Metro Montreal first to guarantee all FSC certified newsprint

Today, Metro Montreal, the most-read newspaper on the island of Montreal, begins printing exclusively on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper as part of a new environmental policy launched in collaboration with North American environmental organization, Canopy. The groundbreaking policy developed with Canopy establishes Metro Montreal as an environmental leader among newspapers, and the first in North America to guarantee all of its newsprint is FSC certified, the only forest certification system recognized by environmental organizations worldwide.

“We are proud to be the first in North America to guarantee that we are printed every day on FSC certified newspaper and we hope that other publishers will follow our lead,” says Daniel Barbeau, publisher of Metro Montreal. “We are also reducing the height of the Metro by almost 4cm to cut our paper consumption. So, today readers will see a redesigned paper that delivers the same news and aesthetic appearance they’re used to, but without having to print too many pages.“


The new environmental policy also commits Metro Montreal to excluding paper from intact and endangered forests, reducing its carbon footprint, and supporting forest conservation initiatives such as the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement.


“This is no greenwash; Metro Montreal is a newspaper walking the talk,” says Tara Sawatsky, Corporate Campaigner at Canopy. “By committing to purchase wood fibre more responsibly businesses show they understand the environmental importance and ecological value of our forests and, more importantly, work to protect them."

Canopy is a Steering Committee member of the Environmental Paper Network, which publishes the Paper Planet.

Read the Metro Montreal environmental policy.