Lynne Lavery
Local Journalism Initiative
ACROSS CANADA – Canada Post has made a change to their Consumers’ Choice program regarding community newspapers. Consumers’ Choice is when a person indicates they don’t want commercial flyers delivered to their address or post box. Previously, free distribution community newspapers, which are considered to be an essential service, were exempt from this restriction, which allowed businesses to choose them as a means to distribute flyers and other sales information.
Effective January 8, 2024, community newspapers, including the Pontiac Journal, with commercial inserts or enclosures, will no longer be delivered to addresses that are signed up for the Consumers’ Choice program under Canada Post’s new policy. This means, if flyers were inserted, these households would not receive the news and other information included in the Journal’s bi-weekly publication; it also would impact the level of distribution (10,000 copies) that is important to the Journal’s mandate of delivering to every household in MRC Pontiac and the Municipality of Pontiac.
News Media Canada, an organization advocating for all Canadian newspapers, stated on their website: “Commercial inserts are an important part of the revenue stream for community newspapers. Businesses benefit from reaching Canadian consumers through inserts and those consumers benefit from the sales highlighted in the inserts — something that is important for Canadians who are feeling the pinch at the cash register in these inflationary times.” They are advocating with Canada Post to reverse this decision.
Business owners who had previously used inserts as a means to reach their clientele are encouraged to contact the Journal’s sales staff to discuss other display ad opportunities that would fulfill their needs.
