TORONTO—Transcontinental Inc., has announced that it will print the Toronto Star for the next five years, in an agreement that will take effect in July 2016. The Star will be printed at Transcontinental’s Vaughan facility.

"This is a very positive development for TC Transcontinental Printing," Brian Reid, president of TC Transcontinental Printing and TC Transcontinental Packaging, said. "This agreement further demonstrates the ongoing interest in our ability to help publishers across Canada become more efficient. This contract will also enable TC Transcontinental Printing to further optimize its capacity utilization at Transcontinental Vaughan."

This deal stems from the closure of The Star’s own Vaughan-based printing plant. Torstar, the newspaper’s publisher, will look into selling the plant and its 43 acres of land. Almost half is subject to a hydro easement and a 675,000 sq. ft. printing facility.

The decision will result in the loss of 220 full-time jobs and 65 part-time jobs. Torstar is in discussion with unions representing the affected employees to develop a transition plan. Costs associated with the decision is in the range of approximately $22 million—annualized operating savings are expected to be in the range of approximately $10 million, once printing has been transitioned to Transcontinental.

“This is an important step for the Toronto Star, but unfortunately it also means we will be saying goodbye to our long-time Vaughan printing plant employees,” John Cruickshank, publisher of the Toronto Star and president of Star Media Group, said. “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. 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.”

PrintCAN visited The Star’s press centre in 2012, when the Toronto Club of Printing hosted a tour. At the time it ran six Manroland web presses capable of printing 55,000 newspaper copies per hour and employed 400 staff rotating in two shifts of up to 10 hours each.

Transcontinental currently prints the Globe and Mail, the Montreal Gazette and the Vancouver Sun, as well as the San Francisco Chronicle in the U.S. under contract.