Mississauga-based insauga.com celebrates 10 years with 18 Ontario cities and Canadian expansion on the horizon

Ten years ago, someone who had spent most of his life in Mississauga–which was, at the time, Canada’s 6th largest city–decided to Google “something to do in Mississauga,” and nothing came up.

That came as a pretty huge shock, considering the city is home to close to 1 million people.

At that point, Khaled Iwamura, insauga.com’s founder and publisher, saw an opportunity and began jotting some ideas down on a napkin in a restaurant in Square One.

Shortly after that, insauga.com emerged as a small website focused on food, fun and events in Mississauga that generated 375 page views on day one.

Fast forward to 2022, and insauga.com now does upwards of 800,000 pageviews in one day and boasts up to 12 million page views a month. It has become the go-to source for local breaking news, culture, and events for communities across the GTHA.

While the unsuccessful Google search planted the seed for the insauga.com you see today, the idea for the site began percolating even before that when Iwamura first noticed the coverage of bigger legacy/traditional news media outlets didn’t quite touch on the issues and events affecting communities on the outskirts of the country’s biggest cities.

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While Mississauga already had a legacy news source, it did not cater to younger audiences, nor did it highlight the flourishing food and culture scene.

“We really wanted to bridge that gap and show people the really great things happening in their own communities,” Iwamura said.

Now, the hyperlocal website that was all about food and fun in one of Canada’s biggest suburbs has grown exponentially. insauga.com now employs 20 people across Ontario and covers not only Mississauga but also Brampton, Halton Region, Hamilton and, as of summer 2021, Durham Region and the Niagara Region.

When the website launched in January 2012, insauga.com consisted of Iwamura alone and coverage focused on food, culture, history and events in the city. Things started to change in 2016 when insauga.com started covering breaking news and generating more and more page views.

“We have given our communities a voice and a place to be seen,” said Iwamura.

Insauga’s lead editor, Ashley Newport, who has been a member of the team in various capacities since the beginning, credits much of the site’s success to insauga.com’s growing team of writers and creatives who bring the site to life daily.

“Over the past 10 years, I’ve watched insauga.com grow from a tiny, food-oriented website to a huge local news organization that serves people all across Southern Ontario,” Newport said.

“I couldn’t be prouder of all the journalists and creators who have contributed to our company over the years and made the site better with each and every article.”

Over the past two-and-half years, insauga.com has generated 7.5 million video views across its website and social media platforms while giving the local community information about the pandemic, as the heritage TV news channels often overlooked smaller communities.

Iwamura interviewed some of Canada’s most influential leaders and politicians during this time, including Premier Doug Ford, federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, former Ontario NDP leader and Hamilton Mayor-Elect Andrea Horwath, federal Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra, Peel Region’s former Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Lawrence Loh and the Peel Chief of Police Nishan Duraiappah.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, insauga.com also kept viewers informed by conducting weekly interviews with Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown and Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward.

As for what’s next, the sky’s the limit, as far as Iwamura is concerned.

“We are growing and are planning to expand into more markets in Southern Ontario and from coast to coast, from BC to the east coast,” Iwamura said.

“We’re very excited at the prospect of bringing the insauga.com team’s expertise and enthusiasm to even more places in Canada.”

About insauga.com
insauga.com is one of the largest independent, digital-only media companies in Canada. The growing website provides news, food, lifestyle and entertainment coverage to millions of Mississauga, Brampton, Halton, Hamilton, Durham and Niagara residents. The website covers 18 municipalities in total and generates up to 12 million page views a month. It also attracts 3 million users per month and 3.5 million reach per month on social media. insauga.com, founded in 2012, specializes in everything from breaking news to food and restaurant, arts and entertainment and lifestyle coverage.

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