Maclean’s has released its 2026 University Rankings, the magazine’s annual guide to post-secondary education in Canada. Featured in the November issue, the rankings are the cornerstone of Maclean’s Education platform, designed to guide students and their families through every step of their academic journey with dependable information. For over 30 years, the rankings have been an objective source of information for selecting a Canadian college or university.

 

This year’s National Newspaper Week (October 5-11, 2025) was its 85th celebration. Since 1940, the week-long promotion of the newspaper industry has offered Canadians across the country an opportunity to acknowledge the journalism that touches their communities. This year, The Manitoulan Expositor earned special callout from Ontario Premier Doug Ford. “That’s what I love about these community newspapers; they have everything in them,” he said, holding a copy of the October 8 edition.

 Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, has announced a $12-million investment to extend the Canada Periodical Fund’s Special Measures for Journalism initiative for this fiscal year (2025–2026). The deadline to apply is Monday, November 17, 2025. The investment will help non-daily community newspapers and magazines continue to produce quality Canadian content. Since its launch in 2020, the program has invested more than $100 million in Canadian publishers with free distribution and smaller paid circulations.

 First Place went to Brett McKay of the St. Albert Gazette (St. Albert, AB) for his compelling “Conspiracists and democratic deficits collide in Alberta municipal governments” feature. Richard Wright of The Lake Report (Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON) won Second Place for his comprehensive “Summer of the Flood” series. Third Place was awarded to Jessica Lee of the Rocky Mountain Outlook (Canmore/Kananaskis/Banff, AB) for her balanced “Grizzly bears back in crosshairs as Alberta lifts hunting ban in select cases” exposé.

 The Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association, BC & Yukon Community News Media Association, Hebdos Québec, Manitoba Community Newspapers Association, National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada, News Media Canada, Ontario Community Newspapers Association, and Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association, have called on the Government of Canada to set aside a minimum 25% of the federal advertising budget to support news media.

 Broadside: Halifax’s Wartime Pilot Boat Disaster sheds light the mysteries surrounding a deadly WW2 marine tragedy in Halifax that was kept secret. The new book delves into the events of March 28, 1940, when a 5,000-ton freighter, the SS Esmond, rammed the port side of the boat Hebridean. Nine men were killed, including six harbour pilots. The book is the first for former TV journalist Rick Grant, 79, following a 40-year career with CTV News in Halifax. Grant called the mishap “the most disastrous moment in the more than 200-year history of professional harbour pilotage in Canada.”

 The “fresh new look” for?globeandmail.com is “highly visual, more dynamic, and built for journalism that reflects the world around us,” said Angela Pacienza, Globe and Mail Executive Editor. “It’s all part of a?larger refresh of newspapers’ digital platforms. You’ll see much more in the coming weeks and months. Our research shows that nearly nine in 10 Canadians visit lifestyle sites, and more than 3/4 of our readers told us they want more of this content.”

 

Beloved Canadian children’s book author Robert Munsch has been approved for a medically assisted death. He was diagnosed with dementia in 2021 and also has Parkinson’s Disease. His highly successful 85 books include the popular Love You Forever and The Paper Bag Princess. The 80-year-old told The New York Times Magazine that he has not decided on a date for his death, but said he would go “when I start having real trouble talking and communicating.”