The federal government is working on a major project to map communities across Canada where residents have limited access to reliable local news and journalism.

Canadian Heritage has engaged independent industry experts to develop a multi-year local news directory that will measure the extent and distribution of news deserts and areas experiencing news poverty. Officials say better data could help Ottawa improve how it targets future policy measures.

The project uses artificial intelligence and human verification to identify local news organizations across Canada's roughly 5,000 municipalities. Researchers are also working to identify small community and ethnic-media outlets that may otherwise be missed.

The first phase reportedly cost $110,000, while the next phase would map news organizations in Ontario and Quebec. A later phase is expected to expand the project nationwide by 2028, although Canadian Heritage is still assessing the second phase.

The issue has become increasingly important for Canadian politics because the loss of local journalism can leave residents with less information about municipal governments, schools, businesses and community issues.

Government documents cited in the reporting say the decline in local news can contribute to lower civic engagement, misinformation and political polarization. The federal government already supports local journalism through initiatives including the Local Journalism Initiative.

Research cited by Canadian Heritage indicates that 613 local news outlets have closed in 391 Canadian communities since 2008, while another study found that about 2.5 million Canadians live in postal codes with only one news outlet or none at all.

The new mapping project could therefore become an important tool in future debates over Canadian media policy, journalism funding, local democracy and access to trustworthy information.