadians use social media is changing. TikTok is growing faster than any other major platform, AI is sending more people to Reddit, and brands are spending billions of dollars every year to reach consumers online.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This report brings together the latest Canadian social media statistics for 2026. Whether you&#8217;re a marketer, business owner, researcher, or just looking for reliable data, these statistics provide a clear picture of Canada&#8217;s social media landscape today.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Top Picks From The Report<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canada has 33 million active social media users as of 2026, equal to 82.1% of the population.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canada&#8217;s social media users are split almost evenly by gender, 50.3% female and 49.7% male.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TikTok is the fastest-growing major platform in Canada, up 36.4% year over year.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reddit&#8217;s reported reach in Canada jumped 177% year over year, though the source itself flags this specific number as unusually large.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Desktop devices still lead mobile for general web traffic in Canada, a rare pattern compared to most other countries.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Number of Social Media Users in Canada as of 2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3515\" src=\"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/number-of-social-media-users-in-canada.jpg\" alt=\"number of social media users in canada\" width=\"1240\" height=\"642\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/number-of-social-media-users-in-canada.jpg 1240w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/number-of-social-media-users-in-canada-300x155.jpg 300w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/number-of-social-media-users-in-canada-1024x530.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/number-of-social-media-users-in-canada-768x398.jpg 768w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/number-of-social-media-users-in-canada-512x265.jpg 512w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/number-of-social-media-users-in-canada-920x476.jpg 920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1240px) 100vw, 1240px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canada has 33 million active social media users in 2026, equal to 82.1% of the country&#8217;s total population of 40.2 million. Among adults aged 18 and over, that figure rises to 29.4 million users, or 89.4% of the adult population. Looking at it from the internet side, 86.3% of everyone online in Canada uses at least one social platform.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The number of social media users in Canada grew by 1.3 million (+4.1%) between late 2024 and late 2025. That is a healthy pace for a market this mature, and it puts Canada&#8217;s growth rate ahead of many developed economies.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Canada Gained 1.3 Million New Social Media Users in a Year<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canada added 1.3 million social media users between 2025 and 2026. That is a rise of 4.1% in one year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That is a fast pace for a market this full. More than 8 in 10 Canadians are already on social media, so most of the new growth comes from people getting online for the first time and young users turning 13.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Most-Used Social Media Platforms in Canada<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3514\" src=\"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/most-used-social-media-platforms-in-canada.png\" alt=\"most used social media platforms in canada\" width=\"901\" height=\"745\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/most-used-social-media-platforms-in-canada.png 901w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/most-used-social-media-platforms-in-canada-300x248.png 300w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/most-used-social-media-platforms-in-canada-768x635.png 768w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/most-used-social-media-platforms-in-canada-512x423.png 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 901px) 100vw, 901px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The table below shows ad-reach data, the most reliable publicly available proxy for active platform users. Figures are from late 2025, the most recent available at the time of writing.<\/span><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Platform<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Users In Canada<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reddit<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">43.1 million<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">YouTube<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">33.0 million<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">29.0 million<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facebook<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">24.6 million<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instagram<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">21.0 million<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TikTok<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">16.6 million<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Snapchat<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">13.8 million<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pinterest<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">11.1 million<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">X (Twitter)<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">9.74 million<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Threads<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2.30 million<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Messenger<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">734 thousand<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Source: DataReportal Digital 2026 Canada, citing Meta, Google, TikTok, LinkedIn, Snap, X, and Reddit.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Platform Stories Worth Watching in 2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TikTok grew 36.4% year over year, the fastest growth rate among Canada&#8217;s established platforms. That works out to 4.44 million new users in a single year, more than any other platform added in raw numbers apart from Reddit.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reddit&#8217;s reported reach jumped 177% year over year, a scale of change that even DataReportal calls out as unusual. Some of this likely reflects the same pattern seen elsewhere: AI search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews increasingly cite Reddit threads, which sends new discovery traffic and ad-tool signals toward the platform. Treat the raw percentage with some caution, but the underlying direction, more people finding Reddit through AI-powered search, is real.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">X declined 2.8% year over year, a smaller drop than in some other markets but still a continuation of the platform&#8217;s multi-year softening.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Messenger grew 23.6% year over year off a small base, likely tied to Meta&#8217;s broader push to keep messaging traffic inside its own apps.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Time Spent on Social Media in Canada<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3518\" src=\"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/time-spent-on-social-media.jpg\" alt=\"time spent on social media\" width=\"1240\" height=\"642\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/time-spent-on-social-media.jpg 1240w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/time-spent-on-social-media-300x155.jpg 300w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/time-spent-on-social-media-1024x530.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/time-spent-on-social-media-768x398.jpg 768w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/time-spent-on-social-media-512x265.jpg 512w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/time-spent-on-social-media-920x476.jpg 920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1240px) 100vw, 1240px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canadians spend close to 1 hour 53 minutes a day on social media. That sits below the global average of around 2 hours 21 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Total time online runs much higher. Canadians spend more than 6 hours a day using the internet across all devices, with mobile phones accounting for close to 3 hours of that and laptops and desktops making up most of the rest. Social media is one part of a much bigger daily internet habit rather than the main event.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By individual platform, YouTube leads Canada for time spent per active user, ahead of every other major platform. Long-form video and evergreen content still hold their ground even as short-form formats grow fastest in new users.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Canadians Spend Over 6 Hours a Day Online, But Under 2 on Social<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The average Canadian spends more than 6 hours a day on the internet across all devices. Only about 1 hour 53 minutes of that goes to social media.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mobile phones take up close to 3 hours a day. Laptops and desktops make up most of the rest. So social is one slice of the day, not the whole thing. The global social average is higher, at about 2 hours 21 minutes a day.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Canada Social Media Demographics<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Gender split of Canada&#8217;s social media users<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canada&#8217;s social media population is close to an even gender split, in line with the country&#8217;s overall population, which is 50.3% female and 49.7% male.<\/span><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Gender<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Share of Social Media Users<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Female<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">50.3%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Male<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">49.7%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3513\" src=\"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gender-split-of-canadas-social-media-users.png\" alt=\"gender split of canadas social media users\" width=\"901\" height=\"646\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gender-split-of-canadas-social-media-users.png 901w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gender-split-of-canadas-social-media-users-300x215.png 300w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gender-split-of-canadas-social-media-users-768x551.png 768w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gender-split-of-canadas-social-media-users-512x367.png 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 901px) 100vw, 901px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Platform-level gender data shows most platforms stay close to that even split, with a few clear exceptions. Pinterest and Instagram lean female, while X and TikTok lean more male.<\/span><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Platform<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Female<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Male<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pinterest<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">71.2%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">20.4%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instagram<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">53.5%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">44.5%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Snapchat<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">53.0%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">46.5%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Messenger<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">50.8%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">48.3%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facebook<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">50.6%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">46.7%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">YouTube<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">50.3%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">49.7%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">48.0%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">52.0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Threads<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">47.4%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">52.2%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TikTok<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">46.0%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">54.0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">X<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">30.0%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">69.8%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Note: Pinterest also reports 8.5% of its audience as unspecified gender, so its two columns do not add up to 100%. Meta&#8217;s platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads) only report female and male audience data, so those figures may not sum to exactly 100% either.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Age distribution of Canada&#8217;s social media users<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3512\" src=\"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/age-distribution-of-canadas-social-media-users.png\" alt=\"age distribution of canadas social media users\" width=\"901\" height=\"745\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/age-distribution-of-canadas-social-media-users.png 901w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/age-distribution-of-canadas-social-media-users-300x248.png 300w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/age-distribution-of-canadas-social-media-users-768x635.png 768w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/age-distribution-of-canadas-social-media-users-512x423.png 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 901px) 100vw, 901px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 25 to 34 age band is the largest group on Canada&#8217;s biggest platform, Facebook, and that pattern holds across most other platforms too.<\/span><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Age Group<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Share of Canadian Social Media Users<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">18 to 24<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">14.0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">25 to 34<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">26.5%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">35 to 44<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">19.8%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">45 to 54<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">14.5%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">55 to 64<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">11.6%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">65 and older<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">13.7%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Source: NapoleonCat, used as a proxy for general social media user demographics in Canada.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canada&#8217;s population skews a little older than many countries, with a median age of 40.6, which helps explain why the 55-plus age bands carry more weight here than they do in younger markets. Facebook, in particular, holds on to a meaningfully older audience than TikTok or Instagram.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>How Canadians Access Social Media<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canada is not a mobile-only market the way many countries are. Desktop and mobile are much closer to even here, and desktop still edges ahead for general web traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Desktop devices account for 52.08% of Canadian web traffic, ahead of mobile at 44.72% and tablets at 3.21%, as of March 2026.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canada has 42.4 million mobile connections, equal to 106% of the population.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">99.7% of those mobile connections run on 3G, 4G, or 5G networks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Median mobile internet speed is 86.23 Mbps, up 15.2% year over year.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Median fixed broadband speed is 235.44 Mbps, up 25.1% year over year, more than double the mobile figure.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">95.1% of the population uses the internet in some form.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For brands, this means creative built only for phones will miss a meaningful slice of the Canadian audience. A lot of browsing still happens on laptops and desktops, whether at home or at work, and fixed broadband speeds are fast enough that landing pages and video should be built for a good desktop experience too, not just a vertical mobile one.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Average Canadian Uses 2.7 Platforms a Week, But Gen Z Uses 4<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canadians used an average of 2.7 social platforms each week in 2025, up from 2.6 in 2024. The gap between age groups is wide.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gen Z sits at 4.0 platforms a week and Millennials at 3.4. Gen X drops to 2.4 and Boomers to 1.9. So a younger audience is spread across more apps, and reaching them usually takes more than one.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Social Media Is Canadians&#8217; Least-Trusted Source of News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of all the ways Canadians get news, social media is trusted the least. This comes from the 2025 Digital News Report, the Canadian slice of a 48-market study.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The gap matters because more people, especially those under 35, now get news from their feeds. High reach paired with low trust means a brand or publisher cannot rely on a social post alone to be believed.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Canada Social Media Ad Spend &amp; Social Commerce<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social media advertising in Canada keeps growing faster than the value of the goods actually being sold online.<\/span><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Metric<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Figure<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social media ad spend in Canada (2026)<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CAD $4.76 billion<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">YoY change in social media ad spend<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">+13.9%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Influencer marketing spend in Canada (2026)<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CAD $660 million<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">YoY change in influencer marketing spend<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">+13.8%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Online grocery orders in Canada (2026)<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">12.3 million<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">YoY change in online grocery orders<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">+7.9%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canada e-commerce market size (current)<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">USD$ 89 billion<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canada e-commerce market size (2029 projection)<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">about USD $104 billion<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Source: We Are Social and Meltwater Digital 2026 Canada report, Statista, U.S. International Trade Administration.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ad spend growing at close to 14% a year against an e-commerce market growing at roughly 3% a year tells you where the real competition is happening. Brands are not chasing a fast-growing pie of new online shoppers so much as they are fighting harder for attention within a market that is already mature. Free delivery remains the single biggest driver of online purchases in Canada, ahead of price or selection.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Social Ad Spend Is Growing Four Times Faster Than Online Shopping<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3516\" src=\"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/social-ad-spend-is-growing.jpg\" alt=\"social ad spend is growing\" width=\"1240\" height=\"642\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/social-ad-spend-is-growing.jpg 1240w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/social-ad-spend-is-growing-300x155.jpg 300w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/social-ad-spend-is-growing-1024x530.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/social-ad-spend-is-growing-768x398.jpg 768w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/social-ad-spend-is-growing-512x265.jpg 512w, https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/social-ad-spend-is-growing-920x476.jpg 920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1240px) 100vw, 1240px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social media ad spend in Canada stands at CAD 4.76 billion in 2026, up 13.9% in a year. The e-commerce market it feeds is growing at only about 3% a year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So money is going into ads far faster than the number of online shoppers is rising. Brands are fighting harder for attention inside a market that is already full, rather than chasing a fast-growing pool of new buyers. Free delivery is still the top reason Canadians buy online, ahead of price or choice.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>About 40% of Canadians Have Bought Straight From a Social Platform<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Roughly 4 in 10 Canadians have made at least one purchase directly through a social site. Of those buyers, 68% are under 35.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So social selling is mostly a young-buyer habit for now. Estimates of the exact share vary by survey, from around 40% up to the high 40s, but they all point the same way: in-app buying has gone mainstream.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Top Canada Social Media Trends in 2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>1. TikTok Is Having Its Breakout Year<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A 36.4% year-over-year jump in ad reach, on top of already being one of the largest platforms in the country, means TikTok has moved from a nice-to-have to a core platform for reaching Canadian audiences under 35. Brands still treating it as a secondary channel are giving up real reach.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>2. AI Search Is Reshaping Reddit&#8217;s Role<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reddit&#8217;s reported growth is unusually large and should be read with caution as a raw number, but the direction is consistent with what is happening elsewhere. AI tools like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews lean heavily on Reddit threads as source material, which pushes more people toward the platform through search rather than through the app directly. Reddit is becoming a search-adjacent channel as much as a social one.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>3. Meta&#8217;s News Blackout Is Still in Effect<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facebook and Instagram have blocked Canadian and international news content for all users in Canada since 2023, in response to the Online News Act (Bill C-18). As of the CRTC&#8217;s own confirmation in December 2025, there are no regulatory actions planned against Meta over this, and the news blackout remains permanent. Brands and publishers that lean on Facebook and Instagram for news distribution in Canada need a different plan, since links to news outlets simply do not show up on those platforms for Canadian users.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>4. Bilingual English and French Content Isn&#8217;t Optional<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About 22% of Canadians speak French at home, concentrated in Quebec, parts of New Brunswick, and pockets of Ontario. Quebec&#8217;s Bill 96 requires French to be at least as prominent as English in advertising and on digital properties, including social media, for any business selling into the province, with rules tightened further as of June 2025. Separately, 81% of French-speaking Canadians on TikTok say they are more loyal to brands that advertise to them in French. Treating French as an afterthought translation is a real business risk in this market, not just a nice gesture.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>5. AI Chatbots Have Joined the Everyday Toolkit<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ChatGPT jumped from the 12th to the 6th most-visited website in Canada, with 26.8% of internet users aged 16 and older using it monthly. AI has moved from a novelty to a daily tool Canadians reach for alongside their usual social platforms, which has knock-on effects for how content gets discovered in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Canada Social Media Statistics: FAQs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>How many people use social media in Canada in 2026?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canada has 33.0 million active social media users in 2026, equal to 82.1% of the population. Among adults aged 18 and over, adoption reaches 89.4%.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Which is the most-used social media platform in Canada?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By reliable ad-reach measures, YouTube leads with 33.0 million users, followed by LinkedIn (29.0 million members), Facebook (24.6 million), Instagram (21.0 million), and TikTok (16.6 million adults). Reddit reports a higher raw number, but DataReportal flags that specific figure as unusually large and not fully reliable as a user count.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How much time do Canadians spend on social media daily?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canadians spend close to 1 hour 53 minutes a day on social media, based on the latest GWI estimates, below the global average of around 2 hours 21 minutes. YouTube leads on time spent per user among individual platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the gender split on Canada social media?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canada&#8217;s social media users are 50.3% female and 49.7% male, closely matching the country&#8217;s overall population split. Most individual platforms stay close to this even split, with Pinterest leaning strongly female and X leaning strongly male.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Which age group uses social media most in Canada?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 25 to 34 age band is the largest group on Facebook at 26.5% of users, followed by 35 to 44 at 19.8%. Canada&#8217;s older median age, 40.6, means older age bands carry more weight here than in younger markets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How fast is the internet in Canada?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canada&#8217;s median fixed broadband speed is 235.44 Mbps, more than double the median mobile speed of 86.23 Mbps. Unlike many countries, Canada still sends more general web traffic through desktop devices (52.08%) than mobile (44.72%).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How much is spent on social media advertising in Canada?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social media ad spend in Canada reached CAD 4.76 billion in 2026, up 13.9% year over year. Influencer marketing spend added another CAD 660 million, up 13.8% year over year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Why did Reddit&#8217;s numbers jump so much in Canada this year?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reddit&#8217;s reported ad reach grew 177% year over year, a jump that DataReportal itself flags as unusually large and advises reading with caution. Part of the underlying story is real: AI search tools increasingly surface Reddit threads in their answers, which drives new traffic and interest toward the platform.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Can Canadians see news content on Facebook and Instagram?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No. Meta has blocked news content on both platforms for all users in Canada since 2023, in response to the Online News Act (Bill C-18), and this remains in effect with no regulatory changes expected as of December 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Social media is part of everyday life for most Canadians. More than 33 million people use at least&hellip;","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-statistics","cs-entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>GrabOn Social Media Statistics in Canada 2026: Latest Data<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore the latest social media statistics in Canada for 2026, including user growth, platform market share, demographics, and trends.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GrabOn Social Media Statistics in Canada 2026: Latest Data\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore the latest social media statistics in Canada for 2026, including user growth, platform market share, demographics, and trends.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GrabOn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-15T10:50:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-15T11:21:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/social-media-statistics-canada.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"532\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rohit Shewale\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rohit Shewale\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"13 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"GrabOn Social Media Statistics in Canada 2026: Latest Data","description":"Explore the latest social media statistics in Canada for 2026, including user growth, platform market share, demographics, and trends.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"GrabOn Social Media Statistics in Canada 2026: Latest Data","og_description":"Explore the latest social media statistics in Canada for 2026, including user growth, platform market share, demographics, and trends.","og_url":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/","og_site_name":"GrabOn","article_published_time":"2026-07-15T10:50:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-15T11:21:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":532,"url":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/social-media-statistics-canada.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rohit Shewale","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rohit Shewale","Est. reading time":"13 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/"},"author":{"name":"Rohit Shewale","@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e48ddff048479f39e0e00cd527173ef7"},"headline":"Social Media Statistics in Canada (2026)","datePublished":"2026-07-15T10:50:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-15T11:21:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/"},"wordCount":2456,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/social-media-statistics-canada.jpg","articleSection":["Statistics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/","url":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/","name":"GrabOn Social Media Statistics in Canada 2026: Latest Data","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/social-media-statistics-canada.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-15T10:50:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-15T11:21:08+00:00","description":"Explore the latest social media statistics in Canada for 2026, including user growth, platform market share, demographics, and trends.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/social-media-statistics-canada.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/social-media-statistics-canada.jpg","width":800,"height":532,"caption":"social media statistics canada"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/social-media-statistics\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Social Media Statistics in Canada (2026)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/","name":"GrabOn","description":"CA","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/#organization","name":"GrabOn","url":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/blog-CA-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/blog-CA-logo.png","width":200,"height":91,"caption":"GrabOn"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e48ddff048479f39e0e00cd527173ef7","name":"Rohit Shewale","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/de98d9571d34c65a967235292f979b3383a7b95c42ec2f25be8232211180b309?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/de98d9571d34c65a967235292f979b3383a7b95c42ec2f25be8232211180b309?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/de98d9571d34c65a967235292f979b3383a7b95c42ec2f25be8232211180b309?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rohit Shewale"},"description":"I go the core of any topic and combine the best so that users don't have to look elsewhere once they are on my blog.","url":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/author\/rohit\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3511"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3520,"href":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3511\/revisions\/3520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grabon.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}