Todd van der Heyden
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Todd van der Heyden born October 16th, is an award-winning Canadian investigative television reporter and news anchor with CTV News in Montreal, Quebec.
He graduated in 1996 with a bachelor in journalism and a minor in psychology from Carleton University in Ottawa, and in 2004 with a graduate diploma in communication studies from Concordia University in Montreal. He also has a number of professional development certificates and training seminars such as television screenwriting, anchoring, public speaking and television directing, including from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.
He started his television career in 1997 at Videotron's Cable 9, a Montreal community channel, working as a reporter, researcher and host. During that time, he also freelanced for CBC Radio in Montreal and wrote articles for the Toronto Star newspaper, including one about the Ice Storm of 1998.
In January 2000, Todd was hired full-time by CFCF as a daily news reporter for Pulse News. In December 2001, Todd also assumed the position of back-up news anchor.
In October 2003, Todd was promoted to reporter/producer of the new feature segment "On Your Side", doing investigative and current affairs journalism - as well as helping viewers solve problems and reporting on consumer issues. His mandate involves trying to hold the system accountable, getting answers and finding justice for people. He has since filed hundreds of exclusive stories and his segment has become one of the most popular features of the CTV News Montreal broadcast. In a feature profile from the Montreal Gazette newspaper, Todd referred to reporters as "agents of change" that are able to make a small difference in the world.
In February 2005, Todd also became the co-anchor of the 6pm weekend newscast, joining Tarah Schwartz. Then, in January 2007, Todd’s career reached another benchmark, when he moved from weekends to weekdays at noon, co-anchoring with veteran CTV Montreal newscaster Mutsumi Takahashi. Todd still continues to file investigative reports for his "On Your Side" segment. He also anchored the daily election notebook for the 2007 Quebec provincial election.
Todd has also been selected several years running as one of Montreal's top ten media personalities and one of the city's top sexiest men by Montreal's alternative newspaper, the Montreal Mirror. Todd has also done guest appearances as a panelist for Montreal's CJAD radio station.
Todd won an RTNDA (Radio and Television News Directors Association) award in 2002 for his series on "Aspergillus Outbreak", a Canadian Association of Broadcasters award in 2003 for "Sick Buildings Syndrome" and a Mothers Against Drunk Driving award in 2005 for his report on "Driving On Drugs". He recently won a second RTNDA award for his 2006 investigative report on Montreal as scam capital of Canada, entitled "Scam City".
He has volunteered for a number of charities, community groups and schools, including fundraisers for cancer, HIV/AIDS, youth employment, college bursaries and the Quebec Red Cross.
In 1996 and 1997, before his career in television took off, Todd wrote scripts for two of the Star Trek television shows. His Star Trek: Voyager script "The Road Not Taken" was seriously considered by producers who later met in person with Todd at Paramount Pictures studio in Hollywood in the summer of 1998. Producers encouraged him to continue his script-writing, but upon his return to Montreal, he began focusing primarily on television.
