A new survey by Totum Research shows 65 per cent of Canadians want Ottawa to allocate a portion of its advertising budget to Canadian news media.
The findings come as the federal government resumes advertising with Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. (Nasdaq:META), which has banned the sharing of Canadian news stories on its own platforms.
“The Government of Canada’s decision to resume advertising with Meta is a real kick in the shins to independent publishers across Canada,” Dave Adsett, chairman of News Media Canada, said in a statement.
The survey also found 63 per cent of Canadians say they trust ads in newspapers or news websites, compared with 28 per cent for Facebook and Instagram. More than half of respondents (58 per cent) say they prefer newspapers or news sites for federal government information, while 17 per cent say they prefer to turn to social media.
News Media Canada is urging Ottawa to earmark 25 per cent of its ad spending for trusted news sources.
Totum Research conducted the online survey, on behalf of News Media Canada, of 2,418 adult Canadians from Dec. 9-22, 2024, and Jan. 6-20, with a margin of error of plus or minus two per cent.
