Quebecor shutting down English cultural weekly paper Montreal Mirror

MONTREAL – Montreal is losing its second free weekly cultural newspaper in weeks with Quebecor’s decision to close the Montreal Mirror, resulting in the layoff of seven employees and transfer of two others.

Quebecor (TSX:QBR.B) subsidiary Sun Media said Friday that the current edition of the Mirror will be its last.

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“The growing popularity of digital media and communications has irremediably changed the context in which free cultural weeklies operate, bringing about economic challenges which have unfortunately compromised The Mirror’s viability,” Sun Media said in a news release.

The Mirror was launched in 1985 and was purchased by Quebecor in 1997.

Another free cultural weekly, Hour Community, was closed last month by owner Communications Voir. Launched as Hour in 1993, its was renamed in April 2011 as a smaller rival to the Mirror.

Sun Media publishes more than 15.1 million free and paid newspaper copies each week. Its 36 paid-circulation daily newspapers and six free dailies operate in nine of the 10 largest urban markets in Canada.