Chinese Newspaper Ming Pao to End Canadian Operations

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Jan 14, 2026 - 10:54 Updated: Jan 14, 2026 - 10:45
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Chinese Newspaper Ming Pao to End Canadian Operations

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The Canadian editions of Chinese newspaper Ming Pao will issue its final paper on Jan. 16 before laying off more than 60 employees and shutting down operations at the end of the month.

Ming Pao Canada, which China scholars have cited as being among the list of overseas Chinese publications under the control of Beijing, has had offices in Toronto and Vancouver since 1993.

The company gave employees at both locations termination letters on Jan. 12, saying the newspaper’s last publication day will be on Jan. 16 and employment will end on Jan. 31.

The letter was signed by Francis Cheung, executive director and CEO of Media Chinese International Ltd.
The company will pay all outstanding wages, including the final month’s salary and vacation pay, according to the termination notice published by Chinese media Sing Tao. Employee benefits will continue until March 9, the letter said.

Approximately 62 employees, including 38 full-time and 24 part-time employees, not including management staff, are affected by the shutdown, documents from the Ontario Ministry of Labour said, according to Sing Tao’s report.

Ming Pao Canada said in a letter to the B.C. Ministry of Labour that the decision to permanently shut down its operations was due to “financial reasons.” The letter also indicated 60 employees have already been terminated, but didn’t specify how many were based in Toronto or Vancouver.

The decision to shut down Ming Pao’s Canada operations was made by the company’s head office in Hong Kong, according to Sing Tao.

The Epoch Times contacted Ming Pao Canada and the paper’s head office in Hong Kong for comment, but didn’t hear back before publication.

The Toronto edition of Ming Pao Daily News had laid off seven of its editorial staff and shipped their jobs to China in 2015, after previously laying off all three of its photographers and transferring their jobs to Hong Kong.
Ming Pao closed its U.S. operations in 2009, after the company was “deeply affected” by the economic crisis, according to a notice posted on its website at the time. Ming Pao had been losing money on its overseas editions for years, the paper’s headquarters in Hong Kong said, according to an Oriental Daily news report.
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The Canadian office of Sing Tao Daily near in Markham, Ont., is seen on May 21, 2018. Shutterstock
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Beijing’s Reach

China scholars have cited both Ming Pao and Sing Tao as being under the control of the Chinese regime. Beijing began its attempts to control overseas media in the mid-1990s, starting with several Hong Kong-based Chinese language media, including Sing Tao and Ming Pao, according to He Qinglian, a prominent Chinese author and economist.
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The Canadian edition of Sing Tao Daily, which the United States had listed as a “foreign agent” for Beijing, terminated its print product on Aug. 28, 2022, saying the decision was a part of a business strategy to better “concentrate resources on the development of new media platforms,” in response to consumers shifting toward digital news.

Some experts also pointed to increased influence from Beijing in the publication, citing the paper’s gradual development into a pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) media, saying these factors contributed to its loss of market share.

A 2001 report by the Jamestown Foundation, a U.S.-based think tank, said many Chinese-language publications in North America, including Sing Tao and Ming Pao, are under direct influence of the CCP.

The U.S. Department of Justice ordered the U.S. subsidiary of Sing Tao to be registered as a foreign agent in 2021 as Washington stepped up scrutiny of Chinese influence efforts in the United States. Sing Tao disputed the justice department’s decision at the time, saying its U.S. entities are “similarly situated to other for-profit media companies operating in the United States.”
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Andrew Chen, Eva Fu, Joan Delaney, and Omid Ghoreishi contributed to this report.
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