The Local News Project

About the project

Local news is in crisis in Canada, with a cascade of unrelenting outlet closings. In fact, more than 500 communities have lost local news providers since 2008; although some green shoots are emerging, the overall declining trend shows no signs of slowing.

This is a problem with wide-ranging effects. We know that local news knits together communities and speaks to people where they live, quite literally. It builds connection through ephemera such as marriage announcements, obituaries and little league soccer scores, as well as delivering accountability to the very foundation of healthy, functioning democracies — school board meetings, courtroom trials, municipal councils. As well, local news tends to be more trusted and less polarized than national and international news, helping to create a greater sense of community belonging and social cohesion.

Canadian communities need local news, and the Public Policy Forum, given its long track record in this area of journalism policy, is well-positioned to help find solutions.

PPF has produced a series of recent reports on the crisis that build on our original work in the landmark Shattered Mirror study. In 2025 we produced The Lost Estate, which made a slate of recommendations to help rebuild a local news ecosystem. Also in 2025, we spearheaded a new election fund for local journalists and followed up with our Uncovered report, which examined how to build back local election coverage.

Both reports were produced in partnership with the Rideau Hall Foundation and the Michener Awards Foundation. RHF and MAF were also partners on the election fund, which was powered by a lead gift from The Rossy Foundation and donations from the Donner, Echo, Gordon and Metcalf Foundations. The fund awarded $525,000 in grants to 40 news organizations across the country.

PPF’s local news work continues, including an upcoming deep dive into promising business models for local journalism.