RTDNA Canada Announces 2026 Finalists for Best Canadian Local News Awards
Toronto, ON (October 13, 2026) RTDNA Canada is pleased to recognize excellence in digital and broadcast journalism with the Best Canadian Local News Awards.
RTDNA Canada Awards honour the best journalists, programs, platforms, stations, and newsgathering organizations in audio, digital, and video.
Best Canadian Local News Awards winners will be announced at the National Awards Gala in Toronto at the Intercontinental Hotel Toronto Centre – Ballroom on November 7, 2026.
Congratulations to the winners for their excellent work!
2026 RTDNA Canada Awards Best Canadian Local News Finalists
AUDIO
Best Podcast
- CBC Saskatchewan – Missing Megan
- CBC British Columbia – This Is Vancouver
- CBC Montreal – This is Montreal: Can you hear me now?
Breaking News (Regional) – (Large Market)
- CBC British Columbia – From Celebration to Tragedy: the Lapu-Lapu Festival in Vancouver
- CBC Montreal – Missing Toddler Found Alive After Desperate Search
- 660 NewsRadio Calgary – 660 NewsRadio – Trudeau Steps Down
Breaking News (Regional) – (Small/Medium Market)
- AM800 CKLW – Diageo to close Crown Royal bottling plant in Amherstburg
- 980 CJME – Regina Refinery Explosion
- CBC Victoria – Earthquake Special – February 21, 2026
- VOCM News – Premier Furey Resigns
Excellence in Editing
- CBC Saskatchewan – The Kids are Alright
- CBC Toronto – Jerusalem Youth Chorus: ‘Being One Voice’
Excellence in Sports Reporting
- 980 CJME – Sweeping Change: Curling Helps Two Sisters Find Home
- CBC British Columbia – CBC’s On The Island goes poolside for the 2025 Bell Canadian Swimming Trials
- CBC Ottawa – Hockey and hijabs: New to Canada and the sport, these girls have found their game
Feature News – (Large Market)
- CBC Toronto – Volunteer pallbearers bury unclaimed body
- CBC Calgary – First Campout for New Canadians
Feature News – (Small/Medium Market)
- CBC Nova Scotia – 100 years: the legacy of William Davis
- CBC Yukon – Beetle Junk: An entomologist’s pursuit of glass blowing beetle genitalia
- CBC Sudbury – The Magic of Horsecraft
News – Live Special Events (Regional)
- CBC British Columbia – The Early Edition Live with the Squamish Nation
- CBC Montreal – CBC News: Quebec Votes Municipal 2025
- CBC Nova Scotia – Maritime Noon: Live on Climate Change
Opinion
- CBC British Columbia – The Pitch: Vancouver’s Road to the 2026 World Cup
- CBC Ottawa – CBC Ontario Today: Shoplifting through the eyes of the shoplifter
- CBC Edmonton – Full of faith
Radio Newscast – (Large Market)
- CBC Montreal – CBC Montreal Radio News November 27, 2025
- CBC Calgary – Radio News
Radio Newscast – Audio – Best Canadian Local News – Small/Medium
- 95.7 NewsRadio – Susie’s Lake Wildfire 4pm Newscast Aug 12
- CBC British Columbia – Daybreak South – local newscast
- 650 CKOM – Canada Votes 2025
DIGITAL
Breaking News (Regional) – (Large Market)
- CBC Edmonton – Sweeping school book ban triggered, then rolled back
- CBC British Columbia – Ostrich cull
- CBC News Montreal – Organized crime figure dead, 2 others injured in shooting at Laval Starbucks
Breaking News (Regional) – (Small/Medium Market)
- CBC Saskatchewan – Big Island Shooting
- CTV News Atlantic – Bayers Lake Wildfire: Business Park Evacuated
Excellence in Data Storytelling
- CBC Edmonton – Invisible injuries
- CBC Ottawa – Two-thirds of Ontario school boards in deficit or just breaking even
- CBC Nova Scotia – N.S. rapidly losing some of its most affordable apartments, while cost soars for new ones
- CBC British Columbia – Your morning cup of coffee is about to cost even more – thanks to U.S. tariffs
Excellence in Social
- CBC News Montreal – Understanding the impact of tariffs and the trade war
- CBC British Columbia – Who controls the Lions Gate Bridge Centre lane?
- CBC Manitoba – The fight Indigenous families endured to bring their women home
Excellence in Sports Reporting
- UBC Journalism – Tobi Akinkunmi: Surging Forward
- CBC News Montreal – Every NHL jersey is made in Canada, but U.S. tariffs could change that
- CBC Atlantic – Cricket Feels Like Home
- CBC Manitoba – Mom recalls ‘sheer terror’ after teen hockey player’s wrist artery cut by skate
Feature News – (Large Market)
- CBC Toronto – Police in Ejaz Choudry death identified
- CBC Edmonton – Deep inside the bat cave
- UBC Journalism – Beyond Kung Fu
Feature News – (Small/Medium Market)
- CBC Quebec – This Quebec man is losing his voice. An AI tool is helping bring it back to life
- CBC Yukon – Should the Yukon River be considered a ‘person’ with rights? Some say it’s an idea whose time has come
- CTV News Atlantic – Photographer Retraces Steps of Nova Scotian Cyclist
- CBC Saskatchewan – Girl on Fire
News – Live Special Events (Regional)
- CP24.com – Ontario Votes
Opinion
- CBC News Montreal – I didn’t vote for 21 years. Trump’s attacks on my homeland and Canada changed everything
- CBC Manitoba – Opinion: My family and I had to leave due to wildfires. Here’s a photo diary of what happened next
- CBC Prince Edward Island – I’m childless by choice. Having my fallopian tubes removed in my 30’s helped me trust my gut
Overall Excellence in Digital
- CBC Ottawa – A piece of home
- CBC British Columbia – CBC British Columbia
- CBC Saskatchewan – CBC.ca/sask and CBC.ca/Saskatoon
- CBC Prince Edward Island – Overall Excellence in Digital 2025
MULTIPLATFORM
Continuing Coverage – (Large Market)
- CBC Edmonton – The search for Samuel Bird
- CTV News Toronto – Blue Jays Playoff Coverage
- CBC British Columbia – “Extortion” coverage
Continuing Coverage – (Small/Medium Market)
- CHEK News – A Child’s Life, a Government’s Decision
- CBC Thunder Bay – Bringing Percy Home: First Nation family repatriates ancestor’s remains
- CBC New Brunswick – N.B.’s Ailing Health-Care System
- CTV News Saskatoon – Saskatchewan on Fire
Enterprise Journalism – (Large Market)
- CTV News Vancouver – Hidden in Plain Sight
- CBC Toronto – Gridlocked: The Way Out
- CBC Calgary – Life in the red zone
Enterprise Journalism – (Small/Medium Market)
- CTV News Barrie – Eyes in the Darkness: the Hidden Cost of Roadside Zoos
- CBC Saskatchewan – The Canadian roots of Elon Musk’s conspiracist grandpa
- Global News Halifax – UNHEARD. UNSERVED. “Maritime Women’s Health in Crisis”
- CTV News Vancouver Island – Bylaw department marred by bullying investigations
Excellence in Innovation
- UBC Journalism – She Speaks in Power
- Global News Calgary – Decision Calgary 2025
- CBC Ottawa – Still Positive
Excellence in Writing – (Large Market)
- CBC Manitoba – He died a convicted killer. Now, Russell Woodhouse’s family wants his name cleared in 1973 homicide
- CBC Ottawa – St. Pius shooting, 50 years later
- CBC British Columbia – Foxgloves In The Garden
Excellence in Writing – (Small/Medium Market)
- CBC Atlantic – Looking for Eliza
- CTV News Barrie – Eyes in the Darkness: the Hidden Cost of Roadside Zoos
- CBC British Columbia – Man arrested after driving child-size pink Barbie Jeep through Prince George, B.C.
Investigative Excellence
- CBC Saskatchewan – Hard to Swallow
- Global British Columbia – Richmond Gift Cards
- CBC News Montreal – The rise and fall of Canada’s alleged grandparent scam king
VIDEO
Audio-Visual Storytelling
- Rogers tv Sault Ste Marie – Misko-Mjigodenh – The Red Dress
- CBC Edmonton – Wanted: Pool hall barber
- CTV Atlantic – Don’t Laugh, It’s Paid For: Maritimer Drives Car Over a Million Kilometers
Breaking News (Regional) – (Large Market)
- Global News Toronto – Delta plane crashes at Pearson airport, multiple people injured
- CTV News Calgary – Deadly Rockslide
- CTV News Vancouver – Fraser Valley Flooding
Breaking News (Regional) – (Small/Medium Market)
- CTV News Atlantic – Susies Lake Fire Prompts Evacuation
- CHEK News – The Wesley Ridge Wildfire
- CTV News Barrie – Double-Murder: Uncovering the Horror in the City’s Core
Excellence in Camera Work
- CBC News Montreal – Montreal A to V: Go deep inside this hidden cave in Saint-L’eonard
- Rogers tv Lloydminster – Hope Street Team serving Lloydminster’s unhoused
- Global News Halifax – Trees for Hope for Wildlife
Excellence in Editing
- CBC Ottawa – His abuela fled Chile after the coup. Now he’s telling her story
- CBC Manitoba – How much of Manitoba’s 2025 wildfire season is due to climate change?
- CTV News Vancouver – The haunting of BC Peneteniary
Excellence in Sports Reporting
- NTV News – Canada Games: The Nation Unites
- CBC News Montreal – Does Quebec City stand a chance at a pro hockey team?
- CHEK News – Little Kickers
- CBC Edmonton – Acing it at 93
Excellence in Video
- CBC Manitoba – What Winnipeg’s new rules mean for people in, and near, encampments
- CBC Newfoundland and Labrador – Home in Rigolet: A CBC short doc on life in a small northern coast community in Labrador
- CBC Ottawa – Spilling the chai
- CTV News Vancouver – Eyes on the eagles
Feature News – (Large Market)
- CBC News Montreal – The Youppi! story – from Muppet DNA to a hold on Montreal’s heart
- Global News Winnipeg – Fighting the addictions crisis in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation
- Global British Columbia – Beatles Forgotten Demo
Feature News – (Small/Medium Market)
- CBC Northbeat – The teenage tour guides of Cambridge Bay
- CTV Atlantic – “I Can Build Something Out of That”: Jurassic Parts Come to Life
- CFJC Kamloops – Radio Listener Donates Bike
- CHCH News Hamilton – Core Patrol and Open Drug Use in Hamilton
News – Live Special Events
- CBC British Columbia – Extortion town hall
- CBC Toronto – Blue Jays in the World Series
- Global News Edmonton – Edmonton Municipal Election
- CBC Newfoundland and Labrador – Newfoundland and Labrador Votes
Opinion
- CTV Atlantic – Murphy’s Logic: Hacks
- CBC News Montreal – 40 years later, Air India bombing still marks victim’s loved ones
- CBC British Columbia – Michelle Elliot’s work after the “Lapu Lapu” incident
TV Newscast – Video – (Large Market)
- Global News Edmonton – Jasper Wildfire 1 year anniversary
- CTV News Toronto – CTV News at Six
- Global British Columbia – Lapu Lapu Day Tragedy
TV Newscast – (Small/Medium Market)
- CBC Newfoundland and Labrador – CBN wildfire
- CBC Saskatchewan – Saskatchewan Wildfires
- CHEK News – CHEK News at 5
- CTV News Barrie – State of Emergency: Unprecedented Action in the City of Barrie
VJ Video
- CTV News Vancouver – The darkest day debate
- CTV News Montreal – Digging up the past – in the Cree Nation of Chisasibi
- CBC News New Brunswick – Horse Graduation
- CBC North – Paulatuk using acoustic tags on Arctic char to better understand their whereaboutsUDIO