TORONTO — Anthony Wilson-Smith, the editor of Maclean's since 2001, announced Tuesday that he will leave the magazine at the end of February.

Wilson-Smith, 48, told the staff at the weekly newsmagazine of his intentions before Maclean's put out a news release late in the day. He said he had always talked about a timetable for staying in the job until 2006 but started to think about leaving following the departure of publisher Paul Jones last November.

"The relationship between a publisher and editor is about as close to a marriage as it gets, and he was a very good partner to have,'' Wilson-Smith said in an interview.

"When he left that just kind of accelerated my thinking process. People who know me well, or even a little, know that I always said this is not a job you do until 65, or 55 for that matter.''

Wilson-Smith has been with Maclean's since 1983, when he joined as Quebec editor. Since then, he has reported from more than 30 countries, including Afghanistan, Indonesia and Haiti. He was the magazine's first Moscow bureau chief in the late 1980s, and was Ottawa bureau chief from 1990 to '97.

Marc Blondeau, senior vice-president of Rogers Consumer Publishing, the owner of Maclean's, said in the news release that candidates are being assessed for both the publisher's and editor's jobs. Ken Whyte, formerly of the National Post and Saturday Night magazine, has been spotted in the building in recent weeks, raising speculation that he's among the candidates.

Blondeau praised Wilson-Smith for "rebranding the magazine's editorial image by bringing in exciting new voices.'' And he said that because of Wilson-Smith's efforts, the magazine is "extremely well positioned to continue its ongoing evolution.''

"We moved to a perspective that said `OK, there's so much media out there, so much instant media, that by the time you get the magazine you already know this news if you're concerned about it,' '' said Wilson-Smith. "We take that for granted so we can tell you more and take it to a higher level.''

During his tenure, he said, the magazine has become a venue for a new generation of writers, including Paul Wells on the back page.

Wilson-Smith, who has a three-year-old and a six-year-old with his wife, writer-broadcaster Deirdre McMurdy, wouldn't say what his plans are for March and beyond.

"I have a number of things -- very specific things -- under consideration,'' he said. "As to where that might be, all I can tell you is I'd be happy to tell you that at the appropriate time.''

Nor would he say whether he might leave journalism altogether.

"I think that the skills you learn in this business are applicable in a whole lot of ways, both within the business and outside, so I certainly have thought of both as I look ahead,'' he said.

"I want to be sure that the thing that I decide on is the right one for me. You don't leave something that I still consider quite terrific to settle for something less than that.''

Maclean's, which has about 60 editorial and design staff, was established a century ago. PMB figures indicate it has about three million readers.

"Our newsstand sales for the last year are up, I'm told, on average well over 10 per cent -- I think closer to 15 per cent,'' said Wilson-Smith.