When Carol Linnitt and Emma Gilchrist founded The Narwhal, seven years ago, they made a (some would say quite risky!) bet. Canada’s non-profit news sector was essentially non-existent, and they took that as a challenge and an opportunity to build something different.
In 2021 The Narwhal became the first English-language registered journalism organization in Canada. As a result, we can issue charitable tax receipts — but our status as an independent non-profit means so much more than that.
In a nutshell: we’re accountable to you, our readers — not advertisers or shareholders.
For that reason, an important way we measure our success is by the impact our journalism makes out in the real world — and it all starts with readers who chip in whatever they can to keep our publication going.
I’m proud to say 2025 was another terrific year for The Narwhal, and how our reporting rippled out across the country.
We helped fill news gaps in small markets, partnered with CBC and saw our work republished in scores of outlets, from Turtle Island News to the Vancouver Sun. We heard from educators who used our articles to explain development and resource extraction to students, or invited our reporters to come speak with them directly.
Most importantly, our journalism was used by communities across the country to demand better from politicians and corporations — equipping citizens with the information they need to hold power to account.
Here’s an example: in September, Carl Meyer reported on the boundaries of a protected area in Ontario being altered to allow development. The story about Port Hope prompted a letter to the Minister of Natural Resources from Alderville First Nation and dozens of other groups and individuals, asking that the decision be reversed.
One of Carl’s sources wrote to say, “The municipality seems willing to speak to us now, possibly because some electronic media shone a little light on them and politicians prefer darkness.”
Will you help us shine a light in more dark corners in 2026? Join the 760 and counting who have already stepped up to have their donations matched, dollar for dollar, this December.
Over in Manitoba, Julia-Simone Rutgers has written story after story that had a meaningful effect on city politics, published jointly by The Narwhal and the Winnipeg Free Press.
For one of them, Julia-Simone and Free Press reporter Malak Abas produced a data-driven look at how altered bus routes affected the city’s lowest-income residents most. It was used by Coun. Sherri Rollins to ask city staff for a review of the route changes — as well as to “immediately cease communications that dismiss neighbourhood concerns.”
“Your reporting has been invaluable,” Rollins wrote to us.
And in Alberta, reporter Drew Anderson won the prestigious Hillman Prize for uncovering the truth about how the provincial government decided to pause renewable energy projects. Drew is so insistent, he seemingly spurred the government to tighten its freedom-of-information laws — which hasn’t stopped him from pursuing crucial public-interest stories.
This year, Drew’s stories on Alberta’s decision to allow cougar hunting in parks was included in a request to the ethics commissioner to investigate claims of inappropriate conduct and conflict of interest by Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen. And his consistent focus on old oil and gas wells — left languishing on private property, or cleaned up on the public dime — forced Premier Danielle Smith to respond to questions on the issue at a press conference.
I could go on bragging about the ways Narwhal reporters are making a difference through their work, but we’d be here all day! It’s been a fulfilling year of taking risks, celebrating communities and producing meaningful journalism that holds those in power accountable.
One last thing that makes The Narwhal different: nearly 80 per cent of our budget goes directly to paying the journalists who do this digging. That’s the inverse of some traditional newspaper businesses, which spend as little as 20 per cent on producing the actual journalism, according to a 2021 report on international press trends.
We can only do this because of the nearly 10,000 of you who support this work every year, allowing us to keep putting people before profit. Will you chip in what you can to help us raise $200,000? This December, your dollar goes twice as far!
