For 126 years the Toronto Star has been keeping residents of this city, province and country informed and entertained, from politics and public transit to crime, celebrities, fashion, sports and more.

If it was happening, the Star had it covered.

With 141 National Newspaper Awards, our prize-winning journalism has been a major influence in the life of our city and the development of our province and country.

In early years our passion for change, tolerance and equality led to ground-breaking campaigns for pensions, unemployment insurance, medicare and a minimum wage. More recently, the campaigns have been for a new deal for cities, decent work, affordable housing, multiculturalism and an end to discrimination.

And for 126 years the Star has brought the stories of our community and our country to life.

This includes in-depth coverage of local news across the Greater Toronto Area; provincial, national and international news; insightful political reporting from our bureaus at City Hall, Queen’s Park and in Ottawa; thoughtful and provocative columns; critical analysis on key issues of the day; and extensive coverage of the latest news and trends on education, housing, health, science, technology, business and personal finance as well as coverage of travel, sports, fashion and beauty, real estate, autos and much more.

It also includes investigative reporting, one of the hallmarks of the Star that has often led to positive changes that impact every one of us, bringing to light news and issues that had been deliberately covered up or ignored by governments, business and society at large.

Our investigations have probed controversial issues such as how bad doctors are allowed to still practice medicine, how low-paid factory workers are exploited, how toxic chemicals make it dangerous to drink water in northern communities and how the late Toronto mayor Rob Ford abused drugs and alcohol.

In short, our journalism makes things happen. We inform, connect, investigate, report and effect change.

Our mission is to deliver trusted news, information and content on all platforms.

We are the news organization people turn to when they need help; when they want to see the scales balanced, wrongs righted; when they want powerful people held to account.

We are extremely proud of that tradition.

Importantly, we have conducted our ground-breaking investigative journalism and our robust local reporting without government subsidies.

Rather, we have counted on the passion, loyalty and support of you, our readers, to help fund our journalism.

Like all news outlets in recent years, though, the Toronto Star has been forced to deal with the economic challenges brought on by declining print advertising revenue and a continuing shift in our reader habits from the printed newspaper to digital and mobile devices, including smartphones, computers and tablets.

With that reality in mind, today we are introducing Star Digital Access, our digital subscription plan on thestar.com.

It’s a major step that we hope you, our customers, will view as an investment in quality journalism and in the Star’s ability to continue to provide the kind of top-quality, in-depth local and investigative reporting for which we are known and respected.

High-quality journalism comes at a price. We invest the subscription money we receive from our print customers – and now from our digital and mobile customers – back into financing the award-winning journalism and promotion of democracy for which we are also known.

All visitors to thestar.com will have free access to five articles every 30 days before being asked to subscribe.

If you are a home-delivery subscriber of the Toronto Star, you will need to register on thestar.com and verify your subscription to continue to have free access to the Star’s bold and progressive journalism across all your devices. Please visit thestar.com/subscribe and click the "Get Access" button to redeem your complimentary access.

Access to the Star’s newsletters, letters to the editors and classified advertising will remain free for all visitors.

The Star will be offering several digital subscription packages that allow you to choose from a variety of news and information offerings.

Star Digital Access, at $14.99 plus taxes a month with a one-year commitment or $19.99 a month plus taxes with no commitment, includes full digital access to thestar.com, videos and other features. All new subscribers can enjoy their first month of access to thestar.com for just 99 cents plus taxes.

Coming soon we will be offering premium packages with more features and services, such as business, tech and markets news from The Wall Street Journal, at a small additional price for customers who have Star Digital Access.

For detailed information about Star Digital Access, please visit thestar.com/subscribe. We will tell you about the premium packages in the coming weeks.

Thank you for reading the Toronto Star in all its digital and print forms. We truly appreciate your continued support for quality, trusted journalism that makes a difference.

John Boynton

President and CEO, Torstar Corporation

Publisher, Toronto Star