Earlier this year, Accessibility Standards Canada released the draft for CAN-ASC-4.1 Accessible Procurement, with full publication expected in winter 2027. Once finalized, these voluntary standards can be recommended for adoption into official regulation under the Accessible Canada Act.

So… what does this mean for the corporate landscape?

It means a mandate that will require organizations to bake accessibility directly into the planning, bidding, and contract management phases of procurement.

One of the most important clauses indicates that bidders will be allowed to itemize the costs needed to accommodate themselves or their employees during the contract, and these costs cannot be factored into the evaluation of the financial proposal.

This completely levels the playing field for businesses owned by or employing persons with disabilities, ensuring they are no longer out-priced simply for operating accessibly. And if a project excludes accessibility criteria entirely, it will require a signed, mandatory written justification file.

Ultimately, potential shifts like this where we embed equity into our supply chain does more than just prepare us for future legislation; it unlocks the full potential of diverse talent and innovation that has been sidelined for far too long. By treating accessibility as a fundamental design principle rather than an operational afterthought, we create a business landscape where excellence – not accommodation costs – determines success. As we move closer to these new benchmarks, the choice before us is clear. We can wait for regulations to force our hands, or we can choose to be the architects of a fairer, more competitive market today.

So to all you agency owners and business leaders, this is your cue to start moving away from passive compliance, and instead, start moving toward active, intentional and accessible design. You won’t regret it.

Read more on the draft here.

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For decades, marketing and advertising operated on a single, ruthless psychological mechanism: manufacturing a deficit. Legacy agencies sold an unattainable archetype, systematically sparked a feeling of inadequacy in the consumer, and promised that buying a specific product would heal that wound. It was a cycle of engineered insecurity followed by a commercial cure – deliberately built on exclusionary standards that left vast majorities of the population feeling invisible or flawed.

Now, the landscape has fundamentally shifted. Modern consumers are demanding better from the brands they let into their lives. They no longer buy products to escape an inadequacy or chase an impossible fantasy. Instead, cultural momentum is moving toward radical self-acceptance, authenticity, and intentional inclusion. Consumers want brands that acknowledge, respect, and truly reflect who they already genuinely are. The future belongs to the brands that practice inclusive marketing to meet people exactly where they are – that is the new marketing playbook.

The Mechanics of the Manufactured Deficit

To understand why the old playbook is failing, we have to look at how it was built. Traditional advertising relied on creating an artificial gap between who the consumer was and who they “should” be. Whether it was a flawless supermodel, an impossibly pristine home, or a symbol of elite status, the message was clear: You are incomplete, but this product will fix you. This model thrived on homogeneity, deliberately erasing diverse body types, ethnicities, abilities, and identities to protect a narrow, corporate-defined standard of perfection.

This deficit-based marketing relied on a few predictable, exclusionary pillars:

• The Aspirational Trap: Showcasing lifestyles, skin tones, and bodies that 99% of the population could never achieve, casting marginalized groups aside.
• Shame as a Catalyst: Subtly suggesting that aging, body diversity, neurodivergence, financial normality, or emotional vulnerability were problems to be solved.
• The Illusion of Completion: Selling the lie that happiness, confidence, and belonging could be purchased off a shelf, rather than cultivated through acceptance.

While this approach drove billions in revenue during the 20th century, it came with a hidden cost: consumer burnout and deep societal alienation.

The Cultural Shift Toward Radical Self-Acceptance

What changed? The modern consumer grew up. Aided by the democratization of media and a deeper understanding of diversity, audiences developed higher cultural competencies and literacy for marketing manipulation. They began to see through the airbrushing, the engineered anxieties, and the rigid lack of representation.

More importantly, a massive cultural counter-movement took root. Instead of trying to fit into a corporate-defined mold, people began embracing their true selves. For instance, data from the Ernst & Young Gen Z Study shows that over 90% of Gen Z consumers place authenticity and being true to oneself among their highest personal values. They completely reject superficial perfectionism, expecting authentic inclusion and a baseline sense of belonging from day one.

This shift is characterized by:

• Celebrating Nuance: Swapping out the one-size-fits-all archetype for real, diverse, and messy human experiences.
• Prioritizing Mental Well-being: Rejecting the anxiety-inducing narratives that suggest constant optimization or assimilation is required to be worthy of happiness.
• Demanding True Representation: Valuing brands that actively showcase a wide spectrum of backgrounds, abilities, genders, and sizes as they exist in the real world.

When consumers stop believing they are broken, advertising that tries to fix them ceases to work.

The New Playbook: Mirroring through Inclusive Marketing

The brands thriving today have abandoned the deficit model entirely. They do not look down at the consumer from an exclusionary pedestal; they stand beside them. The new playbook is built on validation, representation, and genuine partnership.

This isn’t just a moral imperative; it’s a critical commercial driver. According to the comprehensive Kantar Brand Inclusion Index, an overwhelming 75% of consumers globally state that a brand’s diversity and inclusion reputation directly influences their buying choices. Additionally, joint research from the Unstereotype Alliance and Oxford University found that progressive, inclusive advertising drives a sales uplift of over 16% compared to less progressive, legacy content.

Winning brands understand that their role is to enhance the consumer’s life, not define their worth. This requires a complete rewiring of creative strategies through an inclusive lens:

• From Aspiration to Validation: Instead of showing consumers who they should be, brands must mirror back who they actually are, celebrating their real identities, intersectional struggles, and triumphs.
• From Perfection to Vulnerability: Audiences connect with brands that ditch the clinical, elitist voice to speak with human empathy, acknowledging that life is diverse and non-linear.
• From Tokenism to Core Strategy: True inclusive marketing isn’t about checking a box in a single campaign. It means embedding equity into product design, accessibility features, and long-term brand strategy.

The old “Mad Men” playbook relied on making people feel small and excluded so they would buy big, while the new playbook relies on making people feel seen, valued, and safe so they stay loyal.

The era of manufacturing deficits is over, and the era of radical empathy and intentional inclusion has officially begun.

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Beyond the high participation numbers, the data rollout will also finally include two historic structural shifts:

1. Sexual Orientation: For the very first time in Canadian history, the 2026 long-form census asks respondents about their sexual orientation. This fills a large historical gap.

2. True Intersectional Cross-Referencing: Because Statistics Canada can now combine sexual orientation data with gender diversity, Indigenous identity, racialized groups, and immigrant status, we will get highly granular data on multi-layered inequities. For example, brands and policymakers won’t just see “queer Canadians” or “immigrants” – they can see the specific socioeconomic realities of racialized, queer immigrants.

It’s going to take some time, but when the results are released in 2027, there will be a lot of brands scrambling to adjust their strategy for this new (but also, current) Canada.

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Multicultural audiences in Canada represent enormous commercial opportunity, yet still receive a fraction of total marketing investment, according to Strategy magazine. The problem isn’t just underinvestment. It’s that much of what does get spent gets diluted into campaigns too generic to build any real cultural trust.

What the research actually shows

MAGNA and SXM Media tested three types of advertising with AAPI, Black, and Hispanic audiences: general market ads, blanket multicultural ads, and culture-specific ads. Culture-specific ads won by a clear margin, delivering an 8% increase in brand relevance over blanket multicultural ads, according to their published findings. General market ads came last on nearly every measure, including brand favourability, perceived relevance, and emotional connection.

The finding is worth sitting with. A campaign designed to reach everyone performed worse with diverse audiences than one designed specifically for them.

Why specificity builds trust

Canada’s diverse consumers are not a monolith. The values and experiences of a first-generation newcomer, an Indigenous professional, and a second-generation South Asian Canadian overlap in some areas and differ significantly in others. A single sweeping narrative flattens those distinctions. When a brand lumps distinct communities under a vague “we celebrate everyone” message, it tends to signal a lack of genuine understanding rather than genuine inclusion.

When advertising reflects a community’s culture specifically, 61% of Hispanic consumers are more likely to try the advertised brand, according to multicultural marketing research by Refuel Agency. Broad cross-cultural appeals simply don’t move the needle in the same way.

What this means for strategy

Culturally specific campaigns require a different planning process. It means identifying which communities represent real growth opportunities for a given product, then investing in co-creation with people from those communities rather than consulting them as an afterthought. It means accepting that a campaign built for one audience doesn’t need to carry the weight of speaking to all of them.

It also means shifting how success gets measured. Reach across a diffuse audience is a much weaker signal than brand affinity, trust lift, and conversion rates within the community a brand has actually engaged with depth and intention.

The brands building durable relationships with Canada’s diverse consumers aren’t trying to say everything to everyone at once. They’re choosing where to go deep, and doing that well.

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Canada’s consumer landscape makes this especially clear. Statistics Canada recorded over 450 distinct ethnic and cultural origins in the 2021 Census, and visible minorities now make up more than a quarter of the total population. Yet according to Strategy magazine, multicultural advertising still captures at most 10% of the marketing dollar in Canada, even as Toronto and Vancouver are 57% and 55% visible minorities respectively. The gap between who brands are trying to reach and who is actually shaping their campaigns is hard to ignore.

Why cultural competence has limits

Many brands approach inclusive marketing as a knowledge problem: learn enough about a community, and you can speak to them effectively. The issue is that total cultural competence is unattainable. No team can learn every nuance of every lived experience. Cultural humility, the more useful framework, acknowledges this honestly. It is a practice of ongoing self-reflection and being genuinely comfortable with not knowing, rather than assuming expertise that hasn’t been earned.

For brands, this distinction matters. A campaign built on assumed understanding can read as tokenistic even when the intention was sincere. A campaign built through genuine partnership with the communities it represents tends to land differently.

Co-creation produces better work

Research into brands that have gotten inclusive marketing right points consistently to one factor: the communities being represented were involved throughout the process, not consulted after the fact. Brands that co-create with community members, rather than extracting insights and proceeding independently, build more authentic and durable trust.

The principle at the heart of this runs through disability advocacy, Indigenous-led policy, and inclusive design: nothing about us without us. Decisions about how a community is represented should be made with their direct input, not on their behalf.

In practice, that means building relationships with community consultants, accessibility advocates, and cultural advisors before a campaign brief arrives. It means protecting the integrity of their feedback rather than softening it to suit a brand’s comfort level.

The business case is straightforward

Google’s research on multicultural marketing in Canada found that 37% of Canadians say they don’t see their lifestyle represented in advertising, and 69% of newcomers pay attention to ads in their own language. That’s a significant portion of the country feeling overlooked by the brands competing for their attention and their dollars.

Brands that approach inclusive marketing with genuine humility, and build the external partnerships to support it, produce work that is more accurate, more trusted, and more effective. Treating it as a box to check tends to produce results that reflect exactly that.

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That’s a powerful place to start a conversation about what it means for your brand to show up in June.

The Canadian Context Is Different and Worth Leading With

Much of the DEI backlash that made headlines in 2025 was driven by political dynamics south of the border. Canada’s story is more nuanced, and more encouraging.

According to Ipsos Canada’s 2025 Pride Report, Canadian support for 2SLGBTQIA+ rights and visibility has increased over the past year, even as global attitudes declined overall. Canada ranked among the few nations surveyed across 26 countries where support trended upward. Nearly 8 in 10 Canadians support same-sex marriage, equal adoption rights, and protection from discrimination in employment and housing. Majorities approve of 2SLGBTQIA+ visibility in brands, in sports, and on screen, and those numbers sit above the global average, often by as much as 10 points.

This is the market Canadian brands are operating in. One where inclusion remains a mainstream value, and where consumers are watching to see who shows up with integrity.

That same signal comes through in Canadian consumer behaviour. Nielsen’s Canadian 2SLGBTQIA+ consumer research found that 2SLGBTQIA+ consumers spend $3.7 billion in fast-moving consumer goods annually, representing 4.4% of Canada’s total FMCG purchases. And Numerator data found that 75% of Canadian 2SLGBTQIA+ shoppers believe brands can make a real difference by showing their support, and 55% are more likely to purchase from brands that do.

The Global Picture: Consumers Got Louder While Some Brands Got Quiet

Globally, Mintel’s U.S. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Consumer Report found that consumer support for DEI efforts rose from 42% to 56% in a single year, a striking increase during a period when many brands pulled back. And DISQO’s 2025 LGBTQ+ Advertising & Brand Experience report found that 80% of 2SLGBTQIA+ respondents thought more positively of brands that celebrated Pride while 40% of general consumers now say 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion in advertising is simply a baseline expectation.

The brands that stayed consistent through 2025 saw it pay off. Morning Consult’s brand tracking data found that brands maintaining their DEI commitments saw purchasing consideration tick upward, while brands that rolled back their commitments saw brand momentum turn negative. Three times more consumers felt the companies that held firm were on the rise than on the decline.

There’s also a clear gap between audience size and ad investment worth noting, not as a warning, but as an opening. PQ Media’s U.S. LGBTQ+ Media Forecast 2026–2030 shows that 2SLGBTQIA+ media represented just 1.57% of U.S. advertising spend in 2025, despite buying power approaching $2 trillion. For brands willing to show up with intention this June, the competitive landscape is less crowded than it’s been in years.

What “Showing Up” Actually Requires

According to DISQO, 87% of 2SLGBTQIA+ consumers say genuine inclusion must come from the inside out, meaning queer people were actually part of making the work, not just approving it at the end. Nielsen data shows that 72% of 2SLGBTQIA+ consumers will stop purchasing from a brand they feel devalues their community. And Collage Group found that 73% of 2SLGBTQIA+ consumers are more likely to consider purchasing from a brand that actively supports diversity and inclusion, but 45% are actively reducing or stopping purchases from brands that have pulled back.

The audience is paying attention. They have receipts. And the data is clear: integrity is now the differentiator, not just visibility.

If you’re heading into June wanting to show up in a way that’s actually earned, the work starts before the campaign brief. At AndHumanity, that’s what we help brands build: the year-round foundation that makes external campaigns credible, inclusive, and worth celebrating.

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Educational Resources and Voices

The following creators offer incredible perspectives that extend far beyond a single day of awareness. These accounts serve as vital resources for those looking to engage in the lifelong work of decolonizing their perspectives and understanding the systemic roots of the MMIWG2S+ crisis. We encourage you to immerse yourself in their work to better understand Indigenous excellence, resistance, and storytelling:

Resilient Inuk (@resilientinuk):

A vital resource for those looking for active advocacy; this account goes beyond standard social media trends to provide direct support and education specifically tied to Red Dress themes and Indigenous resilience.

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A post shared by Vanessa Lee Brousseau (@resilientinuk)

Decolonize Myself (@decolonizemyself)

This account offers deep-dive educational content designed to challenge colonial mindsets and provide historical context necessary for decolonization.

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A post shared by decolonizemyself (@decolonizemyself)

Indigenous Intentions (@indigenousintentions)

A powerful blend of awareness-raising and community-focused content that highlights the intersection of Indigenous identity and the ongoing fight for justice.

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A post shared by FEMINIST (@feminist)

Michelle Chubb (@indigenous_baddie)

A Nehinaw (Swampy Cree) advocate who uses her platform to reach millions, sharing a blend of everyday life, ancestral practices like jingle dress dancing, and powerful calls to action regarding MMIWG2S+.

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A post shared by Michelle Chubb (@indigenous_baddie)

Moving Toward Action

How to show up today:

• Wear Red and Educate Others: As emphasized by Amnesty International and Mikisew Group, wearing red on May 5 is a visible act of solidarity that honors lives lost and calls for justice. Pair this visible support with sharing educational content about the 231 Calls for Justice from the MMIWG2S+ National Inquiry to help others understand the legal and systemic changes required to end this violence.
• Donate to Indigenous-Led Organizations:
  • Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC): Your contribution directly empowers Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people while supporting the fight for systemic change.
  • Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS): This organization provides essential physical, emotional, and spiritual support to residential school survivors and their families, addressing the intergenerational trauma that is deeply linked to the MMIWG2S+ crisis.
  • The Moose Hide Campaign: This Indigenous-led grassroots movement engages men and boys in the effort to end violence against Indigenous women and children, offering resources to stand up against domestic and gender-based violence.
• Advocate for Systemic Change: Deepen your understanding by reviewing the National Calls for Justice, which outline legally-mandated directives for all levels of government to eliminate the marginalization of Indigenous people.
• Attend a Community Event: Look for gatherings, drum ceremonies, or walks in your local community to stand in solidarity with survivors and families. Presence at these events is a powerful way to ensure the stories of those lost are heard and their legacies honored.

True change begins when we commit to the voices of those who have been marginalized for far too long. By elevating these creators and taking direct action, we move one step closer to a more just and human world.

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What is “Calling In”? While a call-out is a public identification of harm – often necessary for systemic accountability and urgent change – “calling in” is an invitation to a conversation. It is a pivot from shame to possibility. It is an act of labour and grace from those who have been harmed, signalling a belief that the brand is capable of evolution.

To be clear, there is a time and place for calling out. When a brand demonstrates a pattern of harm, refuses to listen, or acts with blatant disregard for equity-deserving communities, the public call-out serves as a vital tool for justice. But for the brand that is genuinely trying to do the work, the “call-in” offers a different kind of opportunity.

A Dependency, Not an Opposite: Growth and accountability are not opposites – they are dependencies. You cannot have authentic growth without the willingness to be held accountable for the impact of your work. When our community takes the time to point out a blank spot in our marketing or internal culture, they are essentially saying: “I believe you can do better, and I want you to be part of our future.”

Reframing the Narrative: To build a more human-centric brand, we must replace the defensive fear surrounding call-outs with three core values:

• Gratitude: Acknowledging that those we harmed spent their emotional labour to educate us.
• Perspective: Recognizing that being held accountable means people still have hope in our potential.
• Compassion: Approaching our own growth – and the growth of others – with the understanding that we are all works in progress.

By embracing the “call-in” whenever possible, we stop viewing accountability as a hurdle to be cleared, and instead, start seeing it as the foundation of a truly inclusive brand.

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Our campaigns don’t just sell products – they shape perceptions and culture. Every casting choice and creative decision influences how people see themselves and others. Yet, this data shows we’re far from equitable representation.

What the Numbers Tell Us

• 53% of industries score below the global average for representation in content.
• Only 12% of talent in ads have dark skin tones.
• Just 6% of screen time includes seniors.
• Only 15% of screen time features people with larger body types.

These figures show which stories are centered and which are sidelined.

Why Representation Still Matters

Representation isn’t just moral — it’s business-critical. Consumers connect more deeply with brands that reflect real diversity and reject tokenism. Authentic inclusion fosters trust, engagement, and creativity. When people see themselves in ads, they feel valued; when they don’t, they tune out.

Turning Insight into Action

This report is a reflective moment for marketers and media leaders alike. Real progress requires shared responsibility across creative development, production, and leadership. Key actions include:

• Expanding casting calls to include diverse talent
• Collaborating with culturally competent industry professionals to ensure nuance
• Building inclusive review processes to remove bias early
• Measuring success beyond aesthetics, through equity and impact

A Call to Create Responsibly

Representation matters. Advertising can perpetuate stereotypes – or help dismantle them. For those of us shaping the stories the world sees, this is our reminder: create responsibly, inclusively, and with intention.

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As we enter the Year of the Horse – a symbol of energy, freedom, and perseverance – it’s a perfect time to celebrate not just the holiday itself, but the brands that honour it with respect, intention, and joy.

Here are eight signs that a brand’s Lunar New Year initiative goes beyond surface-level celebration:

1. Authentic cultural depth

Look for storytelling that reflects real relationships to Lunar New Year – not just decorative nods like red envelopes and dragons, but meaningful symbols, histories, and memories. Strong campaigns highlight the Year of the Horse’s spirit: boldness, vitality, and optimism, brought to life through narratives that resonate beyond a sales pitch.

2. Respect for diversity

“Lunar New Year” is not one uniform celebration. It’s marked by different traditions across Chinese, Vietnamese (Tết), Korean (Seollal), Japanese (shōgatsu), Thai, Mongolian, and Tibetan communities, among others. The most inclusive brands recognise these distinctions – celebrating each culture’s uniqueness rather than merging all Asian identities into one monolith.

3. Joyful, uplifting visuals

Authenticity doesn’t mean austerity. This is a time of vibrant colours, dragon dances, dazzling food spreads, and laughter with family. The best creative work translates that energy into visuals and messages that feel heartfelt – not clichéd.

4. Meaningful symbolism

Cultural precision matters. For example, in Chinese homes, the character 福 (“Fu,” meaning “fortune”) is hung upside down to symbolise that “prosperity has arrived.” In Vietnam, peach blossoms (hoa đào) or kumquat trees reflect hope and renewal. These details add richness to storytelling and show that a brand has done its homework.

5. Genuine collaborations

When brands partner with community creators, artists, or cultural consultants, the results often speak for themselves. These collaborations bring nuance and lived experience into every detail – ensuring campaigns don’t fall into stereotypes or token gestures.

6. Modern relevance

Tradition evolves, and so should representation. It’s refreshing when modern Lunar New Year campaigns reflect today’s families and diaspora lifestyles – such as intergenerational video calls, diasporic fusion foods, or younger creators redefining customs while staying rooted in culture.

7. Purposeful products

Thoughtful product design or limited editions that reflect genuine cultural inspiration – rather than using Lunar New Year merely as a sales gimmick – show deeper intent. Packaging that incorporates storytelling, artistry, and community contributions can make all the difference.

8. Community-vetted authenticity

The strongest sign of respect? Research and feedback from the very communities a brand seeks to celebrate. Whether through focus groups, cultural advisory panels, or long-term relationships, genuine engagement builds lasting trust.

As audiences grow more discerning, cultural literacy must keep up. Lunar New Year offers a brilliant opportunity for brands to not only market, but meaningfully connect. By seeking and elevating the campaigns that get it right, we celebrate not only the Year of the Horse – but the ongoing movement toward more inclusive and respectful storytelling.

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