Torstar closing Vaughan Press Centre

285 employees affected as Star outsources printing to Transcontinental

Torstar Corporation announced Friday that it is closing its printing plant in Vaughan as it moves to contract out printing operations to Transcontinental Printing.

The Toronto Star has reached an agreement with Transcontinental Printing to print the newspaper, which is Canada’s largest daily. The five-year deal is expected to begin in July, with the possibility of an extension.

The move to close the printing plant, which opened in 1992, will af- fect 220 full-time employees and 65 part-time staff.

The Star has begun discussions with unions representing affected employees on a transition plan.

“This decision represents another important step forward in the evolution of the Toronto Star,” said David Holland, president and CEO of Torstar Corporation, in a news release.

“After consideration of many factors, we feel we are making this move at the right time with terms that are attractive.”

The company also announced it will begin considering a sale of the 675,000-square-foot printing facility and the land.

The property sits on 17.4 hectares of land, half of which is subject to a hydro easement.

The decision to close the Vaughan plant will result in a restructuring charge of about $22 million this year, related to severance and other transition costs.

Once Transcontinental — which owns and prints community papers across the country — has fully taken over printing operations, the annualized operating savings are expected to be $10 million.

Transcontinental also prints other Canadian daily newspapers, including the Globe and Mail, the Montreal Gazette and the Vancouver Sun, as well as the San Francisco Chronicle in the United States under contract.

Delivery of the Toronto Star will continue under its current arrange- ments.

“This move will allow us to focus our efforts increasingly on creating great content and engaging audiences across many platforms while at the same time reducing costs and improving the production quality of the newspaper,” said John Cruickshank, publisher of the Toronto Star and president of Star Media Group.

“Transcontinental Printing has newer, more modern presses and this decision will result in our very loyal print readers and subscribers receiving a high-quality print product with enhanced reproduction.

“This is an important step for the Toronto Star, but unfortunately it also means we will be saying goodbye to our longtime Vaughan printing plant employees.”