Powering the Future of Small Business Advertising on CTV for Canada: A Conversation with Magnite’s streamr.ai

Cassidy Coles, managing director of Canada, sat down with Jonathan Moffie, head of agentic product, and Frank Turano, senior principal engineer—co-founders of streamr.ai, the AI-driven ad creation platform Magnite acquired, to discuss how it’s helping small and medium-sized businesses break into the connected TV space, and what makes their Canadian rollout localized.

Cassidy Coles: Let’s start with the basics — what is streamr.ai, and how did it come about?

Jonathan Moffie: Magnite’s streamr.ai is an AI-powered platform that helps small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) create and deliver high-quality connected TV (CTV) ads in minutes — not months. We built it to democratize access to the same kind of creative and media tools that big brands have used for years.

CTV is one of the fastest-growing ad channels and is incredibly effective for awareness; however, for many small businesses, the barrier to entry has always been cost and complexity. streamr.ai removes both. You tell the platform about your business, choose your audience, and our AI generates a broadcast-quality ad.

Cassidy: Canada’s a distinctive market — what’s been customized for the rollout here?

Frank Turano: A lot, actually. Canada isn’t just unique in its bilingual nature, but also in its regulatory and cultural diversity. We have the ability to embed a full suite of Canadian compliance standards into the platform for customers.

That includes Ad Standards Canada and ThinkTV’s clearance guidelines to allow users to check CTV ads against national broadcast standards. We can also cross-check campaigns against Health Canada’s Food & Drugs Act, the Elections Act, and guidelines for responsible food and beverage advertising to children.

Jonathan: And since we know certain categories like gambling are sensitive, we wanted the ability to embed governmental regulations from creation. For example, we can verify that gambling advertisers are registered with iGaming Ontario and screen creative against the AGCO’s Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming, including applicable responsible gaming and advertising requirements.

Cassidy: Impressive! Is Canada the first country where these customizations have been implemented, or have you done this before?

Jonathan: Actually, no — though Canada is one of the most comprehensive. We’ve enabled similar compliance frameworks for the U.K. and France, working closely with ITV and TF1 as part of their SMB-focused CTV advertising programs.

Each market has its own playbook — the U.K. with Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)and the U.K Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP Code), France with Autorité de Régulation Professionnelle de la Publicité (ARPP) — but the principle is the same: make it simple for small advertisers to assess compliance from the start. Canada follows that same model but adds a unique multicultural and bilingual dimension that makes it especially interesting.

Cassidy: That’s a lot of local nuance. How does the platform handle Canada’s multi-cultural and bilingual reality?

Frank: That’s one of the areas we’re most proud of. streamr.ai doesn’t just translate — it localizes. Whether you’re a Toronto bakery advertising in Punjabi, a Montreal retailer running French creative, or a Halifax restaurant targeting English-speaking families, the platform can generate culturally resonant, linguistically accurate ads.

Jonathan: Canada’s diversity is part of what makes the market so dynamic. Our platform can be responsive to those  nuances — from regional idioms to visual cues — so every creative feels authentic to its audience.

Cassidy: How do you see streamr.ai transforming the CTV landscape for Canadian advertisers?

Jonathan: For small businesses, it’s about access. They can now produce and launch professional CTV ads without hiring an agency.

Frank: And for the broader ecosystem — streamers, broadcasters, and OEMs — it means a more diverse set of advertisers entering the space, creating new demand and new voices in premium video.

Cassidy: That democratization of creative and access is something we’re deeply aligned on at Magnite. It strengthens the CTV ecosystem, makes inventory more relevant, and ultimately helps audiences see ads that reflect their communities.

Cassidy: Final thoughts?

Jonathan: We’ve talked a lot about market-specific customizations — but that’s just the starting point. The real power of streamr.ai is that it can also adapt to the unique policies and risk frameworks of individual platforms. Every broadcaster, streaming service, and marketplace assesses risk a little differently, and our AI can help align creative output with those internal standards with ease.

That means when an SMB builds an ad for CTV with streamr.ai, they can assess that ad not only against national regulations — but also with the guidelines of the specific platform they’re advertising on. It’s a smarter, more flexible way to make high-quality, brand-safe creative accessible to everyone. Moreover, we take it one step further and also incorporate the platform’s ad specs, which means every creative is compatible to render on screen.

Frank: streamr.ai’s mission is to make every business, regardless of size, capable of showing up on the biggest screens with confidence.

Cassidy: Thank you both — it’s exciting to see innovation like this shaping the future of video advertising in Canada.