Canadian Social Media Trends: How Brands Are Winning Attention in 2025

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In 2025, Canadian audiences are using more platforms, valuing video & authenticity, and doing more brand research on social media than ever before. Brands that succeed are those who adapt fast: utilizing short-form video, multi-platform presence, UGC, brand safety, and localized content. If you lean into these trends, Storybox can help your brand capture attention, build trust, and turn followers into customers.

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What’s Changing: Top Social Media Trends in Canada in 2025

Here are key shifts happening right now, with data, and what brands need to do in response.

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Trend	What the Data Says	What Brands Should Do
Broader Platform Use	Canadians use 2.7 social platforms weekly on average (up from 2.6 in 2024). Gen Z uses ~4, Millennials ~3.4. Source: Environics Research	Maintain a multi-platform strategy. Don’t bet everything on one network — diversify content across Reels, TikTok, Shorts, and Stories.
Video & Instagram Growth	Instagram adoption is ~63%, monthly engagement ~60%; YouTube’s reach increased by 11 points to ~73%, nearly matching Facebook. Source: Social Media Lab, CIRA	Invest heavily in video-first content: short clips, stories, native video formats. Test both Instagram & YouTube video.
Heavy Brand Research Online	40.2% of Canadians visit social to learn about brands. 54.3% research products/brands before buying. Source: Online Business Canada	Create content that answers consumer questions (“what is…”, “how to…”), show product demos and testimonials.
Safety, Trust & Authenticity	Users weigh platform safety and brand authenticity. Platforms with controversies are under scrutiny. Source: CIRA	Be transparent. Feature real customers and behind-the-scenes moments. Keep your content style authentic and trustworthy.
Attention Is Thin	Canadians still spend hours on social daily, but attention spans are fragmented. Source: DataReportal	Focus on strong hooks, quick value delivery, and compelling visuals to capture attention in the first 3 seconds.

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How Storybox Helps Brands Win in This New Landscape

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Tie each trend into your service offering — what Storybox does that aligns with this.

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Multi-platform mastery: We help you optimize content for TikTok, Reels, Shorts, Stories — repurpose smartly.

Video-first creatives: High-quality video production built for engagement and reach, not just “pretty.”

Content that educates: Product demos, how-tos, testimonials (we build these in especially for brands doing research).

Authenticity & brand voice: We work with real clients, real stories. Use testimonials, behind-the-scenes, local feel.

Strong hooking & fast delivery: Our editing-forward workflows aim to capture attention in first few seconds, optimized for mobile.

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Examples / Mini Case Studies (Real or Hypothetical)

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A CPG brand we worked with saw 3× more engagement when switching from static carousel posts to short-form videos.

A restaurant menu video optimized specifically for SkipTheDishes + DoorDash got 50% more clicks than static menu photos.

Using customer testimonial videos resulted in higher conversion rates than influencer content for a med spa partner.

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FAQs About Canadian Social Media Trends

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Q: Are short-form videos dominating in Canada now?
A: Yes — short-form video formats (Reels, Shorts, TikTok) are among the fastest growing, with high engagement rates. Brands focusing here are seeing better reach & conversion.

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Q: How many platforms should my brand use?
A: Ideally 2-4. Use where your audience is, but ensure you can maintain quality. Better to be consistent on fewer platforms than spread thinly across many.

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Q: How important is authenticity/trust?
A: Very. Audience fatigue with over-produced content is rising. Authenticity (user generated content, testimonials, behind the scenes) builds trust — which leads to sales.

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Actionable Takeaways (for Canadian Brands)

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Audit your current content: Which platforms are you ignoring? Which content pulls best engagement?

Reallocate resources to video: even 1 high-performing video per week is better than 7 static posts.

Build FAQ / testimonial content around what your customers ask/search a lot.

Test localized content: Canadian references, local values, bilingual if relevant.

Monitor your metrics: reach, watch time, engagement → drop or amplify based on what performs.

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Sources

Digital 2025: Canada — 31.7 million social media user identities; 79.4% of population. DataReportal – Global Digital Insights

Environics: 2025 Social Media Trends in Canada — Avg 2.7 platforms used weekly; generational differences. Environics Research

Canadian Internet Trends 2025 (CIRA, SocialMediaLab, etc.) — Platform adoption, engagement shifts. Social Media Lab+1

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