The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) capped off its 2025 national conference weekend by presenting this year's CAJ Awards, Canada's preeminent national investigative journalism awards program, run by and for journalists, at a gala dinner held earlier this evening at the Delta Hotel in downtown Calgary.
Jeff Hamilton and Katrina Clarke, from the Winnipeg Free Press, were awarded this year's McGillivray Award, which recognizesthe program's best investigative journalism published or broadcast in 2024.
The McGillivray jury concluded that Hamilton and Clarke's exposé of the many cracks in Manitoba's childcare system bore all the hallmarks of excellent investigative work – it brought clarity to complex subjects and used vivid personal examples to convey systemic flaws.
Hamilton and Clarke were also recognized as winners in the Written News category.
The CAJ Awards were presented in a bilingual ceremony hosted by Joelle Tomlinson (Global News) and Tiphanie Roquette (Radio-Canada). Finalists who were unable to attend the in-person event were invited to participate remotely. The entire ceremony was live-streamedon the CAJ's YouTube channel.
This year's program marked the first time the CAJ has celebrated excellent journalism from nominees with gold and silver awards.
Here are the gold and silver winners, chosen from a record 540 entries across 18 categories.
The recipients in the WRITTEN NEWS category are:
GOLDJeff Hamilton, Katrina ClarkeBuilding blocks, crumbling foundationWinnipeg Free Press
SILVER (tie)Grant Robertson, Kathryn Blaze BaumThe algorithmThe Globe and Mail
Wendy Gillis, Jennifer PagliaroThe invisible girlToronto Star
The recipients in the HUGO RODRIGUES AWARD FOR COMMUNITY NEWS (formerly Community Written)category are:
GOLDHeather WrightYork 1 environmentalThe Independent of Petrolia and Central Lambton
SILVERJessica LeeGrizzly bears back in crosshairsRocky Mountain Outlook
The recipients in the BROADCAST OVER FIVE MINUTES category are:
GOLDBrandi Morin, Geordie DayThe Apache Stronghold standing in the way of a massive copper mineRicochet Media
SILVERBrittany Guyot, Tom FennarioFood for profitAPTN Investigates
The recipients in the BROADCAST UNDER FIVE MINUTES category are:
GOLDRomain Schue, Thomas BignonDans les coulisses des traversées clandestines avec des passeurs indiensRadio-Canada Info
SILVERDavide Gentile, Daniel Boily, Jacques Racine, Ivanoh DemersUne plaie de lit fatale pour un tétraplégiqueRadio-Canada Info
The recipients in the COMMUNITY BROADCAST category are:
GOLDLela Savic, Emmanuelle MoussaPas tout MontréalLa Converse
SILVERTaryn GrantOn the doorstepCBC Atlantic Voice
The recipients in the DATA JOURNALISM category are:
GOLDValérie Ouellet, Mike Crawley, Aloysius Wong, Andreas WesleyCanada's international student spike was blamed on private colleges. Here's what really happenedCBC News – Investigative Unit
SILVERSylvie Fournier, Daniel Tremblay, Benoît Michaud, Jo-Ann DemersEglise catholique inc.Radio-Canada Info
The recipients in the ONLINE MEDIA category are:
GOLDChris Beaver, Katie O'Connor, Jasmine El Kurd, Pam PalmaterNDN POVTVO Today
SILVERRobert Cribb, Declan Keogh, Norma Hilton, Scott Martin, Rhythm SachdevaLead in drinking waterInvestigative Journalism Bureau
The recipients in the FREEDOM OF INFORMATION JOURNALISM category are:
GOLDCaroline Touzin, Ariane LacoursièreCentres jeunesse et foyers de groupe de la DPJ : De plus en plus de mesures de contention ou d'isolementLa Presse
SILVERAmanda Follett HosgoodBC illegally collected personal info tied to the Wet'suwet'en conflictThe Tyee
This award is kindly sponsored by the Ken and Debbie Rubin Public Interest Advocacy Fund.
The recipients in the PHOTOJOURNALISM category are:
GOLDMartin TremblayNew hope for SyriaLa Presse
SILVERCarlos OsorioPortfolioReuters, The Globe and Mail
The recipients in the SCOOP category are:
GOLDAnaïs ElboujdaïniLe Canada demande à des travailleurs de la santé de Gaza s'ils ont soigné des membres du HamasLa Converse
SILVERBethany LindsayOne third of B.C.'s 'publicly funded substance-use treatment beds' don't provide any treatmentInvestigative Journalism Foundation
The recipients in the DAILY EXCELLENCE category are:
GOLDShannon WatersWhat on Earth just happened with B.C.'s carbon tax?The Narwhal
SILVERSuzanne RentBuild Nova Scotia gives Atlantic Road Construction and Paving deadline after company puts barriers at trail in Dartmouth CoveHalifax Examiner
The recipients in the WRITTEN FEATURE category are:
GOLDRachel BrowneA killer among themMaclean's
SILVERFabrice de PierrebourgReconstruire une cité millénaireL'actualité
The recipients in the COMMUNITY WRITTEN FEATURE category are:
GOLDTyler HarperIn every Nelson he visits, Jeff Truesdell finds the man he lovedNelson Star
SILVERLiny LamberinkRegrowthCBC North
The recipients in the JHR / CAJ AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTING are:
GOLDRobert Cribb, Declan Keogh, Wendy-Ann Clarke, Owen ThompsonMind gamesInvestigative Journalism Bureau, Toronto Star, TVO
SILVERGabrielle DuchaineLa maison des horreursLa Presse
The recipients in the CWA CANADA / CAJ AWARD FOR LABOUR REPORTING are:
GOLDNatalia Rivero GómezReporting on working conditions in the Temporary Foreign Worker ProgramThe Rover
SILVEREmma ArkellCanadian teachers face harassment in wake of 'parental rights' policiesXtra Magazine
The recipients of the JHR / CAJ EMERGING INDIGENOUS JOURNALIST AWARD are:
GOLDTchadas LeoPortfolioCHEK News
SILVERCrystal GreenePortfolioRicochet Media, IndigiNews Media, Pivot Media
The recipients in the ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE CHANGE AWARD category are:
GOLDJenn Thornhill Verma, Johnny C.Y. Lam, Murat Yükselir, Melissa Tait, Clare Vander MeerschLabrador Inuit are taking the fight against climate change into their own handsThe Globe and Mail
SILVERTeamEyes of the beast: Climate disaster survivor storiesClimate Disaster Project, Neworld Theatre
The recipients in the NATIONAL NEWSMEDIA COUNCIL/CAJ STUDENT JOURNALISM AWARD OF EXCELLENCE are:
GOLDNalyn TindallGetting by on gig work: The hidden costs of 'easy' moneyThe Eyeopener, Toronto Metropolitan University
SILVEROm ShanbhagThe driving dilemma: How nursing students struggle to access placementsThe Western Gazette, Western University
Funding for this award is generously provided by the Fraser MacDougall Journalism Prize Fund
The CAJ would like to thank the awards judges – the experienced current and former journalists who willingly volunteered their time and efforts to review all the entries and name the finalists and winners in each category. This awards program doesn't function without journalists and their newsrooms stepping forward to submit their work for review and consideration, or the judges who take on the task of reviewing that work.
The CAJ congratulates all the recipients and finalists and thanks all those who submitted entries for consideration. Many judges once again noted the excellent quality and breadth of work contained within the pieces submitted into the program.
Journalists continue to produce striking, important, and meaningful work that educates, informs, exposes, uncovers, affects change, and makes our communities better places to live. The CAJ is proud to play a role in recognizing the best of this work on an annual basis.
The CAJ is Canada's largest national professional organization for journalists from all media, representing members across the country. The CAJ's primary roles are to provide high-quality professional development for its members and public-interest advocacy.
SOURCE Canadian Association of Journalists
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