It’s estimated that 16% of all online purchases in Canada can be attributed to affiliate marketing. And with a growing and thriving affiliate marketing landscape, it’s more than likely that this number will grow. There are several contributing factors to this growth. Read on as we explore what makes this form of marketing so effective, as well as which industries are thriving by adopting it.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Let’s begin with an overview of what affiliate marketing is, as this is key to understanding the success of this marketing method. Affiliate marketing is a referral marketing strategy where affiliates earn a flat-rate commission or a percentage of sales from promoting a product or service. Affiliates can range from individuals to businesses. More often than not, we encounter affiliates who are content creators, like our favourite bloggers, YouTubers, and Instagram personalities, who encourage us to purchase a product they endorse. However, we also encounter affiliates in the form of businesses that share affiliate links and promo codes in their content, such as a product review platform or news publisher. Even individuals can be affiliates by sharing a personalized link to a company with their friends and family.
The Growth of Affiliate Marketing in Canada
In Canada and much of the world, the use of affiliate marketing has steadily grown alongside the increased presence of e-commerce options. Although not the first, one of the pioneering affiliate programs was Amazon’s Associates Program, which was launched in 1996. The internet was rapidly being adopted around this time, and through the Associates Program, those with their own website could start earning money through Associate links.
Affiliate marketing became more commonplace as the internet was more widely used and social media emerged. Both individuals and businesses recognized the value of affiliate programs, which offer several perks to each.
Key Factors Driving Adoption
Of the many perks and driving factors behind the increasing adoption of affiliate marketing, the following are the most significant—making the marketing method an effective strategy for earning an income and generating profits.
Cost Effectiveness for Businesses
For businesses, affiliate marketing is a low-risk advertising option since it’s a performance-based system. Affiliates are only paid for the sales or conversions they generate, such as free trial registrations. This means businesses won’t have to make payments for a venture that may not perform as they would with other advertising methods. Businesses can enjoy the benefits of advertising, like expanded brand awareness and increased sales, without the upfront costs.
Income Potential for Affiliates
Just as businesses enjoy financial benefits through an affiliate program, so do the affiliates. They can earn an income to support their own business or content creation work. Affiliate marketing is often considered a passive income for affiliate marketers as they can set up content with their unique link, publish it, and have it working in their favour for years. In many ways, they can set it and forget it.
Growth of E-Commerce
While affiliate marketing can work offline, it thrives in digital spaces. It pairs exceptionally well with e-commerce businesses and serves online shoppers by providing more trust and confidence in their purchase decision-making. This means that the rising use of online shopping has influenced the growth of affiliate marketing.
Versatility
For content creators, affiliate programs offer versatility that allows them to promote products or services across various platforms, like social media, blogs, videos, and emails. The flexibility enables content creators to have multiple approaches for distributing their affiliate links, allowing them to reach their audience on whichever content format is their preferred medium to earn more.
Increasing Demand for Canadian Products
Shopping locally and supporting local economies have been growing trends for consumers. Canadian businesses are meeting this demand by leveraging the benefits of affiliate marketing to promote locally made products. The demand for Canadian products has surged, particularly in 2025, amid the trade war between Canada and the United States, making affiliate marketing even more valuable.
Industries Where Affiliate Marketing Thrives
While a vast range of industries use affiliate marketing to their advantage, it’s more noticeable and profit-driving in some industries than in others. These standouts include the financial, travel, online gambling, and retail industries.
Finance
Thousands of financial companies are competing for consumer attention in Canada, and one way they do this is by offering affiliate programs to businesses and creators active in the finance industry, such as comparison sites and personal finance experts. Since finances are such an essential—and often overwhelming—part of our lives, we turn to these sites and people to help us understand our options and the industry. In other words, our tendency to look for authoritative, trustworthy insight creates a lucrative market for sharing affiliate links, making this marketing strategy particularly effective in this industry.
Travel
Much like finance, the travel industry significantly benefits from affiliate-driven recommendations. When planning a vacation, we often turn to the insights of seasoned travellers and travel comparison sites. These help us make informed decisions that align with our wants and needs, from booking plane tickets to accommodations, creating plenty of opportunities for businesses to effectively use affiliate marketing.
Online Gambling
The legalization of online gambling in Canada is recent, as it previously existed in a legal grey area. In recent years, provinces have begun actively embracing and regulating the industry. This relative newness means trustworthy and regulated gambling platforms are new to Canadian audiences. Many platforms have incorporated affiliate marketing into player acquisition efforts to foster trust and gain new players. This has led to many casino comparison and review sites, such as Casinos.com, which offer insights into the options available to Canadians while earning a commission in the process.
Retail
The retail industry is the most recognized for implementing affiliate programs, with fashion accounting for over 23% of all retail affiliate programs. Unlike finance, travel, and gambling—where comparison sites dominate—retail affiliate marketing is driven by individual influencers who share products with their followers on social media, blogs, and other platforms like LTK. Influencers boost brand awareness, trust, and conversions, benefiting businesses and affiliates.
With its many benefits for businesses, affiliates, and consumers, affiliate marketing is exceptionally valuable for marketing efforts across industries—it’s no surprise it has become such a lucrative, rapidly growing sector.