Québecor

Who owns Québecor?
Québecor is publicly traded on TSX under QBR.A and QBR.B. The Péladeau family controls the company through its voting shares. Pierre Karl Péladeau, son of founder Pierre Péladeau, serves as President and CEO.

Who founded Québecor?
Québecor was founded in 1950 by Pierre Péladeau as a newspaper company in Montreal. Péladeau built the company into a major media conglomerate through acquisitions of newspapers, printing companies, and television stations.

What does Québecor own?
Québecor's major brands include Vidéotron (Quebec telecommunications), Freedom Mobile (national wireless), TVA (French-language television), Journal de Montreal, and Journal de Quebec.

Is Québecor publicly traded?
Yes, Québecor trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under QBR.A (voting shares) and QBR.B (non-voting shares).

What is Freedom Mobile?
Freedom Mobile is a national wireless carrier that Québecor acquired from Shaw Communications in 2023 for $2.85 billion, as a condition of the Rogers-Shaw merger. Freedom Mobile operates outside Quebec and positions Québecor as a fourth national wireless carrier competing with Rogers, Bell, and Telus.

Québecor was founded in 1950 by Pierre Péladeau as a newspaper company in Montreal, Quebec. Péladeau launched the tabloid newspaper Journal de Montreal in 1964, which became one of Canada's most-read French-language newspapers. He built Québecor into a major media conglomerate through acquisitions of newspapers, printing companies, and television stations throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Pierre Péladeau expanded Québecor internationally in the 1980s and 1990s, acquiring printing operations in the United States and Europe. The company became one of the world's largest commercial printing companies at its peak.

Québecor entered the telecommunications business in 1997 when it acquired Vidéotron, a major Quebec cable television and internet provider. This acquisition transformed Québecor from a media company into a diversified telecommunications and media conglomerate.

Pierre Péladeau died in 1997, and his son Pierre Karl Péladeau took over leadership of the company. Under Pierre Karl Péladeau, Québecor expanded its telecommunications operations and launched Vidéotron's wireless service in 2010, becoming a fourth wireless carrier in Quebec.

Québecor sold its international printing operations in the 2000s to focus on its Canadian telecommunications and media businesses. The company launched TVA, a major French-language television network, and expanded its digital media properties.

In 2023, Québecor acquired Freedom Mobile from Shaw Communications for $2.85 billion as a condition of the Rogers-Shaw merger. This acquisition gave Québecor a national wireless network and established it as a fourth national wireless carrier in Canada, competing with Rogers, Bell, and Telus.

For fiscal year 2024, Québecor reported revenue of approximately CAD 5.5 billion.

Québecor's acquisition of Freedom Mobile in 2023 was controversial, with some critics arguing that the deal did not adequately address competition concerns in the Canadian wireless market. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and Competition Bureau imposed conditions on the Rogers-Shaw merger that required the sale of Freedom Mobile to Québecor.

Pierre Karl Péladeau has been a controversial figure in Quebec politics, having served as leader of the Parti Québécois (the Quebec sovereignty party) from 2015 to 2016 before returning to lead Québecor.