After months of preparation behind the scenes, The Citizen has made its latest expansion—this time through the launch of an exciting new website that is sure to engage residents and readers in every community in the region.

“Our previous website served us well for many years, but there’s no question that we had outgrown it,” says The Citizen’s managing editor Evan Braun. “And in an era where news organizations are more likely to be shutting their doors than expanding their footprint, we are firmly committed to expanding.”

The new site boasts a more stylish and streamlined look. But it’s the many new user-friendly features that the Citizen team is really excited about.

If you’re looking for a new home, a job, or a fun event to entertain the family, then look no further. The Citizen has you covered with a full list of all the best local real estate, latest job postings, and exhaustive guide to all the events going on in our neck of the woods.

The best part is that all of this is free.

Organizations and individual residents now have the ability to personally enter events they are hosting, including images and event details.

Business owners will be able to access the community event guide, providing space to advertise the public events they host or support throughout the year.

Families will appreciate the obituary section to memorialize their lost loved ones. This, too, will be a feature that’s completely free to use.

Of course, all these features will take some time to populate as users become more aware of what the site can offer.

“We are delighted to deliver a better [web browsing] experience for everyone, including our readers and our advertisers,” says Braun. “If we’ve learned anything in these past ten years, it’s that we can’t stay stagnant. Our region continues to be in growth mode, and so are we.”

News content, too, has been significantly improved for readers.

Compared to The Citizen’s previous website, which was only built to display a single feature image, the new site allows for the inclusion of an almost unlimited number of images, graphics, and key quotes.

News stories can now involve videos, links, maps, and file downloads to public hearing notices, municipal budget documents, police reports, and so much more.

“My personal favourite upgrade is the option to view The Citizen in either light mode or dark mode,” says Braun. “You can toggle between the two views at the top-right and decide which mode you prefer.”

The Citizen continues to be completely free to its readers, thanks to the many advertisers in our region who work with the paper. These local businesses are truly the backbone of everything the paper does and none of it would be possible without them.

For this reason, The Citizen will continue to offer competitive online advertising opportunities. And for a nominal fee, businesses can now enter their company information into The Citizen’s business directory, where there is room for contact details, a website link, an embedded map, and a business overview.

In a time when news agencies are struggling to stay relevant, The Citizen intends to keep working hard to deliver timely news.

“We take our responsibility to cover local news very seriously,” Braun says. “In our view, it’s the most important kind of news there is. We’ve always been passionate about doing this job as effectively as we can, and that means making upgrades and improvements when they’re needed—even before they’re needed. This new site demonstrates that The Citizen isn’t going anywhere in these uncertain times. In fact, we’re doubling down and investing further so we can continue to tell the stories that matter most in our incredible towns. Our readers and our advertisers are worth our very best effort.”