NRU Publishing Inc. is a small Toronto-based publishing company, originally established in 1997. The company’s initial mandate was to be fully knowledgeable about the news, people, activities and services of municipal government and urban planning in the newly amalgamated City of Toronto. At the outset, in June of 1997, the company published its first weekly newsletter, entitled Novae Res Urbis (pronounced nov-eye rays er-bis, a term roughly translated from Latin as “News of the City”). The newsletter was conceived and based on a belief that with amalgamation would come, not only change, but confusion—the newsletter was to provide up-to-date information on the evolving new city structure and its regular activities, including planning and development matters. What was not conceived at the time was that with amalgamation of the City of Toronto, the need for Novae Res Urbis to fill an information void on the complex system of Toronto City Hall would grow even larger with time.
In addition to the City of Toronto Edition, there is also a weekly newsletter covering urban planning and municipal issues for the Greater Toronto Area.