World Press Freedom Canada also present Local Journalism, Student Achievement and International Editorial Cartoon Contest prize at annual Press Freedom Awards Luncheon

World Press Freedom Canada (WPFC) is pleased to announce that Toronto Star reporter Frédérik Plante is the winner of our 2026 Press Freedom Award, while The Globe and Mail’s veteran foreign correspondent Mark MacKinnon receives this year’s Career Achievement Award.

Judges considered nominations from across Canada for the annual Press Freedom Awards, which 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. Categories include the Press Freedom Awards for both larger publications and local journalism, the Career Achievement Award in honour of Spencer Moore, the Student Achievement Award and the International Editorial Cartoon Contest.

The awards will be presented at WPFC’s annual luncheon at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on April 29, in honour of the United Nations’ World Press Freedom Day, which takes place annually on May 3. Our keynote speaker is David Frum, a Canadian-American staff writer at The Atlantic and one of the most influential political analysts of our time.

WPFC recognized Plante for his courageous and persistent pursuit of police data on race-based police stops in Quebec, an effort that has entangled him in a lengthy legal fight with the province’s Ministry of Public Safety.

Plante began his reporting on the issue while working as a Montreal-based reporter for The Globe and Mail. He personally pursued the legal battle for freedom of information records after leaving the Globe and taking a job in Toronto with the Star.  

MacKinnon is recognized for his more than 20 years as one of Canada’s leading foreign correspondents, including his recent coverage in war zones in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Throughout four years of war in Ukraine, he has delivered world-leading reportage from the front lines of the conflict, despite threats to his personal safety and the logistical difficulties posed by the oft-besieged electrical grid.

He also risked his safety to report on the sectarian violence inside Syria in 2025, where he was once banned from entry after angering the regime of former dictator, Bashar al-Assad. 

WPFC President Heather Bakken offered her congratulations to all award winners. “At this pivotal moment for press freedom worldwide, we must recognize the courageous work of Canadian journalists who demand accountability at a time when the state capture of media is growing at an alarming rate globally,” she said. “Under this year’s theme, Courage of Conviction, we spotlight journalists who demonstrate grit and determination in telling the stories that serve the common good and strengthen our democratic values.”

WPFC presented a Press Freedom, Local Journalism Award to a team from The Green Line for their data-driven, innovative coverage of housing disruption and displacement caused by construction of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT in Toronto.

The full-edition coverage was led by The Green Line’s founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief Anita Li and managing editor Yara El Murr, with reporters James Westman and Mary Newman. The Green Line complemented its reporting by hosting  a community event after the issue was published, where it invited the public as well as local and regional organizations to share experiences and propose solutions. 

A Press Freedom Award, Certificate of Merit goes to The Globe and Mail team of Carrie Tait, Tom Cardoso, Stephanie Chambers, Greg Mercer, Mark MacKinnon and Alanna Smith for their work reporting on conflicts in Alberta Health Services. They were met with subsequent efforts to intimidate them and smear their reputations.

The Student Achievement Award is presented  to Jenna Olsen, at University of King’s College, for her work exposing the use the dogs in medical research at St. Joseph’s Hospital in London, Ont., while she was an intern at the Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB) at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Olsen spent months working with internal documents, footage and data. She verified the material, consulted experts and pressed the hospital for answers — all while helping to protect confidential sources whose jobs were at risk.

A Student Achievement Award, Certificate of Merit goes to Heather Johnston, whose final article in the journalism program at  Mount Royal University was a lengthy account of women survivors of sexual assault. 

WPFC is also announcing the winners of our International Editorial Cartoon contest. This year’s theme was “Tough Times.”

Prize winner Darko Drljevic is a cartoonist and illustrator based in Podgorica, Montenegro. He is president of the Association of Cartoonists of Montenegro and the Federation of Cartoonists Organizations. He was the 2025 winner of the World Press Cartoon competition held in Oeiras, Portugal.

In second place is Joel Plett, an American Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist who formerly worked for the Lexington Herald-Leader. His cartoons have appeared in hundreds of websites, newspapers and magazines worldwide, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, Le Monde, and many more.Third-place finisher Patrick LaMontagne is a cartoonist and digital painter from Canmore, Alta. He was an editorial cartoonist syndicated with several dozen newspapers across Canada. He now focuses primarily on his digital wildlife paintings.