Toronto/Fraser Valley (HR Report/Globe and Mail/Financial Times) – NOTE: Rogers owns Star FM/KiSS Throwbacks in the Fraser Valley and Country 107 in Abbotsford. FVN’s Don Lehn was a Rogers Media employee between 2006 and 2010 and was part of restructuring back in ’10.
Rogers Communications is offering voluntary departure packages to roughly half of its employees, in what is believed to be the largest round of buyout offers in Canada’s telecom sector in recent years.
Rogers said about 50 per cent of its roughly 25,000 employees across numerous business divisions will be offered packages, according to the Globe & Mail.
“We are taking steps to adjust our cost structure to reflect the business realities of the current environment. As part of this, some teams have chosen to offer voluntary departure and retirement programs to give some employees the choice to decide whether they’d like to stay with the company or begin a new chapter,” said Rogers spokesperson Zac Carreiro in the report.
Who is eligible for the offers
Some teams in the company’s business units and corporate functions are eligible for the voluntary departure and retirement programs, says the Globe & Mail. Others are explicitly excluded, including:
- on‑air talent
- Sportsnet employees at Rogers Sports & Media
- unionized employees
Rogers did not provide further detail on which corporate groups or business units are included in the offer, or the timing of any departures, says the report.
Cost‑cutting alongside lower capital spending
The buyout program comes days after Rogers told investors it plans to significantly pull back on capital expenditures this year. The Toronto‑based telecom, media and sports company said it will reduce its 2026 capital spending by up to $1.2 billion compared with last year – a cut of roughly 30 per cent – after several years of heightened investment and what executives described as a difficult regulatory environment.
In its Q1 update, Rogers said it now expects 2026 and future annual capital expenditures of $2.5 billion to $2.7 billion, down from 2025 levels, and is targeting 2026 capital intensity of about 12 per cent. In the first quarter of 2026, capital intensity improved to 15 per cent, a 500‑basis‑point gain year over year.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2026, Rogers reported total service revenue of $4.9 billion, up 10 per cent from a year earlier, and adjusted EBITDA of $2.4 billion, up 5 per cent. Free cash flow increased by $0.2 billion, a 32 per cent gain, helped in part by lower capital spending.
Dividend declaration
On April 22, Rogers announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend totaling 50 cents per share on each of its outstanding Class B Non‑Voting shares and Class A Voting shares.
The quarterly dividend will be paid July 6, 2026, to shareholders of record on June 9, 2026. Rogers noted that quarterly dividends “are only payable as and when declared by the Board and there is no entitlement to any dividend prior thereto.”
Rogers is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols RCI.A and RCI.B and on the New York Stock Exchange under RCI.
