Ad Standards' Influencer Marketing Disclosure Guidelines were updated in Fall 2025.
Disclose any "material connection": payment, free products, discounts, gifts, contest entries, employment, or personal or family ties.
Labels that work: #ad (which the guidelines call the "gold standard"), #sponsored, #[Brand]Partner, #[Brand]Ambassador, #Gifted, #InvitedGuest, #affiliate, #CommissionEarned. For AI: #VirtualInfluencer, #AIinfluencer, #MadeWithAI.
Labels that don't work: #Ambassador or #Partner alone, #Spon, #PR, #Promo, #PRHaul, #Collab, a brand name alone, bio-only disclosures, and vague thank-yous.
Placement and format
- Put the label upfront in the main message, before any link, and inside the platform's "safe zones" on mobile.
- Video: disclose in the first 30 seconds, both spoken and on screen, and repeat it in longer videos.
- Stories: disclose at the start of a series, or on each independent story.
- Affiliate links: disclose on every post with a link, not just in your bio.
- Use the language of the content. French content gets a French disclosure. The guidelines don't list specific French tags.
New in 2025: detail on gifts versus event invites, partnership tools, children's audiences (use age-appropriate language), and AI. AI or filtered images showing product results must be disclosed and must not mislead.
The law behind it: the Competition Act, enforced by the Competition Bureau, bans misleading representations. For deceptive marketing, penalties for individuals can reach $750,000 (first order) or three times the benefit gained. Since 20 June 2025, private parties can also apply to bring deceptive-marketing cases before the Competition Tribunal.