In 1793, Louis Roy — who worked for both William Brown and Fleury Mesplet — was hired as Upper Canada’s official printer by lieutenant-governor John Graves Simcoe. While operating the press from Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake), Roy established the first newspaper in what is now Ontario: the Upper Canada Gazette, or American Oracle. Its first edition, published on 18 April 1793, was an official government gazette. The Upper Canada Gazette published government announcements, as well as non-government news, including advertisements, foreign news and some local news, editorials and letters to the editor. Unlike more modern newspapers, its stories did not carry author bylines or headlines. Instead, the titles of articles read “From a New York paper” or “We have extracted the following from a London paper.”

Brothers Gideon and Silvester Tiffany took over the press and publication after 1794. They published news from the United States, which was of interest to their readers, who were Loyalists who had moved to Upper Canada. As a result, colonial administrators reprimanded the Tiffanys for their “republican support.” The Upper Canada Gazette moved to York (now Toronto) in 1798 and became an official government gazette.

On 20 July 1799, the Tiffanys published the Canada Constellation, the first independent newspaper in Upper Canada. It folded shortly after, in 1800.