William Eltherington
William Eltherington reports for CTV News on how local businesses, food institutions and consumer brands affect residents’ daily lives, combining breaking updates with close attention to the details of specific places and people. His work sits at the intersection of food, retail and local news, often showing how decisions by restaurant owners or national chains translate into concrete changes on the ground. Alongside this food and consumer coverage, he handles a steady stream of transportation and public safety stories, keeping readers informed about serious incidents and police investigations across the region.
Local restaurants and food institutions
Eltherington’s food coverage centres on the identities and fortunes of individual restaurants, with stories that track openings, closures and ownership changes in detail. He has covered the planned reopening of a long-established Chinese restaurant under new ownership, highlighting both the timing of the relaunch and the continuity of a familiar institution for local diners. His reporting on Tosca Ristorante in downtown Ottawa and La Squadra in Gatineau documents their closure, treating the end of these businesses as news about community landmarks as much as commercial decisions. In pieces about new entrants to the scene, such as a restaurant set to open near the ByWard Market, he includes specifics like the location across from a major shopping centre and confirmation from the chef about opening plans, giving readers concrete information about where and when they can expect to visit.
He also follows shifts in the grocery landscape, including coverage of a Metro store set to convert into a Food Basics, framing the story around what is driving the trend and what it means for shoppers who rely on the existing store.
Consumer brands and food retail
Beyond individual restaurants, Eltherington reports on national food and beverage brands when their decisions have direct consequences for customers. In his coverage of the Tim Hortons Roll Up To Win prize email error, he explains how roughly half a million customers received messages claiming they had won a boat and trailer worth more than $68,000, then traces the company’s position that a potential class action lawsuit over the mistake has “no merit.” The piece ties together the legal filings, the scale of the miscommunication and the brand’s public response, positioning the story as a consumer issue rather than solely a corporate statement. His work on the Metro-to-Food Basics conversion similarly looks at business strategy through the lens of everyday impact, examining why a full-service grocery store is being rebranded as a discount chain and what that change signals for the wider retail environment. Across these stories, he treats large companies as part of the food ecosystem that readers navigate, focusing on policies, promotions and restructurings that alter prices, product offerings and customer expectations.
Transportation, public safety and local incidents
Eltherington regularly covers serious incidents on roads and in neighbourhoods, providing clear, factual accounts of what has happened and what authorities are doing in response. His report on a head-on collision in Kingston notes that one driver died and another was seriously injured, anchoring the story in the basic facts of the crash while situating it within ongoing police and emergency services work. In a separate piece about a vehicle striking a barber shop in Vanier, he details that one person died and another was injured, again emphasizing casualty figures and the nature of the impact on a specific business address.
His coverage of a crash involving a motorcycle in South Keys states that the rider was in critical condition, with timestamped updates that show how the situation develops over time.
Eltherington also reports on violent crime cases, including a story identifying a 27-year-old woman killed in an alleged weekend femicide, where he links police information, victim identification and the language authorities use to describe the incident. In these articles, he maintains a straightforward tone, focusing on verified facts from officials and the immediate consequences for those directly affected.
Broader news, politics and community
While his current beat centres on food and local incidents, Eltherington’s body of work extends into politics, public sector issues and community stories.
He has contributed to coverage of the federal government’s move toward a new pay system to replace Phoenix, tying in information from official sources and explaining what the change means for workers and payroll administration. In a lighter community piece, he has taken part in reporting on residents of Chelsea, Que. adopting a new nickname, illustrating an interest in how local identity and language evolve. His bylines have also appeared on stories about the Ottawa Senators, including reporting on Brady Tkachuk’s trade request and subsequent moves, where he follows the dynamics between players, management and fan expectations.
Outside CTV News, Eltherington has written for outlets such as The Canadian Press, The Walrus, the Globe and Mail, the Ottawa Citizen and the National Post, covering topics including elections, transportation and technology. That breadth of experience feeds back into his current work, giving him a base in political and infrastructure reporting that complements his focus on food, retail and local events.
Across these strands, Eltherington’s reporting is defined by its specificity: restaurant names, street locations, casualty counts, dollar figures and corporate statements are carefully pinned down, so each story reads as a precise account of change in a particular place. For communications teams, his coverage offers a clear sense of how local food institutions, national brands and public agencies become news when they alter routines, prices or safety for the people who live and work in the area.
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