November 18, 2025 Update

Applications to the program will be opening very soon.

Please sign up to the mailing list to receive updates about the Local Journalism Initiative and the Changing Narratives Fund – LJI stream. Sign up to the mailing list!

Looking to apply to the Local Journalism Initiative?
Do you have questions about your media organization’s eligibility?

Please contact LJI Coordinator Francella Fiallos for more information!
Send an email to francella@crfc-fcrc.ca to set up a phone call or video call.

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 news industry segments that are supported by the CRFC as part of the Local Journalism Initiative. 

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.