Our Newsletter
THE CONNECTOR
SPRING EDITION 2026
QCNA NEWS
QCNA's First Ever Career & Networking Event
QCNA hosted its 46th AGM and Annual Awards Gala on June 12th at the Chateau Cartier hotel in Aylmer. This year, instead of conference activities in the afternoon, we were able to host a first-ever community media career and networking event thanks to funding through YES Entrepreneurship. 28 out of our 30 member publications were in attendance as well as three local community radio stations. The event featured “booths” from representing media, two panel discussions with journalist and educational professionals, and the event was sold out to the public. In partnership with The Equity newspaper, the career and networking event was live streamed. Check out the lively discussions here.
NEWS FOR MEMBERS
Launch of JFF's Project Funding Stream
The Journalism Futures Fund is a pooled fund that supports independent journalism to strengthen civic life and democracy in Canada.
Applications are open to independent, established small to medium-sized journalism organizations with budgets under $1,000,000 working on any platform and serving audiences primarily in Canada.
The Fund prioritizes organizations that serve and are led by communities that are underserved in Canadian media. They welcome first-time grant applicants and we encourage all QCNA member publications to explore this revenue opportunity.
Deadline to submit an Expression of Interest to the Fund: July 22, 2026
QCNA's Better Newspapers Competition Nominees Announced
Congratulations to all the winners of the 2026 QCNA Better Newspapers Competition! Special congratulations to Nunatsiaq News, named Best Overall Newspaper for 2025, and Lynne Lavery, recipient of the Lindsay Crysler Outstanding Achievement Award. Thank you to judges Fred Lum for attending and presenting an award, and Fred Ryan for presenting Lynne’s well-deserved honour.
QCNA's Welcomes New Board Members
QCNA welcomes new board members Julia Roberts (publisher of Nunatsiaq News), and Sophie Kuijper-Dickson (editor at The Equity) who joined during the past year. We bid a fond farewell to exiting directors Sharon McCully (publisher at The Record) and Charles Dickson (former publisher of The Equity.)
Returning to the board are: President Brenda O’Farrell, Vice-President Nikki Mantell, Treasurer Lily Ryan, Michael Sochaczevski and Ruby Pratka.
It’s the dedication from board members like these that keep our organization going strong.
Regional Development Network Calls for Stories for Province-Wide Storytelling App
EnRoute is a new bilingual mobile app that brings the rich history and culture of Québec’s English-speaking regional communities to an accessible digital format. Developed by RDN, the app connects travellers and locals to unique stories, places, and traditions through engaging multimedia content—making heritage accessible, interactive, and ready to explore.
RDN is asking our local newspapers to partner with this initiative.
The Quebec Labour Tax Credit for News Media
QCNA encourages member publications to look into obtaining the QC labour tax credit for full-time staff who spend a minimum of 75% of their working hours towards the support of content. A credit of 35% is available for eligible employees.
ON THE CALENDAR
MCC's Digital Adaptation Grant Open for Another Round, deadline Aug. 20
The Ministère de Culture et Communication has launched another round of its very versatile grant program that supports the development or activation of a digital project for print newspapers. This could involve a website overhaul or a digital app development project.
New for this year, the Ministry is offering to help you develop your proposal before you submit. The contact email is: paanepie@gouv.qc.ca.
Deadline is coming up fast: August 20th.
SURVEY:
The Online News Act and its consequences for Canadian Journalism
Simon Fraser University is conducting a survey which will inform a research project comparing regulations that aim to address the imbalances between digital platforms and news publishers, and their consequences for journalism.
They have asked QCNA members to contribute your expertise and insights, which will help them understand the consequences of the Online News Act for Canadian journalism. Your responses will shed light on the conditions of the journalism sector and enhance its visibility in academic and policy discussions.
Click the button below to access the survey.
GET INVOLVED
Renewed: Committees!
QCNA’s committees have been very active in 2025-2026 and the work directly impacts and enriches the QCNA membership experience. We encourage your participation! For more on committee descriptions and time commitments, please email administration@qcna.qc.ca.
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
TALQ PLEASED QUEBEC CONSTITUTION BILL ABANDONED
TALQ President, Eva Ludvig, had this to say in a recent press release: “From a flawed process at the outset which ignored the need for broadly based consultation with the population, [ ]to its initial refusal to even acknowledge the 1.3-million-member English-speaking community as an integral part of Quebec, this was part of a divisive government agenda.” “That agenda includes Bills 96, 21 and 84 among others – all aimed at reducing and restricting our community,” she said. “In resisting Bill 1, with our presentation in Quebec City and efforts we led within our community, we found we had many concerns in common with other Quebecers, especially those focused on the damage it would do to our democracy, something that worried Quebecers of all political stripes, language groups and backgrounds.”
FROM QUEBEC PRESS COUNCIL
The Quebec Press Council announced a second mandate for President Pierre-Paul Noreau. The four year term will terminate in May 2030.
Mr. Noreau and Secretary General Caroline Locher formed a highly dynamic partnership during their four years of collaboration at the helm of the CPQ. While maintaining optimal conditions for rigorously handling public complaints, they jointly implemented new initiatives: one focused on ethics training for journalists and journalism students, and the other aimed at raising public awareness of the characteristics of professional journalism.
If you are interested in exploring some of the council’s decisions, you can read about them here.
Ministry Confirms Subsidy for Community Newspapers
The Ministry of Culture and Communications delivered letters to printed newspapers in the past weeks. The Ministry will continue to exempt smaller publications that reported less than 15 tonnes of newsprint production in 2025. But the large provincial dailies will not be exempt. So although this provides QCNA members some reprieve, the trend continues to penalize the printed format. If your publication has not received a letter from the Ministry, we remind you that all printed newspapers must report tonnage with EcoEntreprisesQuebec (EEQ).
QCNA Member Slack Chat!
Coming out of the in-person strategic planning last year, members asked for an informal chat space to share ideas. Please contact QCNA to be invited and join the conversations!
