After 31 years as the leading gay and lesbian alternative weekly in Toronto, Xtra is shutting down its print edition and moving exclusively online starting next month.

In a press release Pink Triangle Press, Xtra's parent company, said the Vancouver and Ottawa editions would also be closing at the expense of 12 full-time employees from its publishing and administration divisions. PTP says it will focus on its resources on DailyXtra.com and Squirt.org, the company's gay adult dating website.

David Walberg, CEO of Digital Media at PTP, said the change would allow the company to "hone [its] journalism focus."

Xtra becomes the second major Toronto alt weekly to disappear from newsstands in as many years. The Grid, Star Media's successor to the defunct Eye Weekly, abruptly shut down in July last year amid declining ad revenue. Free evening newspaper t.o.night ceased publication last June.

Tabloid-style Xtra Toronto debuted in February 1984, joining Pink Triangle Press' monthly magazine The Body Politic. The latter closed in 1987, leaving Xtra as the city's principal LGBT publication.

The final print issue will be published on February 19.

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.