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The BBC is expanding in Canada

By H.G. Watson, Associate Editor The BBC’s presence in Canada is about to get bigger. On June 30, the British broadcaster and online media outlet announced plans to launch a Canadian edition of BBC.com and open a three-person bureau in Toronto. Jim Egan, CEO of BBC Global News, said in a statement that the BBC…

By H.G. Watson, Associate Editor

The BBC’s presence in Canada is about to get bigger.

On June 30, the British broadcaster and online media outlet announced plans to launch a Canadian edition of BBC.com and open a three-person bureau in Toronto.

Jim Egan, CEO of BBC Global News, said in a statement that the BBC has already had a significant presence in Canada for years. “These new investments will offer Canadian audiences an enriched and more relevant user experience, as well as enabling us to enhance our offer to partners and advertisers in Canada who want to reach our large, upscale audience both nationally and internationally.”

BBC.com gets about 5.6 million Canadian visits a month. In a report on Canadian media concentration released in November 2015, author Dwayne Winseck found that some international outlets like the BBC, CNN and MSN News trumped some Canadian outlets for traffic.

The Toronto news bureau will consist of a video journalist, an online journalist and a social media producer. “This news hub will be producing original stories and features, as well as curating the BBC’s homepage and main news index with the most relevant stories and features from across the BBC site,” according to the statement released by the BBC.

H.G. Watson can be reached at hgwatson@j-source.ca or on Twitter.

H.G. Watson was J-Source's managing editor from 2015 to 2018. She is a journalist based in Toronto. You can learn more about her at hgwatson.com.