Frequently Asked
Questions.

NewsBureau.ca is a Canadian journalist-expert matching service. You submit a source query — your story topic, what expertise you need, and your deadline. We search a database of manually verified Canadian experts and send you 2–3 matched profiles within 4 hours.

Right now we're running it manually — a human reviews every query and makes every match. That's intentional. It means you get better results than a keyword algorithm, and every expert you receive has been personally verified before you see them.

When you Google for a source, you get names — but then you still have to verify credentials, find a contact, send a cold email, wait, follow up, and hope they're available before your deadline. That process takes hours.

NewsBureau.ca gives you experts whose credentials have already been confirmed, who have indicated they're willing to speak to media, and whose availability has been checked against your deadline. The matching is done for you.

Our standard SLA is 4 hours during business hours (9am–6pm ET, Monday–Friday). If you submit a query at 2pm, you'll have expert profiles by 6pm at the latest — usually sooner.

For urgent same-day deadlines, email [email protected] directly with URGENT in the subject line. We prioritise those immediately.

Queries submitted outside business hours are processed first thing the next morning. If your deadline is before 9am, email directly.

You'll receive 2–3 matched expert profiles per query. We cap it at 3 deliberately — you don't need 10 names, you need the right 2 or 3. More options creates work, not value.

Each profile includes: full name and title, institutional affiliation, specific credentials relevant to your query, past media appearances, contact information, and a note on why we matched them to your story.

Reply to the match email and tell us what's missing — wrong province, need a different credential, story angle shifted. We'll go back to the database and send a revised set at no charge.

This also helps us improve. Every piece of feedback makes the matching better for every journalist who comes after you.

When we notify a matched expert about your query, we share the story topic and expertise needed — but not your name or outlet until you choose to make contact. This protects you from unsolicited follow-up if you decide not to use that expert.

When you select an expert, we make the direct introduction by email — at that point both parties have each other's contact information.

Yes. When submitting your query, specify your language requirement — English only, French only, or bilingual. We have verified experts across Quebec and nationally who are fully comfortable speaking to media in French.

Our French-language coverage is growing fastest right now — if you're working on a story for a francophone outlet and can't find what you need, email [email protected] directly.

We're in the founding member phase. We're building the platform and proving the model. That means early journalist members get free, unlimited access while we build. The catch, if there is one, is that we'll ask for your feedback and we'll eventually charge for premium features at launch.

When the full platform launches, founding members lock in at the lowest available rate — permanently. That's the trade: free now, loyalty pricing later.

You register, we verify your credentials, and your profile goes into our expert database. When a journalist submits a query that matches your expertise, we send you a notification email with the story topic, what kind of comment is needed, and the deadline.

You decide whether to respond. There's no obligation to reply to every query — only the ones that are relevant to your work and fit your schedule.

It depends entirely on your sector and how specifically you've defined your expertise. Economists, health professionals, lawyers, and technology experts tend to receive 2–5 relevant queries per week at current network size — that will grow as the platform scales.

Specialists in narrower fields may receive fewer queries but with much higher relevance. We'd rather send you one perfect match than five marginal ones.

Journalists see: your name, professional title, institutional affiliation, specific areas of expertise, credentials summary, past media appearances, and your stated availability and interview formats.

Your email address and phone number are never shown publicly. They're used only to notify you of queries and to make the introduction when a journalist selects you.

Yes — and the more specific you are in your registration, the better your matches will be. We strongly encourage experts to list specific topics rather than broad sectors. "Bank of Canada monetary policy and Canadian mortgage markets" will get you far more relevant queries than "Economics."

If your focus shifts or you want to add new areas, email [email protected] and we'll update your profile.

Note it in your registration. We can route journalist introductions through your communications rep rather than directly to you. We'll include their contact information in the match delivery instead of yours.

PR firms can also register multiple experts under a single PR/Comms account — see the expert tier pricing on the homepage.

Yes, any time. Email [email protected] and we'll pause your profile immediately — you stop receiving query notifications but your profile information is retained so you can reactivate easily.

For permanent removal, we'll delete your profile and all associated data within 48 hours in compliance with PIPEDA.

The Free Verified tier is free forever. You get listed in the database, receive matched query notifications, and respond to journalists at no cost.

Premium tiers (Expert Pro at $29/month, PR/Comms at $199/month) add priority placement in match results, enhanced profile features, and analytics. Those are optional and launch with the full platform.

Yes. Every query is reviewed by a human, every match is made by a human, and every expert notification is sent by a human. There is no algorithm running in the background.

This is a deliberate choice during the founding phase. Manual matching produces better results than automated keyword matching at low network density — and it means we learn exactly what journalists need and what makes a good match before we automate anything.

The full platform will include: a journalist dashboard for submitting and tracking queries, an AI matching engine that scores experts against queries across five dimensions, a real-time notification system, expert profile pages, a bilingual EN/FR interface, and analytics for both sides of the marketplace.

We're building it in parallel with the manual operation — using what we learn from real queries to design a better product. Target launch for the full platform is late 2025.

HARO worked by blasting journalist queries to everyone on a massive email list and hoping someone relevant replied. It had no credential verification, no Canadian-specific focus, no matching intelligence, and no quality control on who called themselves an expert.

NewsBureau.ca is the opposite model: a curated, verified network where every expert has been reviewed, matches are made deliberately, and Canadian context is built into everything — provinces, bilingual capacity, sector knowledge, and regulatory understanding.

Yes. Your query is only shared with the specific experts we select as matches — and only the topic and expertise requirement, not your name or outlet. We do not publish query information, share it with third parties, or post it to any public board.

Once a story is published and you've confirmed the outcome to us, we may use anonymised outcome data (e.g. "a journalist used a matched economist for a story on housing") for our own reporting on platform performance. Never with identifying details.

Currently: Economics & Finance · Health & Medicine · Law & Policy · Technology & AI · Environment & Energy · Government & Politics · Business & Entrepreneurship · Education · Indigenous Affairs · Culture & Arts.

Coverage depth varies by sector right now — Economics, Law, Health, and Technology have the deepest expert pools at this stage. If you have a query in a less-covered area, submit it anyway — we'll tell you honestly if we can't match it and we'll flag the gap for network development.

For each expert we check: LinkedIn profile matches the registration details, institutional affiliation is confirmed in a public directory, stated credentials are consistent with their career history, and any claimed past media appearances can be found and verified.

Profiles that can't be verified are either held pending more information or rejected. We'd rather have a smaller, trustworthy network than a large, questionable one.

We aim to verify all new expert registrations within 48 hours. You'll receive a confirmation email when your profile is live. If we need additional information to verify your credentials, we'll email you directly.

Their profile is immediately removed and they are permanently banned from the platform. We also notify any journalist who was matched with that expert so they can assess whether it affected their work.

This has not happened yet. Our verification process is specifically designed to catch misrepresentation before profiles go live — not after.

Not formally at this stage — but we do review query submissions for legitimacy before matching. If a query looks unusual, we may follow up to confirm the journalist's outlet and story context before sending expert profiles.

Journalist verification will be a feature of the full platform — publication confirmation, byline verification, and account history will all feed into a journalist credibility score that experts can see before deciding to respond.

We're in the founding member phase. The service is free for all journalists and all experts while we build the full platform. There are no hidden costs, no usage limits, and no commitment required.

For journalists: Free tier (5 queries/month), Standard $49 CAD/month (unlimited queries, priority matching), Professional $149 CAD/month (Standard + CRM and analytics), Newsroom $599 CAD/month (up to 25 seats, team dashboard).

For experts: Free Verified (permanently free — listed in database, receive query notifications), Expert Pro $29 CAD/month (priority placement, enhanced profile), PR/Comms $199 CAD/month (up to 5 expert profiles, agency dashboard), Enterprise $899 CAD/month (unlimited profiles, white-label reporting).

All prices are in Canadian dollars.

Journalists who register and use the service during the founding member phase will be offered the Standard plan at launch at a discounted rate — permanently. The exact amount will be confirmed when the platform launches, but founding members will always pay less than new sign-ups at full price.

This is our way of recognising that early adopters take a bet on us before there's a platform to evaluate.

Yes. The Free Verified expert tier is a permanent fixture of the platform — not a trial. A healthy expert network is the core of what makes NewsBureau.ca valuable, and that requires a free entry point for credentialed professionals who aren't paying for PR services.

Premium expert tiers add visibility and analytics — they don't lock basic functionality behind a paywall.