YouTube Canada is calling on the federal government to create a new industry classification code for social-media influencers, in order to improve data collection of this group of workers, which the company estimates contributes billions of dollars to Canada’s economy.
In a Wednesday press release, the video-sharing giant, owned by Alphabet Inc. GOOGL-Q, suggested that digital creators should be recognized as a distinct professional category in the North American Industry Classification System, or NAICS. Governments use the system’s numeric codes in official statistics to classify businesses by their primary economic activity.
“We just do not have great data on the impact of the creator economy in Canada. This is a business sector that is projected to be worth billions of dollars in the coming years and we have no visibility as to who is doing this work, how many people work as creators and what size their businesses are,” said Nicole Bell, head of YouTube Canada.
YouTube hosts tens of millions of content creators on its platform globally, and created 35,000 content creator jobs in Canada last year, according to an impact report released by the company in July. The report also estimated that YouTube creators contributed more than $2-billion to Canada’s GDP in 2025.
Currently, Statistics Canada measures the number of freelancers and gig workers in the Canadian economy (including social-media influencers) by using NAICS codes related to the industry they are associated with.
Rideshare and delivery drivers for digital platform apps such as Uber and DoorDash, for example, are classified under the broader sector of “transportation and warehousing,” and the subsector of “taxi and ridesharing services.” Social-media influencers and their contribution to the economy is mostly classified under NAICS codes related to performing and the arts, or advertising-related services. As such, it is difficult to paint an accurate statistical portrait of the size of this group of workers in the larger gig worker economy, and what their economic footprint is.
Influencers have changed the information ecosystem dramatically in the past decade. A November, 2025, study conducted by the McGill University and University of Toronto-led Media Ecosystem Observatory found that a majority of young Canadians (approximately two-thirds) engaged with political content from influencers more than they did from mainstream news outlets. “Influence is shifting from institutions to individuals, with news outlets and political parties and advocacy groups not reaching as many people as they used to,” the report stated.
The reach of influencers is exactly why Ms. Bell believes they should have greater access to the financing and policy-making tools that are available to other small businesses and professional groups. “A majority of creators feel locked out of government policy-making and lack recognition by the broader cultural sector,” Ms. Bell noted.
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YouTube is calling on Ottawa to introduce a dedicated lending stream for digital media entrepreneurs through the Business Development Bank of Canada that will evaluate digital platform cash flows and intellectual property when assessing creditworthiness. The tech giant is simultaneously creating a new Independent Production Fund to help influencers on its platform to grow their businesses.
Currently, creators who have reached a certain number of subscribers or views on their channel earn 55 per cent of ad and subscription revenue – the rest goes to YouTube. But Ms. Bell noted that there is often a scaling-up issue for influencers. “They are not small businesses in the traditional sense. Having something more structured and focused on the specific needs of this group will help them scale up their businesses, which could mean hiring more production staff or renting a bigger studio space,” she said.
Data from YouTube show that in Canada, the number of YouTube channels making six figures or more in annual revenue increased 10 per cent from December, 2024, to December, 2025. There are also more than 10,000 Canadian YouTube channels with over 100,000 subscribers as of the end of last year.