A majority of Canadians would rather hear about products from brand employees than from influencers. That’s according to the Leger DGTL 2025 study, which aims to help advertisers better understand platform usage, so they can optimize content according to user preferences, and integrate influencers and creators into their marketing strategies (or not). The survey was conducted via Leger’s LEO panel with over 4,000 respondents, 3,003 of them in Canada and the remainder in the U.S.
This trend is particularly pronounced in Quebec, where 79% of respondents view employees as authentic and credible spokespeople (compared with 73% nationwide). Employee-generated content (EGC) is seen positively by 43% of the survey respondents, while 45% view it neutrally.
Sarah Mottet, general manager of Leger DGTL says, “The DGTL 2025 Study has been designed to provide concrete data and findings on which to base your marketing strategies for the coming year. After three years of tracking the evolution of digital behaviour, some trends have been confirmed, while others are taking shape.”
The study breaks down into five chapters. These include insights into platform usage; influencers, content creators and employee ambassadors; brands; ad formats; content sources, AI and cookies.
Other findings include the rise of text-based platforms such as Reddit and Threads with 26% of Canadians having a Reddit account, which makes it a great platform for niche communities and authentic discussions. Men are twice as likely as women to use Reddit, and adoption is particularly high among 16 to 24-year-olds. Threads is also growing rapidly with adoption increasing from 11% in 2024 to 14% in 2025.
Gen Z’s preferences for advertising videos is evenly split with 50% favouring professional videos and 50% preferring user-generated Content (UGC). They see professional videos as more credible, better produced, and effective at delivering clear messages but also appreciate UGC for its authenticity, human touch, and realism.
Looking at platforms, the report shows that each social network has its own distinct purpose for each generation. Although Facebook is no longer the preferred platform for younger people, they keep visiting out of habit and find it more practical than entertaining. More than half (63%) of Canadians use Facebook at least once a day. Those aged 16 to 24 (27%) use Facebook to search for people or accounts, while 40% of 25-to-44 year-olds use it to buy or sell and 42% of those 45-plus visit Facebook to interact with content.
YouTube seems to have the ability to meet diverse marketing objectives with people visiting the platform for entertainment as much as they do for information. Consumers visit YouTube to listen to music (38%), watch videos (36%), watch YouTube shorts (22%) or watch videos from celebrities or influencers (12%). Information is a big reason why many (36%) visit YouTube while 24% use YouTube as a search engine.
TikTok is used by 37% of folks 45 and up to learn new things and watch tutorials, as do 30% of 25-to-44 year-olds and 23% of those in the 16-to-24 demo.
Instagram is the platform that 16 to 24-year-olds would prioritize if they could only keep one. It also stands out among 25-44-year-olds. Canadians who have an Instagram account(43%) visit the platform at least once a day. The top three activities Instagram users are following family and friends (44%), watching Stories (30%) and browsing their feed (38%).
New this year with the Leger DGTL study is the introduction of Leon, an intuitive AI assistant that marketers can use to explore and get access to all the data in the study.
