MTM Newcomers 2026: nine in ten newcomers watch short-form video, report finds

Nine in ten newcomers watch short-form vertical video, and newcomers are nearly 50 per cent more likely to do so than Canadian-born respondents, according to the 2026 MTM Newcomers data released Nov. 2. The report covers the media behaviours, technology adoption and settlement activities of people who arrived in Canada within the past five years, a demographic it says accounts for nearly one-quarter of the national population.¹

The platforms named in the release are YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, Snapchat Spotlight and TikTok. Newcomers show double the likelihood of Canadian-born respondents to use YouTube Shorts and five times the likelihood to use Snapchat Spotlight, the release says.¹

Four-fifths of newcomers use artificial intelligence tools, nearly double the rate among Canadian-born respondents. International students and temporary workers show the highest adoption levels, using a wider variety of AI platforms, including Claude, DeepSeek, Perplexity and Meta AI, at more than double the rate of Canadian-born users.¹

The release also ties service choices to personal recommendations. Newcomers are nearly eight times as likely to choose a grocery store based on word-of-mouth from people they know, twice as likely to choose a cellphone provider based on a recommendation and four times as likely to pick a provider where an acquaintance works.¹

The findings are published in the MTM Newcomers Top Trends report 2026, which is available as a free download. A webinar on the new findings is scheduled for Nov. 3 at 2:00 PM ET, with registrants receiving a confirmation email containing joining information.¹

The release does not state the sample size, the survey period or the methodology behind the comparisons with Canadian-born respondents. It also does not break down the newcomer figures by province, city or year of arrival.¹