Annual National Conferences

Each year, the CAJ’s national conference brings together journalists from across the country for two days of professional development workshops and panel discussions—not to mention a healthy dose of networking and making friends! The conference is capped off with our Banquet and Awards Gala, honouring the best of the best in journalism for the previous year.

The CAJ board of directors has approved the locations for the upcoming annual conferences, as listed below.

In 2026, the CAJ will hold its national annual conference in Ottawa, June 12-13, 2026 at Carleton University. If you are an Ottawa CAJ member and wish to volunteer or get involved in the planning, please reach out to CAJ Operations Manager, Monique Durette, at monique.durette@caj.ca.

In 2025, the CAJ held its national annual conference in Calgary, at the Delta Hotel Downtown Calgary May 30-31.

The theme of the conference was “Because Facts Still Matter.” Keynote speakers included Mark MacKinnon, Senior Correspondent for The Globe and Mail, and Brittney McNamara, Features Director at Teen Vogue. Special guests included Shayan Sardarizadeh of BBC Verify and Bert Crowfoot of Windpeaker Media.

An Elder blessing and land acknowledgement was provided by Hal Eagletail (Northern Dene TsuuT’ina Nation).

Photo credit: Nga Kam Yiu

The CAJ returned to Toronto for the first time since 2018, holding the annual conference and awards gala at the historic Toronto Reference Library from May 31-Jun 1, 2024.

The theme of the conference was “Journalism – and how to survive it.” Planned keynote speakers included Ollie Williams from Cabin Radio in Northwest Territories and Justin Ellis of Defector Media in the US (though Justin was unable to attend at the last-minute due to a family illness).

An Elder blessing and land acknowledgement was provided by Andre Morrisseau (Fort Williams First Nation).

Details of the event can before found on the event page.

Photo gallery coming soon.

The CAJ celebrated its 45th anniversary in Vancouver from April 14-16, 2023, making the annual conference and awards gala all the more special.

The theme of the conference was “Dispatches from journalism’s front lines.” Keynote speakers included Amber Bracken and Vancouver’s own, Nardwuar!

The conference schedule is available in PDF format.

The CAJ held its first post-pandemic conference in Montreal from May 27-29, 2022, at the Centre Sheraton Hotel, with it’s first-ever simultaneous translation offered in all sessions held in the “main” room.

The theme of the conference was “Clarity in Crisis.” Keynote speakers included Lyse Doucet with Melissa Fung, and Pierre Bruneau.

Photo gallery coming soon.