Sun Media to Restructure Company, 500 Jobs Lost

Sun Media Corporation today announced plans to restructure business operations which include the elimination of approximately 500 jobs. Part of the company’s optimization initiatives, Sun Media will be closing two production facilities located in Ottawa and Kingston. These initiatives are expected to save the company $45 million annually.

″This restructuring is regrettable but warranted by changes in our industry which force us to align our cost structure with the new reality,” said Pierre Karl Péladeau, President and CEO of Sun Media. ″With the recent announcement of a major strategic redesign of Sun Media’s organizational structure, the restructuring further streamlines and optimizes the organization’s operations. By doing so, Sun Media Corporation is proactively leading the way to ensure long term success, ″ added Mr. Péladeau.

One of Canada’s largest newspaper publishers, Sun Media is owned by Quebecor Media and publishes over 15.1 million copies weekly. Its publications include 36 paid-circulation daily newspapers and six free dailies such as The Ottawa Sun, The London Free Press, Le Journal de Québec and more.

″Sun Media Corporation’s commitment to its publications, customers, advertisers and employees remains unchanged. We will continue to deliver quality content, with local presence, and maximum value to our advertisers. We very much regret the impact that this has had on employees who are departing our organization and would like to thank them for their contribution. We wish them all well, ″ concluded Mr. Péladeau.  

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The Southern Ontario Newsmedia Guild, representative of over 600 members at 13 Sun Media newspapers, has stated it is disappointed with Sun Media’s decision calling today “a sad day for newspapers.”

“This is a terrible day for quality journalism and good paying media jobs in Canada,” said Paul Morse, president of CEP Local 87-M, Southern Ontario News Media Guild. “Once you kill what makes a newspaper valuable to its community by getting rid of too many of the people who help produce the quality product, you lose your audience, possibly forever.”