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Project Redacted: Spilling government secrets behind a toxic chemical contamination in North Bay
If you discovered a serious health risk in your neighbourhood, when would it be appropriate to warn those living around you? The question brings me back to when I pulled over onto the dirt edge of Carmichael Drive in North Bay. Stepping out of my car with a notebook and pen in hand, I scanned… Read more
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The Next Generation: Nurse and epidemiologist Pavneet Kaur part of reporting team exposing airport safety risks in northern communities
Since 2020, the Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB) has welcomed 87 interns and fellows into the newsroom as part of a mission to train the next generation of investigative reporters. Alongside journalism students, our teaching newsroom brings together researchers in health, law, and digital media, offering them opportunities to apply their academic expertise to real-world issues… Read more
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Government won’t pay for blood tests of North Bay residents exposed to toxic chemicals in water
When Sarah Dutrisac and her family moved to North Bay, in 2020, they didn’t know toxic chemicals had seeped into their home’s well water system. Now, she’s worried about how those chemicals may have directly impacted her family. Dutrisac was eight months pregnant when she found out the water in her neighborhood was exposed to… Read more
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Placenta pills? Unlicensed services help mothers ingest the afterbirth in the belief it’s healthy
Celebrities and influencers from Kim Kardashian to Mandy Moore and Chrissy Teigen have endorsed them. And posts by Canadian moms on social media enthuse about them too, garnering thousands of likes and comments. They’re talking about services that help mothers eat their own placenta, mostly in pill form. And although Health Canada says such businesses… Read more
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Project Redacted: One reporter’s month-long quest for government comment on lead in drinking water ends with more than 70 attempts unanswered
On October 14th, I called a senior communications official at Ontario’s Ministry of Health for a comment on a story I was preparing on lead in drinking water. The Investigative Journalism Bureau had internal government documents, obtained through freedom of information legislation, detailing why the provincial government has failed to adopt Canada’s safety guideline for… Read more
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Tougher rules for lead in drinking water would cost too much, Ontario says
The Ontario government’s continued refusal to adopt tough federal guidelines on lead in drinking water — guidelines accepted by eight other provinces — boils down to a question of cost, provincial documents show. Adopting the federal standard “would place substantial financial and implementation burdens on municipalities, potentially costing millions of dollars,” says an internal memo… Read more
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Project Redacted: Ontario politicians refuse to release records detailing relationship with self-proclaimed ‘prophet’’
For years, high-ranking Ontario politicians have visited a controversial church north of Toronto led by a self-proclaimed ‘prophet’. An IJB investigation recently placed the church at the centre of allegations of sexual misconduct and financial exploitation. Now, the church is about to go to court facing dozens of bylaw charges from the city of Vaughan,… Read more
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IJB journalism honoured for groundbreaking reporting in 2025
The Investigative Journalism Bureau has won two prestigious Signal Awards for podcast series collaborations on child exploitation and youth mental health that have reached a global audience. The Signal Awards are an international competition that honours excellence, innovation, and culture-defining work in the podcast industry. These latest awards are among 21 national and international journalism honours the… Read more
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A self-proclaimed prophet, a powerful political ally and a fight over Ontario’s Greenbelt
A church north of Toronto whose leader has been accused by some former congregants of sexual or financial misconduct is facing dozens of municipal bylaw charges, including charges of operating illegally on protected Greenbelt land. Even as Miracle Arena For All Nations church has battled Vaughan, Ont., officials over its presence on protected land, it… Read more
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‘We are scared’: Canadian miner’s Nigerian venture putting community at risk, locals say
Muyideen Adegboyega set off on his scooter one morning in October 2022 to make a familiar trip to a local market. As he drove down a road close to the town of Iperindo in southwest Nigeria, he was struck and killed by a flying chunk of rock from a nearby explosion. The blast came from… Read more
