WPP Media Canada has announced a new initiative to build “essential infrastructure” that, it says, will make Canada’s media landscape more open and accessible.

As part of the plans announced on Wednesday, the Canadian arm of global media giant WPP Media will be testing a new framework involving Canadian publishers in English and French.

WPP Media tells Media in Canada that the company is using audience data from Environics Analytics to gain detailed insights and model potential audience growth. The ultimate goal is to generate empirical data that can support sustainable growth for the media ecosystem.

The initiative leverages Environics’ LiveRamp platform, which WPP says serves as a data clean room for the initial phase. Looking ahead to 2026, the test will evolve to incorporate WPP’s proprietary data-collaboration platform, InfoSum. Acquired by WPP in April 2025, InfoSum is a data‑technology company that enables publishers and brands to share data securely and privately, giving WPP the capability to leverage that data.

The pilot directly involves publishers and broadcasters, WPP says, noting that through the test, WPP is securely incorporating its inventory and audience data to deduplicate information and create a unified identifier for programmatic activation.

The test results are expected in early 2026, and WPP will use the findings to develop “advanced” marketing plans for its clients.

Kevin Johnson (pictured), CEO of WPP Media Canada and president of WPP in Canada, emphasized in a statement that supporting Canadian journalism and local stories is now more critical than ever. “We’re not just talking about supporting Canadian media; we’re actively building the tools and systems to ensure it has a fair and successful future,” he said, adding that WPP aims to create a fair, competitive environment that enables domestic media to achieve business outcomes on par with external rivals.

“Our ongoing investment has set the stage, and now, by integrating advanced technology, we are creating a more balanced environment where everyone has a chance to succeed,” Johnson said.

The new framework, according to WPP, focuses on privacy‑safe data collaboration, allowing different actors to share data without compromising user privacy, offering customers a more comprehensive view while maintaining control of their own performance metrics, and robust measurement capabilities with advanced measurement tools that provide clear and reliable data on campaign results, enabling precise optimization.

The announcement comes after the company said it has increased its investment in Canadian media to 45% of its total media spending in 2025, with a target of 50% in 2026, according to a news release.