Documentary Photography Program
Training and Mentorship for Photojournalists
About the Program
The Globe and Mail Foundation’s photojournalism training programs cover topics including historical and contemporary practice within documentary photography, sustainability and funding, professional networking and job opportunities, and more. The program is designed to fill the gap in the availability of training opportunities for photographers in Canada, benefit public understanding of and engagement with key issues and stories through high-quality training of visual storytellers, and by promoting excellence in the craft.
Designed by Chris Donovan, an experienced photojournalist and educator, this program will help develop a new generation of visual storytellers in Canada who are unhindered by student loan debt, and focused on using their craft to shape the ways in which Canadians see themselves for decades to come.
Newly launched: Training and Mentorship course for Emerging Photojournalists in BC
Given the gaps in regional news and storytelling, the hardships that graduates face in today’s job market, and the need to nurture underrepresented perspectives in Canadian media, in June 2026 The Globe and Mail Foundation launched a unique and intensive training opportunity to support a diverse cohort of early-career journalists, providing them with expert, early-career photojournalism training and mentorship.
The program is training nine promising graduates and early-career photographers, with participants from Indigenous, rural, and other underrepresented communities in B.C. Between June and September, students will take part in a weekly online session, with additional office hours, led by an experienced photojournalist whose work focuses on issues of class and environmental justice in rural Canada.
The course will feature a series of educators and presenters based in British Columbia. Students will be asked to develop or build on an existing visual storytelling project within the duration of the course.
The deadline to apply was Friday, May 8, 2026. Applications were reviewed by a volunteer jury. If you are interested in our programming, follow our social channels to learn of future opportunities.
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Additional training programs:
The Globe and Mail Foundation’s inaugural photojournalism training and mentorship program launched at the beginning of 2026, and will now run for a year instead of six months due to demand by the students. The deadline for all applications was on January 2, 2026. Submissions were reviewed by a volunteer jury, and sixteen applicants from across Canada were brought into the program. You can learn more about some of the participants and their projects on our Instagram and LinkedIn channels.
Stay tuned for our call for submissions for the 2027 program.
About Chris Donovan
Chris Donovan (he/him) is a photojournalist, artist, and educator based in Saint John, New Brunswick. He holds an MFA in Documentary Media and is a PhD candidate at Toronto Metropolitan University. His work addresses issues of class and environmental justice primarily in the Maritime provinces.
Donovan is the author of The Cloud Factory (GOST Books, 2025) and Stay Solid or Move West (Boreal Collective Press, 2021). His work has been exhibited at galleries including The Image Centre in Toronto and the National Gallery of Canada, and regularly appears in newspapers such as The New York Times and The Globe and Mail. He is an active mentor and advocate for Canadian documentary photography and the founding director of a photography festival in New Brunswick called Photo East.
Donovan's work has been recognized by a World Press Photo Award, the Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant, the Environmental Vision Award from POYi, and the Scotiabank New Generation Photography Award.