The Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB) has been recognized in 11 prestigious journalism awards in Canada and the United States for work published in print, podcasting and documentary film.
The newsroom recently earned two Canadian Association of Journalists Awards (CAJs), two National Newspaper Awards (NNAs), a Mindset Award for Workplace Mental Health, a Signal Award for podcasting, and a Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) media award.
The IJB is also nominated for the upcoming Canadian Journalism Foundation’s (CJF) Jackman Award for Excellence, one of the highest honours in Canadian journalism. In broadcasting, the IJB is a co-finalist for the 2025 Golden Sheaf Award and the Yorkton Film Festival for documentary filmmaking.
National Newspaper Awards
At the NNAs, the IJB was recognized 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 published in collaboration with the award-nominated documentary Bodies for Rent, directed by Emmy-award-winning filmmaker Habiba Nosheen.
The IJB, in collaboration with the Star, also won the Investigative Reporting category at the NNAs 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 took home two CAJ awards for excellence in Canadian journalism in 2024, winning both categories it was nominated in.
The IJB investigation in collaboration with TVO and the Toronto Star which revealed the troubling backgrounds of therapists approved for a federal First Nations mental health care program won the Gold JHR / CAJ Award for Human Rights Reporting.
Reporting by Robert Cribb, Declan Keogh, Wendy-Ann Clarke, and Owen Thompson broke the silence on the crippled vetting system of therapists approved to treat Indigenous patients, whose backgrounds include murder and sex with a former patient. The reporting led to the creation of a short documentary by TVO titled Mind Games.
The IJB also won the Silver CAJ Award for Online Media Category for an investigation tracking the invisible threat of lead in drinking water in Ontario schools and daycares. 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 in partnership 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.
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.
RNAO Media Awards
The Ultimate Choice, a six-part podcast exploring Canada’s emergence as a global leader in medically assisted deaths, won best podcast series at the annual Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) media awards.
Learn more about the RNAO Media Awards here.
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.
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.
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.
Learn more about the Yorkton Film Festival here.
The Investigative Journalism Bureau is a non-profit, impact-driven newsroom telling deeply-reported stories in the public interest.