Google is tops amongst Canadians according to Ipsos Reid’s second annual Most Influential Brands study, which was unveiled this morning at the final day of ICA’s FFWD Advertising and Marketing Week.  This year Ipsos Reid also expanded the study to include a global version, which also saw Google take the top spot.

The Canadian report was compiled by surveying 5,000 Canadians online between Oct. 25 and Nov. 6, 2012 using the Ipsos iSay Panel.

Last year’s top influencer, Microsoft, dropped down a spot to #2 this year, with Apple (up one) at #3, Facebook (up three) at #4 and Walmart (no change) coming in at #5.

Rounding out the top 10 are Visa (up two) at #6, YouTube (up two) at #7, Tim Hortons (up seven) at #8, AirMiles (up two) at #9 and CBC (down four) at #10.

While Tim Hortons made the biggest jump within the top 10 brands, BMO made the largest leap overall, going from #94 last year to #44 on this year’s list. Also of note is Samsung, which jumped from #47 last year to #18 this year.

Steve Levy, president at Toronto-based Ipsos Reid, says he was pleased with both the stability of the brands that stayed on the list since last year and the ones that joined it.

“I was pleasantly surprised that there was some new stuff that came into the top 10, like Tim Hortons,” he says. “It’s also interesting that while Microsoft is clearly a very influential brand still, it moved down a spot from last year. All of the top four influential brands in Canada are loosely speaking in the new media world.”