The Canadian Jewish News has announced it will cease publishing from June 20.

The independent newspaper has been in print for 42 years with a regular circulation of 40,000 copies a week.

The paper’s president, Donald Carr, wrote on the CJN website on Monday: “I never dreamed that I would be writing this. No nightmare of mine envisioned it. For some time, we have known of the ravages that printed newspapers and magazines have been experiencing across the world. The digital age, in which news and commentary are retrieved instantly on smart phones, on computers and on all kinds of new devices, has overtaken the printed word.”

According to Mr Carr, CJN struggled to secure advertising as a result of online competition, which led to the paper’s downfall. He wrote: “Newspapers depend for their existence on advertising. It is their lifeblood. Growing numbers of advertisers are no longer convinced that they will get responses to what they pay for in printed publications.”

The president also thanked CJN’s “committed staff” of 50 employees.

Bernie Bellan, publisher of the Jewish Post and News in Winnipeg wrote on the CJN website: “What a great loss it will be, not only to Torontonians, but Canadian Jews as a whole.”

It is unclear whether an online edition will continue.

The newspaper was an initiative of the late businessman and philanthropist Ray Wolfe in 1960. The company operated from Toronto and Montreal with correspondents around the world.

The Jewish Tribune, published by B'nai Brith Canada, will be the community's sole national Jewish publication.