Canadian industry

541810 Advertising agencies

Agences de publicité

Official definition

This Canadian industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in creating advertising campaigns and placing such advertising in periodicals and newspapers, on radio and television, on the Internet, or with other media. These establishments are organized to provide a full range of services (through in-house capabilities or subcontracting), such as advice, creative services, account management, production of advertising material, media planning, and buying (i.e., placing advertising).

Classification Reference

Official classification fields for this page

Official classification fields taken from the current StatCan source bundle.

Characteristic	Description
Official title	Advertising agencies
Classification	NAICS Canada 2022 Version 1.0
Publishing authority	Statistics Canada
Hierarchical level	Canadian industry
Parent code	54181 - Advertising agencies
International correspondence	M7310*
Source	https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/subjects/standard/naics/2022/v1/index
Source verification	2026-05-05

Canada Business Context

Canada-wide tax and filing context

Canada-wide business, tax, and filing context from the local country pack and tax pack.

Characteristic	Description
Tax authority	Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
Business identifier	Business Number (BN): 9-digit identifier with program account suffixes such as RT0001 for GST/HST, RP0001 for payroll, and RC0001 for corporate income tax.
Filing requirements	Business Number registration; Form T2125 (Statement of Business or Professional Activities) attached to T1; Form T2 (Corporation Income Tax Return); Form T5013; Form GST34
Sector authority	No cluster authority recorded in the local country pack.

Exclusions

conceptualizing and producing graphic designs, but not placing the advertising with media (See 541430 Graphic design services)
creating direct mail advertising campaigns (See 541860 Direct mail advertising)
event planning for advertising (See 541899 All other services related to advertising (CAN))
providing marketing consulting services (See 541611 Administrative management and general management consulting services (US))
provincial tourism agencies (See 912910 Other provincial and territorial public administration (CAN))
purchasing advertising space from media outlets and reselling it to advertising agencies or individual companies directly (See 541830 Media buying agencies)
search engine optimization (See 519290 Web search portals and all other information services)
selling media time or space for media owners (See 541840 Media representatives)
tourism business associations (See 813910 Business associations (US))
writing promotional messages, but not placing the advertising with media (See 541891 Specialty advertising distributors (CAN))

Examples

full-service advertising agency
sales promotion campaign services
advertising agencies
consulting services, advertising and publicity agency
full-service advertising agency
sales promotion campaign services

Who is this code for

This code typically applies to:

Advertising agencies

Also relevant for

full-service advertising agency sales promotion campaign services consulting services, advertising and publicity agency

Source: STATCAN_TITLE, 2026-05-05

Classification Confidence Score

5 of 6 factors passing

8/ 10

Verified official source — naics-scian-2022-structure-v1-eng.csv (2026-05-05)

International crosswalk — ISIC Rev. 4 mapping: M7310*

Previous edition migration — NAICS 2017 to 2022 continuity confirmed

Complete hierarchy — 5 levels confirmed in hierarchy

Size or threshold documented — SME thresholds documented in federal tax pack

Trade or export match — No direct HS code correspondence in current bundle

Legacy crosswalk — Legacy system (SIC 1980) retired in this region

Business Profiles

When you might need code 541810

These role examples come from the official title and example wording attached to this code.

01 541810

Advertising agencies

Use this page when the business is directly described by the official title or definition for 541810 Advertising agencies. It is the closest source-backed checkpoint before BN registration, GST/HST review, banking onboarding, or internal classification work.

02 541810

full-service advertising agency

Use this page when the activity is described in the official StatCan example wording as full-service advertising agency. Compare the definition, exclusions, and nearby codes here before attaching 541810 Advertising agencies to a business file.

03 541810

sales promotion campaign services

Use this page when the activity is described in the official StatCan example wording as sales promotion campaign services. Compare the definition, exclusions, and nearby codes here before attaching 541810 Advertising agencies to a business file.

04 541810

consulting services, advertising and publicity agency

Use this page when the activity is described in the official StatCan example wording as consulting services, advertising and publicity agency. Compare the definition, exclusions, and nearby codes here before attaching 541810 Advertising agencies to a business file.

Business Map

Business categories in this branch

A rotating set of business activity examples linked to this part of the Canadian hierarchy.

In this section

541810Advertising agencies

Commonly confused with

541430 — Graphic design services

conceptualizing and producing graphic designs, but not placing the advertising with media (See 5414...

541860 — Direct mail advertising

creating direct mail advertising campaigns (See 541860 Direct mail advertising)

541899 — All other services related to advertising

event planning for advertising (See 541899 All other services related to advertising (CAN))

541611 — Administrative management and general management consulting services

providing marketing consulting services (See 541611 Administrative management and general managemen...

912910 — Other provincial and territorial public administration

provincial tourism agencies (See 912910 Other provincial and territorial public administration (CAN...

ISIC Rev. 4 correspondence

M7310*Advertising

Approximate correspondence

Advertising agencies

US NAICS reference541810 - Advertising Agencies

Source row

541810Advertising agencies

This page mirrors the source row from the structure CSV and the matching rows from the elements and crosswalk files.

Frequently asked questions

What does code 541810 cover?

Advertising agencies: This Canadian industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in creating advertising campaigns and placing such advertising in periodicals and newspapers, on radio and television, on the Internet, or with other media. These establishments are organized t...

Which level of the hierarchy is 541810?

It is a canadian industry page in the NAICS Canada 2026 hierarchy.

What is the parent of 541810?

It rolls up to 54181 Advertising agencies.

Should I stop at 541810 or go lower?

This page already points to the exact six-digit Canadian industry in the current site structure.

Are official inclusion notes attached to 541810?

No inclusion rows are attached to this page in the local elements file.

Are there exclusion notes for 541810?

Yes. 10 exclusion note(s) help separate this page from nearby codes.

Does 541810 include illustrative examples?

Yes. 6 example row(s) are available for boundary checking.

What kinds of businesses often start from this page?

Examples in this branch include Research work, Legal advisory, Design services, Accounting support, Software consulting.

Is there an ISIC mapping for 541810?

Yes. The page shows M7310* Advertising.

Does this page show a US NAICS reference?

Yes. A same-code US reference is attached: Advertising Agencies.

Why are both English and French titles shown?

NAICS Canada is bilingual, so the page keeps both language titles visible for comparison and lookup.

Where does the page text come from?

From the local StatCan structure file, elements file, ISIC crosswalk, and the bundled US 6-digit reference workbook.