It’s been a busy media world in Canada lately, with a number of major North American accounts changing hands and doing new deals.

This week, Mediabrands agency UM announced that it has renewed its contract with Sony as its media planning and buying agency of record in North America, without review. The three-year contract includes six Sony divisions across North America, including Sony of Canada. UM has worked with Sony as its North American MAOR since January 2002.

According to RECMA, Sony’s Canadian media spend in 2009 was $55 million.

The Sony contact was good news for the agency, which saw its Microsoft business move to Starcom MediaVest Group in March following a global review of the account this winter.

According to Microsoft’s consumer and online marketing officer Ken Headrick, the review was undertaken as a result of the company’s regular process. Previously, the account was handled globally (except China) by UM; the agency retained the account in 35 other markets.

‘Microsoft is a company always looking to push the [envelope] on creativity and innovation in all things, including the digital arena,’ Headrick tells MiC. ‘We’re all about intelligent risk-taking and I think you’ve seen that over last 18 months with all of our brands, with more to come in the near future.’

Microsoft’s media spend in Canada was $15 million in 2009, its highest since 2006, when it spent $24 million, according to RECMA. SMG will handle Microsoft’s global media strategy and planning business worldwide, and its buying business as well in North America.