Though print readership is on the decline, BBM Analytics shows that the number of advertisements appearing in newspaper titles in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver is up so far for the year, with this report for MiC looking at dates between Dec. 30, 2013 and March 30, 2014.

The company, which is a subsidiary of BBM Canada, analyzed a total of 19 papers across the three markets and found that overall the number of ads in the papers has been going up, despite dips across the board at the beginning of each month. In Toronto, the top advertiser for the first three months of the year was Ford Lincoln overall, with the Canadian International Autoshow jumping to the top of the heap at the start of February to promote its event. Lastman’s Bad Boy started to spike towards the end of the measured period in the city. Vancouver had peaks and valleys for each of the top advertisers during the three months measured, with Driving.ca getting two months at the top in early March. Auto site Driving.ca was also climbing in Montreal during the latter part of the three month period  in the city, with Loto-Quebec clocking in as the top advertiser overall for the period. Each market had the same top five categories ranking in different orders, with the exception of recreation, which leads the pack in each city.