Health Canada's new policy update proposes an approach to restricting the advertising of food and beverages to children, starting with advertising on television and digital media. This approach prioritizes media where children spend much of their time and where they are highly exposed to food advertising, including ads that air during a children's program or on a children's website.

To inform this work, Health Canada has been monitoring the nature and extent of advertising of food and beverages to children in Canada. The data demonstrates that television continues to be a large source of exposure to food advertising. Most children report seeing ads for fast food, snacks, sugary drinks, desserts/treats, and sugary cereals at least once a week. Overall, it found that the average child and teen viewed more than 1,700 food and beverage ads on television in 2019, which translates to an average of nearly five ads per hour. Furthermore, with the growth of digital media and the use of mobile devices, children are also significantly exposed to online ads.

Prior to releasing the policy update, extensive consultations and engagement were undertaken with industry and partners between 2016 and 2019. Following the consultations, Health Canada continued reviewing international initiatives and new evidence, as well as the results of its monitoring activities, to determine how to best support healthier eating and drinking habits for children in Canada.