Our Canada Our Country Our Stories

An inspirational collection of 125 heartwarming stories of family, bravery, kindness and more from Our Canada magazine submitted and told by Canadians from coast to coast. 

 

From Paradise, Newfoundland and Labrador, to Nanaimo, British Columbia, here are the heartwarming stories about things that matter to us the most...

Family--It's what makes us resilient and keeps us strong--the joys, sorrows, humour and wisdom of family life.

Kindness--Inspiring stories about Canadians who do good works--in their communities and around the world.

Valour--True stories that commemorate the sacrifices ofour brave men and women in uniform.

Memories--From lakeside in the summer to hockey in the winter, and from characters that inspired us to the games we love, here are some of our fondest recollections.

Adventure--From camping on the tundra to motoring cross-country, here are the tall talkes for intrepid adventurers.

Community--Canadians celebrate their neighbourhoods, culture and inclusiveness in poignant stories of struggle and achievement.

Talent--Gifted Canadians share their creative journeys while chasing their dreams.

The stories in this engaging book are from Our Canada and it's companion publication, More of Our Canada--magazines like no other.  Written by readers, every issue brings Canadians together to share adventures, celebrate joyful memories and tell the stories of this great land of ours and the people who so proudly call it home.  Guaranteed to warm your heart and make you proud.

THE HISTORY Our Canada (OC) was launched in 2004 as a bimonthly, using the response from a “Show Us Your Canada” contest in Reader’s Digest magazine as a primary source of content, as well as sourced Canadian-themed photo essays and related items. Subscriptions went from 0 to 250,000 within the first two years. In 2008, More of Our Canada (MOC) was set up and launched as a bimonthly subscriber-only companion publication, specifically for OC subscribers who wanted to receive an OC-branded publication each and every month. 

THE CONTENT of both Our Canada and More of Our Canada – text and photography – is entirely contributor-generated from cover to cover, with the exception of the occasional iStock photo and usually one illustration per issue by long-time OC illustrator Bill Suddick, whom we pay a small fee. Otherwise, the only “compensation” offered to our selected content contributors is a free one-year gift subscription and a free copy of the issue in which their submission appears.

THE PROCESS entails calling out for stories and photos on a regular basis in both magazines, on our “website” (a menu tab on rd.ca), via OC social networking and outreach to community associations. Stories and photos that come to us via these channels are added to our online and hard-copy submissions files. We also draw content from an annual photo contest, social media engagement activities such as Theme Pics, and the occasional writing competition.

Two inhouse OC editors are responsible for selecting and editing timelyand engaging content that, seen as a whole, reflects all parts of Canada.  Once a story or photo has been selected for possible publication, the contributor is contacted by phone or email. He/she is informed that their submission is being considered for publication; that they will receive a free one year gift subscription /free copy upon publication; that their submission may be published again at a later date, in print or digitally, in which case we will strive to notify them beforehand (as a courtesy); and that their stories may be edited for length and style.  The editor uses this initial point of contact to obtain any missing details, verify points of concern and, if need be, advise the contributor about any major revisions that may be required.  

After publication, a letter is sent out to our newly published contributors, together with their free copy and any photos that need to be returned (photo submissions are almost totally online now).  

Sales and Readership
According to Vivadata , OC is read by more than 1.6 million Canadians. (MOC readership is not tracked by Vivadata)

In addition to subscriptions, OC is also sold on newsstands (MOC is not). OC and MOC are also available on digital platforms such as Zinio, Pressreader, Google Play, etc. OC was also recently accepted onto the Texture digital newsstand.