Local Journalism Initiative

September 11, 2025 Update

The federal government has now made public the composition of the Initial Recipients (IRs) of the Local Journalism Initiative (LJI).

The Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC) will be representing the Community Media Coalition (CMC) as an Initial Recipient for the LJI. The CMC includes representatives from the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC), the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS), and the National Community and Campus Radio Association (NCRA).

We will be administering the program for the following media sectors:

  • Ethnic community newspapers, online news services, community radios, and community televisions
  • English-language community radios outside of Québec
  • English-language community televisions
  • French-language community televisions outside of Quebec
  • Indigenous community radios and community televisions

 
More details to come about the upcoming application round for the Local Journalism Initiative in the near future!

More information about the Changing Narratives Fund can be found here.

This program has been made possible by the Government of Canada.


Started in 2019, the Local Journalism Initiative supports the creation of local original journalism that covers the diverse needs of underserved communities across Canada. Funding is available to eligible media organizations to hire journalists to produce civic journalism such as coverage of significant institutions (ie. city council, band council, school boards, courthouses, Federal Parliament, and provincial legislatures) and other topics of public importance.

The Local Journalism Initiative (LJI) supports the creation of original civic journalism that covers the diverse needs of underserved communities across Canada.

The news content produced by supported ournalists is made available publicly so that Canadians can be better informed. It is also made available to Canadian media organizations through a Creative Commons license.

The content can be found at Frequency (anglophone news) and Fréquence (francophone news). An archive of past content can be found at Canada-Info.ca. It is made available to Canadian media organizations through a Creative Commons license.

Guidelines

COMING SOON

Assessment
criteria and
decision-
making
process:

COMING SOON

Eligibility

  • Ethnic community newspapers, online news services, community radios and community televisions
  • English-language community radios outside of Québec
  • English-language community televisions
  • French-language community televisions outside of Quebec
  • Indigenous community radios and community televisions

    More details will be available in the Program Guidelines

Deadline

COMING SOON

Results

We welcome applications from eligible media organizations, but we anticipate that demand for funding will exceed our allocation. If you have questions regarding the decision on your application, please book a meeting with Program Officer Francella Fiallos. If you are not satisfied with the decision on your application, complaints can be filed with the CRFC via the procedure outlined in the CRFC’s Appeal Policy

If you have any feedback, questions, or comments on Frequency or Fréquence, please email francella@crfc-fcrc.ca. You will receive a confirmation that the complaint has been received and we will work with you to resolve your concerns. Should you not be satisfied with the proposed resolution, you may escalate your concern to our Executive Director Alex Freedman, who can be reached at alex@crfc-fcrc.ca.