Canadian PMP: running private deals in Canadian dollars and in French
Part of Curated deals and PMPs
The short answer
A Canadian PMP works like any private marketplace deal, with three settings that need deliberate choices: the floor currency, which OpenRTB reads as USD unless the deal says CAD; the content language, kept apart from the reader's browser language; and the provinces in scope. IAB Canada's 2025 survey puts private marketplaces at 22.4 percent of its buying split.
Key takeaways
- A deal floor has its own currency field, and if the seller leaves it empty the floor is read as USD.
- The bid can come back in a different currency from the floor if the exchange allows it, so agree how conversion is done.
- French inventory is defined by the language of the content, which is a separate field from the reader's browser language.
- IAB Canada's 2025 survey reports direct buying at 72.9 percent of its buying split, which excludes Google, YouTube and social media.
- Ask Canadian publishers about CAD pricing, French sections, provinces and selling paths before asking for a deal ID.
How do private deals work for Canadian campaigns?
The mechanics are the same as anywhere: a seller makes chosen inventory available to named buyers under agreed terms, and an exchange labels eligible impressions with a deal ID. What changes in Canada is a set of defaults that were written with US buying in mind. OpenRTB 2.6 (opens in a new tab) gives the Deal object's floor currency a default of USD, gives the Geo object's region field the note "2-letter state code if USA," and treats language as a separate signal on the content and on the device.
| Setting | OpenRTB field | Default or format | What to set for Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floor currency | Deal.bidfloorcur | USD unless specified; does not inherit from the impression | CAD, stated explicitly by the seller |
| Allowed bid currencies | BidRequest.cur | ISO 4217 codes, recommended only if the exchange accepts several | Confirm whether CAD bids are accepted |
| Country | Geo.country | ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 | CAN |
| Province | Geo.region | ISO 3166-2 | Province codes such as CA-QC, CA-ON or CA-NB |
| Content language | Content.language or Content.langb | ISO 639-1 or IETF BCP 47 | fr, or fr-CA where the seller uses BCP 47 |
| Reader's browser language | Device.language or Device.langb | Same formats, describing the browser | Not a substitute for content language |
The publisher mix differs too. A Canadian plan draws on national news and broadcast groups, French-language media, regional and independent outlets, and sites based elsewhere with a real Canadian readership. The US and Canada audience guide covers how to judge where a site's readers are; this page covers what happens once those sites go into a deal.
How are Canadian dollar floors passed in a deal?
In OpenRTB 2.6 the Deal object's bidfloorcur is a currency "specified using ISO-4217 alpha codes," and the spec says it "does not inherit from Imp.bidfloorcur; it is either explicitly specified or defaults to USD." A seller who sets the impression floor in CAD but forgets the deal's own currency field sends a deal floor that buyers read as US dollars. The bid side has its own default: the BidResponse cur field is "Bid currency using ISO-4217 alpha codes," with a default of USD, and the spec notes that the floor currency "may be different from bid currency returned by bidder if this is allowed by the exchange."
Setting a CAD floor without surprises
- Write the currency next to each price. On the deal sheet, state each floor or fixed price as CAD, with the price model.
- Ask for a sample bid request. Confirm Deal.bidfloorcur reads CAD and the floor value matches the sheet.
- Confirm the bid currency. Check whether the buying platform bids in CAD or in another currency the exchange converts.
- Name the conversion source. Where conversion applies, agree whose rate is used and when. The Bank of Canada says its daily exchange rates (opens in a new tab) are "indicative rates only" and are published "once each business day by 16:30 ET," so treat them as a reference, not a transaction rate.
- Recheck after a large currency move. A USD bid converted at a new rate can drop below a CAD floor with nothing else changed.
Floors themselves, hard and soft, and the auction type override are covered in the floor price guide. The Canadian point is narrower: decide the currency once, write it in both places, and test it before launch.
How should French inventory be packaged?
Package French inventory by the language of the content, and say so in the deal. OpenRTB 2.6 carries content language in the Content object and browser language in the Device object, and they answer different questions. Display & Video 360's language targeting (opens in a new tab) page says publishers "can set the languages of bid requests based on content, user, and other factors," and that "it's possible to reach speakers of a given language, like Spanish, on a website where the content is in another language." A language setting on a line item is therefore not proof that a French deal runs on French pages.
| Package | Strength | Weakness | Fits when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Separate French deal | Clean reporting and pricing by language; creative matches the page | Smaller supply per deal; one more deal ID to manage | French and English creative differ |
| French sections of bilingual publishers | Adds reach from large publishers with French desks | Depends on the publisher separating sections by ad unit | The publisher can scope by section |
| One bilingual deal with a language split agreed | Simplest to set up and scale | Delivery by language is hard to read; creative may mismatch | The creative is bilingual or language neutral |
Quebec is not the only French market. The French Canadian advertising guide covers French readers in Ontario, New Brunswick and Manitoba and how to tell a Canadian French publisher from one in France. For a deal, the practical step is to list the provinces in Geo.region terms and the content language in Content terms, and to ask which field the seller fills.
What does IAB Canada report about private marketplace buying?
The newest edition is IAB Canada's 2025 Internet Ad Revenue Survey and 2026/27 Forecast (opens in a new tab), dated June 2026. It reports Canada's digital advertising market at $21.1 billion in 2025 on a normalized basis, up 16 percent. Its buying split for 2025 puts direct at 72.9 percent, private marketplace at 22.4 percent and open RTB at 4.6 percent, and notes that the "distribution does not include Google/YouTube or Social Media." The report's own reading: "Direct buying took a larger role in 2025 as revenue shifts away from private marketplace and open RTB."
| Channel | Direct | Private marketplace | Open RTB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total measured split | 72.9% | 22.4% | 4.6% |
| Display | 60% | 27% | 13% |
| Video | 71% | 26% | 3% |
| Digital out of home | 84.7% | 14.7% | 0.6% |
| Audio | 83% | 16% | 0.4% |
Two more figures from the 2025 edition matter for deal planning. French-language media generated about $3.7 billion, "about 17% of total digital advertising revenue," and IAB Canada noted "a higher propensity towards Direct sales in premium inventory channels." For a buyer, that suggests asking premium Canadian publishers about direct and guaranteed options alongside private auctions.
Which Canadian publishers should a buyer approach for deals?
Start from the brief's topics and audience, then sort candidate publishers by how they sell. IAB Canada's Member Programmatic Landscape (opens in a new tab), updated May 15, 2025, groups its members by role and defines a media owner and publisher as "An entity or organization that creates and distributes digital content, selling ad inventory to monetize their audience." It is a directory of members, not a list of who offers which deal, so each publisher still needs asking. The Canadian independent publishers guide covers smaller outlets that are easy to miss.
Questions for a Canadian publisher before requesting a deal
- Can the deal be priced in CAD, with Deal.bidfloorcur set to CAD?
- Which sections publish in French, and do they have their own ad units?
- Which provinces does the publisher's readership cover, and can the deal be limited by province?
- Which exchanges sell the inventory, and does the publisher's ads.txt list them as direct?
- Does the publisher offer private auctions, preferred deals or guaranteed deals, and at what minimum flight?
- Will the publisher share delivery by site, section and language after launch?
What does a Canadian PMP look like on a real brief?
Fictional example
A digital bank's national savings campaign in English and French
A fictional digital bank wants display ads beside personal finance, home buying and business news across Canada for a fall savings account campaign, with separate English and French creative and a budget in CAD.
The agency builds two deals from one reviewed list: an English deal with national and regional publishers outside Quebec, and a French deal with Quebec publishers and the French desks of two bilingual publishers in Ontario and New Brunswick. Each deal sheet lists provinces as ISO 3166-2 codes, content language as French or English, and floors in CAD.
The trader's sample bid request for the French deal shows the floor with no bidfloorcur value, so the floor would be read as USD. The seller corrects the deal before launch. In week one, the country report shows Canada only, and the publisher's language report confirms the French deal ran on French pages.
How does PlacementGraph prepare Canadian site lists for deals?
Frequently asked questions
Who carries the exchange rate risk on a deal priced in CAD?
Whoever bids or bills in the other currency. If the buying platform bids in USD and the exchange converts against a CAD floor, a weaker US dollar can push bids below the floor. Write on the deal sheet which currency the buyer bids and is billed in, and whose conversion rate applies.
Can one Canadian deal hold English and French sections at one floor?
It can, but one floor hides any price difference between the two languages, and delivery by language becomes hard to read. If the creative differs by language or the client wants a set share in French, two deals with their own floors are easier to manage and to report.
How do you confirm a Canadian deal served in Canada?
Read the buying platform's country report for the deal. Display & Video 360's Country dimension gives delivery by country and can be paired with the Inventory Source dimension for the deal. If the deal is limited by province, ask the seller for region level delivery too, since a country report will not show a Quebec only deal drifting into Ontario.
What if a Canadian publisher only quotes floors in USD?
Accept it if the client's budget can absorb exchange movement, and record the USD floor clearly on the sheet. Otherwise ask the publisher or its exchange whether the deal can be set in CAD, since OpenRTB lets the deal state its own floor currency separate from the impression.
Sources
- OpenRTB 2.6 specification (opens in a new tab)IAB Tech Lab
- 2025 IAB Canada Internet Ad Revenue Survey and 2026/27 Forecast (June 2026) (opens in a new tab)IAB Canada
- Member Programmatic Landscape (updated May 15, 2025) (opens in a new tab)IAB Canada
- Language targeting (opens in a new tab)Google Display & Video 360 Help
- Dimensions in reports (opens in a new tab)Google Display & Video 360 Help
- Daily exchange rates (opens in a new tab)Bank of Canada
Researched and written by PlacementGraph Research. Read how we research, source and update these pages. Corrections: diana@placementgraph.com.