About MoneySense

MoneySense

MoneySense is a Canadian personal finance and lifestyle publication based in Toronto, Ontario, now published exclusively online at moneysense.ca. Founded by Rogers Media in 1999 as a glossy print magazine, it ended its print edition in December 2016, moved to digital-only publication in January 2017, and was sold by Rogers to Ratehub Inc., a Toronto-based financial technology company, in 2018. It covers personal finance for a general audience — investing, banking, insurance, real estate, taxes, and retirement — with what its current owners describe as the most comprehensive selection of personal finance content in Canada. The magazine carries the ISSN 1488-1349.

Overview

MoneySense was founded in 1999 to help Canadians spend, earn, and learn, in the words of its own anniversary materials. As a print magazine it was published six times per year by Rogers Publishing and, according to the Fall 2010 Print Measurement Bureau report, reached a readership of 814,000, with total circulation measured at 111,811 in December 2011. Its editorial formula combined service journalism — which investments have the lowest fees, how to pick stocks, how to cut taxes — with colourful stories about real Canadians overcoming financial obstacles.

Since the 2018 acquisition by Ratehub, the publication has operated as a digital-only brand. Its stated mission is to help all online Canadians make better financial decisions or learn more about personal finance, with content produced by personal finance, investing, and lifestyle journalists alongside finance industry professionals. Although owned by Ratehub Inc., the publication states that it retains editorial independence and operates as an unbiased source of personal finance information, publishing an Editorial Code of Conduct and disclosures about how it makes money. Its tone is deliberately conversational, aiming to guide readers toward a clearer understanding of complex financial topics.

History

Rogers Media founded MoneySense in 1999, with the first issue appearing in September of that year. The magazine targeted both men and women with practical personal finance coverage, and it quickly established itself as Canada's most-read personal finance magazine. In 2005, its website was merged with those of Canadian Business and Profit under the CB Online brand banner, with each publication contributing content to the shared site. Readers found the merged navigation confusing, and in 2009 MoneySense launched a new standalone website — sponsored by TD Canada Trust — to distinguish its brand within Rogers Publishing and to give its web team an earlier role in story generation, moving toward more web-only content alongside print articles.

The brand extended into books with the MoneySense Guide to Retiring Wealthy, a 130-page "purse-sized" book priced at $9.95 and sold at Shoppers Drug Mart, Chapters Indigo, Walmart, and Loblaws as well as online, with content edited by editor Duncan Hood, managing editor Dan Bortolotti, and contributing editor David Aston, and sole advertising sponsorship from RBC. A MoneySense Beginner's Guide to Personal Finance book followed in 2013 from Rogers Publishing.

In 2016, Rogers Media announced it was moving four publications — MoneySense, Flare, Sportsnet, and Canadian Business — to digital-only formats, a significant cutback to its publishing division. The print edition of MoneySense ended with the December 2016 issue, and from January 2017 it published only online. In 2018, Rogers put MoneySense up for sale along with Maclean's, Canadian Business, Today's Parent, Hello! Canada, Flare, and Chatelaine in a single bundle, about two months after laying off approximately 75 people. Rogers sold MoneySense to Ratehub later that year.

Under Ratehub, the brand was given a fresh visual design and a renewed editorial push. The new owners' launch materials emphasized continuity — MoneySense was built on a solid foundation, they wrote — alongside a commitment to fresh, actionable content published weekly and to new ways of reaching Canadian readers. The relaunch messaging stressed transparency as a core value: alongside the new design, the site added reader-facing links explaining the publication's Editorial Code of Conduct and exactly how it makes money — disclosures aimed at sustaining trust with an audience making real financial decisions based on its advice.

Content

MoneySense publishes articles on investing, banking, insurance, real estate, taxes, retirement planning, and lifestyle topics with a financial angle. Its digital content includes explainers, calculators and tools, product comparisons, and news analysis, all aimed at helping readers make concrete financial decisions. The site's content verticals mirror the structure of the former print product, organized for both readers and advertisers.

The publication's editorial approach emphasizes actionable advice and takeaways that are easy to understand, delivered in conversational language. Contributors include professional journalists specializing in personal finance and investing as well as finance industry professionals. The site publishes disclosures about its revenue model — important for a publication owned by a financial technology company that also operates rate-comparison tools — and maintains that its editorial operations are independent of its owner's commercial interests.

In the print era, the magazine's formula mixed service journalism with human stories: colourful narratives about real Canadians who had overcome financial obstacles sat alongside hard-nosed comparisons of investment fees, stock picks, tax strategies, and real-estate decisions. Special issues and books extended the brand — the Guide to Retiring Wealthy walked readers through what to do in each decade of life to retire wealthy, while the Beginner's Guide to Personal Finance offered a complete grounding in managing money. A MoneySense magazine app for Android, published by Rogers Publishing, brought the digital edition to mobile readers with features including offline pre-downloading of issues, pinch-and-zoom article views, and archiving of favourite content.

Coverage & Audience

MoneySense serves a national Canadian audience of online readers seeking personal finance guidance, from young adults opening their first investment accounts to pre-retirees planning their decumulation strategies. As a print magazine it reached a measured readership of more than 800,000; as a digital brand it competes in the crowded online personal-finance space with banks, brokerages, and independent publishers. Its audience is general-interest rather than professional — Canadians looking for trustworthy, jargon-free explanations of financial products and decisions.

The brand's long history gives it recognition that newer digital competitors lack: founded in 1999, it spent seventeen years as a print magazine before going digital-only, and its books, app editions, and special issues built a readership that the current owners have worked to carry online.

Ownership

MoneySense is owned by Ratehub Inc. (Ratehub), a Toronto-based financial technology company that acquired the publication from Rogers Media in 2018. It was founded by Rogers Media in 1999 and published by Rogers Publishing until the 2018 sale; the print edition was discontinued in December 2016 under Rogers ownership. The publication states that it retains editorial independence from its owner.

Digital Presence

The publication lives entirely online at moneysense.ca, where it publishes weekly personal finance, investing, and lifestyle content alongside tools and product information. Its history — from the Rogers print era through the 2016 digital transition and the 2018 Ratehub acquisition — is documented in its Wikipedia entry, in the company's own "fresh look" announcement, and in trade press coverage from outlets including Marketing Magazine, Masthead Online, and Talking Biz News. A former MoneySense magazine app for Android, published by Rogers Publishing, dates from the print era; the brand's books, including the Guide to Retiring Wealthy and the Beginner's Guide to Personal Finance, remain part of its publishing legacy.

Digital Readership

At the time of the 2018 acquisition, Ratehub said more than 700,000 Canadians visited MoneySense each month for personal finance advice and tools.