News Brief

Where you can see all the election ads running on media websites

Canadaland's registry of online registries for the 2021 Canadian election

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:

Bell Media

(including CTV and Noovo)

Link: Political ads registry

Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: NDP


blogTO

Link: Election Ad Registry

Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: NDP


CBC

Link: Registry of Political Ads on Online Platforms (Federal Elections)

Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: Liberal Party, NDP


Le Devoir

Lien: Registre de publicités — élections fédérales 2021

Annonces importantes le 24 août: Nouveau Parti démocratique (NPD)


Facebook

(including Instagram)

Link: Ad Library Report

Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: Conservative Party, Liberal Party, NDP


Global News

Link: Advertisers Election Registry – 2021 Federal Election

Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: Liberal Party, NDP


The Globe and Mail

Link: Digital Advertisement Registry

Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: Conservative Party


Narcity Media

(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


Postmedia

(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


La Presse

Lien: Publicité électorale fédérale

Annonces importantes le 24 août: Nouveau Parti démocratique (NPD)


Radio-Canada

Lien: Registre des publicités politiques sur le plateformes en ligne (Élections fédérales)

Annonces importantes le 24 août: Parti libéral, Parti conservateur


Rogers Media

(including CityNews)

Link: Political Ads Registry

Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: Conservative Party, NDP


Sing Tao

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


Toronto Star

Link: Election Ad Registry

Dominant advertiser(s) as of August 24th: Liberal Party, a pair of Green candidates


TVA Nouvelles

Lien: Registre de publicité électorale fédérale 2021

Annonces importantes le 24 août: Parti Conservateur, Parti libéral, NPD


Vice

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.

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