Leah Borts-Kuperman
Northern Ontario reporter
Leah Borts-Kuperman is a staff reporter with The Narwhal's Ontario bureau, based in North Bay, Ont., and focused on issues affecting what's known as the near north. She joined The Narwhal in 2026, thanks to funding from the Local Journalism Initiative, after years of freelancing for publications including Canada’s National Observer, The Walrus and Canadian Geographic on issues of environmental and public interest. She has reported on concerns around a plastics factory in North Bay and Nipissing First Nation, and a project to recover endangered bats, led by Shawanaga First Nation.
Her freelance reporting for The Narwhal has won awards including Best Investigative Article and Best Feel Good Story at the Canadian Online Publishing Awards in 2025. She was also nominated for a 2025 National Newspaper Award for her investigative series into contamination on military sites across Canada.
Stories by Leah Borts-Kuperman
How Ontario allows industry to evade air pollution rules
9 min. readWhen a company plans a new factory in Ontario that will regularly emit toxic chemicals,...
Emails show North Bay plastics company unclear on environmental permits
North Bay Mayor Peter Chirico assured residents a controversial factory was safe on the very...
A Mississauga factory is using a known carcinogen. Residents had no idea
High levels of ethylene oxide were detected near a now-closed Scarborough plant owned by Sterigenics,...
‘Hopefully, the story dies’: emails show North Bay officials reacting to reporting on plastics factory’s use of PFAS
Emails obtained by The Narwhal show city staff advising Industrial Plastics Canada on response to...
Warm winters put snowmobile season, and safety, at risk
For northerners, snowmobiling is both transportation and recreation. The $8-billion industry can also harm wildlife...
A squeaky wheel with data: how Nipissing First Nation is healing environmental damage
Reversing environmental damage can mean counting moose poop, increasing oxygen in Lake Nipissing and ‘being...
Nipissing First Nation officials unsettled by tour of North Bay’s new plastics factory
The region needs an economic boost, Indigenous officials say. But a visit to Industrial Plastics...
North Bay residents organize town hall to discuss PFAS, Industrial Plastics Canada factory
Some residents of North Bay, Ont., are expressing doubts about Mayor Peter Chirico’s defense of...
Chemicals are forever: a new factory opens near Lake Nipissing, where water is already contaminated
Imagine driving down a two-lane road on a sunny day in northeastern Ontario, just east...
