The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) capped off its 2025 national conference in Calgary this past weekend by presenting this year’s CAJ Awards.
Both Gold and Silver winners were named this year for the first time, chosen from a record 540 entries across 18 categories. Radio-Canada Info, La Presse, The Globe and Mail, and the Investigative Journalism Bureau led wins with three apiece.
Jeff Hamilton and Katrina Clarke from the Winnipeg Free Press were awarded this year’s McGillivray Award, recognizing investigative journalism published or broadcast in 2024, for their exposé of the many cracks in Manitoba’s childcare system. Hamilton and Clarke were also recognized as winners in the Written News category.
Vancouver Sun investigative reporter Kim Bolan, La Presse organized crime reporter Daniel Renaud, and Ottawa Citizen journalist David Pugliese, who covers the military and national defence, were recognized with the Charles Bury President’s Award.
“Kim, Daniel and David have all exhibited incredible levels of courage and determination to persevere through unprecedented challenges to tell stories that matter,” said Brent Jolly, CAJ president, in a speech announcing the awards. “They are living proof that even in today’s fragmented age, journalism matters. The power of the pen to tell the truth and expose wrongdoing is an endeavour that is so vital to the proper functioning of our society.”
Find the full list of winners here:
Written News:
GOLD
Jeff Hamilton, Katrina Clarke
Building blocks, crumbling foundation
Winnipeg Free Press
SILVER (tie)
Grant Robertson, Kathryn Blaze Baum
The algorithm
The Globe and Mail
Wendy Gillis, Jennifer Pagliaro
The invisible girl
Toronto Star
Hugo Rodrigues Award for Community News (formerly Community Written):
GOLD
Heather Wright
York 1 environmental
The Independent of Petrolia and Central Lambton
SILVER
Jessica Lee
Grizzly bears back in crosshairs
Rocky Mountain Outlook
Broadcast Over Five Minutes:
GOLD
Brandi Morin, Geordie Day
The Apache Stronghold standing in the way of a massive copper mine
Ricochet Media
SILVER
Brittany Guyot, Tom Fennario
Food for profit
APTN Investigates
Broadcast Under Five Minutes:
GOLD
Romain Schue, Thomas Bignon
Dans les coulisses des traversées clandestines avec des passeurs indiens
Radio-Canada Info
SILVER
Davide Gentile, Daniel Boily, Jacques Racine, Ivanoh Demers
Une plaie de lit fatale pour un tétraplégique
Radio-Canada Info
Community Broadcast:
GOLD
Lela Savić, Emmanuelle Moussa
Pas tout Montréal
La Converse
SILVER
Taryn Grant
On the doorstep
CBC Atlantic Voice
Data Journalism:
GOLD
Valérie Ouellet, Mike Crawley, Aloysius Wong, Andreas Wesley
Canada’s international student spike was blamed on private colleges. Here’s what really happened
CBC News – Investigative Unit
SILVER
Sylvie Fournier, Daniel Tremblay, Benoît Michaud, Jo-Ann Demers
Eglise catholique inc.
Radio-Canada Info
Online Media:
GOLD
Chris Beaver, Katie O’Connor, Jasmine El Kurd, Pam Palmater
NDN POV
TVO Today
SILVER
Robert Cribb, Declan Keogh, Norma Hilton, Scott Martin, Rhythm Sachdeva
Lead in drinking water
Investigative Journalism Bureau
Freedom of Information Journalism:
GOLD
Caroline Touzin, Ariane Lacoursière
Centres jeunesse et foyers de groupe de la DPJ : De plus en plus de mesures de contention ou d’isolement
La Presse
SILVER
Amanda Follett Hosgood
BC illegally collected personal info tied to the Wet’suwet’en conflict
The Tyee
Photojournalism:
GOLD
Martin Tremblay
New hope for Syria
La Presse
SILVER
Carlos Osorio
Portfolio
Reuters, The Globe and Mail
Scoop:
GOLD
Anaïs Elboujdaïni
Le Canada demande à des travailleurs de la santé de Gaza s’ils ont soigné des membres du Hamas
La Converse
SILVER
Bethany Lindsay
One third of B.C.’s ‘publicly funded substance-use treatment beds’ don’t provide any treatment
Investigative Journalism Foundation
Daily Excellence:
GOLD
Shannon Waters
What on Earth just happened with B.C.’s carbon tax?
The Narwhal
SILVER
Suzanne Rent
Build Nova Scotia gives Atlantic Road Construction and Paving deadline after company puts barriers at trail in Dartmouth Cove
Halifax Examiner
Written Feature:
GOLD
Rachel Browne
A killer among them
Maclean’s
SILVER
Fabrice de Pierrebourg
Reconstruire une cité millénaire
L’actualité
Community Written Feature:
GOLD
Tyler Harper
In every Nelson he visits, Jeff Truesdell finds the man he loved
Nelson Star
SILVER
Liny Lamberink
Regrowth
CBC North
JHR/CAJ Award for Human Rights Reporting:
GOLD
Robert Cribb, Declan Keogh, Wendy-Ann Clarke, Owen Thompson
Mind games
Investigative Journalism Bureau, Toronto Star, TVO
SILVER
Gabrielle Duchaine
La maison des horreurs
La Presse
CWA Canada/CAJ Award for Labour Reporting:
GOLD
Natalia Rivero Gómez
Reporting on working conditions in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program
The Rover
SILVER
Emma Arkell
Canadian teachers face harassment in wake of ‘parental rights’ policies
Xtra Magazine
JHR/CAJ Emerging Indigenous Journalist Award:
GOLD
Tchadas Leo
Portfolio
CHEK News
SILVER
Crystal Greene
Portfolio
Ricochet Media, IndigiNews Media, Pivot Media
Environmental and Climate Change Award:
GOLD
Jenn Thornhill Verma, Johnny C.Y. Lam, Murat Yükselir, Melissa Tait, Clare Vander Meersch
Labrador Inuit are taking the fight against climate change into their own hands
The Globe and Mail
SILVER
Team
Eyes of the beast: Climate disaster survivor stories
Climate Disaster Project, Neworld Theatre
National Newsmedia Council/CAJ Student Journalism Award of Excellence:
GOLD
Nalyn Tindall
Getting by on gig work: The hidden costs of ‘easy’ money
The Eyeopener, Toronto Metropolitan University
SILVER
Om Shanbhag
The driving dilemma: How nursing students struggle to access placements
The Western Gazette, Western University
