Some Metro Vancouver newspapers going online-only, ceasing paper production

It’s the end of an era for some Metro Vancouver newspapers, as one B.C. publisher has decided to turn the presses off and switch to an online-only news service for a few of its markets.

Glacier Media announced Thursday that three of its publications — the Burnaby NOW, Tri-City News, and the New Westminster Record — will release their last print editions on Thursday, Aug. 10.

In a statement posted to all three publications’ websites, Publisher Lara Graham shared that it was a “difficult decision to make, but it was the right one to respond to changing market conditions in the media industry.”

“We’re not going anywhere,” she added. “We’re still here, and we’ll still continue to provide the quality community journalism that our readers have come to expect over our decades in our communities.”

The move comes as the news industry sees a major shake-up after Google and Meta, the owner of social media sites Facebook and Instagram, have moved to censor access to news across their platforms due to the federal government’s bill which requires tech giants to enter into agreements that compensate Canadian news outlets for content shared, or otherwise repurposed, on their platforms.

The industry has also seen a major recession of resources and jobs over the last few years.

In June, Postmedia announced it was moving 12 of its publications in Alberta online, after just months earlier, laying off almost 11 per cent of its editorial staff.

In 2018, the Canadian Journalism Project, otherwise known as J-Source, found over 250 publications in Canada closed over the previous 10 years.

The vast majority of those — 189 — were local community newspapers.