''24 Hours'' (french: 24 Heures) was a group of English-language and French-language

free daily newspaper Free newspapers are distributed Gratis versus libre, 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. Th ...

s published in Canada. It was published in French 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- ...

and

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's Na ...

and in English 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 ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

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 Gatineau edition was discontinued in 2008 and the Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa editions ceased publication in 2013. The Toronto and Vancouver editions were sold to

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 ...

as part of Quebecor's divestment of English-language news, and they were later acquired by

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 ...

in an asset swap on November 27, 2017 and immediately shut down in favour of the Torstar-owned '' Metro'' papers in those cities (rebranded ''StarMetro'' the following year). The French-language Montreal edition published by Quebecor Media and known as '' 24heures'' later known as ''24H'' and now known as ''24'' and published weekly is the only survivor under the name after folding of all the other Canadian editions. In 2021, it re-launched as a print weekly. The newspaper also underwent a major redesign with the title change to ''24''. New 24hours montreal newspaper logo

Also recently the newspaper logo has changed

History

In 2000,

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 ...

launched its free daily ''Metro'' newspaper in Toronto, eventually expanding with local editions across Canada. In Toronto, the ''Toronto Sun'' and ''Toronto Star'' scrambled to launch their own free dailies, Sun Media's ''FYI Toronto'' and Torstar's ''GTA Today''. In mid-2001, ''GTA Today'' had merged with ''Metro'' and in October of the same year Sun Media ceased publication of ''FYI Toronto''. However, as the ''Toronto Sun'' itself had been largely dependent on sales to commuters the success of ''Metro'' ate into its market share and in 2003, Sun Media re-entered the giveaway market with the launch of ''24 Hours'' in Toronto. The Montreal French-language paper was originally called "Metropolitain" (English: "Metropolitan") and had a large lowercase "m" as its logo, before becoming ''24 Heures'' in 2005. On November 14, 2006, ''24 Hours'' launched two new editions in the Ottawa–Gatineau area—an English edition published in

, and a French edition published in

. The Gatineau version stopped publishing on May 9, 2008. The Vancouver edition of ''24 Hours'' was a joint venture of Sun Media and the

Jim Pattison Group The Jim Pattison Group is a Canadian conglomerate based in Vancouver. In a recent survey by the Financial Post, the firm was ranked as Canada's 62nd largest company. Jim Pattison, a Vancouver-based entrepreneur, is the chairman, CEO, and sole ...

; Pattison sold his share of the Vancouver edition in 2007. In fall 2009, ''24 Hours'' and ''24 Heures'' were given an extensive makeover. The paper was given the alternative name ''24H''; while ''24H'' is short-form for "24 Hours" in French, the name was applied to all editions. The paper's colour scheme changed for the Montreal edition, from black and yellow to blue and orange, to match the other editions' colours. As of January 3, 2011, the Montreal edition of ''24 H'' had reached an agreement with the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) for exclusive distribution in the underground Montreal métro network, replacing the ''Metro'' newspaper. On November 27, 2017, the Toronto and Vancouver editions were acquired by Torstar during Torstar-Postmedia swap deal and were immediately shut down and merged into the Torstar owned Metro. The sale was part of a trade between Torstar and Postmedia, in which more than forty local newspapers changed ownership, with several closing. As a result of the trade and closures, the

Competition Bureau The Competition Bureau (french: Bureau de la concurrence) is the competition regulator in Canada. It is an independent Canadian law enforcement agency that ensures that markets operate in a competitive, innovative manner. Headed by the Comm ...

began an investigation into violations of the

Competition Act The ''Competition Act'' is a Canadian federal law governing competition law in Canada. The Act contains both criminal and civil provisions aimed at preventing anti-competitive practices in the marketplace. The Act is enforced and administered ...

and raided the offices of Postmedia and Torstar to search for evidence.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:24 Hours (Newspaper) Newspapers published in Toronto Newspapers published in Vancouver Newspapers published in Ottawa Newspapers published in Calgary Newspapers published in Edmonton National newspapers published in Canada Postmedia Network publications Quebecor Free daily newspapers Publications established in 2003 Daily newspapers published in Alberta Daily newspapers published in Ontario Daily newspapers published in British Columbia Newspapers published in Montreal Daily newspapers published in Quebec French-language newspapers published in Quebec

History

See also

References

External links