Over 22 million Canadians use the Internet every month according to comScore Media Metrix. Canadians spent over 45 billion minutes online in September and the number of people online grew by over 14% in the last year alone.

Advertising budgets have followed this growth, with advertisers dedicating more of their advertising budgets to Interactive media. As a result the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) estimates that Canadians online ad revenues in 2006 will top $800 million dollars.

On behalf of an Interactive industry IAB Canada agreed to provide Canada's National Advertising Benevolent Society (NABS), with $250 for every billion minutes spent online in the month of September 2006. Since Canadians spent a whopping 45,776* billion minutes online during that month, IAB will be cutting a cheque to NABS for $11,444.00.

"This is a good news story for everybody," says Paula Gignac, President of IAB Canada. "It's proof again, that the Internet continues to be of paramount importance for all sorts of day-to-day activities, for all sorts of Canadian age groups and consumer cohorts. And, as the 2006 September number is a full 20 percent bigger than 2005 estimates, it's also proof that consumers' passion for the medium has not waned, and that the Internet still has loads of untapped potential for advertisers. Finally, we're extremely happy to tie this growth to a donation to NABS, in order to keep the industry that develops creative for, produces, plans, buys and sells the medium, healthy as well."

*Verified by comScore Media Metrix Canada, and represents the time spent for All Canadians in the All Locations Database for Sept. 2006.

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