The websites of the Montreal Gazette and Victoria Times Colonist newspapers will no longer be free to all visitors as Postmedia tests a new subscription-based model.

Viewers of the papers’ online editions who don’t have a subscription will have limited access as the websites become metered. Similar policies have already been adopted by many major newspapers around the world such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

Starting today, the Gazette and Times Colonist say non-subscribers will have access to up 20 articles every 30 days but local breaking news, blogs and related sites are exempt from metering.

Those who are already print subscribers to the Gazette will have unlimited access to the digital edition for free but those who don’t already receive the print edition will have to pay $6.95 per month.

Monthly online subscriptions to the Times Colonist digital edition are $9.95, while current print edition subscribers can get full access for $2.95 a month.

The digital subscriptions will be billed every four weeks and the content is available on smartphones and web-enabled mobile devices.