MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- September 5, 2002 -- Transcontinental, the top independent printer of newspapers in Canada and the largest printer of The Globe and Mail, is pleased that "Canada's National Newspaper" has been named to the International Newspaper Colour Quality Club (INCQC) for the second time in a row. This year, both the National and the Metro Toronto editions were recognized. "The international recognition The Globe and Mail has received in recent years from the INCQC for its excellent reproduction and print quality is testimony that outsourcing the printing function is a viable alternative for newspaper publishers to follow," said Luc Desjardins, President and COO of Transcontinental Group. "With the high cost of operating a newspaper printing plant and the ever increasing cost of capital to build and maintain it, major papers like The Globe and Mail and more recently La Presse have chosen to concentrate their resources and efforts on what they do best - publishing newspapers - and outsource the printing function to a highly experienced printer." The INCQC is the most prestigious quality newspaper production association that recognizes the Top 50 newspapers in the world for their reproduction and print quality. Membership in the INCQC is highly coveted by the international newspaper industry. Newspapers from 17 countries and four continents applied to this year's Top 50 list. Andy Ritchie, Vice President, Production at The Globe and Mail stressed: "It is only possible to achieve such a high standard when everyone involved works as a team." Transcontinental is currently in the second year of a renewed 10-year contract to print The Globe and Mail. Since 1982, the Atlantic Provinces edition has been printed at Transcontinental's Web Atlantic in Halifax; the Quebec/Montreal/Ottawa editions have been printed at Interweb Printing near Montreal since 1989; and the Ontario/MetroToronto editions have been printed at Interweb Ontario in Mississauga since 1994. The Ontario edition is also shipped to destinations in Europe and the Eastern U.S. In total, Transcontinental boasts a network of nine newspaper printing plants in Canada that stretches from Halifax to Vancouver. Transcontinental Group is one of the 10 largest commercial printers in North America and the leader in Canada in most of its niches. It is also Canada's leading publisher of consumer magazines and one of the country's top two publishers of community newspapers. The Corporationis also engaged in direct marketing and Internet solutions, as well as door-to-door distribution of advertising material. Transcontinental Group has close to 12,000 employees in Canada, the UnitedStates and Mexico and reported revenues of $1.8 billion in 2001. Its Shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols GRT.A and GRT.B.