Press release distribution across Canada, in both official languages
Canada has two media markets inside one country. Reach English-language newsrooms from Vancouver to Halifax and French-language media in Quebec with the same news, translated and timed for six time zones.
- First release free to 10 outlets
- Same-day review
- From $15 per release
Canada
- Ontario
- Quebec
- British Columbia
- Alberta
- Manitoba
- Nova Scotia
- English
- French
- 2
- Official languages: English and French
- 6
- Time zones, Newfoundland to Pacific
- 10 + 3
- Provinces and territories
Why press release distribution in Canada needs two languages
From the outside Canada can look like one market, but its media works in two languages. English-language newsrooms in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary rarely read French copy closely, and Quebec's French-language press expects news written in French, not an English release sent as is. An announcement sent in English only leaves out a large part of the country's press.
Distance matters too. Canada spans six time zones, so 9 a.m. in Toronto is 6 a.m. in Vancouver and 10:30 a.m. in St. John's. Newsrooms in each province cover their own economy first, from Alberta's energy sector to the Atlantic fisheries.
Global Press Release Distribution handles both halves. Translation is part of every plan, so your English release can go out with a French version at the same moment, targeted to Canada by industry and topic. Each release is reviewed on the day you send it in, and the placement report shows every outlet that ran it.
Canada's newsrooms, from Vancouver to Halifax
Each region has its own press corps, and most of them cover local industry before national news.
Toronto
Canada's financial capital, home to the TSX, the big banks and the head offices of the national English-language broadcasters. Business, finance and national news desks are based here, along with many national trade publishers.
Montreal
The heart of French-language media in North America, with Quebec's main dailies and French-language broadcasters. Montreal reporters also follow aerospace, video games and artificial intelligence research, all large local industries.
Ottawa
The Parliamentary Press Gallery covers federal politics, departments and regulators from Parliament Hill. News about public funding, procurement, trade policy or regulation belongs here, as does the capital region's technology sector.
Vancouver
British Columbia's media follows Pacific trade, the port, film and TV production, technology and mining. Many exploration and mining companies are based in Vancouver, so resource news finds specialist reporters here.
Calgary and Edmonton
Alberta's press is built around energy. Calgary holds the head offices of many oil, gas and pipeline companies and the trade titles that follow them, while Edmonton covers provincial politics and agriculture.
Halifax and Atlantic Canada
Newsrooms in Halifax, Moncton, Charlottetown and St. John's cover fisheries, ocean technology, shipbuilding and tourism. New Brunswick is officially bilingual, so Acadian French-language media matter alongside English titles there.
Canadian media, in both languages
Canadian outlets fall into a few groups, and language divides almost every one of them.
National English-language news sites
News and business sites read across English Canada. Their reporters want a national angle, so give Canadian figures, Canadian customers or a Canadian spokesperson rather than numbers borrowed from a US launch.
French-language media
Quebec's news sites and business titles, plus francophone journalists in New Brunswick, Ontario and Manitoba. They cover French-language news on its own terms and expect a release written for Quebec readers.
Regional and local press
City dailies, community papers and local news sites in every province. They cover local jobs, investment and people, so name the town, the number of hires and the local partners in your first paragraph.
Trade press and newswires
Canadian trade titles in mining, energy, agriculture, construction and tech, plus the wire feeds that newsrooms in every province watch. Trade editors like detail, such as specifications, project locations and contract values.
Getting the details right for Canadian editors
Small details tell a Canadian editor whether a release was written for them or copied from somewhere else.
Use Canadian spelling and CP style
Most English-language newsrooms follow the Canadian Press Stylebook. That means colour, centre and cheque, but organize and realize. In English copy, CP writes Montreal and Quebec without accents; keep the accents in your French version.
Adapt the French for Quebec
Quebec French differs from the French of France. Quebec readers say courriel for email and fin de semaine for weekend, and they notice a release that sounds imported. If you have staff in Quebec, ask one of them to read the French version before release.
Mind the holidays and the clock
Plan around Quebec's Fête nationale on June 24, Canada Day on July 1 and Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October. For national news, 10 a.m. Eastern reaches Toronto and Montreal mid-morning and Vancouver at 7 a.m.
Listed on the TSX or TSXV? Disclosure comes first
Securities law and exchange policies require timely disclosure of material news, usually by news release, along with filings on SEDAR+. Check your obligations with counsel first. We send the release to media; we do not file anything on SEDAR+ for you.
Bundles for Canada releases
The same bundles work for every region. Pick one, then target Canada by country, industry, and topic each time you send.
Starter
$290 a year
10 releases, $29 each
Growth
$990 a year
50 releases, $19.80 each
Global
$2,999 a year
200 releases, $15 each
Questions about press release distribution in Canada
Our Starter bundle costs US$290 a year and covers 10 releases, so each one comes to US$29. Translation is part of every plan, which means a French version for Quebec does not add to that price. Larger bundles lower the cost per release; the pricing page lists them all.
If you want coverage in Quebec, yes. French-language editors rarely rework an English release, and an English-only version is easy for them to skip. Translation comes with every plan (Starter covers three languages), which lets English and French versions of the same news go out at the same moment.
Our targeting is set by country, then by industry and topic, rather than by province. For a provincial story, make the province obvious: name the city in the dateline, use local figures and quote someone who works there.
Our editors review every release on the day it comes in, checking the headline and dateline. It then goes out at the time you set, and an embargo or scheduled time lets you line it up with an event, a launch or a market announcement. Allow for the three-hour gap between Toronto and Vancouver when you pick that time.
It goes to Canadian journalists, trade titles, wires and news sites that match your industry and topics, but nobody can promise that a particular outlet will run it. Editors decide. Anything that does run appears in your placement report, with the link, views and clicks.
