FAQ

Q. How many daily newspapers are there in Canada?

A. There are 97 general interest paid circulation daily newspapers in Canada. The largest is The Toronto Star with a circulation of about 335,680 paid copies each weekday, about 477,683 on Saturdays and about 331,504 on Sundays.

Q. How many newspapers are sold in Canada?

A. Each day about one in five Canadians above the age of 18 buys a daily newspaper, one of the highest ratios in the world. The daily paid circulation stood at 4.3 million copies on an average publishing day in 2008, and 28 million copies in a week.

Q. Who owns Canada's daily newspapers?

A. The majority of Canadian daily newspapers are under group ownership: Sun Media (Quebecor)/Osprey, 37; Canwest Publishing, 13;  Médias Transcontinental, 10; Glacier Canadian Newspapers, 9; Power Corp. of Canada, 7; Torstar 4; Continental Newspapers Canada, 3; Glacier Canadian Newspapers/Alta Newspaper Group Ltd., 3; Brunswick News Inc., 3; FP Canadian Newspapers, 2; Halifax Herald Ltd., 1; Black Press, 1; CTVglobemedia, 1. There are 4 independent daily newspapers that are privately-owned.

Q. What about free dailies in Canada?

A.  In 2008, there were six ownership groups publishing about 37 free daily newspapers in Canada. This new breed of newspaper arrived in Canada in 2000 and has been successful in attracting new, young newspaper readers. On an average day, circulation of free dailies is estimated at 1.7 million copies.

Torstar and Metro International SA jointly publish Metro in Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. Transcontinental publishes Montreal’s Métro together with Metro International SA.

Quebecor publishes 24 Hours in Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, in addition to 24 Heures in Ottawa-Gatineau and Montreal.

Canwest introduced three free dailies in Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa called Rush Hour in 2007, accessible only digitally.

Black Press publishes 17 free dailies in various regions across B.C.

Q. What about online newspapers?

A. The Halifax Daily News in 1994 became Canada's first daily to launch an online edition on the World Wide Web.

Today most newspapers are extending their reach beyond the core printed product and increasing their audience online. Free afternoon online editions (printable PDF files on letter-size format) are available on websites, some downloadable to a mobile device, BlackBerry, Palm, or other PDA. Other new features include daily podcasts and digital editions that are being translated and audible in many languages.

Q. What is the dollar value of Canada's newspaper industry?

A. Canadian daily newspapers recorded almost $3.5 billion in total revenues in 2008.

Daily newspaper revenues come from two sources: circulation and advertising. In 2008, circulation revenue for Canadian daily newspapers was up 0.9% at $816,327,000 while daily newspaper print advertising revenues were down slightly at $2,503,223,000 (print) while online grew to $179,681,000, up 19.8%.

Q. How does newspaper advertising stack up against the competition?

A. Six of ten Canadians (61%) say they'd rather look at the ads in a newspaper than watch the advertisements on TV. That view is shared in nearly equal proportions across all demographic groupings - gender, age, education, and household income. For more, go to www.perfectpartner.ca

Q. What is a typical daily newspaper workforce?

A. At a large daily, about 15% of the workforce would be editorial, promotion and advertising would comprise 10%, production and maintenance, 45%, business and administration 15%, and circulation, 15%.

Q. Which is the oldest newspaper in Canada?

A. Canada lays claim to having the oldest surviving newspaper in North America. The Quebec Gazette was established in Quebec City on June 21, 1764. The Quebec Gazette survives today as the roots of the weekly Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph. The next oldest newspaper is the U.S.'s Hartford Courant in Connecticut. It was first issued on Oct. 29, 1764. (Source, W. H. Kesterton's "A History of Journalism in Canada", 1966)

The Montreal Gazette is Canada's oldest continuously published newspaper. It was launched on June 3, 1778, by Fleury Mesplet.

The Kingston Whig-Standard, which lays claim to being the oldest continually-published DAILY newspaper in Canada, has daily roots that go back to 1849 when the British Whig became "Canada West's" first successful daily. The Kingston Whig-Standard was established in 1924 after the merger of the British Whig and Kingston Standard.

The first daily in British North America was the Daily Advertiser in Montreal (1833). (Source, W. H. Kesterton's "A History of Journalism in Canada", 1966)