'It's about protecting Canadian content': Leading Canadian publishing house seeks solutions to expected rise in distribution costs

One of Canada’s leading publishing houses is worried that it may soon not be able to keep up with the rising costs of storing the hundreds of book titles it distributes, potentially impacting the availability of educational materials and trade books from coast to coast.

One of Canada’s leading publishing houses is worried that it may soon not be able to keep up with the rising costs of storing the hundreds of book titles it distributes, potentially impacting the availability of educational materials and trade books from coast to coast.

Officials with the University of Toronto Press (UTP), which has been distributing books for a range of independent Canadian publishers since 1975, say that the publishing house no longer has sufficient space at its 95,000-square-foot distribution centre on Dufferin Street, south of Steeles Avenue West, and is in need of a new, modern facility to accommodate the distribution of its wide range of titles.

To make matters worse, the leases at three overflow sites UTP has paid to use in Newmarket, Mississauga, and Georgetown since 2018 will soon be due for renewal. Those storage costs are expected to balloon, UTP’s Vice-President of Distribution and Retail Jason Farell told CP24.com.

“All of those leases are up between 2026 and 2027 and there’s a risk of losing those sites as well,” he said.

“The best-case scenario is the costs will go up substantially. The worse-case scenario is we won’t have access to those sites at all.”

Currently, the non-profit organization distributes books and other materials for 265 independent publishers, 185 of which are Canadian. Among other things, it disseminates works by Robert Munsch, winners of Governor General’s Literary Awards winners, and Canada Reads and Giller Prize finalists to libraries, bookstores, and schools across the country.