A Special Report from Go RVing Canada
The Canadian RV market is competing in a much bigger arena than it was a decade ago.
RVing is not only competing within the category. It is competing for Canadians’ time, attention and discretionary spending against hotels, cottages, cruises, international travel, short-term rentals and every other experience promising freedom, adventure and connection.
At Go RVing Canada, our mandate is to help grow that market. We invest nationally to keep RVing visible and relevant, while building tools, content and consumer intelligence that support dealers and manufacturers closer to the point of sale.
But creating interest is only part of the equation. It is just as important to help dealers turn that momentum into opportunity, with stronger tools, sharper consumer insight and relevant content they can put to work in their own markets.
Wildhood: Building the Emotional Connection
Before a consumer compares units or walks into a dealership, they first need a reason to consider RVing.
That is the role of Wildhood.
Wildhood connects RVing to the experiences Canadians already value: the outdoors, family time, road trips, adventure and the freedom to explore. Over time, it has become the emotional platform behind our advertising, social content, ambassadors, partnerships and digital experiences.
Manufacturers are best positioned to tell the product story. Dealers are best positioned to build the customer relationship. Go RVing Canada works further upstream by creating the desire to start looking.
The next evolution of Wildhood is already in development with our creative agency, Broken Heart Love Affair (BHLA), and we continue to expand the platform to emotionally connect with Canadians. The goal is to build on the equity we have earned while finding new ways to keep RVing culturally relevant, reach emerging audiences and strengthen the connection between the lifestyle and the industry that supports it.
From Broadcast Reach to Digital Relevance
Our media strategy has also evolved, and this means the way Canadians see our messaging, and the places they encounter it, has fundamentally changed. Since 2012, Go RVing Canada has generated more than 30 million website visits, and annual traffic to gorving.ca is now approximately five times higher than it was in 2012.
More than 400,000 visits are made to dealer-search experiences each year, roughly ten times the level seen in our earlier digital years, while more than 500,000 dealer-listing email actions have helped connect consumers with the RV Dealer network. At the awareness end of the funnel, Go RVing Canada has generated more than 1.5 billion media impressions and more than 500 million campaign video views. Every year, Go RVing Canada puts the RV lifestyle in front of millions of Canadians. Over the next three years, our campaigns are expected to reach nearly 15% of Canada’s working-age population – building familiarity, shaping consideration and keeping RVing firmly in the conversation as Canadians decide how they want to travel, explore and spend their leisure time.
We know that buying an RV is an emotional decision that can take time. In 2026, the gestation period for a first-time or upgrading RV buyer is 8 to 12 months, involving anywhere from 25 to 40 distinct digital and real-world touchpoints.
There was a time when national broadcast was the most efficient way to reach Canadians at scale. Today, with all these touchpoints, consumers are spread across streaming, search, YouTube, social platforms and emerging communities such as Reddit. That shift gives us more precision. Not every future customer sees themselves as an RVer – yet. They may see themselves as a golfer, photographer, mountain biker, angler or outdoor family. By embedding RVing into those communities, we can introduce the product in a way that is relevant to the lifestyle they already have.
That is why channels like Reddit matter. They allow us to reach people inside highly specialized communities and join conversations around hobbies, travel and outdoor experiences before someone is actively shopping for an RV.
Our Wildhood Ambassadors support that strategy by keeping fresh, authentic RV content coming throughout the season. Through partnerships with brands, tourism associations and dealers, we generate content for our programs and social channels to keep the lifestyle in front of Canadian families year-round.
Finding New Audiences
The “Leave the Tent. Keep the Wild” campaign is a good example of this approach. It focused on tent campers who already love the outdoors but may be reaching a point where they want greater comfort, convenience or flexibility.
Instead of losing those consumers to cottages, hotels or other travel options, we positioned RVing as the natural next step.
The campaign drove more than 50,000 visits to gorving.ca, over 2M video views, and became some of our top-performing paid video content of the summer.
For us, that is an important proof point. It shows that lifestyle marketing can be both emotional and commercially useful by identifying audiences with strong potential and moving them into active consideration.
Giving Dealers More to Work With
National awareness only creates value if dealers can use it.
Through our Premiere Tie-In Program, participating dealers can access campaign creative, photography, video, webinars, research, digital resources, education and thought leadership designed to support local marketing.
The goal is not to tell dealers how to market. It is to give them more capability. By investing nationally in creative assets, research and digital tools, we can give dealers access to resources that would be difficult to build independently.
We also want that relationship to work both ways. Dealers and manufacturers are closest to the customer. Their feedback helps us understand where consumers are hesitating, what questions are coming up in showrooms and where national support can be more useful. That collaboration makes the program better, and allows us to fine tune the materials. At the same time, the benefit is compounded when we have feedback and collaboration from RV Dealers, so we encourage dealers across the country to connect with us and let us help you better your marketing approach.
Making Wildhood Wearable
This year, we extended Wildhood beyond advertising with the launch of the Go RVing Canada online store. The idea is simple: if Wildhood represents a lifestyle and a community, it should be able to live beyond a campaign. The store gives RVers, dealers and industry partners a way to wear the brand and bring it into showrooms, events, staff programs, giveaways and customer experiences. It is another way to build affinity around the lifestyle while creating something practical for the industry.
Visit store.gorving.ca to order your merch today.
For RV dealers and manufacturers, the goal is to make this national investment increasingly useful at the local level. That means driving consumers toward dealer and manufacturer searches, giving creative assets and content they can put to work immediately, sharing more of what we are learning about Canadian RV shoppers, and collaborating on opportunities that connect national campaigns with local markets. We encourage collaboration to showcase a regional opportunity, a customer trend or a potential partnership that brings Canadians into the RV lifestyle. The closer that relationship becomes, the more effectively we can turn national demand into local opportunity.
Built to Work With the Industry
No single organization can grow the Canadian RV market alone.
Dealers bring customer relationships. Manufacturers bring product expertise. Tourism organizations bring destinations. Creators and partners bring new audiences.
Go RVing Canada continues to help connect those strengths and amplify the RV lifestyle.
We are open to collaboration wherever it expands the lifestyle and creates practical value for dealers and manufacturers – through shared campaigns, content partnerships, research, education, tourism initiatives or new lead-generation opportunities.
That is ultimately how we measure our role.
Are we bringing more Canadians into the category? Are we helping them move closer to purchase? And are we giving dealers and manufacturers stronger tools, insights and opportunities to connect with them?
RVing continues to offer Canadians a uniquely flexible and meaningful way to explore more of their country, spend time outdoors and create lasting experiences. At Go RVing Canada, our responsibility is to keep that opportunity visible, relevant and inspiring – while helping the industry turn interest into action.
We encourage our dealers, manufacturers and partners to stay connected with us, share what they are seeing in the market, and make full use of the tools, content and resources available through Go RVing Canada.
Visit the website at https://gorving.ca/
Visit the Dealer Tie-In page: https://gorving.ca/dealer-tie-in-program/
