This newsletter is your window into what’s happening across the Documenters Canada network, and beyond. Every six weeks, we’ll land in your inbox with updates from the field: new Documenters site launches, blog posts, funding opportunities, experiments, and stories about how citizens are documenting and democratizing public meetings in their communities. Whether you’re a Documenter, partner, or close observer of civic journalism, this is your way to stay connected to the work, the people, and the ideas shaping participatory local news in Canada. // Cette infolettre vous permet de découvrir ce qui se passe au sein du réseau Documentalistes Canada et au-delà. Toutes les six semaines, nous vous enverrons les dernières nouvelles du terrain : lancement de nouveaux sites Documenters, articles de blog, possibilités de financement, expériences et récits sur la manière dont les citoyens documentent et démocratisent les réunions publiques dans leurs communautés. Que vous soyez documentaliste, partenaire ou observateur attentif du journalisme civique, c'est le moyen idéal pour rester en contact avec le travail, les personnes et les idées qui façonnent l'actualité locale participative au Canada.
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The Documenters Circle: A Newsletter by Documenters Canada #2
Published 5 days ago • 8 min read
The Documenters Circle
Dear community,
We’re so grateful for our growing subscriber base and for the responses to our first newsletter! We’ve now reached over 100 subscribers, and counting.
If you’re reading The Documenters Circle for the first time, welcome. This newsletter is your window into what’s happening across the Documenters Canada network and beyond.
Whether you’re a Documenter, partner, or close observer of civic journalism, this is your way to stay connected to the work, the people, and the ideas shaping participatory local news in Canada.
Documenters Canada travels to Gaspésie and Windsor
In Cornwall, journalists and citizens work hand in hand
Newly-trained documenters in Toronto and Montréal
The Network at Glance
Crowsnest Pass Documenters Launches!
Documenters Canada continues to grow! This April, a third site launched in Crowsnest Pass, where trained community members are just starting to document public meetings. Located in Southern Alberta, it is the first rural site to join our network.
Community engagement lead Allison Capron (left), with Crowsnest Pass Documenters Shannin Maloney (centre) and Keiran Douglas (right). Photo: Sarah B. Groot
This concludes months of preparation for all involved partners. The project is led by Lisa Sygutek alongside Allison Capron, who serves as the local community engagement lead. Tyler Nagel and Sarah B. Groot, journalism instructors at SAIT, and Elise Stolte, engagement producer at CBC Calgary, are also supporting the site.
“Important conversations at public meetings can go undocumented, and that creates gaps in what the community knows about decisions that directly affect them. Documenters is a practical way to close that gap by training and paying local residents to attend and document meetings, expanding coverage while giving people a direct role in the democratic process.” - Lisa Sygutek, owner and publisher, Crowsnest Pass Herald
In May, we are travelling to the Festival International de Journalisme de Carleton-sur-Mer (FIJC), set in the beautiful coastal region of Gaspésie in Eastern Québec. Active Documenters and members of Documentalistes Montréal, along with collaborators from The Green Line, will be joining. Professionals and community members from Québec, across Canada, and beyond will gather for four days around a rich program curated by Bertin Leblac, the festival’s General Director, whom our team warmly thanks for the invitations.
Documenters Canada will be involved in:
"Citoyens-journalistes : dernier rempart contre les déserts médiatiques," a roundtable featuring Documenters Canada co-director Magda Konieczna, Anita Li, CEO and editor of The Green Line, and Gabrielle Brassard-Lecours, Community Engagement Lead for Documenters Montreal at Pivot
"Médias de proximité, histoire d'un renouveau," a roundtable with Anita Li
"Devenir reporter-citoyen," a workshop presented by the Montréal team alongside two documenters: Agathe Melançon and Gabriel Lavoie
In June, academics and practitioners will gather at the University of Windsor for the annual meeting of the Canadian Communication Association (CCA). The program includes a panel on Documenters Canada. Participating team members will be joined by guests from across the Detroit River: Noah Kincade, Detroit Documenters Coordinator at Outlier Media, and Nina Kelly, a former Detroiter and now Postdoctoral Fellow at Temple University’s Center for Community-Engaged Media.
The four presentations will explore similarities and differences across American Documenters chapters (Nina Kelly, Noah Kincade), the challenges and successes of Documenters Canada in Toronto and Crowsnest Pass (Nicole Blanchett, Tyler Nagel), and transparency issues encountered by Documenters Montreal (Magda Konieczna). Clément Lechat and Magda Konieczna will return to the roots of Documenters Canada, offering a reflexive look at community-centred journalism and its intersection with the design of Montreal Documenters.
In the evening of June 2, the Documenters Canada team will host a get-together. Let us know if you’d like to join us by filling out this form.
From our Community
Covering Public Meetings in Cornwall
For this April edition, Documenters Canada is pleased to feature reflections from On a le choix, a community media outlet based in Cornwall.
The city’s last French-language news outlet closed in 2016. Since 2021, On a le choix has helped fill this gap, fostering connections between Franco-Ontarians, newcomers, and the broader community across Eastern Ontario.
Photo: On a le choix
The outlet was recognized for its contribution to local life by the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce in 2024.
Its editor, Delphine Petitjean, has been a close observer of the Documenters initiative over the past few months and shares her perspective on why both journalists and citizens must play a role in monitoring local municipal government meetings.
“
When citizens and the press are in the room during a city council meeting, the impact is real. I saw it, for instance, when it came to voting on a bylaw opposing Bill 5, which threatened protected species habitat preservation in Ontario. The tension was palpable. Whatever the issue under deliberation, civic engagement can tip the scales.
— Delphine Petitjean, Rédactrice en chef, On a le choix
This article is part of a content exchange between On a le choix and Documenters Canada. You can read Clément Lechat’s contribution (in French) at onalechoix.com.
By Aia Jaber, Community Engagement Lead, The Green Line
Illustration: Sara Mizannojehdehi
The Green Line and Documenters Toronto welcome five new Documenters to the team! After a six-hour training in which they learned all about levels of government, the civic process, and how to pitch and attend meetings in person, our team has grown in size and momentum. New and seasoned Documenters are covering three meetings per month, making local decision-making even more transparent and accessible.
We're also continuing to support civic engagement through resources like the How to Make a Deputation at Toronto City Hall Guide and our forthcoming Civic Big Sister series, which help residents understand how to participate in local democracy.
Students Step Into Documenters Toronto
Among the new Documenters are master’s and undergraduate students from Toronto Metropolitan University’s Reimagining the Newsclass: Aia Jaber, Emma Amodio, Christian Malong, and Jack Cochrane. They are focusing on issues related to health, housing, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Another graduate student, Addie Tiller, has written about her fellow students’ experience.
“Becoming a Documenter allows you to feel like you’re making a real, tangible difference because it’s so hyperlocal, you can focus on issues at a neighbourhood level with real community members, sit there and engage with them, hear what they have to say about it, and then bring that into a written format.” - Emma Amodio, Journalism Student, Toronto Metropolitan University
Community Engagement Lead Aia Jaber (left) and the three TMU students documenting public meetings (left to right): Emma Amodio, Christian Malong, and Jack Cochrane. Photo: Addie Tiller.
The class, led by Nicole Blanchett, associate professor of journalism, is designed to help students explore forms of information-sharing that go beyond traditional journalistic boundaries and genres.
Having students document public meetings is not uncommon. In the United States, San Diego City College and San Diego State University partner with a local Documenters site. Closer to home, in Montreal, associate professor Magda Konieczna tested a similar approach in her Hyperlocal Journalism class in fall 2025.
It has now been more than six months since the launch of Documentalistes in Montreal. The team met at the Pivot coworking space on the Plateau neighbourhood to take stock of its objectives… and everything is on track!
Since September, Documentalistes Montréal has achieved:
10 boroughs or cities covered by our documenters on the Island of Montreal and Longueuil
2 neighbourhood tables and 3 community organizations involved
Nearly 150 followers on our Instagram @documentalistesmontreal, 368 likesand over 36 627 views
By next September, the main goals will be to further strengthen Documentalistes’ community roots in the neighbourhoods where the project is active in downtown, eastern Montreal, and Longueuil, and to increase the visibility of content created by our citizen contributors, both within local information networks and on social media.
The team is growing!
A new team member will play a key role in this direction: Christian Robert joins Documentalistes Montréal as Community Liaison Officer, responsible for strengthening ties with local community partners and supporting the project’s outreach and visibility.
Photo: Christian Robert
In addition to his role with Documentalistes Montréal, Christian Robert is a facilitator-researcher, coordinator, and head of content and training for the civic education organization L’Autre Montréal. Barely arrived, Christian is already working to anchor Documentalistes Montréal in local communities, organizing meetings with residents of Habitations Jeanne-Mance and youth in Mercier-Est.
Illustration: Sara Mizannojehdehi
From our Sites: Documenters Montreal
Documentalistes Montréal on the radio!
What place does local information have in Montreal neighbourhoods? Agathe Melançon, a documenter, and Clément Lechat, coordinator of the Documentalistes Canada network, were guests on the show Esprit de quartier on CIBL. They appeared alongside Aziz Tabah, Executive Director of the Montréal-Nord Neighbourhood Table, which has also launched a local information project: the Nord Média platform.
Mercier-Est youth documenters at the borough council on March 9, 2026. Photo: Ngoné Fall
No fewer than nine young people took part in a training session in the Mercier-Est neighbourhood on March 8 and 9. Organized with the support of the neighbourhood roundtable Solidarité Mercier-Est and made possible through a grant from the Changemakers program, the training concluded at the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough council meeting. The young participants wrote their first notes, which can be read on the Pivot website.
Documenters South of the Border
Documenting the Impact of Federal Funding Shifts
What are the local consequences of federal funding shifts in the U.S.? Since January, City Bureau has been analyzing patterns emerging from Documenters’ notes. The organization has also created a form to gather information directly from community members. Particular attention will be given to local education, social services, and healthcare funding, as well as the repercussions for municipal and county budgets, according to Ariel Cheung, City Bureau’s Editorial Director. What insights will this growing body of data reveal?
Stay tuned for updates when coverage launches in June, and follow City Bureau on LinkedIn for the latest developments.
Documenters to Launch in Charlotte
A new Documenters site will launch later this year. In North Carolina, the team at the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative is organizing community listening sessions and meeting with partners. Documentation of public meetings will begin shortly afterward. The initiative also aims to document immigration court hearings, an effort that would be a first across the Documenters.org network.
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This newsletter is your window into what’s happening across the Documenters Canada network, and beyond. Every six weeks, we’ll land in your inbox with updates from the field: new Documenters site launches, blog posts, funding opportunities, experiments, and stories about how citizens are documenting and democratizing public meetings in their communities. Whether you’re a Documenter, partner, or close observer of civic journalism, this is your way to stay connected to the work, the people, and the ideas shaping participatory local news in Canada. // Cette infolettre vous permet de découvrir ce qui se passe au sein du réseau Documentalistes Canada et au-delà. Toutes les six semaines, nous vous enverrons les dernières nouvelles du terrain : lancement de nouveaux sites Documenters, articles de blog, possibilités de financement, expériences et récits sur la manière dont les citoyens documentent et démocratisent les réunions publiques dans leurs communautés. Que vous soyez documentaliste, partenaire ou observateur attentif du journalisme civique, c'est le moyen idéal pour rester en contact avec le travail, les personnes et les idées qui façonnent l'actualité locale participative au Canada.
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The Documenters Circle This newsletter is your window into what’s happening across the Documenters Canada network, and beyond. Every six weeks, we’ll land in your inbox with updates from the field: new Documenters site launches, blog posts, funding opportunities, experiments, and stories about how citizens are documenting and democratizing public meetings in their communities. Whether you’re a Documenter, partner, or close observer of civic journalism, this is your way to stay connected to...
