Podcasting is on the rise in Canada, where Signal Hill Insights’ newly released report on listening behaviors shows that after a relatively minor increase between 2022 and 2023, monthly podcast listening among Canadian adults is up three points this year. The Canadian Podcast Listener report says 39% listen to podcasts on a monthly basis, while weekly listening has grown four points from a year ago to 29%. And nearly one in ten (9%) Canadian adults age 18 and older say they listen on a daily basis. That’s the largest percentage point increase in daily listening seen since tracking began in 2017.
“That growth represents a lot of people in Canada, especially during a period when the country is experiencing significant population growth,” says Matt Hird, Senior Research Director at Signal Hill Insights. “Combine that with the population surge, and there are 5.1 million more monthly podcast listeners in Canada now than there were just before we headed into the COVID-19 pandemic.” For perspective, he points out in a blog post that is a group larger than the adult population of Norway.
One surprise in the report is a dip in listening among French-speaking Canadians. Signal Hill says reported listening among Francophones was lower in 2024, breaking a three-year growth trend. The sharpest decline is among monthly listeners. It says 24% of French-speaking adults say they listen to podcasts on a monthly basis, down four points from a year ago. Weekly listening also slid back two points to 17%.
Even so, the report says the number of podcasts and episodes that Francophone weekly listeners consume is up year-to-year, as is the amount of time they spend on average with the medium.
Similar to the U.S., the Canadian podcast listener is more likely to be young, well-educated, affluent and have a diverse background. They are 65% more likely to be in the 18-to-34 age group, 14% more likely to earn more than $100,000 a year, and 26% more likely to be university educated.
“While podcasts are becoming more mainstream, podcast listeners still represent an attractive target for advertisers,” Hird says.
The research shows more than six-in-ten podcast listeners in Canada say they have taken an action after hearing a podcast ad. And among so-called “power listeners” — those who listen to five or more hours of podcasts per week — 21% say they have purchased a product or service they heard advertised on a podcast. And the use of promotional codes is up from 11% to 14% since 2023.
“In general, we know that podcast listeners are more receptive to the ads on podcasts than on other channels, being less likely to skip podcast ads, and most likely to assign positive attributes to advertising on podcasts,” says Hird.
The report does show some advertising fatigue. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Canadians say some podcasts have too many ads. That is up from 55% in 2000. And six in ten (61%) say they get tired of hearing the same ads repeatedly on their favorite shows. At the same time, the number of podcast listeners who say there are fewer commercials than on radio or TV has held steady at 59% during the past three years.
To get a snapshot of the leading podcasts and genres in Canada, monthly podcast listeners were asked to identify up to 10 podcasts they listened to in the past month. Of the 19 podcast genres, 11 showed statistically significant differences in monthly listening by gender. Signal Hill says True Crime and Society & Culture had the most dramatic female skew, while Sports had the largest gender gap. Its survey shows 22% of men had listened to a Sports podcast compared to 8% of women. News, Comedy and Business also skew more male.
While 14% of Canadian podcast listeners say they discover new shows through another show they listen to, Signal Hill says discovery via other podcasts has been slowly giving way to finding about new shows through the apps themselves. In 2024, a quarter (26%) credit the apps for helping them discover new podcasts. And among power listeners, it rises to a third (32%).
Among the Canadians surveyed, YouTube was mentioned as the platform they use the most (35%), followed by Spotify (28%) and Apple Podcasts (13%). The report says YouTube’s growth is not coming from its two biggest rivals, however, noting options such as Google Podcasts are no longer available to listeners.
The Canadian Podcast Listener report is based on two separate online surveys conducted in August and September. The results are based on 1,605 monthly listeners. It was produced by Signal Hill Insights in a partnership with Ulster Media. Download a free summary of the study HERE.
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