Canadian document outsourcing forecast ($ Millions)

TORONTO—According to a new forecast by InfoTrends/CAP Ventures, the Canadian document outsourcing market is currently valued at $4.9 billion and is expected to reach $6 billion by 2009, representing a steady compound annual growth rate of nearly 4%. The Boston-based research firm projects that the Canadian document outsourcing market will continue to grow, but factors such as slow economic growth, transitions in the service provider market, and a focus on reducing costs will make it difficult to grow as rapidly as originally expected. The forecast reports that the emerging document process outsourcing segment, the assignment of an entire document-related business process to an external service provider, currently accounts for a small portion of the market, but is expected to have the highest growth, with market share projected to reach 15% by 2009, accounting for $1.9 billion. The forecast report in its entirety is available for sale at the CAP Ventures website, www.capv.com.

September 27, 2005
Print industry gets sector council program
OTTAWA—The print industry is set to receive $373,652 to develop its own sector council, part of a $2 million investment from the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) that will also go toward sector councils in three other industries. According to a statement from the government yesterday, the money allocated for the print industry “will result in the initial operation of a new sector council for the Canadian printing industry, with the primary focus on developing tools for the betterment of the workforce.” There are 30 sector councils representing traditional and emerging industries that cover approximately 47% of the labour market in Canada. An interim steering committee of print industry representatives, lead by the CPIA, has been working together for more than a year to apply for a sector council for the graphic arts industry. In June 2004, Larry Dupuis, senior analyst, HRSDC, told PrintCAN’s sister publication, Graphic Monthly, that a sector council typically receives $400,000 to $500,000 a year in operating income and an additional $500,000 to $800,000 to carry out projects and initiatives.

Quebec Harry Potter edition proud to be green
MONTREAL—The Quebec edition of the latest Harry Potter installment, printed at Transcontinental Gagné in Louiseville, Que., was printed on 100% post-consumer recycled, processed chlorine-free paper, which ultimately meant no trees were cut to produce the print run. The publisher, Gallimard in Quebec, decided to print on Environ 100 paper, made by Cascades Fine Paper Group. EcoInitiatives, the group who spearheaded a drive for Canadian book publishers to print using recycled paper in 2001 is banking on the enormous popularity of Harry Potter to transform the world’s publishing industry to use ecological paper. Though recycled paper is more expensive than conventional paper, publishers from France, Israel, Germany, the UK, Italy and English Canada have also committed to printing the latest Harry Potter on recycled paper.

September 23, 2005
Cankopy wins Small Business of the Year in Mississauga
MISSISSAUGA, Ont.—Cankopy Document Solutions, a commercial quick printer located near the Square One mall in the heart the Toronto suburb, has been honoured by the Mississauga Board of Trade as the Small Business of the Year in 2005. Owner Sundip Makani, who along with his business partner Manuel Amorim started the shop from scratch just less than two years ago, says the shop is already expanding its client base and the equipment it has on site. The Mississauga Awards of Excellence are presented to businesses whose achievements have made important contributions to the economic well being of the city and its citizens.

The Printing House grows to number 64
MARKHAM, Ont.—The ever-growing commercial quick print giant, The Printing House, has opened its 64th location in the city just northeast of Toronto. The branch is fully networked to the other 63 locations and gives businesses in the Markham area the capacity to print and deliver to any city in Canada. The company’s estimated 2004 sales were $53 million.

Sept. 20, 2005
Staples Business Depot opens quick print shop
MONTREAL—Staples Business Depot yesterday debuted Dossier, a premium one-stop business center with quick print, on-site graphic designers, wireless computer workstations, meeting spaces, self-serve copying, bindery capabilities and shipping services. Each of the three locations in Montreal, ranging in size from 2,500 sq. ft. to 5,000 sq. ft, is equipped with a variety of Xerox machines for black and white and colour work. Dossier services will include Power Point presentations, indoor and outdoor signage in formats up to 5 ft. wide, full-colour brochures, POP materials and booklets. Staples says Dossier is one of several ideas being test marketed to reach the mobile professionals and mid-size businesses.

Hemlock tapped for ethics in action recognition
VANCOUVER—Hemlock Printers has been named a finalist in the Environmental Excellence category of the 2005 Ethics in Action Awards. The awards celebrate businesses and individuals whose commitment to corporate social responsibility has a positive impact on the community. Among its initiatives, Hemlock has formed a sustainability committee to improve its environmental performance, has obtained the FSC chain of custody certification and was recognized by Environment Canada as a pollution prevention success story. The awards will be presented in Vancouver on October 19.

September 16, 2005
Rosier days expected for magazine advertising
TORONTO—Advertising spending on magazines is expected to rise in 2006, which should result in more pages filling the presses, reports Masthead, the magazine for the Canadian publishing industry, in its October issue. Consumer magazine advertising is expected to jump by 5.9% while run-of-press pages are projected to grow by 7.1%. The reason? The decline of TV for one. In a media environment that is increasingly consumer-controlled, advertisers are realizing that devices such a TiVo can render marketing plans useless, says Masthead. More modest growth is expected in trade publications advertising in the range of 2% to 3%.

Transcontinental’s restructuring causes profit dip in Q3
MONTREAL—Transcontinental says it underestimated the disruptions from new equipment installations at its printing plants in Ontario and Quebec and was forced to outsource work to complete some production, leading to a drop in the company’s third quarter profits. The company recently replaced seven presses with three new ones at plants in its Owen Sound and Peterborough Ont., and Louiseville and Beauceville, Que., plants. The company is also restructuring its direct mailing facilities in the U.S. from four plants to one in Pennsylvania after it acquired CC3 in 2003. This year’s third quarter brought in $27.5 million net revenue, down 21% from $34.7 million in the same period last year. The company says a tough market for commercial printing and book printing in Canada also contributed to the drop. Revenues for the three-month period, however, rose 6% to $531.3 million. Transcontinental expects the benefits of the new installations and consolidation efforts will become evident by mid-2006.

September 13, 2005
St. Joseph goes on $40 million shopping spree
TORONTO—St. Joseph Print has purchased three new presses worth $40 million to be installed in 2006 as part of its revitalization program to strengthen its competitive position and increase capacity. The investment includes three new Man Rotoman S web heatset presses from MAN Roland: an eight-unit, 48-page press, a six-unit, 16-page press, and a four-unit, 16-page press. The presses include new make-ready and high-speed automation components, waste reduction features, CIP Ink key pre-set and closed loop colour technology.

September 12, 2005
Transcontinental to print French Harry Potter
MONTREAL—Transcontinental has won the contract to print 200,000 copies of the French version of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for distribution in Canada from French publisher Editions Gallimard. The 720-page French-language version of the sixth volume in the Harry Potter series is scheduled to hit bookstores on October 1. The printing will take place at Transcontinental Gagné in Louiseville, Quebec, where the company is investing $20 million in construction of a new plant. Earlier this year, the English Canadian version of Half Blood Prince was printed exclusively in the U.S. at a Transcontinental plant.

VistaPrint to take on all of its own printing
WINDSOR, ON—VistaPrint, an online supplier of graphic design services and customized printed products, is planning to take on all of its own print production at its 70,000-sq.-ft. facility. The online company, which launched its first website in the U.S. five years ago, has previously been outsourcing to Buffalo, NY-based Mod-Pac, a commercial on demand printer and manufacturer of custom paper board. VistaPrint will still use Mod-Pac to print overflow orders. The VistaPrint business at Mod-Pac accounted for 37% or nearly US$19 million of Mod-Pac’s 2004 sales. VistaPrint has paid Mod-Pac a buyout fee of US$22 million to end its sole supplier contract. Mod-Pac says that it has developed an Internet marketing presence similar to VistaPrint’s.

New CFO and VP at Quebecor World
MONTREAL—Jacques Mallette will take over the responsibilities CFO and executive vice president at Quebecor World at the end of this month from outgoing Claude Hélie who is retiring. Mallette will continue his role at Quebecor Inc., also as CFO and executive vice president, a position he has held since March 2003.

September 6, 2005