''Métro'' (also called ''Métro Montréal'' or ''Journal Métro'') was 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 ...

published in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The paper was wholly owned by local businessman Michael Raffoul, who owns print media distribution company Transmet. Journal Metro was part of the Metro Media group, which owned several neighbourhood-level and burough-level newspapers in Montreal and in Quebec City. ''Métro'' was formerly part of the international group of newspapers

Metro International Metro International is a Swedish media company based in Luxembourg that publishes the freesheet newspaper ''Metro''. The company was founded by Per Andersson, and started as a subsidiary of the Modern Times Group along with Viasat Broadcast ...

History

The paper was founded in 2001, by Montreal-based Transcontinental which licensed the brand from

, itself founded in 1995. It was part of several free ''Metro'' papers launched across Canada and in other countries 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 (, ) 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, 1966, during the tenure ...

system and STM bus terminals In 2010, Journal Metro lost its franchise 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'' (originally founded as ''Métropolitain''). ''Métro'' regained this privilege in 2016. 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 news. It is known for publishing the ''Toronto Star'', its flagship and namesake. Torstar was purchased by NordStar Capital LP, which is currently owned by Jordan Bi ...

Group, publishers of the

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

, 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 left the Montreal edition of ''Métro'' as the only remaining paper presences of Metro International in Canada. While considered a daily newspaper, ''Métro'' did not publish on Saturday and Sunday, preferring a "weekend edition" published on Friday. In 2020, amid the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec, ''Métro'' temporarily laid off 40% of its employees and reduced its print edition to Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. However, all salaried journalists returned to the newsroom later that same year. In addition, the paper suspended physical distribution from 10–31 August 2020. In 2021, ''Métro'' underwent a relaunch, adopting a more magazine-like style with local content relating to culture and diversity, entrepreneurship, the environment, and social issues, and a redesigned website and mobile app designed to highlight content from its localized editions. The paper also changed its logo, dropping the Metro International-derived branding to reflect a goal of "bringing Montreal to Montrealers". On 11 August 2023, general manager Andrew Mulé announced that ''Métro'' would suspend all activities effective immediately, citing in particular that Transcontinental's replacement of the Publisac flyer bundle with a smaller booklet (due to a Montreal bylaw prohibiting the door-to-door delivery of flyers in plastic bags) and a lack of support from investors was detrimental to its finances. In September, Métro Média, the paper's publisher, declared bankruptcy. In December 2023, ''Métro'''s brand, equipment and intellectual property were acquired by advertising entrepreneur Pierre-Antoine Fradet. The newspaper's website remains online but, as of May 2025, no new content has been added and no plans to relaunch ''Métro'''s operations have been announced.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Metro (Montreal newspaper) 2001 establishments in Quebec 2023 disestablishments in Quebec Free daily newspapers French-language newspapers published in Quebec Newspapers published in Montreal Newspapers established in 2001 Newspapers disestablished in 2023