Celebrating Carol Off: A voice heard around the nation

Carol Off built her career on a simple conviction: that storytelling, done bravely and honestly, can make the world better. More than a job that pays the bills, Off sees journalism as a lifelong mission that gives her life meaning and purpose – and one that comes with great responsibility.

“I feel that I have a responsibility to use what I've learned, to use what I've achieved, to use whatever influence I have to make the world a better place,” says Off. 

For her courageous, inspirational reporting, her dedication to storytelling, and her remarkable curiosity, humanity and care, Off will receive an Honorary Doctorate from Royal Roads University at the Spring 2026 Convocation ceremonies in June.   

A lifetime of telling unheard stories 

For 16 years, Off was the co-host of CBC radio's flagship program As It Happens where she did more than 25,000 interviews. Before that, she spent decades as a TV and radio journalist, covering stories in Canada and around the world. Off is the award-winning author of five highly acclaimed narrative non-fiction books, with a sixth coming out in the fall. 

During her final years with As It Happens, Off says she noticed a shift in her interviews – standard disagreements turned into anger and even hatred. She noticed a pattern with politicians, social media, and hateful fear-based rhetoric: a toxic cycle of “rage farming.” 

This cultural shift was the impetus for her 2025 book At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage, an instant number one Canadian bestseller.

“I think our anxieties and our emotions are being used by those in power, those in politics and those in big business, in big tech,” she explains. “This horrible combination of the political sphere and the corporate sphere joining together to make us angry, hateful and divided.” 

Finding meaning in an "age of rage"

In the book, and in conversations with people on her national book tour, Off shares two important tools to combat this widespread fear, hatred and division: education and awareness of these destructive patterns; and living a purposeful and meaningful life. 

“The importance of finding meaning and purpose in my life is so much more important than finding hope,” says Off. “Hope is a passive idea... meaning and purpose are active – I'm going to go into the world and do what I can in a meaningful and purposeful way. Even if it's small things like being kind to somebody on the street.”

Off’s next book, True Patriot Love: Reporting from the Frontlines of Canadian Sovereignty, will be available in October 2026. The book counters a pervasive narrative of sadness, cynicism, and fear of the future which Off picked up on throughout many conversations with Canadians – especially young people – during her book tour. 

“I wanted to write something that was more encouraging, that was more forward-looking, and I hope can be inspiring of what one can do,” says Off. “And I think when I get back on the road again in the fall with the new book, I'm really hoping to find a different Canada.” 

Discovering Canada’s identity

True Patriot Love is also about the distinction between nationalism and patriotism – one more dangerous and insidious than the other – and the making of a “new Canada”; A country reckoning with the truth of its past, confidently defined by its values of compassion, belonging and inclusivity. 

This unflinching perspective on Canada’s identity, both highly relevant and urgent, is a glimpse into Off’s body of work – a portfolio defined by integrity, purpose and commitment to the public good.

At her sold out RRU Changemakers Speakers Series event in May 2026, Off called the audience to action in pursuit of this “new Canada”: 

“As attitudes harden, Canadians will soon ask themselves difficult questions about the nature of belonging in this country. Will that come to mean the belonging of exclusion? A fear of the other, an identity that shrinks and tightens into something mean and narrow? Will it deny a job to a woman in a hijab? Refuse to acknowledge a young person’s gender? Decline health care to a refugee? Develop land and resources without recognizing treaties and agreements? Or will it be a belonging that finds a larger purpose for Canada, an expansive, respectful, and shared reason for being? Are we adequately resolved, sufficiently confident in our thinking to resist global trends? Can we embrace a spirit of civic union; be patriots, not nationalists? It’s a big ask, and I don’t ask it lightly.” 

Carol Off receives the Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, at the Spring 2026 Convocation ceremonies. This is the university’s highest honour awarded to people who reflect Royal Roads University's vision and values and have achieved a significant record of success and community service.