The Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB) has been recognized across 10 prestigious journalism awards in Canada and the United States. The newsroom recently earned two 2024 National Newspaper Awards (NNAs), a Mindset Award for Workplace Mental Health, and a Signal Award for podcasting. IJB is also nominated for two Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) Awards and the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s (CJF) Jackman Award for Excellence, one of the highest honours in Canadian journalism. In addition, the IJB has received nominations for the 2025 Golden Sheaf Award, a Signal Award and the Yorkton Film Festival for podcast and documentary filmmaking.
Canadian Journalism Foundation Jackman Award for Excellence in Journalism
The IJB is proud to announce that its reporting on Lead in Drinking Water is shortlisted for The CJF Jackman Award for Excellence in Journalism. The IJB is nominated in the small media category for its investigation into toxic lead in the water in Ontario schools and daycares. This investigation by Rob Cribb, Declan Keogh, Norma Hilton, Scott Martin and Rhythm Sachedeva includes a public database containing four years of findings, allowing the public to access lead results at any school, daycare or childcare centre across the province.
Learn more about the Jackman Award here.
National Newspaper Awards
At the NNAs, the IJB is being recognized in partnership with the Toronto Star in two highly competitive categories for its impactful investigative work that has helped expose serious issues within Canada’s healthcare system and clinical trials industry.
The IJB took home the NNA in the Business Reporting category for the boundary-pushing examination of the shadowy world of clinical trials in collaboration with the Toronto Star.
This years-long investigation unveiled the ethical pitfalls of the for-profit human drug testing industry, which incentivizes trial participants to lie through exploitative recruitment techniques, including referral bonuses, loyalty points and other perks that lure often vulnerable people into becoming professional test subjects.
The investigation was also published in collaboration with the award-nominated documentary Bodies for Rent, directed by Emmy-award-winning filmmaker Habiba Nosheen.
The IJB, in partnership with the Star, also won the Investigative Reporting category at the NNAs Friday for its groundbreaking reporting on the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program. The program, which is intended to help First Nations and Inuit people access life-saving healthcare, including mental health care, exposes them to long wait times, cultural insensitivities and therapists with troubling backgrounds, including murder and having sex with a former patient.
Find out more about the NNA awards and see the full list of nominations by clicking the link here.
Canadian Association of Journalists Awards
The IJB is a finalist in two categories at the CAJ awards. The CAJ serves as the national voice of Canadian journalists, and upholds the public’s right to know.
Online Media Category: Robert Cribb, Declan Keogh, Norma Hilton, Scott Martin, Rhythm Sachdeva
Lead in drinking water
Investigative Journalism Bureau
JHR / CAJ Award for Human Rights Reporting: Robert Cribb, Declan Keogh, Wendy-Ann Clarke, Owen Thompson
Mind games
Investigative Journalism Bureau / Toronto Star / TVO Today
Learn more about the CAJ here.
Mindset Awards
The IJB’s reporting on Mind Games – Healing or Harming Generational Wounds won a Mindset award for Reporting on Workplace Mental Health, recognizing excellence in mental health reporting in Canada. The investigation, reported by Robert Cribb, Wendy-Ann Clarke, Declan Keogh and Owen Thompson, was published by the IJB co-operatively with TVO and The Toronto Star in November 2024.
The IJB was also nominated for Privileged and Confidential, an investigation by Robert Cribb and Emma Jarratt published by the IJB and The Toronto Star in February 2024.
The IJB accounts for two out of eight nominations this year at the Mindset Awards. Click here for the full list of nominees.
New York Festivals Radio Awards
The Ultimate Choice, the IJB’s podcast series on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in partnership with TVO, has been shortlisted for a New York Festivals (NYF) Radio Award in the Health/Medical podcast category.
The NYF Radio Awards honour the creativity, innovation and impact of audio professionals worldwide.
Learn more about the NYF Radio Awards here.
Yorkton Film Festival
Bodies for Rent, a documentary that takes us inside the hidden world of clinical trials, has been nominated for a Golden Sheaf Award in the Social/Political Documentary category at the 2025 Yorkton Film Festival. Directed by Habiba Nosheen and created in collaboration with the IJB, the documentary follows the experiences of two professional clinical trial subjects who make their living volunteering to consume experimental drugs in exchange for money.
The Yorkton Film Festival began in 1947 as the Yorkton Film Council, making it North America’s longest-running film festival. Held annually in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, the festival celebrates the best Canadian screen-based media through its Golden Sheaf Awards competition.
Learn more about the Yorkton Film Festival here.
Signal Award
The IJB was also recognized with a prestigious Signal Award in October 2024 for the Ultimate Choice podcast, produced in partnership with TVO. The series explores the complex and evolving landscape of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD).
Learn more about the Signal Award here.
The Investigative Journalism Bureau is a non-profit, impact-driven newsroom telling deeply-reported stories in the public interest.