Ad spend is growing in Canada, but at a more modest pace than during earlier stages of the market’s post-pandemic recovery, according to the latest figures from Standard Media Index.

Overall cross-media brand investment grew by 2% year-over-year in May, with Q2 now tracking 4% higher than in 2021. That was after ad spending seemed to be leveling off in April, with spending shrinking by 1%.

Digital growth is continuing on a similar pace to recent months, up 4%, now having a 55% share of total cross-media spend. That’s up by one point from last year.

Digital print ads had the highest growth within digital at 35%, with search growing by 20%, video growing by 19% and content up by 15%. Though not in the double-digits, social investment also continued to grow by 6%.

Outside of digital, linear TV’s ad spend was down by 4% year-over-year in May, putting its share of spending down two points to 35%. The decline was driven by a 6% drop in specialty spending and a 3% drop in conventional spending.

OOH is continuing to grow as more people leave their homes on a regular basis, up 34% from last May and 355% from May 2020 when lockdowns were in full force. Radio is also on the upswing after a decline in April, up 16% year-over-year and 240% compared to May 2020.

Categorically, CPG ad spend was down 14% compared to last year, with its share dipping to 21%. That was driven by declines in household supplies (a steep 59%), alcoholic beverages (40%) and food (16%). Personal care investment, however, was up 41%.

Automotive was the second-largest spender in May, but still faces year-over-year declines of 24%, with its share slipping to 13%.