Founded in Sydney, Nova Scotia, in 1901,[3] it specializes in local coverage of news, events, and sports from communities in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and the counties of Inverness, Richmond and Victoria.

[4] Canwest, after acquiring the Southam Inc. chain in November 2000, which included the Cape Breton Post, examined ways to integrate many of its smaller market papers into its Global television news division; however, it wasn't to be.

On August 10, 2002, Canwest sold eight Atlantic Canada and two Saskatchewan daily newspapers, 34 community papers, and two printing plants to Transcontinental Media including the Cape Breton Post, and St. John's The Telegram.

[5] The deal allowed Transcontinental to use its newly acquired Summerside, Prince Edward Island plant to print the Atlantic Canada version of the National Post.

[11] About a month after Postmedia's takeover, major layoffs occurred in management, editorial staff, and writers, including cartoonist Michael de Adder which also resulted in local content being replaced by advertisements.