The Martlet

What The Martlet does

The Martlet is the independent student newspaper of the University of Victoria, published continuously since 1948 under the legal entity Martlet Publishing Society, a non-profit registered in British Columbia, Canada. The publication has been editorially, financially, and structurally independent from the UVic Students' Society (UVSS) since the 1990s. It serves the ~21,000-student UVic campus and broader Victoria community with coverage of campus news, opinions, features, culture, sports/lifestyle, and humour. Core products include the print newspaper (3,000 copies per issue, down from 5,500 in 2012), the website martlet.ca, the podcast 'The Nest', a digital archive, and an email newsletter. The technology stack is a WordPress-based publishing platform with social media integration across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, and TikTok.

The Martlet's revenue model is primarily a recurring student fee levy, currently $3.75 per full-time student (unchanged since 1999), approved for increase to $5.75 per full-time student effective September 2026 following a March 2026 UVSS referendum. Secondary revenue comes from advertising sales (materially impacted by Meta's news block following Canada's Bill C-18) and non-guaranteed grants. The publication is supported by a small core team of approximately 13 employees supplemented by 3–5 paid summer staff members and a broader volunteer network of student journalists. Operations are run from a single office in the Student Union Building at UVic.

Name

The Martlet

Legal name

Martlet Publishing Society

Website

https://martlet.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1948

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Martlet is the independent student newspaper of the University of Victoria, published since 1948 by Martlet Publishing Society. It serves ~21,000 UVic students and the broader Victoria community with print, digital, podcast, and newsletter journalism funded primarily through student fee levies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Student Newspaper

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

Subscription & Fulfillment Services (Print & Digital) (MPAJAKAB)

Keywords

• Student newspaper
• Campus journalism
• Independent news
• Digital archive
• Campus media

Headquarters

HQ city

Victoria

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Student Fee Levy: Primary funding source through student fee referendum. Currently $3.75 per full-time student since 1999. Successfully passed $2 increase per full-time student referendum in March 2026, bringing total to $5.75 per student.
2. Advertising Revenue: Ad sales from local businesses and campus advertisers on website and print publications. Revenue impacted by Meta's news block following Bill C-18.
3. Grants: Non-guaranteed grant funding as supplementary revenue source for operations and journalism programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Martlet is an independent student newspaper founded in 1948, publishing print and digital editions covering news, opinions, features, culture, sports/lifestyle, and humour for the University of Victoria campus community. It operates as a non-profit entity (Martlet Publishing Society) and is funded primarily through a student fee levy approved by referendum. The publication also offers a podcast (The Nest), a digital archive of past issues, and email newsletter subscriptions.

Product overview

The Martlet is a single-product student newspaper offering print and digital editorial content. The core offering is the independent student newspaper covering news, opinions, features, culture, sports/lifestyle, and humour. Related offerings include the podcast 'The Nest', a digital archive of past issues, and email newsletter subscription services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Nest: The Martlet's podcast series

Products and services

• The Martlet Newspaper UVic's independent student newspaper, published in print and digital editions covering news, opinions, features, culture, sports/lifestyle, humour, and campus affairs since 1948. Targeted at the University of Victoria campus community, faculty, staff, alumni, and broader Victoria readers.
• The Nest (Podcast) The Martlet's podcast series covering campus and community stories, accessible through the Martlet website and podcast platforms. Aimed at UVic students and the broader Victoria community interested in audio storytelling.
• Digital Archive Online repository of past Martlet newspaper issues and articles, providing searchable access to historical coverage dating back to the newspaper's founding. Serves researchers, alumni, students, and community members seeking historical UVic campus journalism.
• Newsletter Subscription Email newsletter service allowing readers to subscribe for regular updates on campus news and stories. A key channel after social media disruptions from Meta's news block in 2023.

Quantifiable outcome

• 55.3% voter approval for fee increase referendum (March 2026)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Peak: Simon Fraser University's independent student newspaper in Metro Vancouver; comparable operating model (fee levy, print + digital, social distribution) and adjacent BC geography make it a strong peer for benchmarking audience and ad strategy.
• The Silhouette: McMaster University's independent student newspaper in Hamilton; comparable fee-levy structure, print + digital distribution, and scope of campus and community coverage.
• The Gateway: University of Alberta's independent student newspaper in Edmonton, sharing the levy-funded, multi-channel Canadian campus-newsroom structure and serving a similar student-population scale.
• The McGill Daily: McGill University's independent student newspaper in Montreal, operating on a comparable student-fee-funded, editorially independent model covering campus, local, and culture news.
• The Varsity: University of Toronto's independent student newspaper and one of Canada's largest, sharing the fee-levy funding model, multi-channel distribution, and campus-coverage mission with The Martlet at greater scale.
• The Ubyssey: UBC's independent student newspaper in Vancouver, the closest analog to The Martlet: a fee-levy-funded, multi-channel (print, web, podcast, social) Canadian campus newsroom serving a similarly sized university community.
• The Charlatan: Carleton University's independent student newspaper in Ottawa, funded via student fees and operating print, digital, and social channels — a direct structural peer to The Martlet.
• The Gauntlet: University of Calgary's independent student newspaper; comparable levy-based funding, campus + local coverage remit, and multi-channel Canadian student-press model.

Regional players

• Capital Daily: Victoria-based digital local news outlet covering the same geographic market as The Martlet; competes for the same local advertisers and reader attention outside the UVic campus.

Broad incumbents

• CBC British Columbia / CBC Vancouver Island: Canada's public broadcaster with a strong Vancouver Island bureau covering Victoria local and provincial news; competes with The Martlet for audience and for limited local ad and grant pools.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TheMartlet
• Facebookfacebook.com/themartlet
• Instagraminstagram.com/themartlet
• TikToktiktok.com/@themartlet
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-martlet-newspaper

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Martlet