Canada’s newspaper industry suffered another steep revenue drop in 2024, according to new figures from Statistics Canada, deepening a decline that has reshaped the country’s media landscape and forced publishers to confront mounting financial pressure.
The latest data highlighted that operating revenues for newspaper publishers fell to $1.6 billion in 2024, a 17.9 per cent drop from 2022. This decline continues a long-running contraction that has already forced the closure of hundreds of local news outlets over the past decade and a half, according to the Local News Research project, published by researchers at TMU.
Between 2008 and October 1, 2025, 603 local news outlets in 388 communities across Canada closed. Of those, 440 closings or 73 per cent of the total were community newspapers.
“The industry has struggled from the effects of COVID-19,” said April Lindgren, a retired journalist and professor emeritus whose career spanned over three decades. “We are still in the hangover, and I’m not sure how it’ll change.”
The latest national figures, while concerning, do not surprise industry leaders.
“The trends are consistent with what we are hearing from our members, both small independent community newspapers and large urban and national dailies,” said Paul Deegan, President and Chief Executive Officer of News Media Canada.
Additionally, circulation revenue fell 7.6 per cent between 2022 and 2024, driven largely by declining print subscriptions. Digital circulation revenue grew slightly, but far too modestly to offset lost print income.
The challenging financial picture varies depending on ownership structure, market size and whether the publication is free or subscription-based, said Dave Adsett, General Manager, and Editor at WHA Publications Limited.
“Our model is called controlled distribution, meaning we deliver to a defined area, door-to-door, free of charge. In that respect, we are still growing as subdivisions and population changes,” said Adsett.
“For subscribed or paid newspapers, it is my experience with another of our operations that those counts continue to decline. There is little growth with subscription products.”
StatCan’s survey on newspaper publishers is conducted every two years and follows the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) criteria in order to determine which Canadian publishers qualify to be part of this data. This means that different financial models are accounted for without distinction in the final report.
Advertising, historically the industry’s main source of revenue, also continued its steep downward slide. Total advertising revenue dropped 26.1 per cent, with print advertising plunging 34.3 per cent. Even digital advertising revenue contracted by 11.9 per cent, reversing years of slow growth.
The industry association warns that public and private advertisers must understand the consequences of that trend.
“Canadian governments and businesses have a choice. They can spend their advertising dollars in Canada by advertising with trusted news brands or they can send their dollars to California through companies like Google and Meta,” said Deegan.
“We are encouraged by the Government of Ontario’s decision to set aside a minimum of 25% of their advertising spending on Canadian news brands, and we strongly encourage all levels of government to adopt similar policies.”
For Deegan, the reality for Canadian readers is that good journalism costs money, and diminishing ad budgets make that work harder to sustain, especially for small outlets.
The pressures are amplified by the physical challenges of getting newspapers delivered. Adsett highlights distribution as a big operational obstacle, particularly with the shrinking pool of available carriers.
“The pay is poor, and in recent years the flyer trade has shrunk, making it more difficult to see a sustainable way to increase pay,” said Adsett. “Part of that involves Canada Post re-entering the flyer delivery market and offering geographic targeting.”
Adsett is referring to Canada Post adopting a three-day delivery window, often pushing newspapers into their business week cycle, before they are delivered.
As a response, some companies have resorted to moving their content exclusively online. In 2023, 90 local news outlets shifted to online-only publications, according to the Local News Map. However, that does not resolve all financial pressures.
“Online models require a significant audience to generate clicks for advertising,” said Adsett. “The emergence of online only and its being heralded as the future is simply not true.”
Against that backdrop, recent government measures have provided mixed benefits, including the federal digital news subscription tax credit. The credit provides a tax break of 15 per cent to individuals who subscribe to a digital news service, as long as that service is from a recognized Canadian journalism organization
“At just 15 per cent, the digital news subscription tax credit was ineffective,” said Deegan. “It did not drive subscription decisions.”
Companies like Newsmedia are advocating for a higher tax credit in the current and upcoming budget cycles.
By contrast, the Canadian Journalism Labour Tax Credit (CJLTC), which was created to offset newsroom salaries, is seen as one of the few effective supports.
“From our perspective, the CJLTC is highly effective in that it rewards those who maintain and grow newsroom jobs,” Deegan said. The credit is scheduled to drop back to 25 per cent in 2027, and his association is urging the government to maintain it.
Adsett said he is concerned that some publishers are “gaming the system” and using such funds to expand into new markets instead of supporting underserved communities.
Even so, both industry voices agree on one point: if Canadians want journalism to survive, especially in small towns, they will need to support it directly.
“If Canadians want to continue to enjoy access to fact-based, fact-checked news, they need to support it through advertising or subscriptions,” said Deegan. “It’s that simple.”
No use of AI was used in the making of the article.
