Heidi Petracek on joining Global National as Atlantic correspondent: ‘I feel very lucky’

Long-time broadcaster Heidi Petracek has joined the Global National team as the new Atlantic correspondent based out of Halifax.

Petracek has spent her 25-year career reporting across Atlantic Canada and beyond — starting out in her home province of Saskatchewan, before going on to work in Calgary, Toronto, Corner Brook, and St. John’s, eventually settling in Halifax.

“Even though I’m from Saskatchewan, this is my sort of adopted home,” she told Global News Morning’s Eilish Bonang Wednesday.

“So to be able to kind of represent people in Atlantic Canada to the rest of the country is incredible for me, and I’m so happy that Global National took me on.”

Petracek, formerly with CTV Atlantic, takes over for Ross Lord, who retired from the Global News team earlier this year.

She said she has been “incredibly fortunate” to have worked with “amazing people” across the country, fulfilling a lifelong dream of being a journalist.

“It really is something that started when I was in high school,” she said. “I always wanted to be a journalist, so when I got out of high school, that’s what I sought to do.”

Petracek said she’s wanted to be a national reporter since she was a “young fledgling journalist” because “I like the idea of sharing the place where you live and love with the rest of the country.”

Since she first moved to Atlantic Canada in 2000, Petracek has covered every major news story to come out of the region — reporting on the aftermath of 9/11, the collapse of the Atlantic cod fishery, the Moncton RCMP shootings, Hurricane Fiona, and a number of provincial and federal elections.

She also covered the tragic 2020 mass shooting that began in Portapique, N.S., following the story through to the ensuing inquiry and release of the Mass Casualty Commission‘s final report earlier this year.

“Sometimes when you’re a journalist, there’s that one assignment you feel compelled to do, that you feel like you have to do, that you have to be involved in,” she said.

“I felt like I had to see it though to the end of the Mass Casualty Commission … it was something I felt I had to do from start to finish.”

Throughout every story she’s worked on — some tragic, some fun — Petracek says she’s always learning and growing.

“It is the kind of job where you feel like you’re always learning and that probably will never stop,” she said. “I feel very lucky in that way and very happy to be here and to be part of the Global National team, which is incredible.”

Global News is happy to have her on the team too.

“What stands out most about Heidi’s decades of reporting is her compassion for the people whose stories she’s sharing,” says Tristan Staddon, Global National managing editor, in a statement.

“Whether she’s connecting with Canadians on their best day or their worst, her commitment to reflecting their humanity in her journalism is unwavering. That’s something we truly value at Global National and we couldn’t be more proud to welcome her.”