Health Canada has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on social media influencers to promote its messages, including over $132,000 related to COVID-19 vaccines.
The government tabled the information in a response to an Inquiry of Ministry filed by Conservative MP Michelle Ferreri, which was first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
Ms. Ferreri requested information on federal expenditures related to social media influencers since the beginning of 2021, including the name of the contractor and the entities involved in delivering government messaging.
According to the government information, all Health Canada contracts were awarded to the marketing agency Mr. and Mrs. Jones, also known as the Jones Collective, which says it provides “forward-thinking digital marketing strategies that drive profitability, growth and scale.”
One of the department’s projects is described as an “influencer campaign to help people in Canada make an informed decision about COVID-19 vaccines.” The contract value is $132,168.
Expenditures are said to relate to “work by the agency including planning, material development, influencer outreach and liaison, update, content monitoring, evaluation, and as management of payments to influencers.”
Fourteen influencer account names (or handles) are said to have participated in the campaign and Health Canada mentions the campaign had to be accompanied by a disclaimer that the government was paying the influencer.
The influencer group is diverse, with an indigenous drag queen, a transgender person, a Métis lesbian singer, a Canadian-Pakistani mother, and a Canadian Sikh actor. There is also a middle-aged white man and a white woman blogging on motherhood.
Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) became concerned about COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy after the rollout and throughout the federally-imposed mandates.
PHAC had announced in December 2022 that it would award a contract to a social media intelligence collection firm to gather troves of online data on the vaccine-hesitant and generate targeted messaging.
“In preparation for increased vaccination education, promotion, and outreach, The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is requiring the services of a consultant to analyze the vaccine related conversations on social media and PHAC social media initiative and campaign performance,” said the tender notice description posted online.
It identified “indigenous peoples and millennial males” as communities of interest to specifically target.
Other Campaigns
Health Canada also paid influencers to push messages unrelated to COVID-19. It spent $149,998 on a campaign to “help increase awareness of healthy home messaging.” Some influencers selected for this project were involved in COVID-19 messaging as well.Another campaign costing $150,000 was for increasing awareness of free mental health resources on a government website. The costliest of the campaigns, at $250,000, it sought to “help raise awareness of dementia risk factors such as obesity, diabetes, social isolation and depression.”
Heritage Canada paid $196,650 to various firms to have influencers promote events like Canada Day and Winterlude activities across the country.
The Privy Council Office also spent $1,150 on the Federation of Black Canadians to have two influencers help with a campaign “working towards improving the health outcomes for youth Black communities during the pandemic by supporting the creation and dissemination of culturally appropriate COVID-19 information.”
Contrary to other departments, promotion by those influencers did not have to indicate the funding came from the government. “The vendor managed the content and payment, and the campaign was managed under the name of the vendor,” says the Inquiry of Ministry.
