The newspaper industry should brace for more challenges in the coming year, as other media players rush to fill the void left by a shrinking industry.

The warning came in November from Statistics Canada which reports on the financial health of the newspaper industry. 

A multi-decade decline in revenue has resulted in newsroom job losses, smaller publications and the closure of many local outlets across the country. The decline is also felt across broadcast and mainstream outlets online. 

Newspaper revenues and expenses continued their decade-long decline in 2024, StatsCan said in its November report. It said that decline continued in 2025 and will fall further this year. 

Independent polling shows Canadians are increasingly turning to non-traditional digital platforms, influencers and “new media outlets” for their news. The result can be “news deserts” – areas uncovered by professional journalists.

While some online sites provide excellent fact-based coverage and opinion, many new media outlets and “news influencers” are highly partisan with little original journalistic content.

The trend undermines press freedom as trust erodes and polarized online media sites feed rage and misinformation. 

The Edelman Trust Barometer Canada Report, published last March, showed a widening trust gap in the media and Canadians’ heightened fears of the spread of misinformation.

The growing influence of new media outlets itself became news in 2025 federal election campaign. 

Last spring, following a post-federal election debate, Rebel News sent a few of its staff to ask questions of the leadership candidates. (Rebel News describes its view as “generally conservative,” stating “that the mainstream media pretends to be impartial, but … increasingly behave like political parties”). 

The Leader’s Debate Commission was criticized for giving Rebel News access, given that the outlet had registered as a third party according to the Elections Canada registry. Under federal election rules, registered third parties are permitted to spend funds to influence voters during an election period, a role that differs from the traditional journalistic function of independent reporting. 

There are several “new media outlets” in Canada that consist of news creators and influencers, including the advocacy group Canadian Taxpayers Federation and The Counter Signal which says its mission is to “hold mainstream media accountable for its spin.”

Amid that competition, the newspaper industry should expect “shifting consumer habits in a competitive landscape,” Statistics Canada said in its November report.

The federal agency tracks revenue and expenditure figures for the Canadian newspaper publishers. 

The release reported falling revenues for 2024 – the most recent period for which it has data – and predicted further declines in 2025 and 2026.

Operating revenues for Canadian newspapers declined by 20 per cent from 2022 to 2024, with advertising sales down 26 per cent in that period. Over the past decade, newspaper revenues have declined 59 per cent.

Newspapers’ operating expenses declined by 19.1 per cent from 2022 to 2024. The industry cut its operating expenses by 56 per cent over the decade.