Leah Larocque
Leah Larocque covers how economic decisions, infrastructure and consumer issues play out in everyday life, bringing a business lens to Ottawa stories for CTV News Ottawa. She is a multi-skilled journalist with the masthead, contributing reporting across television, radio and digital platforms, and working in formats that range from on-air segments to online articles and social video. Her business coverage centres on cost of living, consumer protection, local development projects and the financial stakes behind public services.
Cutting back: Canadians rethink spending habits
A recurring strand in Larocque’s work is the pressure of inflation on household budgets and how consumers adjust their behaviour in response. In her segment “Cutting back: Canadians rethink spending habits,” she reports on survey data showing that more than 90 per cent of Canadians have changed how they manage their money in the past six months, connecting national figures with concrete examples of what people are doing to cope. She highlights how many respondents are cutting back on overall spending, delaying major purchases and, in some cases, dipping into savings or relying more on credit to cover essentials. The coverage blends expert commentary from financial specialists with clear explanations of what the numbers mean, making the economic story accessible and immediately relevant to viewers.
Within this cost-of-living reporting, Larocque focuses on the practical side of business stories — how macroeconomic trends translate into decisions at the household level, and which sectors feel the strain first. Her framing keeps the emphasis on real-world consequences rather than abstract indicators, which distinguishes her coverage from more market-focused business reporting.
Spot the Scam Week: protecting consumers from fraud
Larocque also devotes significant attention to consumer protection, particularly around scams and evolving rules that govern everyday transactions. In “Spot the Scam Week: How to protect yourself against scams,” she outlines common fraud tactics and walks audiences through the steps they should take to safeguard their finances, explaining both preventative measures and what to do if they suspect they have been targeted. The segment is structured as a service piece, with straightforward guidance and a focus on practical takeaways.
Her consumer focus extends to regulatory changes that affect travellers and buyers. In a social video on new rules for air travellers in Canada, Larocque breaks down upcoming changes and what they mean for passengers’ rights, positioning the story at the intersection of transportation policy and consumer expectations. In another report on United Airlines suspending its direct service on certain routes, she explores how the airline’s strategy targets business routes and leisure markets, linking corporate decisions to the options available to travellers and local business connectivity. Across these pieces, she treats rules, rights and corporate moves as part of a broader consumer economy, translating policy language into clear, practical terms.
Tewin development project and Ottawa’s growth debates
Larocque’s business beat includes coverage of major local development projects and the financial implications of growth decisions. In her article “Tewin development project passes latest hurdle, but some say it still doesn’t belong,” she reports on a large-scale development proposal moving through a key approval stage, outlining the arguments of both supporters and critics. She explains the planning context, the projected impact on housing and land use, and the reasons some stakeholders question whether the project fits with the city’s broader development strategy.
Here her reporting style combines policy detail with community perspective: she shows how a complex, long-term development decision carries economic stakes for residents, investors and municipal finances, and she gives space to voices on multiple sides of the issue. This approach to covering local development — tracking the regulatory process while highlighting who stands to gain or lose — is a defining feature of her business coverage.
Transit, education and health care with economic stakes
Larocque frequently reports from the front lines of public services when financial decisions affect reliability and access. In coverage of repeated light rail transit shutdowns, she speaks with riders about their experience and frustration, capturing how service disruptions affect commutes, work and daily logistics. She pairs these rider voices with interviews with local officials to explore how infrastructure problems and operational decisions reverberate through the city’s economy and public confidence.
Her reporting on cuts at Algonquin College examines how program reductions would affect students like a horticulture student whose course is on the chopping block, and what economic blow those cuts could represent for learners and the broader community. In a separate story about a sharp jump in American physicians choosing to work in Ontario, she speaks with a geriatrician who moved from Indiana, using the personal narrative to illuminate workforce trends and the business side of health care recruitment. She has also sought public input on proposals to ban social media for teens, inviting parents to share their perspectives as policy debates unfold.
Across these stories, Larocque’s coverage consistently connects policy, budget and workforce decisions to the lived experience of the people using these systems. She tends to report on location — on trains, campuses, in clinics — and weaves those scenes into explanations of the financial and operational stakes, giving her business beat a distinctly ground-level perspective.
Working as a multi-skilled journalist, Larocque uses television segments, digital articles and social video to move between breaking developments and explanatory pieces. Her work is shaped by a through-line: business stories are framed by their impact on residents’ daily lives, whether the subject is inflation, scams, development projects or the reliability of essential services.
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.