Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
January 2025 - January 2026
Detailed observation of presented data
Recreation and Travel advertisers in Canada ran on cheaper clicks than the market through the entire period, but with sharper month-to-month swings. From a January 2025 peak near a dollar to a late-summer trough close to fifty cents, CPC trends in Canada tracked the global rhythm of Q3 softness and a Q4 lift, then reset lower in January 2026. Despite the volatility, the consistent story is cost efficiency versus the global benchmark.
This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for Recreation and Travel in Canada compared to the global benchmark.
CPC for Recreation and Travel in Canada started at $1.02 in January 2025 and ended at $0.54 in January 2026, a 47% decline over the 13-month window. The period average was $0.71, with a high of $1.02 (January 2025) and a low of $0.53 (September 2025). The largest single-month drop came early: February fell 42% from January to $0.59. The sharpest rebound followed in late spring, with April’s $0.53 jumping 69% in May to $0.90 and continuing to $0.97 in June.
Volatility was pronounced. The average absolute month-to-month move was $0.16, with notable shifts around key inflection points: June to July down 27%, August to September down 19%, and September to October up 33%. Q4 showed a gentler pattern—$0.70 in October, $0.78 in November, and $0.72 in December—before a steeper step down to $0.54 in January 2026.
The year followed a familiar seasonal arc for travel demand and auction pressure. Q1 was choppy ($0.75 average), swinging from a high January to a soft February. Q2 was the strongest quarter ($0.80 average), driven by May–June strength. Q3 marked the deepest trough ($0.63 average), bottoming in September. Q4 saw a controlled lift ($0.73 average), with November the local high of the quarter, and a post-holiday reset in January 2026.
These movements echo typical platform dynamics—competition and budgets intensifying in late Q4, softer engagement-priced clicks in late summer, and a leaner new-year reset.
Against the global Facebook Ads benchmarks, Canada remained consistently below market on CPC. The Canadian average for the period was $0.71 versus a $1.11 global average—about 36% lower. The gap was narrowest in January 2025 (9% below global) and widest in April (53% below). Each month in the series stayed under the global median, with the difference generally ranging between 22% and 52% for most of the year.
Trend shapes were similar but amplitude differed. Globally, CPC hovered around $1.10–$1.15 for most of 2025, spiking to $1.32 in November before easing to $1.05 in December and $0.85 in January 2026. Canada mirrored the November lift ($0.78) and December softening ($0.72), but with bigger swings overall. Average monthly volatility was $0.16 in Canada versus $0.07 globally—evidence of a more variable cost environment for Recreation and Travel campaigns in Canada.
Facebook Ads CPC trends for Recreation and Travel in Canada show consistently lower country-specific ad costs than the global benchmark, with stronger volatility, a Q3 trough, and a measured Q4 lift that aligns with global seasonality. Understanding cost-per-click benchmarks for Recreation and Travel in Canada helps frame industry ad performance against worldwide patterns.
Insights & analysis of Facebook advertising costs
Cost Per Click (CPC) is the amount advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their Facebook ad. In the Recreation and Travel industry, Facebook ad costs can be influenced by seasonal trends and market competition. For campaigns targeting Canada, advertisers should consider local market factors and user behavior. Different campaign objectives lead to varying costs based on how Facebook optimizes for your specific goals. The data shown represents median values across multiple campaigns, and individual results may vary based on ad quality, audience targeting, and campaign optimization.
We use the median CTR because the underlying distribution of click-through rates is highly skewed, with a small share of campaigns achieving extremely high CTRs. These outliers can inflate a simple average, making it less representative of what most advertisers actually experience. By using the median—which sits at the midpoint of all campaigns—we provide a more rigorous and realistic benchmark that reflects the true underlying data model and helps you set attainable performance expectations.
Note: This data represents industry median values and benchmarks. Your actual costs may vary based on specific targeting, ad creative quality, and campaign optimization.
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Late November (Black Friday and Cyber Monday), December (holiday shopping, Boxing Day), Back-to-school (August-September), Mother's Day (May)
CPM might increase during Canada Day, Labour Day, and Thanksgiving. Black Friday and Cyber Monday see heightened e‑commerce bidding. December holiday period may spike ad costs. Back-to-school and Mother's Day drive retail competition. Provincial holidays might alter weekday inventory availability.
CPC (Cost Per Click) is what you pay each time someone clicks on your ad, on any Facebook Ads placement. It's calculated by dividing your total spend by the number of clicks received. Facebook Ads lists Clicks, Link Clicks and Outbound Clicks separately. The former is the sum of all types of clicks (including, for example, clicks to your profile page, to a link or to a comment).
The truth is that varies, so play with our tool to get some benchmarks that are relevant to you. CPC values are highly dependent on the region, industry and campaign objective. The US is one of the most expensive markets.
Several factors affect CPC: your audience targeting, competition in your industry, ad relevance score, and creative performance. If your ad isn't getting engagement or relevance is low, CPC tends to spike.
CPC spikes usually happen because of increased competition in your target audience, seasonal trends (like holidays), poor ad relevance scores, or algorithm changes. Check if your audience targeting has become too narrow or if your creative is showing fatigue.
Yes, there's a noticeable difference between platforms. Mobile CPCs often run lower than desktop. How many times do check Instagram on your phone and how often do you open it in your computer? There's simply much more mobile inventory. Tip: segment your performance data by placement to understand where your clicks are coming from. Spoiler: it's likely all mobile.
For most businesses, optimizing for conversions will deliver much better ROI than focusing purely on CPC. A low CPC is meaningless if those clicks don't convert. However, if you're running awareness campaigns or some kind content promotion, CPC optimization might potentially make sense, although most experts have switched to conversion optimization by now.
Your specific audience targeting, creative quality, bidding strategy, and account history all influence your CPC. Industry averages provide a reference point, but your historical performance is a more reliable benchmark for setting expectations and measuring improvement.
Instagram CPCs are generally slightly higher due to stronger purchase intent and higher competition among advertisers. But it depends on the audience and creative.
Discover detailed cost benchmarks for different Facebook advertising metrics:
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Cost per thousand impressions across different markets
Benchmark click-through rates for Facebook ads
Cost per lead across different markets
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