Rebecca Zandbergen will be the new host of CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning starting Tuesday.
Zandbergen has been with CBC for more than 20 years, including time hosting and reporting in Ottawa, Halifax, Iqaluit, Whitehorse, Windsor and Kelowna.
She formerly hosted CBC Kelowna’s Radio West and more recently London Morning for six years, where she won two national Radio Television Digital News Association Awards, before returning to Ottawa in 2023. She has been a frequent guest host on national radio shows including The Current and The Sunday Magazine.
Zandbergen grew up south of Ottawa in Iroquois and studied journalism at Carleton University, where she has since returned to teach. She has also taught in Rwanda and South Africa.
Friday morning’s announcement was made both on the air and in a news release from CBC Ottawa.
“My first and most important job as host is to help people better understand each other,” said Zandbergen in the release.
“There are some pretty big rifts in this country — Ottawa Morning needs to be a place where we can talk about that honestly.”
Her first day as permanent host will be Tuesday, Jan. 14. Previous host Robyn Bresnahan spent 13 years in the chair before moving on to host CBC’s This is Ottawa podcast.
Ottawa Morning is broadcast live from 5:30 to 8:37 a.m. ET on CBC Radio and on the CBC News app.