IJB journalism honoured for groundbreaking reporting in 2025

By Investigative Journalism Bureau

The Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB) has been recognized with seventeen prestigious journalism awards, nominations and accolades in Canada and beyond for work published in print and audio.

Canadian Hillman Prize

Arachnid: Hunting the Web’s Darkest Secrets, a podcast by the Investigative Journalism Bureau, TVO Today and Piz Gloria Productions, has won a prestigious Canadian Hillman prize. 

The prize, presented annually by the Sidney Hillman Foundation, awards Canadian journalists who seek out stories that change lives, expose important social and economic injustices in Canada and bring about change for the better.

Digital Publishing Awards

The IJB’s reporting project on “Cruel” Medical Research on Dogs won a silver Digital Publishing Award for Investigative Journalism.

Meanwhile, Arachnid: Hunting the Web’s Darkest Secrets was nominated for the best True Crime podcast. The 11^th annual Digital Publishing Awards recognize and promote excellence in the content and creation of Canadian digital publications

The CJF Landsberg Award

IJB reporter Emma Jarratt won the esteemed Landsberg award for investigations centring women’s lived experiences and challenging power structures that put marginalized women at risk. Presented by the Canadian Journalism Foundation, the Landsberg Award celebrates a journalist whose work enhances the awareness of women’s equality issues. Jarratt’s work include a multiyear investigation into sexual misconduct by Canadian lawyers and a forensic year‑long project documenting every killing or suspicious death of a woman in Canada, uncovering gaps that minimize, misclassify or erase women’s deaths.

Jury member Denise Balkissoon noted, “The breadth of the investigation was remarkable, and the impact undeniable.”

Read more from Emma Jarratt.

World Press Freedom Canada

World Press Freedom Canada presented its Student Achievement Award to Jenna Olsen for her work exposing the use of dogs in medical research at St. Joseph’s Hospital, which involved protecting confidential sources whose jobs were at risk. WPFC’s annual Press Freedom Awards recognize journalists whose reporting in the public interest has overcome significant challenges, such as government secrecy, legal pressures, political intimidation, threats of violence, harassment or other tactics designed to stifle their work.

Institute for Nonprofit News Awards

Bad Practice won a Best Investigative Journalism Award at the Institute for Nonprofit News Awards (INNYs) alongside the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland, Kaiser Health News and news partners across Europe.

“The investigative project stands out for its cross-border collaboration and depth of reporting,” INNY’s judges said. “It exposes significant wrongdoing and reflects the power of coordinated investigative journalism.”

The project was also nominated for the Journalism Collaboration of the Year.

Canadian Online Publishing Awards

Best Investigative Article 

The recent IJB investigation into puppies secretly tested and killed for human heart research at an Ontario hospital won the silver medallion for best investigative article in 2025.

This story has sparked numerous debates about the practice and led to new proposed legislation on animal research in the province.

Arachnid Nominated for Best Podcast

The Canadian Online Publishing Awards nominated Arachnid: Hunting the Web’s Darkest Secrets for best podcast in 2025. 

Learn more about the Canadian Online Publishing Awards here. 

Featuring IJB director Rob Cribb as host and IJB senior reporter Wendy Ann-Clarke as lead researcher, this series was made possible through a powerful collaboration between the Investigative Journalism Bureau, TVO, Piz Gloria Productions, and the Toronto Star. 

Association of Health Care Journalists Award for Excellence

Bad Practice earned a third place in Investigative – Large Division Association of Health Care Journalists Awards for Excellence.

This collaborative investigative project with 46 media partners worldwide revealed how dozens of doctors have jumped borders and started fresh, leaving behind troubling pasts including medical malpractice and botched treatments.

2025 Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism Winners

New York Festivals Radio Awards 

Registered Nurses of Ontario (RNAO) Media Awards

The RNAO awarded Best Online In-Depth Feature to the IJB’s Blair Bigham and Démar Grant for their reporting on Ontario nurses raising the alarm over high workloads. After more than a year of fighting for never-before-seen records, the story exposed how nurses’ complaints about high patient-to-nurse ratios, which put both nurses and patients at risk, were filed yet routinely dismissed by hospital management. The RNAO media awards recognize outstanding journalism on nursing and health issues.

The Peabody Awards

“Left To Their Own Devices” has been nominated for a Peabody Award in the Public Service category. The podcast, a collaboration involving the Toronto Star, Paradigms Productions and the IJB, explores the profound impact of social media and technology on youth. The IJB’s Rob Cribb and Masih Khalatbari were part of the team that produced episodes on deadly sextortion scams targeting teens and the effects of modern technology on the developing brain. The Peabodys are prestigious international honours for excellence in television, radio, podcast, and online media.

Canadian Association of Journalists Awards

IJB reporters Masih Khalatbari, Robert Cribb, and Rachel Parent were nominated for the JHR/CAJ award recognizing journalists who report on human rights issues for their project on labour exploitation: ‘This is the new slavery’: Migrant farm workers underpaid, abused and injured.

Mindset Awards

IJB reporters Wendy-Ann Clarke and Robert Cribb have been nominated for a Mindset Award for excellence in mental health journalism for reporting on toxic workplace culture at a top mental health hospital in Canada.

Bingey List

Arachnid: was honoured by the Bingey List for 2025. Samantha Hodder, author of the Bingey List, wrote that the podcast uncovers “those dark corners of the internet so others do not have to.”

Learn more about the Bingey List for 2025 here. 

Global Investigative Journalism Network list for Top Investigative Podcasts

Arachnid: Hunting the Web’s Darkest Secrets has been named one of this past year’s top investigative podcasts by the Global Investigative Journalism Network. Learn more about the Global Investigative Journalism Network here.