TikTok Ads is bought on CPM only, averaging $8.55. YouTube Ads is bought on CPM only, averaging $6.65. Analysis for Canada in 2026.
Canada is a smaller but disproportionately mature digital ad market, with digital share of total media spend tracking close to US levels. Google and Meta dominate, but Canadian advertisers contend with two important wrinkles: French-language obligations in Quebec (Bill 96 enforcement has tightened) and CASL, one of the world's strictest anti-spam laws. CPMs typically run 5-10% below the US, reflecting a smaller auction pool and lower absolute population. The market is also unusually concentrated geographically — Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver account for the majority of high-value commercial audiences, which makes geo-targeting more efficient than national campaigns for most verticals.
Short-form video advertising on TikTok
Video advertising on YouTube - skippable and non-skippable
The auction, the creative, the budget floor — the three things you actually need to know before picking a platform.
TikTok Ads runs on CPM ($8–12 typical, higher for premium placements like TopView). CPC is available but the platform's optimization heavily favors CPM-bid campaigns. Auction density is lower than Meta but growing quickly; creative quality dominates.
9:16 vertical video (1080×1920), 9-60s (best performance 15-30s), native-feeling — polished ads underperform UGC-style creative here by 2-3x. Sound-on is standard. Captions optional but boost completion.
$500/day ($15K/month) is the practical floor for the Traffic and Conversion objectives to exit learning phase in a reasonable window. Smaller budgets work for Awareness and Video View goals.
YouTube ads run through Google Ads on CPM (for TrueView and Bumper) or CPV (cost per view — you pay only when viewer watches 30s or engages). CPM averages $6–10; TrueView effective CPV is $0.05–0.15. Non-skippable pre-roll runs $15–25 CPM.
6s bumpers (non-skippable), 15/30s non-skippable, and TrueView (skippable after 5s, but you're only charged if viewer engages). 16:9 1920×1080; vertical 9:16 for Shorts inventory. Companion banners boost CTR.
$50–100/day covers TrueView on a defined-topic audience. Bumper campaigns can start at $30/day. YouTube's audience-based targeting means small budgets are viable for niche verticals.