{"id":1107,"date":"2017-07-11T17:38:21","date_gmt":"2017-07-11T21:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acaweb.ca\/en\/?page_id=1107"},"modified":"2026-06-08T11:16:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T15:16:17","slug":"responsible-advertising-to-children","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/acaweb.ca\/en\/leadership\/strategic-priorities\/responsible-advertising-to-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Responsible Advertising To Children"},"content":{"rendered":"

Browse All Strategic Priorities<\/a><\/p>\n

ACA recognizes children are a special audience. That\u2019s why ACA supports the government\u2019s objective to restrict messages about the consumption and choice of food and beverage products to children under the age of 13.<\/p>\n

History<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"Mandatory<\/a>In Canada, advertising to children for foods and beverages that did not meet Health Canada\u2019s nutrition standards was restricted through a Code<\/a> and supporting Guide<\/a>, independently administered by Ad Standards<\/a>, underpinned by a complaint procedure<\/a>. The code was developed collaboratively by ACA, the Canadian Beverage Association (CBA), Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada (FHCP) and Restaurants Canada in June 2021 and officially came into effect June 28, 2023.<\/p>\n

The Code restrictions are based on and exceed Health Canada\u2019s Draft Guide (2018).
\nThe centre piece of Code and Guide are sections 248 and 249 of la Loi de la protection du consommateur<\/a> \u2013 a successful Canadian solution that has restricted advertising to children in Quebec for over 40 years.<\/p>\n

Cause for concern<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The industry was faced with a two-track challenge: Bill C-252<\/a> and Health Canada\u2019s Policy Update<\/a>. Both tracks would have gone beyond restricting advertising to children, threatening the ability to advertise legal food and beverage products to adults, as well as introducing provisions to increase the age definition of children from under 13 to under 17.<\/p>\n

Health Canada<\/strong><\/p>\n

ACA provided a substantial\u00a0response\u00a0<\/a>to Health Canada\u2019s request for feedback in June 2023. Alongside other industry stakeholders we will continue to have ongoing discussions, with Health Canada to again, ensure advertisers\u2019 concerns are heard and addressed.<\/p>\n

Bill C-252<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bill C-252 completed its 3rd reading in the House October 25, 2023, and 2nd reading in the Senate on May 30, 2024 however the Bill died on the Order Paper when the federal election was called in March 2025.<\/p>\n

As the leader in Responsible Advertising to Children, ACA was the only advertising association invited to appear before\u00a0SOCI<\/a>\u00a0(the Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology of the Senate) on November 21, 2024 to ensure advertisers concerns are heard and addressed.<\/p>\n

Following up to our appearance, ACA sent a letter to SOCI:\u00a0ACA SOCI letter November 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

Current Status<\/strong><\/p>\n

In early 2026, ACA and its industry partners updated the CODE FOR THE Restriction of Food and Beverage Product Advertising to Children<\/strong><\/a> and Guide<\/strong><\/a> to reinforce the mandatory nature of the Code for all advertisers. The documents have been shared with industry and government.<\/p>\n

ACA recommends that all advertising messages for food and beverages in all media that might reasonably be seen as primarily directed to children are submitted to\u00a0<\/strong>Ad Standards for preclearance<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Resources<\/strong><\/h3>\n

FHCP, Ad Standards, and ACA Industry Code for Advertising to Children Update Webinar<\/a>
\nThe Code for the Restriction of Food and Beverage Product Advertising to Children<\/a>
\nThe Guide for the Restriction of Food and Beverage Product Advertising to Children<\/a>
\nAd Standards’ Clearance for Responsible Advertising of Food and Beverage Products to Children<\/a>
\nAd Standards’ Consumer Complaint Procedure for Children\u2019s Food and Beverage Advertising<\/a>
\nMinisite: Mandatory Code<\/a><\/p>\n

\"membersThis icon means you must be an ACA member to view this content.<\/em><\/p>\n

Member Alerts<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n

(June 26, 2023) New Restrictions on Advertising to Children Take Effect June 28<\/a>\"members
\n(June 28, 2021) Advertising to Kids: A New National Code and Guide for Advertisers<\/a> \"members
\n(February 20, 2020) Marketing To Children Targeted in WHO Child Health Report<\/a>\"members<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Media Releases<\/strong><\/h3>\n

(June 27, 2023) New Restrictions on Food Advertising Directed at Children Effective June 28<\/a>
\n(June 28, 2021) Advertising Industry Commits to New Food and Beverage Code and Guide to Deliver on Government\u2019s Objectives on Advertising to Children <\/a><\/p>\n

Media Coverage<\/strong><\/h3>\n

(July 9, 2021) iPolitics: The Sprout: Food, beverage industry restricting junk-food advertising<\/a>
\n(July 9, 2021) strategy: Food and beverage associations adopt code for advertising to kids<\/a>
\n(June 4, 2019) Globe and Mail: Senators working to block bill that restricts food and drink ads aimed at children<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The industry has a new Code and Guide for advertising to children in Canada. Advertisers can download it here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6060,"parent":38,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"leadership-grandchild.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAssociation of Canadian Advertisers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Association of Canadian Advertisers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ACA_tweets\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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