In 2018, parliament passed an amendment to the Canadian Elections Act that requires large online platforms, including media outlets, to publish a registry of the ads purchased by political parties for display on their sites over the course of an election. This applies to English-language sites that get at least three million monthly visits, French-language sites that get at least one million, and sites in other languages that get at least 100,000.
While the sites have to publish certain kinds of information about the ads that have been purchased, the legislation doesn’t require that the registries themselves take a standard form. Each platform therefore appears to have come up with its own solution and its own place to put the registry on its site. Sometimes, a link is buried in a footer menu. Other times, finding it takes more of a journey.
So we thought we’d do our best to offer a one-stop-shop for all the election-ad registries we can find, with a particular focus on the country’s media outlets. We’ll continue to add more as they come to our attention.
In alphabetical order:
(including CTV and Noovo)
Link: Political ads registry
Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: NDP
Link: Election Ad Registry
Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: NDP
Link: Registry of Political Ads on Online Platforms (Federal Elections)
Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: Liberal Party, NDP
Lien: Registre de publicités — élections fédérales 2021
Annonces importantes le 24 août: Nouveau Parti démocratique (NPD)
(including Instagram)
Link: Ad Library Report
Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: Conservative Party, Liberal Party, NDP
Link: Advertisers Election Registry – 2021 Federal Election
Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: Liberal Party, NDP
Link: Digital Advertisement Registry
Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: Conservative Party
(including MTL Blog)
Link: Political Ads Registry
Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: None as yet for 2021, but 2019 ads were a mix of Conservative and NDP
(including the National Post, Sun newspapers, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, etc.)
Link: Digital Advertising Registry
Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: Conservative Party
Lien: Publicité électorale fédérale
Annonces importantes le 24 août: Nouveau Parti démocratique (NPD)
Lien: Registre des publicités politiques sur le plateformes en ligne (Élections fédérales)
Annonces importantes le 24 août: Parti libéral, Parti conservateur
(including CityNews)
Link: Political Ads Registry
Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: Conservative Party, NDP
Link: Digital Advertisement Registry
Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: None as yet for 2021, but 2019 ads were a mix of Conservative and NDP
Link: Election Ad Registry
Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: Liberal Party, a pair of Green candidates
Lien: Registre de publicité électorale fédérale 2021
Annonces importantes le 24 août: Parti Conservateur, Parti libéral, NPD
Link: Political Ads Registry
Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: None as yet for 2021, but 2019 ads were a mix of Conservative and NDP
Updated on August 24 at 3:30 EDT.
Top collage includes excerpts from a variety of Conservative, Green, Liberal, and NDP ads for the 2021 election.
