Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study released March 20:
Summary
The last 16 years have not been kind to local news outlets in Canada. This report creates a new dataset which tracks the 2,900 local news outlets in Canada whether radio, TV and print (whether newspaper or online). It tracks changes in those outlets back to 2008, down to the postal code level. It is used to determine net losses in media coverage in Canada and where they have occurred.
Devastation of the local print news industry: Since 2008, we’ve seen a net loss of 11 per cent of print media outlets (whether newspapers or online). This has meant the closure of roughly 25 print media outlets a year since 2014 but with the devastating net loss of 83 outlets in 2023 due to the Metroland bankruptcy and Métro Média closures in Quebec.
Private broadcasting is faring little better, but not by much: Private broadcasting local news outlets, whether TV or radio, have fared little better, with the net closure of nine per cent of local broadcast news outlets since 2008. The worst year on record was 2024, with the net loss of 14.5 private broadcasting outlets, driven by the decrease in CTV outlets and decreases in service and closure of several Corus stations.
2.5 million Canadians have almost no local news: The net result of these changes is that 2.5 million Canadians now live in a postal code with only one or no local news outlets.
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