Substack has hired Mark Swierszcz as its new head of partnerships in Canada as the media platform busily expands internationally beyond fast-growing U.S. and U.K. markets.
Swierszcz, a former Google Canada exec, marks Substack’s first major hire in Canada, which has become the platform’s third-largest market worldwide. He told The Hollywood Reporter his focus at Substack will be “on building and deepening relationships with Canadian writers, publishers, creators, and media organizations. That means supporting people across different categories, helping them grow sustainably on Substack.”
In Canada, as elsewhere internationally, Substack has grown as content creators jump ship from legacy media companies to sign up paid subscribers for their work and increasingly use audio and video to help do so.
And San Francisco-based Substack, initially a newsletter platform that has expanded into other media, including with a newly-launched TV app, already has a Canadian connection. The company was founded by Chris Best, who grew up in suburban Vancouver, and Jairaj Sethi, both of whom graduated from the University of Waterloo in southern Ontario. They then worked together at Kik Messenger before launching Substack.
And the third company co-founder, Hamish McKenzie, is from New Zealand and studied at the University of Otago, before earning a Masters degree at Western University in London, Ontario. Swierszcz coming on board at Substack followed growth for the digital newsletter platform north of the U.S. border.
“Today, there are thousands of Canada-based publications on Substack, spanning journalism, culture, business, and niche communities,” he argued, which includes the platform in 2025 expanding its Substack Defender program to Canada. Swierszcz is now looking to expand Sustack’s contributor and consumer base in Canada, where the platform currently has over 500,000 paid subscriptions to its local publications.
“Substack is for anyone with something to say and an audience that wants to hear it, not just traditional journalists. Canada has a vibrant creator community across formats and disciplines, and I’m excited about what that could look like on Substack. Personally, I’d be really excited to see voices like Mark Carney, Rachel Reid, and Nardwuar on Substack,” Swierszcz added with references to Canadian prime minister Carney, Heated Rivalry author Reid and Nardwuar, a popular Canadian journalist and musician.
As it drops roots in Canada, Substack is following a well-trod path by U.S. digital giants in expanding to their northern neighbor as part of a global push, which also includes Canadian regulation of local digital ventures.
“Creator independence and freedom of expression remain core to Substack. That doesn’t change with a local presence. At the same time, we respect that countries have their own laws and regulatory frameworks, and we comply with local requirements where necessary,” Swierszcz argued.
As part of its international expansion beyond North America and the UK, Substack is busily hiring partnership leads in additional markets like Australia and New Zealand, Brazil, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and the Nordics.
“We’re moving quickly,” Farrah Storr, head of international at Substack, tells THR, while being coy about which head of partnerships will be announced next after her Canadian hire. “As for which country we will be ready to announce next, let’s just say that somewhere in southern Europe is calling.”
The global push for the platform follows a $100 million fundraising round that Substack completed in 2025. “That funding gives us the freedom to invest in better tools, broader reach and much deeper support for the writers and creators who make Substack what it is. It’s allowing us to move faster into new markets and build a more genuinely global platform. We also have some very exciting product updates coming soon that should make the international experience even stronger for creators and subscribers outside the U.S.,” Storr said.
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