Federal and provincial governments have continued to broadcast on radio, but this week also saw a sharp spike in buys from big home and hardware retailers as they began to reopen stores.

After several weeks of gradually reducing its spend, the Ontario Government has once again upped its radio buy in the Toronto market. The buy nearly doubled to 2,010 ads for the week ended May 10, making it once again the biggest radio buyer in the city. In second place was the Government of Canada, which also upped its buy some 200 spots to 973.

Although retail brands have not been big spenders throughout the pandemic due to closure orders, Rona was third with 879 ads, up from #91 the week prior. Rona’s rise – as well as that of fourth place advertiser, Lowe’s, which purchased 790 ads – coincides with the Ontario Government allowing hardware stores and garden centres to re-open this past weekend.

Rounding out the top five was another new entrant, parts and services chain Mopar, with 528 spots.

For categories in the market, government and unions saw a healthy boost across the entire category at 3,261 spots collectively, up from 1,978. Second-place category public services, however, went down by 200 ads to 1,978.

In light of the hardware retailer re-opening, that category increased its activity in Toronto by nearly 656%, all the way up to 1,814 ads (up from 240). Other big increases were seen in auto parts, services and towing (up nearly fourfold to 840), and home/commercial improvement products and services (513, up from 300). More modest boosts went to the financial services industry, podcast streaming and distribution and legal services categories.

The television and cable TV category declined slightly, while the most drastic decrease went to the insurance provider category – which was halved to 516 total ads.

In Montreal, it seems at first glance that the provincial government did not mirror its Ontario neighbour’s activity. However, that’s because the Government of Quebec – or Gouvernement du Québec – split up its buy into two languages and under two different advertiser names. The Gouvernement du Quebec led the pack with 525 French-language ads total, while the Government of Quebec came in third with 380 English ads. That technically puts the government at a higher total buy than the week before, during which it purchased 801 ads.

In second place, between the two government buys, was CTV, with its order virtually unchanged at 402 ads.

Rounding out the top five were Litesits Opticians, and Accent Insurance Solutions, with both having made modest boosts to their buys.

For categories in Montreal, governments and unions purchased slightly less than the week before, but still topped the list at 1,228. Public services, in second place, were also down slightly.

Most categories in the Montreal market have seen modest declines, as they have for several weeks. However, the hardware retailer category, which had not had a presence on the radio at all in the previous week, did purchase a collective 393 ads.