Sarah MacDonald
Reporter / Anchor
An award-winning journalist, Sarah joined the Global News team as a reporter and anchor in 2018.
She now hosts the weekend News Hour and weekend Global News at 11.
During her time with the Global News network, Sarah has covered some of the most momentous local, national, and international news stories in recent history. In November 2020, Sarah joined Global National’s team coverage of the U.S. Presidential Election, reporting on location in Oregon and Washington State. In 2019, she covered Canada’s federal election from the Green Party headquarters in Victoria—on what would become a historic election night for the Greens, and Elizabeth May’s last as party leader.
In 2020, Sarah led the network’s comprehensive national coverage of the Wet’suwet’en rights and title conflict in Northern British Columbia—spending weeks on location in Smithers, Houston, and Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan Territory. The still-ongoing standoff over a polarizing natural gas pipeline, pitting traditional Indigenous law against the Canadian legal system, sparked protests and reckoning on Indigenous rights and reconciliation across Canada.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit Canada, Sarah led the network’s continuing coverage of the country’s first long-term care outbreak, at the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver. In the years and months since, from behind the anchor desk and in the field, Sarah continued to cover the pandemic on a near-daily basis.
Other major news events that have taken Sarah on the road in recent years include the cross-country manhunt for notorious teenage murderers Bryer Schmegelsky and Kam McLeod, which began in British Columbia and ended in Manitoba; the Enbridge natural gas pipeline explosion that forced the evacuation of the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation near Prince George; and Canada’s only double-fatal grizzly bear mauling on record, in the Yukon Territories.
Before joining Global News, Sarah spent the first decade of her career with the CTV News network, based in Vancouver and Toronto.
During her time with CTV News, Sarah led the network’s award-winning coverage of British Columbia’s historic flooding in the town of Grand Forks in 2018. Sarah’s body of work, the result of nine days on the ground in Grand Forks and surrounding areas, was later recognized by the Canadian Screen Awards, the Jack Webster Awards, and RTDNA Canada—winning the Ron Laidlaw Award for Best Continuing Coverage in 2019.
Sarah also played key roles in extensive team coverage that earned multiple awards for journalistic excellence on regional and national levels during her time with CTV News: a BCAB Award for continuing coverage of the tragic line of duty death of Abbotsford Police Constable John Davidson, and an RTDNA Canada award for the network’s live coverage of British Columbia’s historical provincial election in 2017.
Sarah’s coverage regularly airs on Global BC, Global National, and on regional programs and platforms across the network. Her work and bylines have appeared in internationally distributed print publications and broadcasts—including CBS News, NBC News, VICE and VICE News, BNN Bloomberg, CTV National News and CTV News Channel.
Sarah studied Political Science at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, before graduating from the Broadcast Journalism program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
A fifth-generation Vancouverite, Sarah lives in Vancouver with her partner and daughter.
Video Archives
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Local cancer patient giving back
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Alleged fake nurse cared for hundreds of patients at B.C. hospital
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Recent attacks in Jerusalem raise fears of escalating violence between Israeli, Palestinians
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B.C. mom calls for de-escalation training after son handcuffed in hospital
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Second Nelson police officer dies in hospital following avalanche
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Public inquest set into death of Myles Gray
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Premier open to ICBC ‘refinements’ of no-fault insurance
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Vancouver driver accuses ICBC in bureaucratic nightmare
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Coquitlam Mounties issue warning about sextortion scam
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Vancouver restaurant target of more than four break-ins in just over a year
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Freezing rain causes icy commute in Metro Vancouver
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Province asks Lower Mainland drivers to avoid travel on Friday
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New guidelines released for screen time for young children
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Dry conditions spark wildfires and state of emergency in Fraser Valley
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Surrey family without power for nearly two weeks after November windstorm
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Lengthy delays in B.C. for long weekend travellers
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Merritt homeowner pays for utilities for ‘uninhabitable’ home
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VPD warns of public safety risk
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Wife of ISIS fighter released on bail in Chilliwack
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Southwestern B.C. receives first rainfall in months
Author Archives
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B.C. cancer survivor raises $14,000 for Surrey cancer centre chemotherapy suiteCatherine Perka was just 32, newly married and excited to start a family when she was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer in 2019. She hopes her story of recovery inspires others.CanadaFeb 3
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‘Very traumatizing’: Myles Gray’s family unsure they’ll attend April inquestMyles Gray, 33, was unarmed when he died in a backyard on the Vancouver-Burnaby border in August 2015 following an altercation with Vancouver police officers.CrimeJan 20
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B.C. woman says ICBC fighting her over coverage 9 months after serious crashA Vancouver woman says she's been left trying to navigate a bureaucratic nightmare while suffering a brain injury as ICBC fights her over her insurance coverage.ConsumerJan 12
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Owner of Vancouver restaurant targeted four times in past year warns small businessesSince opening just over a year ago, Zarak by Afghan Kitchen in Mount Pleasant has been targeted more than four times by thieves.CrimeDec 29, 2022
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Windstorm leaves Surrey, B.C. family without power for nearly 2 weeksThe family says it was caught in a bureaucratic maze ever since several trees growing on adjacent public land toppled onto their home and property the night of the storm.ConsumerNov 17, 2022
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Still displaced a year later, resident frustrated with City of Merritt’s flood responseIn an interview, Merritt flood recovery manager Sean Strang said the city does not directly control property taxes and is legally required to calculate and bill for them.PoliticsNov 10, 2022
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New party targeting B.C. school boards raises eyebrowsParentsVoice B.C. has nominated 28 candidates in a number of communities across the province.PoliticsOct 7, 2022
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Man found in unit with Noelle O’Soup’s remains was wanted on Canada-wide warrantA young woman was also found alive inside the unit of Van Chung Pham when he was discovered dead in February. It's unclear how long she had been living in, or visiting, the suite.CrimeAug 25, 2022
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Noelle O’Soup: Coroner didn’t attend death at unit where teen’s remains found months laterGlobal News has also learned that the other person found deceased in the unit was an immediate relative of a serving Vancouver police officer.CrimeAug 11, 2022
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Vancouver couple left to fundraise for cancer drug after coverage denied by BC CancerManuel Perez Cabello has stage four desmoplastic small round cell sarcoma and a doctor's approval to take Entrectinib, but BC Cancer won't cover the treatment.HealthAug 9, 2022
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‘It’s baffling’: Coquitlam RCMP face questions, criticism around lack of Amber Alert for O’SoupNo Amber Alert was issued when Noelle O'Soup went missing at the age of 13. According to Coquitlam RCMP, the criteria for issuing one had not been met in her case.InvestigationsAug 5, 2022
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Noelle O’Soup’s family denied answers, accountability from Ministry of Children and Family DevelopmentRoslyn Chambers, a child protection lawyer who’s witnessed the failures and the fallout of the province’s foster care system, says Noelle O’Soup’s case is, sadly, not surprising.CrimeAug 4, 2022
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Noelle O’Soup’s remains overlooked by Vancouver investigators for monthsThe Indigenous child’s remains were hidden inside the unit where they were finally discovered, in May, for months—and somehow missed by investigators.CrimeAug 2, 2022
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Jake Virtanen trial: Defence asks complainant why she didn’t make excuse to avoid sexA key sticking point for the defence in cross-examination is the complainant's recall of what she referred to as a balcony in the hotel suite.CrimeJul 20, 2022
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Sex assault trial of former Vancouver Canuck Jake Virtanen continues with cross-examinationThe complainant told the jury on Day 1 of the Jake Virtanen trial that she and he first met at the Calgary Stampede in 2017, three months before the alleged incident took place.CrimeJul 19, 2022
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Recent sex assault prompts neighbours to form ‘Gastown Guardians’ groupSome residents of the Vancouver Gastown neighbourhood are taking action and forming a community block watch group they are calling the Gastown Guardians.CrimeMar 29, 2021
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Dog scares off young cougars in another close encounter in Tri-CitiesThere have been numerous warnings about cougars in urban areas recently. A two-month-old pug was snatched from a yard in the Tri-Cities last month.CanadaMar 3, 2021
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Concern grows as anti-maskers target B.C. workers enforcing COVID-19 rulesOn Monday, a customer at a Canadian Tire in Burnaby allegedly became belligerent after being asked to wear a mask.HealthFeb 23, 2021
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1st court appearance for man accused of posing as cop in attack that killed B.C. seniorSandy Jack Parisian, 47, was arrested Tuesday night near Strathcona Park, and is charged with manslaughter.CrimeFeb 4, 2021
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More people in Whistler have contracted COVID-19 in January than in all of 2020Officials said the majority of the new cases in January are young people in their 20s and 30s who live, work and socialize together.HealthJan 28, 2021
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Fraser Health directors, staff accused of jumping COVID-19 vaccine queue in B.C.According to front-line workers speaking to Global News, two hospital directors and two other staff members not involved in direct patient care received "leftover" vaccine doses.HealthJan 12, 2021
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No charges against officers in case of Myles Gray who died during encounter with Vancouver policeGray died from a litany of injuries suffered during the encounter with police, including a fractured voice box, a broken nose, eye socket, and sternum, and a ruptured testicle.CrimeDec 16, 2020
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‘I have nothing’: Victim of latest Strathcona Park attack details violent assault"I've had about 90 stitches and staples."CrimeOct 28, 2020
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‘It was one Roman candle’: Family in legal battle after losing Vancouver home to fireworksAs of Nov. 1, the sale and use of consumer fireworks will no longer be permitted in the city.PoliticsOct 21, 2020
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West Vancouver parents turn to Facebook for COVID-19 updates: ‘I’m terribly uneasy’North Shore Covid19 Information shares exposure events and test results in real-time.HealthSep 28, 2020