Cory Bilyea

Journalist, Filmmaker, and Author

Professional Affiliations: Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Midwestern Newspapers

Cory Bilyea is an award-winning Onyota’a:ká: journalist, photographer, and documentary filmmaker dedicated to deconstructing colonial state frameworks and archiving contemporary oral histories. A prominent voice in regional and national Canadian media, she is a former CJF-CBC Indigenous Journalism Fellow whose impactful reporting has consistently stirred the public conscience on systemic failure, institutional trauma, and off-reserve cultural reclamation.

Bilyea’s work is uniquely informed by her lived experience as a Sixties Scoop survivor and former unhoused youth. Rather than letting these structural traps define her, she used the sharp observational and environmental-assessment skills honed on the pavement to become an elite investigative truth-teller. Her journalism has earned widespread professional acclaim, recognized for its raw emotional honesty, rigorous investigative depth, and unwavering commitment to community advocacy.

Beyond the press room, Bilyea is an accomplished multi-disciplinary visual storyteller. She spent seven years writing, directing, and producing the powerful documentary The Creation Story of Michael Cywink, which explores Indigenous artistic philosophy, resilience, and healing. Her subsequent fellowship work has focused heavily on the vital, ongoing battle for language revitalization across Canada.

To book Cory for an event, contact cgbilyea@gmail.com