How is Government of Canada advertising governed, and what does it mean for publisher choice?
Part of Fair publisher planning
The short answer
Government of Canada advertising is governed by the Treasury Board Policy on Communications and Federal Identity and its directive, in effect since March 27, 2025, and by the Official Languages Act. Ads must be non-partisan and in English and French, are reviewed by the Privy Council Office and PSPC, and are placed through an agency of record.
Key takeaways
- The current Treasury Board policy, directive and Mandatory Procedures for Advertising took effect on March 27, 2025, replacing the May 11, 2016 versions.
- Section 11 of the Official Languages Act sends required notices and advertisements to publications mainly in English and mainly in French, and since 2023 it says those publications include electronic ones.
- The federal instruments require departments to consider English and French linguistic minority communities, First Nations, Inuit and Métis, and ethnocultural communities when planning media, without fixing a share of spend.
- Provincial rules differ: Ontario's Auditor General reviews government ads covered by its Act for partisanship, and Quebec's Charter of the French language requires exemplary use of French.
What rules govern Government of Canada advertising?
Federal advertising sits under Treasury Board policy, not under one advertising statute. The Policy on Communications and Federal Identity (opens in a new tab) and the Directive on the Management of Communications and Federal Identity (opens in a new tab) both took effect on March 27, 2025. The directive's Appendix A, the Mandatory Procedures for Advertising, replaced the procedures of May 11, 2016 on the same day. Language duties come from the Official Languages Act, which the policy names directly.
Definition
- Government of Canada advertising
- In the policy's own words, "any message conveyed in Canada or abroad and paid for by the government for placement in media, including but not limited to newspapers, television, radio, cinema, billboards and other out-of-home media, mobile devices, the Internet, and any other digital medium."
| Instrument | What it requires for advertising | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Policy on Communications and Federal Identity | Communications must be accurate, non-partisan, objective, accessible and in both official languages, and must consider the needs of linguistic minority, Indigenous, regional and multicultural audiences | In effect since March 27, 2025 |
| Directive on the Management of Communications and Federal Identity | Heads of communications lead an annual advertising plan, follow the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards and comply with the non-partisan oversight mechanism | In effect since March 27, 2025 |
| Mandatory Procedures for Advertising (Appendix A) | Review by the Privy Council Office, compliance check and ADV number from PSPC, procurement through PSPC, records in AdMIS | In effect since March 27, 2025 |
| Official Languages Act, sections 11 and 30 | Required notices and ads appear in English and French publications with equal prominence; media must reach people in the official language of their choice | Consolidated to September 30, 2026 |
Must federal ads appear in both official languages?
Yes, and the Act is specific about where. Under section 11 of the Official Languages Act (opens in a new tab), a notice or advertisement that an Act of Parliament requires or authorizes a federal institution to publish must, wherever possible, appear in publications in general circulation in each region where it applies: the English version in at least one publication mainly in English and the French version in at least one mainly in French. Each version gets equal prominence.
The 2023 amendments added subsection 11(1.1): "For greater certainty, a publication referred to in subsection (1) includes a publication in an electronic form." A news site can therefore carry a required notice. Section 30 covers other communications: institutions must use media that "will reach members of the public in the official language of their choice in an effective and efficient manner".
What do the rules say about official language minority media?
The federal instruments ask departments to plan for minority communities rather than to spend a set share with them. The directive tells heads of communications to consider the information needs of "English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada", alongside First Nations, Inuit and Métis and regional, rural and multicultural populations. Appendix A repeats the duty at the media planning step. None of the instruments quoted on this page sets a percentage of spend.
Part VII of the Official Languages Act adds a broader duty: every federal institution must take positive measures for English and French linguistic minority communities, which the Act says may include action to "protect and promote the presence of strong institutions serving those communities." Minority language newspapers, radio stations and news sites can be among those institutions, so a plan can treat them as a deliberate line in the plan.
Who coordinates federal advertising in Canada?
Four central bodies touch every campaign. The Privy Council Office sets broad communications themes and reviews draft creative and media buy strategies. Public Services and Procurement Canada confirms legal and policy compliance, issues the ADV authorization number and manages the contract with the agency of record. The Treasury Board Secretariat owns the policy and the non-partisan oversight mechanism.
The policy defines the agency of record as a private sector supplier, chosen competitively, "that negotiates, consolidates, purchases and verifies advertising media time and space for the Government of Canada." The 2024 to 2025 annual report (opens in a new tab) says 46 institutions spent $78.15 million on advertising, media placed through the agency of record totalled $64.20 million, and digital media took the largest share, 63 percent.
How do these rules change the way a federal site list is built?
Building a programmatic site list for a federal brief
- Name the regions and languages first. List every region the message applies to and the minority language in each, such as French in Yukon or English in Quebec.
- Build each language list from its own publishers. Search French language publishers for the French list instead of translating the English one, so the media reaches people in the language they choose.
- Add minority language outlets by name. Record the community newspaper sites, radio station sites and digital outlets that serve each minority community, with their selling path or a direct buy note.
- Check suitability without endorsement. Keep ads away from content that could read as the government favoring a company, a cause or a party, and record why each site fits.
- Document for review. Give PCO and PSPC a media buy strategy that shows the language split, the minority outlets and the reasons for every site, with minority outlet spend tagged for separate reporting.
Small minority language outlets are the publishers that popularity cutoffs and English only reviews remove first. The fair publisher planning guide explains how to keep them on equal evidence, and the French Canadian advertising guide covers French inventory outside Quebec.
How can PlacementGraph support a bilingual federal site list?
How do provincial government ads differ?
Provinces write their own rules. Ontario's Government Advertising Act, 2004 makes ministries submit ads covered by the Act to the Auditor General before they run. The Auditor General's 2025 review (opens in a new tab) reports $111.9 million of government advertising in 2024/25, notes that 2015 amendments narrowed the definition of partisan, and says social media ads and search marketing are not reviewable under Regulation 143/15.
Quebec's rules are about language. Section 13.1 of the Charter of the French language (opens in a new tab), added in 2022, says the civil administration "shall, in an exemplary manner, use the French language", and section 22 says it "shall use only French in signs and posters, except where reasons of health or public safety require the use of another language as well."
| Question | Government of Canada | Ontario | Quebec |
|---|---|---|---|
| Language of ads | English and French, with equal prominence for required notices | Not among the Act's standards as listed by the Auditor General | French, used in an exemplary manner; signs and posters in French only, with health and safety exceptions |
| Partisanship check | External review by Ad Standards for campaigns over $250,000 | Auditor General review of reviewable items before they run | Not covered by the sources on this page |
| Digital coverage | The definition includes the Internet and any digital medium | Social media ads and search marketing are not reviewable | Covered by the Charter's general language duties |
What does a compliant federal plan look like on a real brief?
Fictional example
A fictional federal skills program campaign in Yukon
A planning team supports a fictional federal skills training program with a display campaign in Yukon, aimed at Whitehorse, Dawson City and Watson Lake, in English and French. The brief starts from the region and the minority language: French is the minority official language in Yukon, so the plan needs French publishers that serve the territory, not only national French brands.
The team builds two lists. The English list draws on regional news, careers and trades publishers. The French list is searched separately and includes French language community media serving the territory, two of which sell only directly and go to a direct buy note. Every site carries a written reason.
Before submission, the planner removes a business news site whose recent articles promote a single training company, to avoid any reading of endorsement. The media buy strategy shows the language split, the minority outlets by name and a tag for reporting their spend.
What should a Government of Canada advertising checklist include?
Before a federal media buy strategy goes for review
- Every region the message applies to is listed, with the minority official language in each.
- The French and English lists were each built from publishers in that language.
- Required notices are placed in at least one publication mainly in each official language, with equal prominence.
- No placement could read as an endorsement of a company, organization or party.
- Spend with minority language outlets is tagged so it can be reported separately.
Frequently asked questions
Can a federal department buy media directly from a publisher?
The directive lets the head of communications decide when advertising with a total media buy not exceeding $40,000 is purchased directly from media outlets, in line with section 6 of the Government Contracts Regulations. Larger buys go through PSPC's procurement directorate and the agency of record.
Does federal advertising stop during a general election?
The directive suspends advertising on the day a writ is issued, or on June 30 in a year with a fixed election date, until the new government is sworn in. Deputy heads may approve exceptions for legal notices, dangers to health, safety or the environment, staffing notices and urgent advertising.
Are social media and programmatic display covered by the federal definition?
The policy's definition of advertising covers mobile devices, the Internet and any other digital medium, and its definition of a media buy lists social media, websites and mobile applications. Paid placements there follow the same review, language and procurement steps as print or television.
May federal ads also run in languages other than English and French?
The directive lets heads of communications decide when products should also be available in other languages. The Directive on Official Languages for Communications and Services adds that when another language is used, all information is at a minimum available in English and French, and the official languages appear first.
Sources
- Policy on Communications and Federal Identity (opens in a new tab)Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
- Directive on the Management of Communications and Federal Identity, including Appendix A: Mandatory Procedures for Advertising (opens in a new tab)Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
- Official Languages Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. 31 (4th Supp.)) (opens in a new tab)Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada
- Directive on Official Languages for Communications and Services (opens in a new tab)Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
- Annual report on Government of Canada advertising activities 2024 to 2025 (opens in a new tab)Public Services and Procurement Canada
- Advertising oversight mechanism (opens in a new tab)Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
- Review of Government Advertising, 2025 Annual Report (opens in a new tab)Office of the Auditor General of Ontario, December 2025
- Charter of the French language (chapter C-11) (opens in a new tab)LégisQuébec, Government of Quebec
Researched and written by PlacementGraph Research. Read how we research, source and update these pages. Corrections: diana@placementgraph.com.