This content was originally published in our newsletter. You can read it in full in the March 2026 edition of The Documenters Circle, and subscribe to stay updated with future issues.
The Network at Glance
The Inspirit Foundation Renews Its Support
The added support of $50,000 will boost the launch of Documenters Canada in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, and strengthen community partnerships in Montreal, bringing Inspirit’s total contribution to $100,000 since 2025.
“Documenters Canada is a unique, community-rooted model that ensures vital information about hyperlocal communities doesn’t fall through the cracks. It pairs citizens’ energy and perspectives with rigorous reporting to produce journalism people can use in their everyday lives. Inspirit Foundation is proud to support the project’s growth and to help journalists and individuals across regions take ownership of the model and adapt it locally. We look forward to witnessing the project’s evolution!” – Ana Sofía Hibon – Senior Program Manager, Inspirit Foundation
We are Joining the First-Ever NextGen Creator-Journalists Program
Spearheaded by the Canadian Journalism Foundation, with the support of the Google News Initiative, the 12-month program includes lectures, workshops and personalized mentorship aimed at reinforcing participating organizations’ long-term sustainability. Documenters Canada is part of the 20 organizations selected among 57 applications from across the country.
Co-director Magda Konieczna is undertaking the program and will share outcomes at an in-person presentation in Toronto in the fall of 2026. Our media partner organizations The Green Line and Pivot are also part of this inaugural cohort.
More information about the program.
From our Sites
Documenters Toronto: A Growing Community
By Aia Jaber, Community Engagement Lead, The Green Line.
Documenters Toronto is ramping up its content production with more notes, more Documenters and more fun. Through social media, meeting recaps and interactive videos, we’ve noticed Torontonians are eager to join our project.
Videos showcasing our trainees, as well as posts mentioning incentive, have garnered the most engagement and inquiries.
Over the last few months, Documenters Toronto has welcomed three new, fully-trained Documenters, with eleven joining us for the next round of training. At The Green Line, our Documenters will be contributing two notes a month, rather than just one.
Whether it’s the FIFA World Cup, accessible and affordable transit, or building proposals, Documenters Toronto is for the people and by the people.
At Documenters Toronto, we value organic, steady growth and are more than excited to continue with that in the coming months. We hope that we continue to grow our following, create engaging content while encouraging our Documenters to be in photos and videos.
Documenting is more than a project, it’s a lifestyle we want shared. Our followers should stay tuned for civic, how-to guides, fun Q&As and more. This quarter is all about venturing into new forms of social and civic engagement.
Documenters Montreal
New Documenters Trained in Montreal
A training session led by Francis Hébert-Bernier of Pivot was held on December 3 at the Habitations Jeanne-Mance, a social housing complex in downtown Montreal, with the support of the Table de concertation du faubourg Saint-Laurent. Participants then attended the Ville-Marie borough council meeting on December 9, where they were joined by many other residents mobilized by the FEEJAD.
FEEJAD is a community organization based at the Habitations Jeanne-Mance that supports youth and families in the neighbourhood. Its executive director, Perpétue Mukarugwiza, has made a habit of inviting members to attend the Ville-Marie borough council together to learn about local democratic life.
More training sessions are planned in Montreal this winter with our community partners L’Itinéraire, Solidarité Mercier-Est, and la Table de concertation du faubourg Saint-Laurent.
Welcome to Nicolas Tremblay
The Documenters Montreal team is welcoming a new member. Nicolas Tremblay, a journalism undergraduate at Concordia University, will work alongside Pivot to fact-check the information reported in Documenters’ notes before they are published.
“Fact-checking is an essential part of publishing the notes produced by these engaged citizens, at a time when municipal transparency is sometimes called into question,” says Nicolas.
“It’s a source of pride for me to contribute to this young initiative, which I hope will help inform the public about municipal politics and fill a media gap in some neighbourhoods.” – Nicolas Tremblay
Documenters in the Spotlight
Documenter Agathe Melançon was featured by local outlet Nouvelles d’Ici. Since August 2025, Agathe has documented six public meetings, including several in her borough, le Sud-Ouest, where she is highly involved. In addition to being a Documenter, Agathe also collaborates with L’Itinéraire and publishes in its magazine.
Young Documenters from Mercier-Est, Annabelle and Erika, are in the spotlight in a recent blog post! Their training, held in September 2025, and the ones to come, are part of six initiatives supported by See Different, a program from the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion that highlights the engagement and leadership of young changemakers across Canada.
Crowsnest Pass Documenters
Public Meetings are Public for a Reason
“It is a privilege to have the media as an integral part of council meetings. We need them to be an effective part of our communication plan. They, in turn, have the privilege of serving the community by covering council discussions and decisions made.”
That statement, published in the Crowsnest Pass Herald, came from a member of the municipal council in the community the paper serves. For our partner Lisa Sygutek, the owner and publisher, this opinion raises a red flag.
Her response, shared on LinkedIn, is unequivocal: freedom of the press is a constitutional right, and public meetings are public by default.
Lisa then published an editorial titled Why open meetings matter in Alberta, diving deeper into the issue.
“Public meetings are public for a reason. Whether it is a council meeting, a committee meeting, a public hearing or a press conference, these forums exist so decisions can be explained, debated and justified on behalf of the people. While reasonable limits may apply in narrow circumstances, access to observe and report on those proceedings cannot be restricted arbitrarily or because coverage is uncomfortable or critical.” – Lisa Sygutek, Owner and Publisher, Crowsnest Pass Herald