Every year, The Local conducts a diversity survey among our staff and contributors as part of our ongoing commitment to race, representation, and diversity. In 2023 we sent our survey to 48 contributors and received 39 responses, an 81 percent response rate.

In 2023, 79.5 percent of our respondents identified as non-white. This is higher than the Canadian industry average of 24.5 percent.

In terms of gender representation, 48.7 percent of our contributors identified as female and 10.25 percent identified as non-binary. This is lower than the industry average of 52 percent for female, but higher than the industry average of 0.4 percent for non-binary.

As a publication focused on the issues affecting Toronto, our goal is to make sure our contributors reflect the diversity of this city, and that the people we platform are also connected with the communities on which they report. Our contributors this year were from a variety of backgrounds—they were Asian, Black, Indigenous, Latin and mixed-race, a diversity that we’re excited to continue fostering.

Below is the detailed breakdown of our 2023 diversity survey results. All data are reported in aggregate to maintain the privacy of our contributors and staff. For questions about this survey or our policies, feel free to contact us at info@thelocal.to.

Race was collected by adapting the categories found in the Canadian Association of Journalists diversity survey, which are:

• Aboriginal (e.g. Inuit, First Nations, Non-status Indian, Métis)
• Latin- Central American (e.g. Mexican, Honduran)
• Latin- South American (e.g. Colombian, Argentinian)
• Asian – East (e.g. Chinese, Japanese)
• Asian – South (e.g. Indian, Sri Lankan, Indo-Caribbean)
• Asian – South East (e.g. Vietnamese, Filipino)
• Middle Eastern (e.g. Egyptian, Iranian, Israeli, Palestinian)
• White (e.g. English, Greek, Italian, Serbian)
• Black – Africa (e.g. Ghanaian, Somalian)
• Black – North American
• Black – Caribbean Region (e.g. Jamaican, Trinidadian, Barbadian)
• Mixed heritage (please specify)
• Other(s) (please specify)
• Prefer not to answer