Magazines Canada is the country's leading magazine industry association, representing over 360 titles. Our member-driven, not-for-profit organization strives to serve Canadian magazines of all scope and size through ongoing advocacy and special initiatives. We offer extensive services including small magazine direct-to-retail distribution, nationally delivered professional development opportunities, news and views from the industry, circulation marketing and advertising research and information.

Membership has many benefits! As a member of Magazines Canada, you and your colleagues can take advantage of our programs and services. Our motto is "Unity Is Strength"...add your voice to our advocacy campaigns and help make our industry stronger. Visit Benefits to learn more about how you can maximize your membership.

Membership is assigned to individual magazine titles, not to people or to companies. (An exception to this is for companies whose annual advertising revenues exceed $3 million.) To apply, you must submit a package including copies of your latest issue, a completed form and an application fee. Download our Membership Kit, which contains our form and related information. You can find more information about eligibility and our application deadlines under Join Now on this site.

Yes. Magazines Canada accepts applications from business media publications.

At this time, Magazines Canada represents only printed magazine media. Publications that exist only in electronic form are not eligible for membership.

Yes. Your membership fee category will be determined by how many copies are distributed by issue.

No. At least one issue of your magazine must be printed to be eligible for membership. We cannot consider dummy or mock-up issues, or a PDF file.

Once your application is submitted, it's sent to the Membership Committee for review. The Membership Committee meets five times each year to review applications and make recommendations to accept, reject or defer applications. These recommendations are then presented to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors considers the committee's recommendation and makes a final decision. Once the board makes its decision, applicants are notified of the decision first by email and then by mail. The entire process takes about one month from the application deadline date.

Application deadlines are the first Monday of every January, March, May, September and November. Applications received after these dates are deferred until the next meeting.

Your annual fee is based on your average circulation per year. If your company's advertising revenues exceed $3 million, these are also considered in our formula. Our general fee scale is composed of six categories:

0 to 2,000
2,001 to 10,000
10,001 to 25,000
25,001 to 50,000
50,001 to 99,999
100,000 and above

To find out more about membership fees, please download our Membership Kit, which contains our current fee amounts.

No. Membership is voluntary. However, many Magazines Canada services are exclusive to members, such as circulation marketing, the digital newsstand and the Travelling Consultants Program. As a member, you also receive discounts on professional development opportunities, which can be a huge advantage to your publication. Read about our Member Benefits.

If your publication self-identifies as a magazine and has a binding, then it doesn't matter if it is printed on newsprint or any other paper stock. Email or call our Membership Office x238 if you have further questions.

As soon as the Board of Directors has decided to accept your magazine as member, you're entitled to access member services; however, your membership does not become fully activated until membership fees are paid in full.

Invoices correspond to our fiscal year and are sent in the first week of April. If you join mid-way through the year, you will be sent a pro-rated invoice right away. Your successive years' invoices will be sent in April.

Probationary membership is a special membership category for magazines that have been publishing for less than one year at the time of Magazines Canada acceptance. As a probationary member, magazines can take advantage of all Magazines Canada services with the exceptions of voting at the annual general meeting and standing for election to the Board of Directors.

If your magazine's application is deferred, you will be notified of eligibility issues identified by the committee and it will be considered at a future meeting once the problems have been addressed.