ABC Vancouver vastly outspent rivals on social media ads in this election

Mayor Ken Sim and ABC Vancouver unveil plan for first 100 days if re-elected, in Vancouver on Oct. 5, 2026. Photo by Arlen Redekop /PNG

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Ken Sim and ABC Vancouver spent over $62,000 on social media ads before this year’s municipal elections — 100 times more than ABC’s main opponent, Pete Fry and the Green party of Vancouver, which spent less than $500 on social media ads in the same time period.

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A Postmedia analysis of spending on political ads on Facebook, Instagram and other digital platforms owned by Meta, during the 90-period ending Oct. 11, found that ABC Vancouver vastly outspent rival parties when it came to social media advertising.

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The Vancouver Liberals, led by Kareem Allam, came in second, spending about $25,000. Vote Vancouver, led by Rebecca Bligh, came in third, spending just over $21,000. COPE, TEAM, and OneCity spent between roughly $6,000 and $8,000 each.

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“Our strategy on Meta has been mostly organic,” said Dominique Damian-Wallace of the Green party’s campaign team. “Paid ads also tend to get very short actual view times, often just a few seconds. Instead of boosting posts, we put money into staff and (get out the vote) effort, building a strong ground game and getting our supporters to the polls.”

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She pointed to a video of Pete Fry on Davie Street, with over 100,000 views and “no paid push,” as an example of the power of the party’s organic reach.

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Money spent on ads didn’t necessarily translate into meaningful engagement, Postmedia found.

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A highly produced video posted to Ken Sim’s X account generated a bit more than 100 likes, retweets and other indicators of engagement.

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Engagement with COPE councillor Sean Orr’s response to the ABC post was more than twice as high.

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Online attention doesn’t necessarily translate into real-world votes.

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ABC Vancouver had relatively little online ad presence in the 2022 election but won with a significant majority.

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Kathleen Reid, of ABC Vancouver, said the party’s campaign budget was over $2.5 million, and “generally splits between staffing, (get out the vote) and advertising.”

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Instead of spending money on social media ads, Damian-Wallace said the Green party was leaning into an organic, grassroots approach.

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“The Greens have always been a grassroots party, and we take pride in getting an excellent return on every dollar. Historically, we’ve had the lowest dollars-per-vote ratio among municipal parties,” she said.

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