Canadian Geographic may be nearly 100 years old, but it’s still popular with the Millennials and Gen Z. In fact, among 18 to 35 year olds, it might be cool because it’s nearly 100 years old.

According to Vividata, a non-profit that provides market research on print and online readership, Canadian Geographic is the most popular paid magazine in the country, with 4.3 million monthly readers, across digital and print. And the audience is growing, especially among new Canadians and young people. Vividata surveyed over 40,000 Canadians (aged 14+) for the Winter 2024 Study of the Canadian Consumer.

“I think there are a few different factors at play that are enhancing our appeal with younger readers and newcomers to Canada. The biggest is the types of stories we publish,” Alexandra Pope, editor in chief of Canadian Georgraphic told MiC. “Our mission as an organization is to make Canada better known to Canadians and the world, so if you want to learn about the iconic wildlife, major landforms, ecosystems and human geography of Canada, we’ve got you covered.”

“I think the fact that we’ve been publishing continuously for 94 years makes us a trusted source that students feel confident citing in research projects and essays,” she adds. “Spectacular photography has also been a pillar of Can Geo since the very beginning, and I think that’s been a significant advantage in the age of social media, particularly Instagram.”

That any magazine could reach nearly 10% of Canada’s population every month is impressive. But it raises the question: what counts as a reader? “For print, a reader would be those who read an average issue of the publication,” explains Rahul Sethi, VP research and development at Vividata. “The estimate reflects the number of people who last read any copy of a publication within its publication interval (e.g., monthly, quarterly, etc.).”

Sethi tells MiC that digital is determined much the same way: a reader is counted if they have accessed or read any digital content of the magazine yesterday, past week, past month, etc. “We calculate a total print/digital readership footprint by aligning the publication interval with the recency of a reader having accessed the digital content for that title.”

For all Canadians 14+, the split is 37% print only, 10% print and digital and 53% digital only. And for Canadians 18-35 years old, the split is 30% print only, 12% print and digital, and 58% digital only.