Canada App Market Statistics (2024)

Louise Wylie

Updated: November 5, 2024

The Canadian app market is a highly consolidated one, with widespread smartphone use and strong per-user consumer spend. Despite some wider economic slowdowns, app revenue has remained strong.

App revenue in Canada jumped at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, rising by more than two billion. Canada had the highest per capita spending growth among the 10 largest markets at the start of the pandemic, indicating a quick shift to mobile apps.

Canadian users spend more than 4.5 hours on apps per day, according to data.ai. This has increased by 1.4 hours since 2019, as users turned to mobile throughout coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

Consumer spending on dating, short video and audio book apps has grown over the past two years, despite some economic stagnation. Travel apps also grew in popularity as international restrictions eased.

In June 2023, the Canadian parliament passed a law requiring online platforms to pay news publishers for content shared on their websites. This followed concern from the media industry over access to online advertising and market share. In light of the legislation, Facebook and Instagram have removed news content from their apps in Canada.

The Canadian government is now looking at introducing rules on short-term rentals and Airbnb, following the announcement by British Columbia that it will restrict rentals to a portion of the principal residence and require hosts to register with the province. Regulations are already in place in some cities, including Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, with national rules a possible option for the government.

We have collected data and statistics on the Canadian mobile app market. Read on below to find out more.

Key Canada App Market Statistics

  • The Canadian app market generated $2.8 billion in revenue in 2023, an increase of $200 million on the previous year
  • There were 31.2 million Canadian smartphone users in 2023
  • Apps were downloaded 1.23 billion times by Canadian users in 2023, an increase from 1.15 billion the year before
  • Disney+ was the top grossing app in Canada in 2023, generating $41 million
  • Canadian users spent 19 billion hours on mobile apps in 2023