The Canadian Information Ecosystem

Executive Summary

Amid democratic governments' concern about mis- and disinformation, this report assesses claims about the nature of Canada's information ecosystem, drawing on large national surveys from 2018 and 2023, targeted surveys during the June 2023 by-elections and the 2023 wildfire season, and a novel method linking Canadian political influencers across social media accounts.

Four central findings emerge. Most Canadians are inattentive to politics, with low and decreasing political knowledge and poor awareness of political figures; when news was removed from Facebook, Canadians did not change their usage behaviour or migrate to other platforms. News consumption and attitudes have been generally stable over five years, but media trust has declined significantly, while use of social media for news has risen, with a rapid rise of TikTok and increased use of Instagram, WhatsApp, Reddit, and Snapchat. There is a high degree of concentration of influence in digital media, particularly among federal and provincial elected officials, with Global News and CTV amassing large followings on YouTube and TikTok respectively. Online discourse among provincial and federal politicians is not highly segregated on partisan lines; instead it reflects Canadian federalism, with politicians sharing content similar to their provincial political community.

Four case studies add detail. Before Meta's August 2023 news block, Facebook pages of Canadian outlets generated an estimated 5 to 8 million daily views of news content; the block produced an estimated 89.3% loss of views, though Canadians remained active on Facebook and political groups saw no reduction in activity. English and French Canadians show low awareness of public figures from the other official-language media environment, though bilingual respondents are more aware nationally. Belief in human-induced climate change strongly predicts perceiving personal impact from the 2023 wildfires, and climate skeptics rely less on traditional media. Residents of by-election ridings reported seeing substantially more misinformation than the general population, yet most Canadians remain confident Elections Canada is safe from outside interference and are satisfied with democracy.

Key Takeaways

• Facebook Pages of Canadian news outlets generated between 5 and 8 million views of news content per day before Meta news ban; the block triggered an estimated 89.3% loss of visible engagement.
• Most Canadians are inattentive to politics: they do not regularly consume political news, have low and decreasing political knowledge, and low awareness of important political figures.
• Trust in traditional media has experienced a marked decline in the past five years, despite stability in what news sources people consume; social media news users are less trusting and less politically active.
• Influence is highly concentrated: a small number of actors receive a disproportionate share of social media engagement, with Global News most popular on YouTube and CTV with a large TikTok following.
• Online discourse among politicians is organized primarily by province rather than party, with ideology playing a secondary role in the Canadian information ecosystem structure.