2024
Highlights

As you read this, 2024 might already feel like a distant memory. But as a registered charity, we believe it’s important to take this opportunity to reflect on the past calendar year, not only to uphold our values of transparency and accountability, which includes sharing a snapshot of our audited financials, but also to look back in the spirit of learning and growth.

We can’t say this enough: The Walrus would not be thriving twenty-one years in without your support. We hope these pages will shine a spotlight on the essential role you’ve played in sustaining a trusted and thoughtful platform where Canadians can engage with some of the biggest issues of our time, always in pursuit of a better future for all.

In January 2024, we welcomed a new editor-in-chief, the award-winning poet and writer Carmine Starnino. Under Starnino’s leadership, we’ve published sharp and timely coverage of a wide range of issues. In this review, you will also hear from other editors who have guided our work over the past year, along with featured investigations and stories that have sparked conversations, accountability, and change.

Earlier this year, we launched a new three-year strategic plan with three guiding priorities: strengthening sustainability, operating holistically as a media organization, and deepening Canada’s conversations (plural). We are pleased to share that 2024 was our best year for website traffic and digital audience growth to date, which includes the successful debut of The Walrus Games. We now reach 1 million readers monthly across our various platforms. We couldn’t have done any of this without you.

At the same time, 2024 may be remembered as one of the last years in which fact checking was widely supported on major social media platforms. As disinformation and misinformation continued to spread across Canada and beyond, The Walrus responded by hiring an additional full-time fact checker. This move is part of our ongoing effort to ensure that we can publish fact-checked, trusted journalism each day.

The timing of this publication marks a bittersweet moment for Jodi Butts, with June 2025 marking her retirement as chair: “As chair of the board over the last five years, I have been proud to help lead the organization through economically volatile and highly socially polarizing times—from the onset of COVID-19 to major political upheaval. I’m happy that The Walrus continues to be in very good hands.”

All of us at The Walrus look forward to your continued support and ambassadorship for fact-based reporting and conversations. We are especially grateful to The Chawkers Foundation in particular for their steadfast support since The Walrus’s inception. Thank you for reading and for your commitment to independent media in Canada at a time when we need it the most.

The Walrus has always taken pride in its educational mandate, part of which is buoyed by our longstanding commitment to fellowships that train the next generation of journalists and producers.

In 2024, we welcomed ten fellows from across the country, offering them hands-on training in fact checking, editing, digital production, and marketing within a national media organization. This work would not be possible without the generous support of our funders. We thank the Cannonbury Foundation, CIBC Foundation, The Chawkers Foundation, Journalists for ­Human Rights, Power Corporation of Canada, and TD Bank Group for believing in the importance of Canadian fact-based journalism.

Throughout the year, The Walrus was delighted to receive national recognition for our in-depth reporting and art. We kicked off 2024 with a gold win at the Canadian Online Publishing Awards for Rachel Browne’s investigation ­into the Meeting House scandal—a story that also received recognition at the US-based Wilbur Awards. Lindsay Jones earned multiple accolades for her reporting on sexual assault. Her feature “Who’s Going to Believe Me?” won silver at the Atlantic Journalism Awards, gold at the National Magazine Awards, and also won the Landsberg Award.

The Walrus contributing writer Michelle Cyca took home Silver at the Digital Publishing Awards and gold at the National Magazine Awards for her columns. The Walrus also won additional silver awards for fiction by Claire Cameron; a profile on Alanis Obomsawin by Zoe Heaps Tennant; Eamon MacMahon’s photo essay “Bombs, Bullets, and Endangered Birds”; and our May 2023 cover, “Did You Know This Was a Graveyard?”

A highlight of the evening was senior editor Harley Rustad receiving the prestigious Editor Grand Prix gold for his outstanding contributions to Canadian journalism.

In a year shaped by urgent debates around health, climate, technology, and politics, The Walrus events team continued to offer Canadians ways to engage with some of the biggest questions of our time. The Walrus Talks series in 2024 featured a diverse lineup of in-person and virtual events, drawing 12,830 registered attendees both nationally and internationally. As the world moved further away from the COVID-19 years, we saw a strong return to in-person events while maintaining a robust virtual presence, with attendees tuning in from eighty-three countries.

In 2024, The Walrus Talks covered a range of topics, including menopause, polarization, and artificial intelligence. In April, The Walrus partnered with Concordia University to host two in-person events in Toronto and Ottawa. The first event, It’s Electric, examined the future of sustainable cities and industry, while the Cultural Futures event explored how AI is affecting Canadian arts and culture. In June, The Walrus presented a talk on Canada’s Creative Power in Ottawa, which was supported by national cultural institutions like the Canada Council for the Arts, CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Media fund, and Library and Archives Canada, among others.

New strategic partnerships helped elevate this year’s programming. In collaboration with McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy, The Walrus co-presented Unexpected Climate Connections, a one-day conference exploring new approaches to climate policy. We also partnered with The Belonging Forum—a research, advocacy, and action group focused on fighting social isolation—to host The Belonging Series, which fostered dialogue on inclusion and community building.

The Walrus also continued to promote important cross-sector ­discussions through our Leadership Dinners and Luncheons—exclusive, off-the-record gatherings where leaders in business, media, academia, policy, and politics discuss challenges and opportunities for progress in their fields. In May, we hosted our second leadership gathering with Johnson & Johnson on reimagining health reconciliation. The full afternoon of panels and discussions featured Indigenous health care leaders sharing their expertise and vision for equitable health solutions.

The Walrus Lab, the client services arm of The Walrus, continued to help build brands in telling compelling stories through writing, podcasts, and events in 2024.

This year saw major milestones for Canadian Time Machine, a podcast produced for Canadian Heritage that explores important anniversaries in our national history. The series surpassed 35,000 downloads in 2024, completed its second season, and launched its third. It also became the second most popular Canadian-produced history podcast on Apple Podcasts.

The Walrus Lab expanded its podcast offerings with the launch of Imagine 2080 in February. The series is a collaboration with McMaster University’s Future of Canada Project, envisioning what the country might look like fifty-five years into the future.

In print, The Walrus Lab partnered with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority on a custom content series called Y We Travel. Launched in July, this ongoing series explores the personal and cultural significance of travel, with each issue highlighting a new story about what we stand to gain from our journeys. The series will continue into 2025.

The Walrus Lab continued its tradition of championing Canadian literature with the annual Amazon Canada First Novel Award. In 2024, the $60,000 prize went to Alicia Elliott for And Then She Fell, a powerful novel exploring Indigenous identity, motherhood, and mental health. In the Youth Short Story Category, grade-eleven student Khaliya Rajan from Vancouver made history as the youngest winner ever.

The Walrus is best known for bringing together industry leaders cultural influencers, and philanthropists—all in support of a strong civil society through fact-based journalism and meaningful conversations.

In May 2024, The Walrus Gala welcomed over 300 guests and sponsors at the beautiful Ricarda’s Atrium in downtown Toronto. Co-chaired by Jennifer F. Longhurst and Zai Mamdani, who serve on The Walrus board of directors and are members of our Optimistic Canadians philanthropic community, the event raised over $500,000 in direct support of our journalism.

A matching donation from long-time supporter Rosemary Phelan helped generate an additional $23,000 for our fact-checking fund, ensuring that every article published at The Walrus is verified and accurate.

In June, Rosemary continued to champion our work by opening the doors of her beautiful home to host our Optimistic Canadians celebration. Over fifty of The Walrus’s closest friends and stakeholders attended the event. This annual get-together honours the individuals, foundations, and corporate partners who sustain our work year after year through their philanthropy.

We ushered in the fall season with a special evening at Alo Private Dining in Yorkville,­ Toronto, hosted by Jennifer F. Longhurst, the vice-chair of The Walrus board of directors. The night featured a talk and Q&A with political commentator Justin Ling, who provided an audience of forty with behind-the-scenes insights into his June exclusive interview with then prime minister Justin Trudeau and what might lie ahead for the 2025 federal election.