Bell Media has laid off 20 Unifor members across its national operations, including 11 journalists and nine production staff, the union announced Tuesday.
The cuts affect workers in Toronto, North Bay, Halifax and Calgary. Among those laid off are five newly unionized CTV National News members from Unifor Local 79-M in Toronto, according to the union.
Also affected are traffic coordinators, schedulers and promotional coordinators from Toronto-based Locals 723-M and 79-M.
Unifor is verifying that collective agreements are being followed and reviewing the legality of the terminations involving the five National News members, said Unifor National President Lana Payne.
“Every newsroom job eliminated means fewer Canadian stories told, fewer facts verified, and less accountability for those in power,” Payne said in a statement.
Payne said expanding journalist tax credits to include broadcasters could have prevented the job losses. Current federal tax credits for journalism apply primarily to print and digital outlets.
“These cuts are deepening Canada’s news deserts—including in major urban centres,” she said.
The layoffs follow significant workforce reductions at Bell Media’s parent company BCE in recent years. In 2024, BCE eliminated 4,800 positions, including 800 Unifor members across telecommunications and media.
Bell Media issued layoff notices to nearly 50 additional Unifor media workers in June 2024 as part of ongoing restructuring, according to Unifor.
Unifor represents 320,000 workers in the private sector across Canada.
