About Virage

Virage

Overview

Virage is a French-language lifestyle magazine for readers aged 50 and over, published in Montreal, Quebec, as the official magazine of the Réseau FADOQ, Quebec's province-wide network for people 50 and older. Published quarterly since April 1992, the magazine is delivered to the homes of FADOQ members across the province and is one of the most widely distributed magazines in Quebec: the FADOQ reported a print run of 449,200 copies in its 2022–23 annual report and described distribution of nearly 500,000 copies in its announcements of the magazine's 2025–26 redesign. The redesign, carried out with Montreal publisher KO Média, gave Virage a modernised editorial line and graphic identity, relaunched alongside a refreshed viragemagazine.com website, with comedian Martin Matte on the cover of the first revamped issue.

History

The Réseau FADOQ was founded in 1970 by Marie-Ange Bouchard to combat the isolation of older Quebecers, growing into what the network describes as the largest seniors' organisation in Canada, with 522,514 members recorded in its 2021–22 annual report and a community of nearly 620,000 members cited in its 2026 brand announcements. Virage was launched as the network's official magazine, with the first issue published in April 1992. It has been published four times a year since, becoming, in the magazine's own description, the FADOQ network's number-one communication tool, with a FADOQ section at the centre of every edition.

The magazine marked its 25th anniversary in 2017, its 110th issue having appeared by that period, and its 130th issue, published in the summer of 2022, coincided with its 30th anniversary. The magazine's own behind-the-scenes account of that era records a print run that grew by 73 per cent between 2014 and 2017 — against the grain of a shrinking magazine market — with advertising and promotional content capped at no more than 40 per cent of its pages. For the FADOQ's 50th anniversary in 2020, Virage's spring issue appeared with a new look and carried a gift booklet for members, It Was in the Year 1970, blending nostalgia with the network's history. The early 2020s brought a deliberate shift in balance between print and digital: the FADOQ's 2022–23 annual report describes a campaign encouraging member households to give up duplicate paper copies — more than 6,200 members opted out of print that year — while openings of the digital edition on viragemagazine.com climbed from 14,849 for the spring 2022 issue to 23,125 for spring 2023. A new editor-in-chief was appointed during the same period, and the magazine added new columns based on member survey feedback and exclusive videos featuring its cover personalities.

In 2025 the FADOQ announced it had entrusted the redesign of Virage, in both print and digital formats, to KO Média, the Montreal publisher of VÉRO and ELLE Québec, which also took on advertising and marketing best practices for the title. The revamped magazine, with a revitalised editorial line and a design the FADOQ describes as modern and bold, launched as part of the network's broader brand renewal, its first redesigned issue featuring Martin Matte on the cover talking about his constant need to reinvent himself.

Content and Coverage

Each issue of Virage carries more than 60 pages of editorial, in the magazine's own accounting: cover interviews with Quebec personalities, features, and regular columns on health, travel, food and recipes, finances and rights, leisure and activities, and games. Content is calibrated to the realities of readers in their fifties, sixties and beyond — staying active, planning getaways, managing health and money, and understanding the issues the FADOQ advocates on, from healthcare costs to workers aged 50 and over. Production runs months ahead of publication: specialist interviews for each feature are scheduled well in advance, cover personalities require photographers, makeup artists and stylists, a team of around fifteen columnists and contributors is drawn on for each issue, and the editorial mix is adjusted up to the final production hours so that news touching the 50-plus readership is as current as a print schedule allows. The central FADOQ section in every issue covers the network's advocacy files, programs, regional activities and member benefits, linking the magazine to the network's wider life, which includes the Jeux FADOQ seniors' games and regional programming across Quebec. The print magazine has also included an English-language section, noted in the network's annual reporting as gaining readers.

Audience and Reach

Virage's audience is the FADOQ membership and the wider Quebec 50-plus population. A decade ago the magazine's 2015 media kit recorded 330,000 members receiving the title and claimed more than 950,000 readers per issue on an average sale of about 300,000 copies per issue, figures the kit presented as making it one of the most-read magazines in Quebec; distribution has since grown with the membership itself. The FADOQ reported a print run of 449,200 copies in 2022–23, describing it as one of the largest in Quebec and slightly rising with membership growth, and its 2025 redesign announcement stated the magazine is delivered to the homes of nearly 500,000 members. The magazine's own site has historically estimated more than 1.2 million readers per issue by attributing at least three readers per copy; that figure is the publisher's estimate rather than an audited readership number, and no current audited circulation is published. FADOQ membership stood at 522,514 in the 2021–22 annual report and the network cited a community of nearly 620,000 members in 2026; those membership figures are the network's own reported numbers.

Digital Presence

Viragemagazine.com complements the print magazine with the current issue's main articles, web-exclusive content, recent archives spanning interviews, recipes, travel, health, society, activities and leisure, exclusive contests and polls, and access to the digital edition of the magazine for members and subscribers. The FADOQ reported strong growth in digital edition openings between 2022 and 2023 and rising advertising purchases in the Virage newsletter and on the website. The site, refreshed in the KO Média redesign, connects readers to their regional FADOQ site for local discounts, activities and news, and the magazine maintains a newsletter for subscribers and members.

Ownership and Organisation

Virage is owned and published by the Réseau FADOQ, the Montreal-based, non-profit Quebec federation for people aged 50 and over, founded in 1970 and organised through regional groups across the province. The magazine is produced as the network's flagship member publication under the FADOQ's general management, held by Jacinthe Roy at the time of the redesign announcement. Since 2025, editorial redesign, content production support and advertising and marketing practice for the magazine have been provided in partnership with KO Média, the Montreal publisher of VÉRO and ELLE Québec, chosen, in the FADOQ's words, for its expertise in creating engaging content and for the digital synergy between the FADOQ brand and its Virage sub-brand.

Contact and Availability

Virage is published quarterly in French and is delivered by mail to FADOQ members across Quebec as a membership benefit; the digital edition and article content are available at viragemagazine.com. The magazine's published contact points are its website, where the current issue, archives, contests and subscription information are maintained, its Montreal contact number, 514 252-3017, and its published email address, info@viragemagazine.com, for member and reader enquiries. Information about the FADOQ network, membership and regional activities is available at fadoq.ca.