''StarMetro'' was a chain of Canadian

free daily newspapers Free newspapers are distributed free of charge, often in central places in cities and towns, on public transport, with other newspapers, or separately door-to-door. The revenues of such newspapers are based on advertising. They are published at ...

published in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

, Halifax,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

. The chain was a joint venture between the Canadian publishing conglomerate

Torstar Torstar Corporation is a Canadian mass media company which primarily publishes daily and community newspapers. In addition to the ''Toronto Star'', its flagship and namesake, Torstar also publishes daily newspapers in Hamilton, Peterborough, Ni ...

(90 per cent) and Swedish global media company

Metro International Metro International is a Swedish global media company based in Luxembourg that publishes the ''Metro'' newspapers. Metro International's advertising sales have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 41 percent since launch of the first news ...

(10 per cent). The chain was originally branded as ''Metro'' prior to rebranding on April 10, 2018. ''StarMetro'' was not affiliated with the French-language '' Métro'' newspaper published by TC Transcontinental in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. In November 2019, Torstar announced that all ''StarMetro'' editions would cease publication on December 20, 2019.

As ''Metro''

The first Canadian newspaper owned by

was launched in Toronto in 2000. The launch sparked a newspaper war as two of the city's major dailies, the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

'' and ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Postmedia Place in ...

'', both responded by producing their own free versions aimed at commuters. ''Metro Toronto'' merged with ''GTA Today'', owned by the ''Toronto Star'' parent company

Torstar Corporation Torstar Corporation is a Canadian mass media company which primarily publishes daily and community newspapers. In addition to the ''Toronto Star'', its flagship and namesake, Torstar also publishes daily newspapers in Hamilton, Peterborough, N ...

, in 2001. Metro International sold 40 of its 50 per cent share in all of its English-language Canadian papers to Torstar on October 14, 2011. The ''Metro'' papers in Regina,

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

ceased publication in 2014. The chain's operations in Ottawa and Winnipeg were closed in November 2017 as part of an asset swap between Torstar and

Postmedia Network Postmedia Network Canada Corp. (also known as Postmedia Network, Postmedia News or Postmedia) is a Canadian media conglomerate consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in newspaper publishing, new ...

that also resulted in the acquisition and closure of the rival '' 24 Hours'' chain in English Canada.

''StarMetro'' rebranding

The English-Canadian ''Metro'' papers were rebranded to ''StarMetro'' on April 10, 2018. As part of the rebranding, online news operations were consolidated with the ''Toronto Star'' and the former ''Metro News'' website was redirected to the ''Star''s website. The ''StarMetro'' chain also officially adopted the same

socially liberal Cultural liberalism is a social philosophy which expresses the social dimension of liberalism and advocates the freedom of individuals to choose whether to conform to cultural norms. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, it is often expressed a ...

, progressive "Atkinson Principles" as the ''Toronto Star''.

End of print edition

Parent company Torstar Corp. announced on November 19, 2019, that StarMetro would be shut down due to a decline in print advertising and the increasing use of smartphones, laptops, and tablets. It said the final print editions in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto and Halifax would be published on December 20. As a result, 73 employees were laid off in the editorial, advertising and distribution departments. Instead, the ''

'' planned to open digital bureaus with five reporters each in the cities where StarMetro was published, with the exception of Toronto.Dozens laid off as TorStar closes StarMetro national free newspaper chain
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References

External links