Torstar Corp. said Thursday it is cutting 160 positions in a restructuring of its newspaper division.

The company said the cuts will include voluntary and involuntary staff reductions. A company spokesman said 122 employees at the firm's flagship newspaper, the Toronto Star, are leaving voluntarily.

Torstar B 3-month TSX chart

The jobs cuts were also reported to include the firm's internet production staff.

The company expects to take a restructuring charge in the first quarter of $21 million, and expects the staffing reduction will save it about $12 million annually.

Torstar's newspaper holdings include the Star, the Hamilton Spectator, the Guelph Mercury, the Record of the Kitchener-Waterloo area, plus entertainment paper Eye Weekly, Real Estate News and over 100 community papers.

The company is due to release its first-quarter earnings on the morning of April 30.

Shares of Torstar rose 21 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to $16.15 on the TSX.

Separately, a union official at the Montreal Gazette said layoffs were looming for the newspaper's sales and service department.

Mona Leroux, president of the Montreal Newspaper Guild, said 46 jobs will be cut when the newspaper's owner, CanWest Global, moves customer services to a private call centre based in Winnipeg.

With files from the Canadian Press