OTTAWA — The federal government is working on a project that would map out areas of Canada that lack local news coverage. A separate document for the deputy minister of Canadian Heritage said the project is a response to a long-standing problem. “The Department of Canadian Heritage is currently assessing the second phase of the project,” the spokesperson said in a statement. It added that existing initiatives to address news gaps include the Local Journalism Initiative, which by March 2027 will have contributed $128.8 million toward the creation of local journalism. “At the end of 2024, we counted just over 2,900 local outlets in Canada, but that was a year and a half ago,” he said.