The state of local news media in Canada is in sharp decline, which has serious implications for local communities and for the larger national dialogue about the democratic future of our country. It also exposes a need to rebalance our local media system across the country, including understanding what role public-service media (like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, community and non-profit media) could take to tackle local news deprivation.
The statistical analysis of closures and consolidations of local news outlets over the last 16 years shows a stark picture of the failings of privately owned media to deliver local news and information. But it is also important to understand the federal regulatory system that has bolstered that failing system, and only shifted, too late, to try and salvage local news and information.
Despite the dire circumstances, there is an opportunity to re-balance the local media system, in part by giving power back to local communities as well as increasing the role of public and community broadcasting and news production.
The Canadian news media environment is made up of a number of different elements. Traditionally, Canadians have received their local and national news either through print or broadcasting services and, more recently, via online services. Local print media was delivered through community, local, or national newspapers, privately owned commercial ventures financed through local advertising.
In the broadcasting environment, there were local privately owned television and radio stations, also made viable by an advertising model. In radio, privately owned stations dedicated to local news and public affairs programming were also common, alongside other music format stations that had local news requirements.
Also in broadcasting, Canadians are served by public service broadcasters, such as CBC/Radio-Canada and community public access television, as well as community and campus radio.
This model of news media delivery was stable for most of the 20th century. Yet by the 1990s, two factors—media consolidation and a digital shift—emerged and have now collided, leading us to today’s failing local media environment.
Media concentration
Beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Canadian media companies began a decades-long transformation through ongoing consolidation of media assets and companies.
The idea was that by owning various commercial media properties, owners could benefit from more advertising revenue and a consolidation of programming production costs (including news content) that could be delivered across various media properties.
Consolidation took various forms. Initially, it was horizontal, owning similar media properties, e.g. newspapers in different communities. Followed by vertical integration, owning properties across media forms, e.g. newspapers, television and radio.
With increased digitization of media, consolidation shifted to ownership of media infrastructure (cable and telecommunication networks that provide cable and telecom (mobile) services), and the production of media content (television, radio, print and online content, including news content).
More recently, concentration in media ownership is ownership by financial sector owners (e.g. hedge funds, asset management companies etc.), whether in Canada or abroad. This shifts the purpose from news and content development to solely revenue generating properties. It also removes whatever revenues that are generated from these media properties from being reinvested in the Canadian media sector or even staying in Canada.
Concentration of local media meant ownership and management moved further from the local community, often resulting in significant and successive reductions in local news programming, production and staff. It also meant that editorial responsibility for local content moved further from the communities being served, with little recourse for residents and officials to advocate for better coverage for their community.
The federal regulatory body, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission (CRTC), was, in part, responsible for the increased consolidation. It regulates broadcasting station licences and can approve or reject changes in ownership of broadcasting properties. The CRTC can stipulate conditions of licences in terms of programming or specify benefits, usually financial, that would come from the different rounds of consolidation. These financial benefits (called “tangible benefits”) would be fed back through the CRTC via various funds supporting Canadian content production or local news programming.
As the patterns of consolidation became more entrenched in the Canadian media system, regulators became reliant on tangible benefits to fund other parts of the system.
By the early 2000s, the CRTC began to address the negative implications of consolidated media ownership. First, the commission began requiring more specific local news “conditions of licence” for media groups. In 2008, it announced its “Diversity of Voices” policy, in an attempt to restrict the number of media properties owned by one group in a single community. By 2016, the CRTC’s television policy outlined specific local programming requirements for all commercial television stations.
Digital shift
The second factor is the digital shift in the delivery of media content that has grown exponentially since the mid-2000s. The digital shift in print news saw newspapers move online, often behind a paywall. In broadcasting, online services, such as YouTube, Netflix and social media like Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram, have disrupted the traditional private-sector media model in Canada and beyond.
The main way it has done this is to provide easier access to news content and other programming, while undercutting the traditional advertising model of private media.
The signs of the digital disruptions were clear to see as far back as the 1990s. The federal government, through the CRTC, had two opportunities—first in 1999 and again in 2009—to set up a regulatory process to support the digital shift of news and Canadian content to the digital environment. In both cases, it decided to exempt online broadcasting content from regulation.
By the late 2010s and early 2020s, the collision of large, consolidated media companies that dominate the local news environment, which is heavily reliant on advertising revenue with the digital shift of Canadians seeking content online, came to fruition. It was only at this crisis point that the federal government began to intervene to bolster the commercial media model in a digital shift. This included through financial incentives, as well as changes to the Broadcasting Act, to attempt to reclaim and generate new income to support media companies.
Financial and regulatory incentives
The federal government has long provided financial incentives to print and broadcasters to support the Canadian news and creative sectors. In the early decades of the 21st century, the federal government also introduced other financial incentives to support Canadian and, specifically, local news and information at both the subscriber level and the news production level.
Some examples of this include the Digital News Tax Credit, the Local Journalism Initiative, the Local Program Improvement Fund (LPIF), and the Independent Local News Fund.
In 2023, the federal government passed two Acts that updated the legislative approach to broadcasting: the Online Streaming Act and the Online News Act. Both were designed to counter the digital shift, first by bringing parts of online broadcasting within the regulatory system and, second, by creating a new revenue stream for broadcasters.
These recent government interventions are too little and too late for many communities across Canada. The financial incentives are limited in their scope and have not slowed the demise of private local media. The consequence of this has been a marked reduction in the number of local media outlets across the country. Essentially, the consolidation of Canada’s private-sector media has led to a diminishment and scarcity of local news—news deprivation, if you will.
News deprivation in Canada
What does news deprivation look like in Canada? The CCPA’s News Deprivation: Canadian communities starved for local news provide a current answer to this question by quantifying the changes in local news media over the past 16 years in Canada.
The short answer is these last 16 years have not been kind to local media in Canada. During most years in the 2010s, Canada had a net loss of roughly 25 print outlets a year. In some years, like in 2014, cuts in public broadcasting bumped the total outlets lost to over 30.
The 2010s pale in comparison to what happened to print media in 2023—which stands as the worst year in recent history for the net loss of local print outlets, with the net loss of 83. While 2024 wasn’t quite as catastrophic for local print outlets, it marked the worst year on record for the net loss of private broadcasting outlets, with a loss of 14.5.
Between 2008 and 2024, there were major losses in local media news but, over the same period, Canada’s population rose by a quarter—from 33 million to 41 million.
While Canadian communities are much bigger in 2024, the news we receive about them continues to shrink. Of course, the start date of changes in local media may also influence the results because there were plenty of closures prior to 2008.
For smaller communities (under 100,000 people), every province and territory except Ontario has seen declines in local news outlets since 2008. Smaller communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, P.E.I., and Manitoba have seen the worst of it. The average Newfoundland and Labrador postal code in smaller communities has seen a quarter of its local news sources disappear. In the smaller communities in Quebec, Alberta and Manitoba, it’s more like one in seven local news outlets have closed.
Loss of local news media in bigger centres (over 100,000) is less universal. Three in five cities are worse off in terms of local news outlets compared to 2008 while 11 per cent of cities haven’t seen a change and 27 per cent of cities have more local news outlets today. It may not be a surprise that strong local news coverage is often found in regional hubs.
At the other end of the spectrum, we find local news deprivation is prevalent in suburban centres located just outside of large cities. These cities have long been included in what Statistics Canada terms Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), due to the high level of commuter integration between the suburban city and the neighbouring “big” city. For example, Vaughan is highly integrated with Toronto.
It is argued that these cities benefit from the local news generated in the neighbouring big city due to this integration. Regardless, these are cities that have their own municipal governments and have experienced rapid growth since 2008.
Where do we go from here?
The rate of local news deprivation across Canada is snowballing. This analysis demonstrates that the commercial media model that has been dominant in Canada for more than a century is no longer viable.
Despite efforts by the federal government to provide financial and regulatory supports for this model, its demise is accelerating. The solution cannot be to shut the lights and lock the door on local news and public affairs.
The demise of the traditional local media model does not signal the demise of the demand for local news and information. Instead, it is time to rethink, rebuild and renew how Canadians access local news and public affairs.
All communities need and deserve access to local news, information and public discourse. It is central to a healthy democracy and engaged communities. With the increase in climate-related emergencies, it is also essential for the safety of those communities.
Moving forward, a more balanced approach needs to be taken to ensure a resilient and responsive network of local media across the country. This can include many parts of the existing media system in Canada taking on new or augmented roles. It may also include new and innovative ways to make better use of existing technologies and resources. The following outlines some suggested next steps.
A digital shift in local print: Local and community newspapers will need to reset their model, perhaps following innovation by new entrants, like Insauga, a group of community news websites in Southern Ontario that provides free local news supported by micro-targeted advertising. Another example of innovation in print news online is where local journalists are turning to digital solutions to continue to serve their communities, whether through Substack or their own websites, often financed through crowdfunding. Key challenges for these examples are long-term sustainability of each and public awareness of the news provided.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: CBC already provides local broadcasting in a number of cities and communities across the country, yet it is not consistent in its existing service, and it has been hesitant and resistant, at times, to take on a larger role in local and regional service. With a proposed more stable funding model, and a growing glut of frequencies freeing up from private hands across the country, now is the time for the CBC to commit more formally to a stronger role in local broadcasting.
Community media: Community and campus radio and television stations are an entrenched part of the broadcasting ecosystem in Canada yet often overlooked. These broadcasters consistently provide local news and public affairs content. Leveraging these community led media is another important contribution to rebalancing the local news ecosystem.
Over the last 16 years, we have seen a precipitous drop in local news media, despite the expansion of Canada’s population. The brunt of this loss has been in the private media sector, with significant consequences for communities, large and small.
Moving forward, there is an opportunity to rebalance the system by strengthening the role of public and community media, as well as supporting micro-scale private media efforts.
New models of local journalism are necessary for a new century. One thing is certain: nature abhors a vacuum. If responsible local news coverage is lacking, social media will quickly fill the gap—often with misinformation.