RTDNA Canada Announces the 2025 Finalists for Best Canadian Local News Awards

Toronto, ON (October 14, 2025) 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 Chestnut Conference Centre on November 1, 2025.

Congratulations to the winners for their excellent work!

2025 RTDNA Canada Awards Best Canadian Local News Finalists

AUDIO

Breaking News (Large Market)

• CBC Montreal
  July 10, 2024: McGill Encampment Dismantled  
• 1130 News Radio Vancouver
  The October 19th Atmospheric River  

Breaking News (Small/Medium) 

• CBC Yukon
  Communications outage a ‘perfect storm’: Wildfires knock out phone, internet, 9-1-1 service in the North  
• CBC Quebec
  Quebecers reflect on death of former Prime Minister – and neighbour – Brian Mulroney  

Excellence in Editing 

• CBC NL
  Are N.L. accents dying? No, b’y: but they are changing  
• CBC Edmonton
  Birdsong: Edmonton’s quiet soundtrack  
• CBC Yukon
  More than just music: the power to change lives  
• CBC Toronto
  Touring Little Jamaica’s rich musical history 

Excellence in Sports Reporting 

• CBC British Columbia
  Requiem for a Logo  
• CBC Toronto
  Canada is now a hammer throwing nation. But Toronto athletes can’t train.
• CBC North
  Nunavut’s Small but Mighty Cross Country Ski Team  
• CBC Edmonton
  Why dance choreographers aren’t worried about AI 

Feature News (Large Market) 

• CBC British Columbia
  Voices from Diaspora 
• CKUT
  Viewpoints 129: Urban Agriculture  
• CBC Manitoba
  Refugee students see promise as they graduate in Winnipeg  

Feature News (Small/Medium Market) 

• CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
  Georgina’s Law  
• CBC Saskatchewan
  Mission 300  
• CBC Victoria
  Preserving the art of clockmaking in Victoria  
• CKIA
  Des citoyens lancent un café solidaire à Sainte-Foy  

News – Live Special Events 

• CBC Quebec
  Quebec under spell of 2024 total eclipse frenzy – Breakaway Live Broadcast – April 8, 2024  
• 660 NewsRadio Calgary
  Remembrance Day 2024: Now You Know with Rob Snow  
• CBC P.E.I.
  Island Morning Ferry Remote Show  
• CBC British Columbia
  CBC in your community: qathet-Powell River  

Opinion 

• CBC Edmonton
  ‘Pieces of my heart are still in Afghanistan’  

Radio Newscast (Large Market) 

• 660 News Radio Calgary
  660 News Radio Morning Show: 30-Aug-24  
• CBC Montreal
  Best Radio Newscast: October 24, 7:30 AM  
• 1130 News Radio Vancouver
  BC Votes 2024 Morning Show  

Radio Newscast (Small/Medium Market) 

• 650 CKOM
  650 CKOM morning news  
• CBC Windsor
  June 25, 2024: 6:30 a.m. Newscast  
• 95.7 NewsRadio
  Blue Tide Sweeps Nova Scotia: 8:00 am Newscast  
• CBC British Columbia
  830 May 14th 2024: CBC Interior News

DIGITAL

Breaking News (Large Market) 

• CP24.com
  Toronto Underwater Flooding closes DVP, leaves thousands without power 
• CBC Edmonton
  Jasper in ashes from ‘monster’ wildfire  
• Global BC
  Two people wounded, suspect shot dead in downtown Vancouver stabbing 

Breaking News (Small/Medium Market) 

• CBC North NWT
  6 dead in Fort Smith plane crash  
• CBC British Columbia
  1 dead, several injured after school bus crash in B.C.’s Cariboo 

Excellence in Data Storytelling 

• CBC Edmonton
  Alberta’s honey industry is buzzing 
• CBC Ottawa
  Paid to stay home: Suspended police officers cost Ontario taxpayers $134M over past decade  
• CBC British Columbia
  Most voyeurism incidents on transit don’t result in charges: data  
• CBC Atlantic
  I-Unit – Police and Public Trust – CBC Atlantic I-Unit 

Excellence in Social 

• CBC Toronto
• CBC Manitoba
  Respectful coverage of Skibicki trial on TikTok 
• CBC British Columbia
  Straight outta Tahltan: Beader creates medallion for Ice Cube – who wears it on stage 

Excellence in Sports Reporting 

• CTV Atlantic
  Girls in sports: Believe you belong 
• CBC British Columbia
  Lawsuit, tighter rules follow amateur fighter’s coma 
• CBC Saskatchewan
  Live streaming: coach behavior 

Feature News (Large Market) 

• CBC Calgary
  How Alberta’s proposed trans youth rules fit into a polarized international landscape 
• UBC Journalism
  Pyar is Pyar: A Journey in Conservative Surrey  
• CityNews Toronto
  Man pushed to the ground by Toronto undercover officer suffering from headaches, lack of sleep  

Feature News (Small/Medium Market) 

• CBC Saskatchewan
  Ukrainian Friends  
• CBC Yukon
  Troubled Water: The Aftermath of the Eagle mine disaster  
• CBC Kitchener-Waterloo
  ‘Canada is my home’: Afghan woman who fled abuse deported from Canada  
• The Independent
  Learning lessons from Susan Piercey’s  

News – Live Special Events 

• Global BC
  British Columbia 2024 provincial election 
• CBC Toronto
  Mississauga Votes 
• CBC Quebec
  Breathtaking total solar eclipse wows skywatchers in Quebec 
• CTV Atlantic
  New Brunswick Election: Province elects first female premier 

Opinion 

• CBC Montreal
  I’m learning how to live with the reality of war and the beauty of motherhood 
• CBC Saskatchewan
  My Dad is a Woman 
• The Independent
  Why I pressed Trudeau on genocide 
• The Conversation Canada
  More Canadians are paying for news this year, but it’s still too early to celebrate 

Overall Excellence in Digital 

• CTV Atlantic
  Year In Review: Highlights of 2024 
• CTV News Vancouver 
• The Green Line
  Toronto’s Housing Crisis 

MULTIPLATFORM

Continuing Coverage (Large Market)

• CBC Montreal
  Pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University 
• CBC Edmonton
  Jasper wildfire: The emergency and the aftermath 
• CTV Vancouver
  Crisis in Surrey schools 

Continuing Coverage (Small/Medium Market) 

• 650 CKOM
  Searching for answers, finding a way forward. The inquests into Saskatchewan’s mass stabbing 
• CBC Yukon
  The failure of the Eagle gold mine and it’s impact on the land, water and people of the North 
• CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
  Jack’s Law: A man’s fight to change N.L.’s Limitations Act 
• CBC Thunder Bay
  Grassy Narrows First Nation’s ongoing fight for mercury justice 

Enterprise Journalism (Large Market) 

• CBC Ottawa
  Housing First: when the foundation cracks 
• Global Edmonton
  Global News Investigates: Surviving Edmonton 
• CTV Vancouver
  VPD officers laugh after shooting woman 

Enterprise Journalism (Small/Medium Market) 

• CBC NL
  Hot air, broken promises 
• CBC Yukon
  Addictions and Recovery: A look at Yukon’s ongoing crisis 
• CBC Saskatchewan
  Newcomers and Drugs 
• CBC Hamilton
  Prisoners in Hamilton put in segregation at far greater rate than any other Ontario jail, data shows 

Excellence in Innovation 

• CBC Calgary
  Sharing Knowledge: A community-driven news project with local East African communities 
• CBC Ottawa
  The Voice in their Hands 
• CBC N.L.
  The Other Side of the Fence 

Investigative Excellence 

• TVO
  The Thread with Nam Kiwanuka: International Students and The Housing Crisis 
• CBC Saskatchewan
  Piapot Land 
• CTV Vancouver
  Horrific case of child neglect 
• CBC P.E.I.
  P.E.I. podiatrist facing questions over what credentials he has for the job

VIDEO

Audio-Visual Storytelling  

• CBC Edmonton
  Meet the Haus of Ebonii: Alberta’s first all-Black drag and burlesque group makes its mark
• CTV Atlantic
  Scotish Highland Traditions: Experiencing Gaelic Culture on Cape Breton 
• CBC Vancouver
  Retired Vancouver school custodian has invented a number of gadgets to make his job easier and more fun, including the “snow shovel for seniors.” 
• CTV News Northern Ontario
  Stories From The North: Sugar Shack 

Breaking News (Large Market) 

• Global Edmonton
  City Hall Shooting 
• Global BC
  Atmospheric River 
• CBC Montreal
  Massive watermain break floods Montreal streets 

Breaking News (Small/Medium Market) 

• CTV Atlantic State of Emergency
  Cape Breton Digs Out after Massive Snow Storm  
• CFJC Kamloops
  Red Bridge Burns 
• CBC Kitchener-Waterlooo
  Apparent tornado touches down in Ayr, Ont. downing trees and power lines and damaging business  

Excellence in Editing 

• CBC Montreal
  A baker’s wife, a ball gown and someone named Bob 
• CBC Calgary
  Indigenous policing is community policing: A glimpse inside one First Nations police force  
• CBC British Columbia
  Making Friends with Fire: What Canada can learn from how First Nations prevent wildfire disasters  

Excellence in Sports Reporting 

• CBC Manitoba
  Trailblazing University of Manitoba placekicker outboots the men to earn Canada West all-star honours 
• CBC Nunavut
  Small but Mighty: Nunavut’s First Cross Country Ski Team Arctic Winter Games 2024, Palmer, Alaska  
• CityNews Montreal
  Making a splash in water polo 
• CBC Yukon
  Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in citizen Gavin McKenna goes to World Juniors as the youngest player on Team Canada 

Excellence in Video 

• CBC Toronto
  Toronto wants more electric vehicles on the road: What’s the holdup? 
• CBC British Columbia
  Would commercial rent control protect small businesses in Canada? Should landlords have limits on rent increases for small businesses? 
• Global News Calgary
  Season 2 of ‘Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock’ shot in Calgary 

Feature News (Large Market) 

• CBC Edmonton
  Rainbow Refugees find sanctuary in Edmonton 
• CTV Montreal News
  The end of the Expos 
• Global BC
  Stanley Park Resident 
• The Green Line
  Why you’re at risk every time you cross this intersection in Scarborough 

Feature News (Small/Medium Market) 

• CBC Nova Scotia
  Sabrina Fabian: 100 years of friendship – Yarmouth’s Jewish-Lebanese connection  
• CTV News Kitchener
  American Nightmare Becomes Canadian Dream Come True Surprise of Lifetime for WWE Superfan  
• CBC North
  Virtual reality reconnects elders with tradition 
• CBC British Columbia
  B.C. family return to home destroyed by Shetland Creek wildfire  

News – Live Special Events 

• CBC Saskatchewan
  Saskatchewan Election Night 
• CTV Atlantic
  Election 2024 New Brunswick Elects First Female Premier 

Opinion 

• CBC British Columbia
  Is Vancouver ready to accommodate the 2026 FIFA World Cup?  
• CBC Ottawa
  Good Nose: A love letter to the ‘Persian nose’
• CTV Atlantic
  Murphy’s Logic: The Information Vacuum  
• CBC Edmonton
  The future of farming? 

TV Newscast (Large Market) 

• CTV Vancouver
  CTV News at 6: Bomb Cyclone Hits BC’s South Coast 
• CTV Calgary
  CTV Calgary News at 6 – 06-Jun-24   
• CBC Montreal
  Total solar eclipse wows Montrealers

TV Newscast (Small/Medium Market) 

• CBC North
  Reconciliation Day Newscast 
• CTV Atlantic
  Acts of Remembrance: Remembrance Day 2024
• CTV News Kitchener
  Voyeurism, Fireworks, Shootings & Encampments  

VJ Video 

• CHCH
  Falls Eclipse Observers in Niagara Falls 
• CTV Calgary
  Food Bank Harvest 
• CTV Vancouver
  Vancouver’s worst road 
• Global News
  Duncan the Truck turns 50 Ella MacDonald