VANCOUVER — Former journalists for Ming Pao Daily News say its impending closure will be a devastating blow for consumers of the only Chinese-language daily newspaper in Canada.
Ming Pao announced on Monday that its final Vancouver and Toronto editions will be published on Jan. 16 and its newsrooms and offices will shut on Jan. 31, with at least 60 staff given notices of termination.
Ming Pao, which launched its two Canadian editions in 1993, says in an article that the closure decision was made by its head office in Hong Kong.
B.C. Conservative legislator Teresa Wat was an assignment editor at Ming Pao’s Richmond, B.C., newsroom in 1996, leading a team of 10 reporters.
Wat says she cried upon hearing of the closure, calling Ming Pao a lifeline for Chinese-speaking immigrants from Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China, and beyond, while former Ming Pao reporter Austin Feng says he hopes English-speaking media help fill the void for the newspaper’s readership.
Wat says the newspaper has provided new immigrants with guidance on housing, employment and tips on cultural integration, while covering issues sometimes overlooked by the English media.
Ming Pao says on its website that it launched a petition in 2024 to ask for government subsidies from the Canada Periodical Fund, but no funding was ever received.
Vancouver-based Feng, who worked at Ming Pao as a daily news reporter from 2005 and 2017, says that was an era when multiple Chinese-language newspapers and TV stations thrived in B.C.
Feng says that on big show business and celebrity stories, there was fierce competition among local Chinese-language reporters and journalists sent out from Hong Kong. Many of Ming Pao’s Canadian stories were published both locally as well as in the outlets’ parent publication in Hong Kong.
Ming Pao’s main rival in Canada, Sing Tao, ceased publishing its Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary print editions in 2022, although it continues to report daily for its website.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 13, 2026.
Nono Shen, The Canadian Press
