Having purchased thousands of radio ads in the Toronto market for several weeks, the Ontario Government has been the top buyer in the city. However, it pulled back on its radio spend for the week ending April 26, with the province purchasing 1,772 ads on the radio, down from 2,327 the week prior.

But other new radio advertisers came into the fold. Allstate, which had not been a buyer in the previous week, purchased 1,000 ads, coming in second. With 661 ads, Canadian Tire stayed strong in third.

Close behind was the Government of Canada, which purchased 651 ads after taking the previous week off of buying. And rounding out the top five was the CBC, which purchased 542 ads to propel itself up from #25 the previous week.

Public service was the highest buying category with a total of 2,858 ads, down about 300 spots from the week before. However, other categories have increased; despite the Ontario Government’s decrease in ads, the buy from the Canadian government plus other advertisers have resulted in the government and union category rising to 2,749 (up from 2,441). Insurance providers tripled their collective buying power to 1,387, car and truck dealer associations nearly doubled and the car and truck Asian factory category counted 547 ads (from just seven spots the previous week).

There were also modest increases in retail stores and retirement/assisted living care, with modest decreases from television and podcast streaming/distribution.

In the Montreal market, the provincial government was on the rise, purchasing 1,068 ads (up nearly 200 from the previous week). CBC, having not advertised in Montreal at all the week before, came in second with 351 ads.

There were fewer changes in the Montreal market for the top advertisers than in Toronto; the Heart and Stroke Foundation stayed in third place with 241 ads (down from 281), Accent Insurance Solutions rose one spot to fourth and Elektrika fell slightly to the fifth spot.

The Quebec Government’s big increase drove the government and unions category to the top spot, with 1,369 total ads purchased. Public service came in second, but like in Toronto, it was down slightly.

Most of the categories in Montreal saw modest-to-significant decreases, including restaurants and night clubs, wireless and internet service and fuel suppliers. Modest increases were seen, however, in the insurance provider category and in television and cable TV.