Torstar

Torstar Corporation

Type	Public
Traded as	: TS.B
Industry	Mass media
Founded	1958
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Key people	David Holland, President
Number of employees	7,000 (2012)
Website	www.torstar.com

Torstar Corporation is a Canadian media and publishing company. The company is primarily a publisher of daily and community papers, including its flagship and namesake, the Toronto Star.

Torstar was founded after the Ontario government passed a law barring the provisions of late-Toronto Star owner Joseph Atkinson's will from being enacted. Atkinson had bequeathed the newspaper to a charitable organization he had founded. The Progressive Conservative provincial government of George Drew passed a law banning charitable organizations from operating profitable entities such as newspapers. Rather than sell the newspaper, the trustees of the Atkinson Foundation bought out the Star privately and founded Torstar as a private corporation.

On November 26, 2010, it was announced that the Canadian Press news agency would be taken over by a for-profit corporation, with Torstar serving as one of its investors. In December 2011, Torstar acquired a 25% minority stake in specialty television channel owner Blue Ant Media.

Torstar's media operations are divided into three primary divisions, Star Media Group, Metroland Media Group, and Digital Ventures (VerticalScope)

The Star Media Group division primarily comprises the Toronto Star and its associated properties, Torstar Syndication Services, the commuter paper Metro in Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Halifax. The division also owns a stake in the Canadian edition of the Chinese-language Sing Tao Daily.

The Metroland Media Group division owns two daily newspapers—The Hamilton Spectator and the Waterloo Region Record as well as more than 100 community papers, and other community-oriented properties.