This article written in french by Benoit Leblanc was automatically translated using AI
Since the fall of 2021, Patrick Marsan, Vice President of 2M.Media, has overseen all operations across editorial, sales, and administration at Le Courrier Laval. His mission: to successfully complete the newspaper’s digital transformation in response to the decline and other major blows Quebec media have faced over the past decade.
A graduate in administration from the Université du Québec à Montréal, Patrick Marsan was first recruited in 2010 as an advertising representative by 2M.Media’s current president, Martin Olivier, who at the time was managing Le Courrier Sainte-Thérèse. Like Le Courrier Laval, this paper belonged to the multinational Transcontinental, founded by Rémi Marcoux.
Four years later, the two men crossed the Gédéon-Ouimet Bridge to Laval, where they took the helm of TC Media’s flagship publication—Olivier as general manager and Marsan as advertising sales director.
First Adjustments
At that time, as the costs of paper and especially distribution were soaring, Patrick Marsan witnessed one of the first serious signs of the media crisis, when Le Courrier Laval reduced its print schedule from two weekly editions to one.
“The challenge was to migrate our weekend revenue to our midweek edition published on Wednesdays,” recalls Marsan. “Yet, when we arrived in Laval, things were fantastic. We had a very agile sales team. Our colleagues at other papers still looked at us with admiration; it was so prestigious to work for Le Courrier Laval.”
A price war was also raging at the time, driven by an open commercial battle between Quebec’s two media giants: Transcontinental and Québecor.
“Later on, despite Transcontinental buying all of Québecor’s regional titles, the damage was already done and irreversible,” Marsan remembers. “The market had been shaken, and prices never returned to previous levels.”
The Digital Horizon
Around 2015–2016, a mass exodus of advertisers to the web—led by Google—combined with the rise of numerous micro-digital agencies in Greater Montreal, introduced new visibility strategies and deepened the crisis for traditional media.
Patrick Marsan then took over the Montreal market, becoming general manager of the East Montreal weeklies and the daily Metro (owned by TC Media) from 2017 until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in October 2021. He then answered the call of Martin Olivier once again and returned to Laval.
His mandate was crystal clear: to complete the timid digital shift begun by Le Courrier Laval through its website and a few social media channels.
Obstacles and a New Era
“When I arrived, my mission was to reinvent ourselves as a media outlet and become a true Courrier Laval 2.0,” says Marsan, who already possessed valuable knowledge of the digital market.
At the same time, the new vice president orchestrated the newspaper’s move from the upper floors of the Provigo (Loblaws) warehouse on Francis-Hughes Avenue to new offices on Le Corbusier Boulevard—formerly an escape room—in April 2022, after roughly three months without a fixed location.
“Clients and readers had evolved during the pandemic,” he notes. “We also realized that the media crisis was even further along, that social media would play a key role, and that our readers wanted even more local and general news.”
The first initiative was a brand-new website—2M.Media’s second—which launched on June 20, 2022, with a cutting-edge design. At the same time, the company’s advertising agency was given its own web domain, and a new graphic signature was introduced, including in the print edition.
A flagship project close to Marsan’s heart followed a year later: in June 2023, Le Courrier Laval launched its own mobile app.
“For me, Le Courrier Laval had long been a daily,” Marsan explains. “Our highly skilled team of journalists publishes an average of 8 to 10 online articles each day. It was essential that Laval residents receive notifications to stay quickly informed of news and events that affect them directly.”
Two years later, the app is approaching 15,000 downloads, while the company also leverages other social networks (Threads, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Bluesky, YouTube) as part of its arsenal.
“This is on top of our website, which averages 10,000 visitors a day and is on track for a record year with six million page views,” Marsan adds. “And we’re reaching these numbers despite Meta (Facebook, Instagram) blocking our content since August 2023.”
Racing Against Print Decline
With the print edition—still the company’s main revenue source—losing momentum, audience acquisition became a race against time. New strategies and solutions were needed to counter significant financial losses.
Among the setbacks: the discontinuation of Publisac, the newspaper’s traditional distribution method, in March 2024.
“This meant a permanent farewell to the 120,000 copies of Le Courrier Laval once delivered to residents’ doors!”
The company ultimately turned to a hybrid distribution model: 10,000 to 15,000 copies are now available at 120 drop-off points across Île Jésus, while another 40,000 copies are delivered by Canada Post to targeted readers—though at a cost four times higher than Publisac.
In November 2024, a new blow struck when a Canada Post strike erupted.
“We’ve always managed to bounce back and find ideas to adapt to these new realities,” says Marsan proudly. “We needed a quick solution to reach our information-hungry audience.”
2M.Media therefore decided to boost the digital edition of Le Courrier Laval—a replica of its print version—by offering it as paid content via Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
“Now we’re reaching a completely different audience,” Marsan explains. “Seventy-five percent of people follow us on these social networks, and 25 percent get the paper at drop-off points. Across all our platforms, we now reach up to 275,000 Laval residents digitally each week.”
Since this mini-revolution in distribution—triggered just as the City of Laval dealt another financial blow by withdrawing its public notices last winter, costing $100,000 annually—between 20,000 and 25,000 people now consume Le Courrier Laval in its digital edition.
The stated goal by 2027 is to reach 50,000 weekly openings and reads of the digital edition, in addition to the audience reached through print drop-offs.
“Our current team of journalists, sales staff, and coordinators is strong and aligned with our desire to reinvent ourselves and solidify our now well-structured digital transition,” Marsan says proudly. “I’m very proud because we’re moving in the right direction to meet the needs of Laval readers on a daily basis.”
He even promises many surprises in the coming years—perhaps even dreaming of a return to a twice-weekly print schedule, bringing Le Courrier Laval back to a biweekly format.
Simple and Free
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) is blocking your news from Courrier Laval, just as Google continues to restrict access in response to Bill C-18.
To stay connected and access your news, Courrier Laval invites you to download its app. You can also subscribe to the weekly newsletter. This way, you can continue reading your news for free and in real time, with fewer ads. Don’t forget to enable notifications and share this with your friends and contacts!
Apple: https://apple.co/3wsgmKE
Android: https://bit.ly/3uGPo1D
Newsletter: https://courrierlaval.com/infolettre/
