Canadian Media Sources Guide
Introduction
“When local news disappears, misinformation thrives.” - The Walrus
This guide is maintained by a single person and may contain errors. Please suggest corrections for any fact-based news sources that should be included.
Inclusion Criteria
- High standards for journalistic integrity
- Funding from the Canadian Local Journalism Initiative
- Qualified donee status as a registered journalism organization
Media to Avoid 🚫
Postmedia Network
Postmedia Network Canada Corp. is an American-owned Canadian-based media conglomerate that owns:
- Canada.com
- National Post
- Financial Post
- Calgary Herald
- Edmonton Journal
- Telegraph-Journal
- The London Free Press
- The Brantford Expositor
- The Gazette
- Ottawa Citizen
- Sudbury Star
- Windsor Star
- Saskatoon StarPhoenix
- Regina Leader-Post
- Vancouver Sun
Sun Media
- Calgary Sun
- Edmonton Sun
- Ottawa Sun
- Toronto Sun
- Winnipeg Sun
Saltwire Network
- The Chronicle Herald
- Cape Breton Post
- The Telegram
- The Guardian (Charlottetown)
Canadian Alternatives 🇨🇦
Français ⚜️
| Les médias | Propriété | Type de propriété | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radio Canada | Patrimoine canadien (Gouvernement du Canada) | Gouvernement | TOU.TV L’EXTRA |
| TFO | Office des télécommunications éducatives de langue française de l’Ontario TFO (Gouvernement du Ontario) | Gouvernement | Don |
| Télé-Québec | Société de télédiffusion du Québec (Gouvernement du Québec) | Gouvernement | - |
| La Presse | La Presse Inc. | À but non lucratif, organisations journalistiques enregistrées | Don, CanaDon |
| L’Acadie Nouvelle | Acadie Nouvelle ltée. | À but non lucratif | Abonnement |
| Coop Media NB | NB Media Co-op | À but non lucratif | Don |
#### À but lucratif
| Les médias | Propriété | Type de propriété | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Le Devoir | Le Devoir Inc. | Organisations journalistiques enregistrées | Don |
English 🦄
Non-profit and Government Media
| Media | Ownership | Ownership type | Donate |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBC News | Canadian Heritage (Government of Canada) | Government | CBC Gem Premium, CBC Shop |
| TVO | The Ontario Education Communications Authority (Government of Ontario) | Government | Donate |
| APTN News | APTN | Government | Contribute |
| Investigative Journalism Foundation | Investigative Journalism Foundation | Non-profit | Subscribe, IJF Shop |
| PressProgress | Broadbent Institute | Non-profit | Membership |
| Rabble.ca | Self-owned | Non-profit | Donate |
| Halifax Examiner | Self-owned | Non-profit | Subscribe, Donate |
| The Walrus | The Walrus Foundation | Non-profit, registered charity | Donate |
| The Narwhal | The Narwhal News Society | Non-profit, Registered journalism organization | Donate, CanadaHelps |
| Chek News | Employee-owned | Non-profit | Chekplus |
| The Tyee | Appears to be self-owned | Non-profit, Registered Journalism Organization (pending) | Donate |
| The Breach | Breach Media Canada | Non-profit | Donate |
| The Grind | Arts and Labour Media Inc. | Non-profit | Membership |
| Briarpatch | Briarpatch Inc. | Non-profit | Donate |
| West End Phoenix | West End Phoenix | Non-profit | Subscribe |
| The Local | The Local TO Publishing | Non-profit, Registered Journalism Organization | Donate |
| The Maple | The Maple | Non-profit | Membership |
| Unrigged News | Collaboration between non-profit outlets | Non-profit | - |
| Prince Albert Daily Herald | Employee-owned & operated | Non-profit | Subscription |
| NB Media Co-op | NB Media Co-op | Non-profit | Donate |
| The Line | unincorporated | unincorporated | - |
#### For-profit Media
| Media | Ownership | Ownership type | Donate/Subscribe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada’s National Observer | Observer Media Group | For-profit | Donate, Subscribe |
| The Canadian Press News | The Globe and Mail, Torstar | For-profit | - |
| The Globe and Mail | The Woodbridge Company | For-profit | Subscribe |
| Toronto Star | Torstar | For-profit | Subscribe |
| Reuters | Thompson family | For-profit | Subscribe |
| Global News | Corus Entertainment | For-profit | - |
| Winnipeg Free Press | FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership | For-profit | Donate |
| Canadaland | Appears to be self-owned | Appears to be for-profit | Patreon, Canadaland store |
| Cult MTL | Cult MTL Media Inc. | For-profit, Local Journalism Initiative recipient | Donate via Stripe |
| Spacing | Spacing Media | For-profit | Store |
Additional Resources
Political Commentary
News Aggregator
Organizations Countering Dark Money
Critical Thinking Resources
| Organization | Social Media |
|---|---|
| Centre for Inquiry Canada | YouTube |
| Humanist Canada | YouTube |
Honourable mention: The Conversation Canada, Australian owned, with a Canadian newsroom.
Image is licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0.
Is it surprising that the American owned media tend to be highly in favour of corporations?
The most promising counters to dark money:
- Democracy Watch
- The Investigative Journalism Foundation
- Council of Canadians
- Protecting Canada
- Canadians for Tax Fairness
- PressProgress
- Fair Vote Canada
- Bluesky Starter Pack: Ontario journalists that cover work & wage issues.
Obligatory, come join us over at !fairvote@lemmy.ca . We are trying to restore control of government back to the people!
The Globe and Mail is owned by a private holding company that is, in turn, owned by the Thomson family, which Wikipedia describes as Canadian.
Yes, please give me a source on their American ownership … As far as I can tell, the Thomson family is Canadian, so I can’t exclude them.
You should have never let our oligarchs to operate like that IMHO
I am all about free speech etc but you can’t a hostile foreign actor operating at the same level in mission critical industries. They will always exploit it for personal again at the expense of your national security.
Come join us over at !fairvote@lemmy.ca . We are trying to restore control of government back to the people!
Who owns The Beaverton?? LOL
As far as I can tell, The Beaverton are self owned (but still Canadian). However, I am reluctant to include them because they are satire, and I don’t want to cause confusion.
Millions of beavers who generate income from damming rivers in northern Canada to generate water power and create irrigation for southern farmers. Don’t make fun of them … they have sleeper cells all over North America that will down a tree on your house or car or public building.
If you’re francophone (or just a francophile) I highly recommend La Presse and Le Devoir. The former is a non-profit and considered a “newspaper of record”, the latter isn’t non-profit but is still an independent publication and is also often considered a newspaper of record.
And of course there’s Radio-Canada, the French language publication of the CBC.
The French avoid list for me mostly revolves around Québecor — but this is more of a journalistic integrity issue rather than an American media problem. I find it important from a moral and ethical perspective to avoid media megacorp conglomerates (and this is also yet another reason to avoid Postmedia).
One more thing on franco media, reading the news is a great way of developing vocabulary in your second language. Give it a shot, it’s really fulfilling and in this case unlocks some great independent / non-profit options :)
