Every journalist. Every beat. One community.

We’re excited that you’re interested in joining journalists and educators from across Canada who are exploring new ways to report a defining issue of our time.

Whether you cover politics, health, housing, Indigenous affairs or agriculture, climate increasingly shapes the stories you report. This program is designed to help you strengthen your reporting, and connect with colleagues facing many of the same challenges.

With this training program, you’ll build practical reporting skills, learn from experienced journalists and experts, develop story ideas, get access to credible resources and become part of a growing community of climate reporters across Canada.

Climate change increasingly touches many of the stories Canadian journalists cover. Yet climate reporting is still often treated as a standalone “environment” beat, rather than something that cuts across many areas of journalism.

The Climate Journalism Training Program was developed by Re.Climate at Carleton University and the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) to help journalists build the knowledge, skills, and confidence to report on climate across a range of beats.

Throughout the program, you’ll work through practical reporting tools, evidence-based resources, real-world case studies, and interactive discussions with experienced journalists and subject-matter experts. You’ll also have opportunities to develop story ideas, and connect with peers from across Canada.

The curriculum was developed with input from working journalists, climate experts and an advisory group to ensure it reflects the realities of Canadian newsrooms and today’s information landscape.

The program is made possible through the support of the Trottier Family Foundation.

Across both streams, participants should finish the program able to:

1. Identify and pitch climate-relevant stories across multiple reporting beats.
2. Use Canadian public opinion and audience insights to shape reporting angles.
3. Report more confidently on climate science, impacts and energy transition issues.
4. Localize and humanize climate stories through community impacts, lived experience and regional energy contexts.
5. Source and incorporate more diverse, regional and Indigenous perspectives.
6. Apply accountability approaches to climate, policy and industry stories, including Canada’s oil and gas sector.
7. Use practical reporting tools, datasets, verification techniques and climate resources.
8. Identify and respond to misinformation.
9. Develop more engaging, solutions-oriented, and multimedia climate stories.
10. Build peer connections and ongoing climate reporting practices within their newsroom and networks.
11. Follow the money behind climate policy and industry.

The program consists of two learning streams of six sessions each. You may take one stream or both. The foundational stream runs in fall 2026 (September to December); the advanced stream runs in winter 2027, with registration opening Dec 2026.

Foundational stream

Designed for:

• General assignment journalists
• Journalism educators
• Journalists in smaller newsrooms and smaller communities
• Freelance journalists

Grounds you in why climate reporting matters now, how climate intersects with everyday reporting, and the core literacy and skills needed to integrate climate into daily practice

Advanced stream

Designed for:

• Journalists who completed the foundational stream
• Journalists with prior climate reporting experience
• Journalists who want to build analytical and investigative skills
• Freelance journalists

Moves toward accountability journalism, systems thinking, policy and political systems across jurisdictions, data and financial reporting, audience engagement and multimedia storytelling.

Each course follows the same three-week rhythm.

Before: Materials open one week ahead with readings, short videos, curated resources and/or reporting examples. Preparation takes 60–90 minutes at most.

During: A zoom virtual session of 90–120 minutes, always on a Friday at 2:00 PM ET. Sessions are built around Q&A on the asynchronous materials, exercises, story analysis and pitch development, with check-ins where useful.

After: Materials stay open for the duration of the stream, so you can catch up or revisit. Tip sheets, source lists and datasets are yours to keep. All quizzes and homework assignments are due one week after the live session date.

Foundational stream — Fall 2026

REGISTRATION

Opens: Monday, August 17, 2026 at 10:00 AM ET

Closes: Monday, September 14, 2026, 5pm ET

CERTIFICATES

Issued to eligible participants by January 15, 2027

Advanced stream — Winter and Spring 2027

REGISTRATION

Opens: Monday, December 14, 2026 at 10:00 AM ET

Closes: Monday, January 18, 2027, 5:00 PM ET

CERTIFICATES

Issued to eligible participants by May 21, 2027

Participants of the program are invited into a group of journalists within the CAJ, created to keep the learning, collaboration and mentorship going even after the last session ends.

As part of the confirmation of registration process, participants will receive an invite to a dedicated Slack channel for program participants, even if they are not CAJ members. This access will remain in place until the end of 2027, unless participants become CAJ members by that time. Participants who are already CAJ members will also gain access to all other CAJ Slack channels, through the membership process.

Teaching staff from Canadian journalism and communication schools are welcome in both streams, and the tip sheets, datasets and reporting examples are yours to adapt for your own curriculum.

Participants who complete a stream receive a digital certificate of completion issued jointly by the Canadian Association of Journalists and Re.Climate. The certificate is shareable and can be added to your LinkedIn profile.

What you need to do to qualify

• Attend at least four of the six live sessions in the stream and watch the recording(s) for any session(s) you miss.
• Complete the asynchronous materials and take-home assignment for each course.
• Complete the short quizzes for sessions.
• Complete the pre- and post-program surveys — these are how we evaluate and improve the program, and they take a few minutes each.