''Métro'' (also called ''Métro Montréal'' or ''Journal Métro'') is a French-language

free daily newspaper 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 d ...

published in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The paper is wholly owned by local businessman Michael Raffoul who owns print media distribution company Transmet. Journal Metro is part of the Metro Media group which owns several local newspapers in Montreal. Journal ''Métro'' Montréal was formerly part of the international group of newspapers

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 ...

History

The paper was founded in 2001, by Montreal-based

TC Transcontinental Transcontinental Inc., operating as TC Transcontinental, is a Montreal-based packaging, commercial printing and specialty media company. The company was established in 1976 as a direct marketing company, and later expanded into newspaper printing ...

which licensed the brand from

, itself founded in 1995. It was part of several ''Metro'' free papers across Canada under various licensees. From its inception in 2001, it held a franchise as the sole French-language free daily newspaper to be distributed inside the

Montreal Metro The Montreal Metro (french: Métro de Montréal) is a rubber-tired underground rapid transit system serving Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The metro, operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), was inaugurated on October 14, ...

system and STM bus terminals In 2010, Journal Metro lost its franchise as the provider of the sole French-language free daily newspaper across the Montreal transit system to

Québecor Média Quebecor Media Inc. is a Canadian media conglomerate that owns a wide array of media outlets, as well as an internet service provider. History In 1983 Quebecor purchased the Winnipeg Sun newspaper, which had been independently run. The newspa ...

's ''24 Heures'' (24 Hours; originally founded as ''Metropolitain''). In January 2016, the

Réseau de transport métropolitain Exo, officially known as Réseau de transport métropolitain (RTM; en, Metropolitan Transportation Network), is a public transport system in Greater Montreal, including the Island of Montreal, Laval (Île Jésus), and communities along both t ...

concluded a five-year agreement with TC Transcontinental making ''Métro'' the only free newspaper to be distributed within the

system. This shut out '' 24 Hours''. In May 2018, TC Media sold the Montreal edition of Metro, along with several other papers, to Michael Raffoul, who in turn contracted TC Media to print the newspapers. These papers became part of the Metro Media group. In 2018, all the ''Metro'' licensees in Canada apart from Montreal were 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 ...

Group, publishers of 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 part ...

, and rebranded as '' StarMetro'', though still in collaboration with the Swedish Metro International media group. This left the Montreal paper the only one with the ''Metro'' branding in Canada. In 2019, Torstar announced that all StarMetro papers would cease publication of paper editions, leaving only an online presence, and some employees would be transitioned to the Toronto Star network to handle the remaining online newspaper publication duties. This leaves the Montreal edition of ''Metro'' as the only remaining paper presences of Metro International in Canada. While considered a daily newspaper. the weekend edition often covers the days Friday to Monday inclusive, especially during the summer months. With the onset of Covid-19, the newspaper reduced its print edition to three times per week, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays with the Friday edition being dubbed the Weekend Edition.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Metro (Montreal newspaper) 2001 establishments in Quebec Free daily newspapers French-language newspapers published in Quebec Newspapers published in Montreal Publications established in 2001