About Uxbridge Cosmos

Uxbridge Cosmos

Overview

The Uxbridge Cosmos is an independent community weekly newspaper serving the Township of Uxbridge in Durham Region, Ontario. Published every Thursday and delivered free by Canada Post to homes and businesses across the township, it is a locally owned paper created by Uxbridge residents themselves: it was founded in 2005 with money raised from almost 100 local investors, expressly to give the township a newspaper focused exclusively on Uxbridge at a time when its established paper was filling pages with material from elsewhere.

The Cosmos operates from 38 Toronto Street North in Uxbridge under publisher/editor Lisha Van Nieuwenhove, who took over the paper in 2013. Its masthead has reported print runs of between 9,600 and 9,800 copies in recent years, and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association (OCNA) directory lists its circulation at 9,692, with no publishing group — one of the larger independent weeklies in the association's central region. Since Metroland ended the print edition of its historic competitor in September 2023, the Cosmos has been the township's printed newspaper of record.

History

The Cosmos was born of frustration with the Uxbridge Times-Journal. The Times-Journal could trace its roots to 1869, but after Metroland bought it in 2000, residents increasingly complained that much of its editorial and advertising content had no application to, or interest for, an Uxbridge reader. Rallied by Conrad Boyce, a veteran newspaperman who had lived in Uxbridge for a decade, almost 100 residents helped fund a new paper, and a board of directors was created, chaired by local businesswoman Shirley Baster. The first issue of The Uxbridge Cosmos came off the press on September 1, 2005.

The name is a deliberate double meaning, explained in J. Peter Hvidsten's Hot Off The Press, the history of newspapers in Uxbridge and Port Perry published by the Lake Scugog Historical Society: the cosmos is the Township of Uxbridge's floral symbol, and it also means "universe" — the implication being that the paper covers the reader's immediate universe, their home. Hence the slogan carried above the flag: "Your Universe." The paper set itself apart physically as well, printing on stock better than traditional newsprint in an oversized tabloid format so that colour advertising reproduced well.

Boyce, who held a journalism diploma and had worked in the business for more than 30 years — including editing monthlies in Newmarket and Stouffville and a publication for the College of Nurses of Ontario — became editor/publisher. The original staff numbered four: Boyce, Fred Coty in advertising sales, Lee Ursell in design and layout, and Suzanne Crone in the office, supplemented by per-item contributors, photographers and cartoonists and by school co-op students. Writer and journalism professor Ted Barris has contributed a column to every issue since the paper's inception. The paper first operated from a warehouse by the train tracks before moving within a couple of months to 38 Toronto Street North, its home ever since. According to its published history, the Cosmos resisted several attempts by competitors to buy it.

In 2013 Boyce decided to retire and approached Lisha Van Nieuwenhove, a long-time contributor with a journalism degree and a freelance writing and editing background that included an English-language parenting magazine published in Switzerland. She agreed to take over: in June 2013 the board of directors was dissolved, the stockholders were paid off, and Van Nieuwenhove created Cosmos Publishing Inc., taking over both the newspaper and Cosmos Print Services, a commercial printing company that had been run by Boyce's wife, Lisa. Under Van Nieuwenhove the paper joined the OCNA and News Media Canada and became an award-winning title provincially and nationally. As demand for commercial print faded, she closed the print division in 2018 to concentrate on the newspaper, redesigning its website and pushing content online alongside the weekly print edition. In 2021 the paper introduced a new flag, keeping the cosmos flower and the "Your Universe" slogan.

The competitive landscape shifted decisively in September 2023, when Metroland announced it was ceasing print publication of its community newspapers, including the Uxbridge Times-Journal, and moving them online only. In an editorial in its September 21, 2023 edition, the Cosmos reflected on the loss of a paper whose roots ran back 154 years — and whose perceived drift from local coverage had been the very reason the Cosmos was created.

Programming and Content

The Cosmos covers the Township of Uxbridge exclusively: township council, community news, schools, sports, arts, business, obituaries and notices. Its standing features include "Uxbridge at a Glance," a public-service page of community events, council meetings, health alerts, tenders, road closures and employment notices, and a large letters-to-the-editor section governed by a published editorial policy. Long-running columns include Ted Barris's "The Barris Beat" and Roger Varley's "Am I wrong?"; Barris's 2020 defence of the paper's editorial standards, published on his own site, also records the paper's record of fearless local reporting and its OCNA awards.

Coverage documented in recent editions ranges from township council's declaration of 2024 as the "Year of Maud," marking the 150th birthday of Lucy Maud Montgomery — who lived for 15 years at Leaskdale, in the township — to neighbourhood disputes, Black History Month features and the paper's continuing chronicling of local history. The July 24, 2025 edition carried both the Barris and Varley columns alongside community news and correspondence, in the paper's established format.

Audience and Reach

From its first issue, the Cosmos insisted on free delivery to every business and residence in the township, contracting Canada Post to deliver it weekly by mail rather than using carriers, so that every corner of the township was covered. Original circulation by mail was around 7,500 copies, plus several hundred more for pickup; by 2021 postal circulation had risen to just under 9,000, with 500 more printed for pickup. The paper's own mastheads put the run at 9,700 copies in February 2023 and 9,800 copies in July 2025, and the OCNA directory lists 9,692.

Digital Presence

The Cosmos publishes online at thecosmos.ca, redesigned in 2018 as the paper pushed more content to the web in addition to the weekly printed edition. Full recent editions are also distributed digitally as PDF e-editions; the July 24, 2025 issue was published in that form, with the paper's masthead, columns and community coverage intact. The site itself could not be fetched directly during the research for this profile, so its current presentation should be confirmed with a visual check before publication.

Ownership and Organisation

The Uxbridge Cosmos is independently and locally owned — a structure that has changed form once. From 2005 to 2013 it was owned by its community shareholders under a board of directors, with Conrad Boyce as editor/publisher. Since June 2013 it has been published by Cosmos Publishing Inc., owned by Lisha Van Nieuwenhove, who serves as publisher/editor. The OCNA directory lists no publishing group for the paper. Its journalism has been recognised in the OCNA Better Newspapers Competition: Conrad Boyce was a 2024 finalist for Best Feature/News Series in the under-9,999 circulation class, and John Cavers was a 2025 finalist for Best News Photo.

Contact and Availability

The Uxbridge Cosmos is published every Thursday in the Township of Uxbridge and delivered by Canada Post, free of charge, across the township, with additional copies available for pickup. Its office is at 38 Toronto Street North, Unit 1, Uxbridge, Ontario L9P 1E6, telephone 905-852-1900; its published office hours are Monday to Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday to 4 p.m. The publisher/editor's published email, printed in the paper's masthead, is Lvann@thecosmos.ca, and the paper is online at thecosmos.ca.