A free and independent press is essential to a healthy democracy. Canadians rely on local journalism to stay informed on what is happening in their communities and around the world. The last few years have not been easy for Canada's news organizations, and today the Government of Canada is taking a further step in its efforts to support them.
Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez today announced the rollout of two Budget 2022 commitments to support diverse and local stories in the news. First, Canadian Heritage will be relaunching the Special Measures for Journalism component through its Canada Periodical Fund with a new investment of $40 million over three years, starting in 2022-23. This funding includes a $1.5 million investment over three years through the Fund's Business Innovation component, starting in 2022-23, for unique new projects that focus on innovative ideas to support magazines and community newspapers. The Government will also invest an additional $10 million in 2023-24 for the Local Journalism Initiative to strengthen support for local journalism in underserved communities across Canada.
The renewal of the Special Measures for Journalism will continue to support the availability of quality news stories and help publications adapt to the continually evolving media consumption habits of Canadians. These measures will enable more than 800 community newspapers and magazines to bring their stories to many diverse local, regional and national communities. The Special Measures for Journalism 2022 call for proposal will launch soon for 2022-23 fiscal year funding. Details on the Special Measures for Journalism and the Business Innovation components will be available on the Canada Periodical Fund webpage.
The additional investment in the Local Journalism Initiative will significantly increase local news stories in diverse communities throughout Canada where no coverage or limited coverage existed before, which is good news for democracy. To maintain the independence of the press, non-governmental administrator organizations with industry expertise will continue to distribute the funding to news organizations.
