Canadian fast-food chain Mary Brown's Chicken & Taters is paying to have the paywall taken down on the National Post and 15 other mastheads.

Postmedia was already dropping the paywall on its coronavirus coverage, but the sponsorship means readers will have free access to a full range of news.

Content from broadsheet newspapers the Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, London Free Press, Regina Leader-Post, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Vancouver Sun, Windsor Star, National Post and Financial Post will be free from April 1-15, and on tabloids The Province, Toronto Sun, Calgary Sun, Edmonton Sun, Ottawa Sun and Winnipeg Sun from April 16-30.

Mary Brown's marketing vice president Jeff Barlow says the partnership was based on people's need for news "more than any other time in our recent history".

While the fast-food chain is a current advertiser, their campaign is separate from the partnership to drop the paywall. "It's part of an effort the company has made to serve the public during the pandemic, which has also included delivering food to frontline workers," he said.