Kelsea Arnett
Kelsea Arnett reports for CBC Calgary, covering how business decisions, public spending and industry developments shape daily life in and around the city. Her work traces the money, policy and commercial forces behind local attractions, civic infrastructure and resource projects, with a focus on clear, ground-level reporting.
Stampede economy and food ventures
One strand of Arnett’s reporting looks at the business side of Calgary’s marquee events, especially the Calgary Stampede. In her coverage of the 2026 midway food lineup, she highlights how vendors and organizers introduce more than 65 new items, from reworked favourites like triple chocolate mini doughnuts and Korean BBQ poutine to novelty offerings such as a pickled cheeseburger and ramen-coated, cheese-filled doughnuts. The story treats food not only as entertainment but as a commercial and branding decision, showing how the midway evolves to keep crowds and cash flowing.
Within that Stampede coverage, she pays attention to individual entrepreneurs and international influences, noting, for example, a vendor bringing giant wagyu beef senbei to the grounds as a “taste of Japan.” That framing places small business, cultural trends and consumer appeal in the same frame, which is typical of how she approaches festival and hospitality stories.
Municipal spending and aging infrastructure
Arnett frequently reports on how municipal budgets and capital decisions affect buildings and services, with an emphasis on the financial lifelines that keep older assets viable. In a piece on the former YWCA building in Calgary’s Beltline, she details how the site, vacant for more than two months, is set to receive a $1‑million boost through the city’s 2026 budget. She explains that council approved the funding on the final day of budget discussions and that the money will go toward a scoping report on the condition of city‑owned facilities. The story connects line items on a budget spreadsheet to specific bricks‑and‑mortar consequences.
Her reporting in this area situates individual buildings within broader debates about civic priorities and long‑term planning. By walking through how a single million‑dollar allocation triggers formal reviews and potential future spending, she shows how public dollars move from council chambers into concrete assessments and, eventually, redevelopment or preservation decisions.
Energy projects, regulation and local impact
Another core focus for Arnett is large‑scale resource development and its economic and environmental stakes. In coverage of a revised proposal for the Northback coal mining project at Grassy Mountain, she explains that Alberta’s energy regulator has opened a period of public input after an earlier application was rejected in 2021 because environmental harms, especially to fish and water quality, were found to outweigh economic benefits. She reports on key changes in the new plan, such as shrinking the mine’s footprint by 40 per cent and adding “progressive reclamation” – restoring land as mining proceeds – and presents these details in the context of both potential jobs and long‑term ecological risks.
Her story also foregrounds community concerns, including the danger of toxic selenium seeping into waterways used for ranching and drinking and home to threatened trout species. By balancing company arguments about impact mitigation with residents’ fears and the regulator’s process, Arnett shows how business proposals in the energy sector are contested, negotiated and reshaped before any economic payoff materializes.
Innovation, students and future‑facing business
Arnett’s reporting often picks up early‑stage ideas and technologies that could grow into commercial or social ventures. In a piece on Calgary high school students developing wearable technology for people with Parkinson’s disease, she describes a battery‑powered “tail” fitted with sensors that can detect when a user is about to lose balance and act as a counterweight to stabilize them. The story focuses on how young innovators identify a real‑world problem and build a tangible prototype, situating classroom work in the wider ecosystem of health technology and potential future markets.
Earlier in her career, she gained experience as a researcher for CBC during the 2023 Alberta election, contributing to province‑wide reporting on what voters said mattered to them, from healthcare and education to the economy and leadership. She is part of the 2025 CBC News Summer Scholarship cohort and is described as a multimedia reporter who recently completed a journalism degree, experience that underpins her ability to move between on‑the‑ground interviews, visual storytelling and explanatory business coverage. Before joining CBC Calgary as a reporter, she built a portfolio across local and national outlets, writing on a range of topics that included city politics and election projects.
Across these strands – Stampede commerce, city budgets, energy projects and student innovation – Arnett’s work is distinguished by its focus on how decisions about money, infrastructure and industry land in specific places and communities. She reports in plain language, foregrounds people directly affected and consistently links their stories back to broader economic and policy currents.
4 more business journalists.
Aarjavee Raaj
Aarjavee Raaj focuses on how corporate decisions, government warnings and economic trends affect everyday Canadians, using clear, data-driven business and related news coverage. She is a CTVNews.ca journalist with experience reporting on arts, culture, business and more, and her name is pronounced Aar-Za-Vee. Her work links institutional and corporate developments to practical consequences for workers, consumers and families, including corporate losses, retail restructuring, tax schemes and compliance warnings. She reports on workplace trends, economic strain, consumer recalls and health impacts, using survey data, charity reports, regulatory notices and clinical stories to show how macroeconomic and policy issues touch daily life. A digital journalist, she keeps to tight headlines, clear summaries of official statements or data, and a steady focus on what developments mean for people who work, shop and rely on public services.
Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams reports human interest stories that follow how sudden conflict, loss and long-running mysteries reshape the lives of ordinary people in everyday settings. She is a writer-reporter on PEOPLE’s Human Interest team, a role she has held since joining the brand in June 2021. Her work centers on routine days that turn into major events, giving equal weight to what happened and the human cost. She covers minor disputes and errands that end in tragedy, sudden accidents, law enforcement and public safety incidents, and missing-person cases with new developments after years of uncertainty. Her reporting is concise, event-led and built around individual lives, often framed with clear emotional cues while staying grounded in verified facts. Business and workplace contexts appear as backdrops, but the person and their circle remain at the heart of the story.
Akshay Kulkarni
Akshay Kulkarni is a data-led reporter who explains how economic, policy and social forces play out in British Columbia through concrete numbers, records and local case histories. He has worked as a journalist at CBC British Columbia since 2021, focusing on business, labour and resource developments, including tariffs, trade rules, corporate strategies and regulatory decisions. His coverage of critical minerals, Amazon’s impact on jobs and wages, and responsible investment links market shifts to the lived experience of workers, consumers and small businesses. He also reports on infrastructure, energy and land use, such as the Site C project and high-value property disputes, and on policy and social systems, including Indigenous deaths in custody, social media use in harm reduction, and mandatory inquests. His stories are built around original interviews and quantitative detail that show how systems affect communities on the ground.
Allison Stephen
Allison Stephen stands out for connecting everyday life with money, work, and the built environment through vivid local examples instead of abstract business coverage. She is a staff writer at Daily Hive, where she covers how jobs, housing, major projects, and consumer experiences shape economic reality on the ground. Housing and real estate are central to her work, including detailed, accessible stories on distinctive homes, high-end rentals, and monthly shifts in home prices and cost of living. She regularly covers employment, especially public-sector and institutional hiring, highlighting well-paid roles and urging readers to act on new opportunities. Her reporting on major civic and recreational projects explains what is being built, how much it costs, and where it stands in approvals. She also writes about local businesses, food, and attractions, using concrete numbers, specific locations, and direct calls to action.