VoicePrint
The country’s 24/7 audio newsstand

It’s a ritual that takes place millions of times a day — one that most people take for granted. A cup of coffee or tea is poured. The newspaper is picked up. And an individual begins to flip through the printed pages, immersing him or herself in the latest local, regional and national news.

But what about the more than 5 million Canadians who can’t independently access newspapers, magazines or even a government document due to, for example, low literacy, blindness, vision restriction, physical or learning disability or other impairments associated with aging?

Where can they find the more in-depth news and information that print media specializes in?

The answer: VoicePrint, the non-profit broadcast service which first went on the air in 1990 after being licensed by the CRTC.

Our mandate: to deliver a steady and timely flow of information that is essential to the decision-making needs of our audience. To that end, VoicePrint broadcasts readings of full-text articles 24/7 from more than 600 of Canada’s newspapers and magazines into 10 million homes.

VoicePrint is the nation’s only 24-hour reading service and a service of The National Broadcast Reading Service Inc. (NBRS), Making Media Accessible. VoicePrint is volunteer-based with more than 800 individuals donating their time and talent to record original programming from our our broadcast centres across the country.

In March 2001 VoicePrint was designated as a “must carry” service for most broadcast distribution undertakings. For two decades, VoicePrint has broadcast more news and information programming than all other Canadian television stations combined, excluding CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld).

NBRS charitable registration number: 128778552R0001

Find Out More:

Download our information pamphlet (PDF) or
Download the audio version of the pamphlet (MP3)