Our History

2014

  • ACA, along with CMDC, appears before the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications to make the case for the continued presence of advertising on CBC services, noting it is vital not just to the health of the public broadcaster but of the entire Canadian broadcast system.
  • ACA, along with CMDC, appears at the CRTC’s Let’s Talk TV hearings to raise 4 issues likely to impact advertisers: 1) Pick-and-pay; 2) Removing barriers for advertisers; 3) Simultaneous substitution; 4) Set-top box measurement.

2013

  • ACA leads the formation of the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada to introduce a self-regulatory system for online behavioural advertising.
  • ACA intervenes to stop broadcasters extending programming, together with commercials, via Video On Demand for 7 days following its live airing – citing the increased costs as well as potential consumer complaints.
  • ACA effectively stops Quebec’s Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux from increasing taxation on advertising contest prizes. The government board’s revision would have significantly increased the cost of running promotions.

2000s

  • ACA presents its study regarding TV commercial clutter – its chief finding being that too many ads per hour does not respect the viewer and dilute the effectiveness of TV as an advertising medium – to the CRTC, media and the industry at large.
  • ACA releases the first ever North American Payment By Results report, receiving industry-wide and international recognition.
  • ACA provides critical input into the Competition Bureau’s proposed amendments to Bill C-23, which would have changed, under the Competition Act, how advertisers employ contests in promotional activities. Due to ACA’s efforts, the Bureau changes their proposed wording.
  • ACA launches the Sponsorship Marketing Council
  • ACA leads a major effort opposing the proposed Bill C-19, which would have severely restricted advertisers’ rights by threatening, among other action, draconian fines for common misleading advertising errors.
  • ACA successfully opposes a Google/Yahoo! deal that would have established a virtual monopoly in the online search business, thereby raising online ad rates.
  • ACA succeeds in having an acceptable definition of advertising adopted into the World Health Organization and Food and Agricultural Organization’s international food code, called Codex Alimentarius. In addition, ACA efforts result in the application of the definition in the code being restricted to health and nutrition claims.
  • ACA and ASC co-sponsor a symposium and subsequent book, In Trust: Ethics in Advertising, A Canadian Enquiry Into What Is Necessary And What Is Possible, to examine the integral role ethics plays in media advertising.

1990s

  • ACA raises $500,000 in “seed” contributions that allow for an agreement between Nielsen Media Research Canada and BBM. People meters are introduced in the Toronto market that fall, followed by Quebec and Vancouver.
  • ACA works with the Action Group on Violence on Television to develop TV ratings based on the level of violence shown on TV programs.
  • ACA provides seed money to enable the formation of the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) of Canada.
  • ACA plays a pivotal role in blocking the passage of Bill C–55, which includes legislation that would deny Canadian advertisers the right to reach consumers who read magazines published by foreign owners.
  • ACA is accepted as an applicant and is instrumental in having the decision of the Alberta Provincial Court overturned in the criminal case of R v. Brennan, which would have severely impacted the way advertisers run promotional contests.

1980s

  • ACA makes the case for advertising as a key catalyst in the economy, contributing to a 1983 presentation by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce to the MacDonald Commission.
  • During CRTC hearings on Specialty Programming Licenses, ACA speaks in favour of advertiser access to all media.
  • ACA hosts the World Federation of Advertisers 34th General Assembly.

1970s

  • ACA launches A Practical Course in Canadian Advertising, for universities and community colleges.
  • ACA backs the study of four theologians from the University of Toronto, resulting in the 1972 report, Truth in advertising: a symposium of the Toronto School of Theology.
  • ACA helps defeat Bill C-16, the Borrowers and Depositors Protection Act, which would have forced all advertisers offering credit terms to disclose every relevant detail in every ad.

1960s

  • ACA successfully opposes a 2% contract completion commission to ad agencies.

1950s

  • ACA and ICA form the Canadian Advertising Advisory Board (known today as Advertising Standards Canada). The tripartite organization is tasked with administering the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards.

1930s

  • ACA initiates the formation of the Canadian Circulations Audit Board (now BPA Worldwide).

1920s

  • ACA supports a “Buying in Canada” campaign in conjunction with the Canadian Manufacturers Association.

1917

  • ACA is incorporated.

1915

  • ACA votes to support the recently-formed Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), which is today the Alliance of Audited Media (AAM).

1914

  • The founding members of ACA meet August 19, 1914 at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. They are 11 advertisers who want to affect changes in the advertising industry, such as reining in untruthful advertising claims, to ensure a fair and transparent marketplace for consumers and a level playing field for marketers.