The Narwhal

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA·LAUNCHED MAY 14, 2018·thenarwhal.ca

The Narwhal is an independent, nonprofit online magazine producing investigative journalism about the natural world and environmental issues in Canada, funded entirely by reader donations.

NOTE: As of this record, The Narwhal's press-freedom trial against the RCMP concluded in June 2026; a judge's ruling remains pending. See Notable Works.

Overview

The Narwhal is an independent, nonprofit online magazine based in Victoria, British Columbia, producing investigative and in-depth journalism about the natural world and environmental issues in Canada. The Narwhal is reader-funded and carries no advertising. In March 2021, it became Canada's first English-language registered journalism organization, allowing it to issue charitable tax receipts to donors.

History

The Narwhal was founded by journalists Carol Linnitt and Emma Gilchrist, launching on May 14, 2018, as a spin-out of the pair's earlier work at DeSmog Canada. The two co-founders grew the organization from a staff of two to 22 within its first five years, opening regional bureaus across the country, including an Ontario bureau launched in 2021. Emma Gilchrist served as executive director and editor-in-chief until 2024; Carol Linnitt, the organization's other co-founder, currently serves as editor-in-chief and executive director.

The Narwhal is a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, a founding member of Press Forward (Canada's association of independent media organizations), and a partner organization of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism project focused on climate coverage. As of its most recent published figures, The Narwhal is supported by more than 7,000 members.

Notable works

• 2024 Michener AwardThe Narwhal and the Toronto Star jointly won the Michener Award for meritorious public-service journalism—Canada's most prestigious journalism prize—for their multi-year investigation into the Ontario government's decision to remove land from the province's protected Greenbelt for development. The Narwhal's Ontario bureau, led by bureau chief Denise Balkissoon with reporters Emma McIntosh and Fatima Syed, began covering the story in 2021 and published a first joint investigation with the Star in November 2022; the reporting was followed by the resignations of two Ontario cabinet ministers and two senior government staffers, and the province ultimately reversed its Greenbelt decision.

• 2023–2026 (ongoing)The Narwhal and photojournalist Amber Bracken sued the RCMP and Canada's attorney general over Bracken's November 2021 arrest and multi-day detention while she was on assignment for The Narwhal, covering protests against the Coastal GasLink pipeline on Wet'suwet'en territory in northern British Columbia. The Narwhal and Bracken allege the arrest violated her Canadian Charter rights. A five-week trial in the B.C. Supreme Court began January 12, 2026, and concluded in June 2026; a judge's ruling was still pending as of this record.

• 2021A coalition of independent media organizations that included The Narwhal won a B.C. Supreme Court ruling finding that the RCMP had failed to justify press-exclusion zones the force had set up around the Fairy Creek old-growth logging blockades on Vancouver Island.

Key personnel

• Editor-in-Chief & Executive Director Carol Linnitt Co-Founder

• Executive Editor Denise Balkissoon

• Editor-at-Large & Strategic Advisor Emma Gilchrist Co-Founder

Audience

The Narwhal's readership consists of more than 7,000 paying members who fund its advertising-free journalism through recurring donations. The organization has said its reporting has been raised in legislatures across Canada and cited by citizens in official complaints and petitions to policymakers.

Location and contact info

Headquarters Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Legal Status Registered Canadian journalism organization (nonprofit)

Website https://thenarwhal.ca