The newspaper was first established in 1901 as the
Red Deer Echo, changing its name to
Alberta Advocate in 1903 and
Red Deer Advocate in 1906. Originally it was a
weekly newspaper issued on Fridays. In 2016, the paper moved to five days a week, dropping the Monday edition, along with the slogan "Central Alberta's Daily Newspaper". In 2019, 25 people were laid off from the
Red Deer Advocate. The paper's pressroom and mailroom were closed July 1 and those operations were moved to other Black Press operations. The weekly newspaper
Red Deer Express also ceased. In 2024,
Advocate moved from publishing a print edition from five days a week to two on Wednesdays and Saturdays. == Weekly supplements ==