Editorial Standards
Last updated: August 2026
HighOnCity is published by Power Brand Ca. of Vancouver, British Columbia. We publish local news, context and service information for readers in Toronto, Vancouver, Montréal, Calgary, Ottawa and Edmonton.
This page sets out who is responsible for what we publish, how we source and check it, how we use technology, and how we correct mistakes.
Editorial responsibility
All editorial content on HighOnCity is the responsibility of Power Brand Ca. Editorial decisions — what we cover, how we frame it, what we decline to publish, and what we correct — rest with the publisher, not with any advertiser, sponsor or partner.
Questions about a specific story, a correction, or these standards can be sent through our Contact page. We read every one.
Where our information comes from
Wherever possible we work from primary sources rather than other people's accounts of them: the legislation, the court record, the council document, the regulatory filing, the statistical release, the organisation's own statement, and answers given directly to our questions. Where a figure exists in both a primary source and someone's summary of it, the primary source governs.
Our reporting draws on:
- government, municipal and agency announcements and news releases
- public records, including court schedules, published decisions, regulatory filings and statistical releases
- police, fire and emergency service communications
- statements from organisations, businesses and institutions named in a story
- publicly posted community discussion, used only to show what residents are asking or raising, never as a statement of fact and never attributed to an individual
- our own previously published reporting, cited as such
- reporting by other news organisations, where an event has been publicly covered
Where a story rests on a document, a release or a public record, we identify it. Where a fact comes from an organisation's own statement, we attribute it to that organisation.
We do not claim exclusive knowledge of facts already in the public domain, and we do not present information gathered from existing public coverage as our own reporting.
Where reliable sources disagree on a material fact, we say so rather than silently choosing between them.
Where several accounts of the same event are available to us, we work from all of them rather than one, so that a story carries what any single account leaves out — a figure, a name, an objection, a consequence. Figures are checked against every source we hold: a figure two independent accounts agree on is on firmer ground than one a single account carries, and we track which is which. Several outlets running the same wire copy is one account, not several, and we do not treat it as corroboration.
Original reporting
Some of our reporting begins where other reporting ends. When the public record leaves a question unanswered — what it costs, who is affected, what happens next — we put that question to the body that can answer it, and publish what comes back.
Where a story is produced from a response to questions we asked, it is marked HOC Exclusive. That label means the central information in the story came from questions HighOnCity put directly to a named organisation and answers given to us. It does not mean we were first to report the underlying event.
Work HighOnCity produces itself rather than reporting from another source — daily briefs, city guides, horoscopes and similar original features — is marked HOC Original. That label means the work is ours and is not drawn from another publication. It does not indicate original reporting on an event.
We also publish what we could not learn. Where a question central to a story has gone unanswered, we say so rather than leaving the gap silent.
Accuracy
We make reasonable efforts to ensure information is accurate when published.
Some information changes after publication — event times, closures, emergency conditions, government decisions and business operations among them. Where a matter is still developing, we distinguish between what has been confirmed, what an official body has stated, and what remains unresolved.
Figures are used as their source states them. We do not round, extrapolate, or derive a figure the source did not publish.
Updates and follow-ups
When significant new information reaches us about a published story, we either add a dated update to that story or publish separate follow-up reporting.
An updated story returns to the front of the section it belongs to and is marked as updated, showing the time of the update rather than the original publication. The original publication date is never rewritten.
We do not silently rewrite published stories to change their meaning.
Corrections
Accuracy matters more to us than speed. If we find an error after publication we correct it, whether or not a reader has reported it.
When we publish something factually wrong, we correct it and we record what was wrong.
Corrections are logged with the date and a description of the error. Where an error was material, the correction is noted on the story itself.
Readers can report a suspected error through the Corrections page or the Contact page. We would rather hear about a mistake than leave it standing.
Independence and commercial content
Editorial decisions are made on public interest, relevance and reader usefulness. We do not sell coverage, and we do not give favourable treatment in exchange for payment or advertising.
Sponsored content, advertising and commercial partnerships are identified as such wherever they appear.
We do not republish other publications' sponsored or branded content as editorial.
Community and social material
Where we refer to publicly posted community discussion, we describe what residents are asking or raising. We do not quote individual posters, name accounts, or present community discussion as established fact.
How our stories are produced
HighOnCity is a technology-assisted newsroom. We use software, including automated language systems, to help gather and organize source material, flag potential issues with figures and other factual claims, search public records, and draft copy. Every stage operates inside editorial rules set by the publisher, and published output is the publisher's responsibility regardless of how it was produced.
We say this plainly because readers are entitled to know how what they are reading was made.
What this does not mean:
- It does not mean we publish material we have not sourced. We retain the source material behind our stories, and our standard is that every factual claim traces to it. Where we find one that does not, we correct it.
- It does not mean numbers are estimated or inferred. Figures are checked against the documents they came from, and figures we cannot trace to a source are removed rather than published.
- It does not mean stories go out unchecked. Automated checks flag potential discrepancies in dates, figures and factual claims for review. They do not decide what publishes: editorial responsibility for accuracy rests with HighOnCity, and where a flagged discrepancy is confirmed as an error we correct the story and record it.
Complaints
If you believe we have got something wrong, treated a subject unfairly, or fallen short of these standards, write to us through the Contact page. Tell us the story, what you believe is wrong, and why. We will look at it and respond.
HighOnCity is published by Power Brand Ca., Vancouver, British Columbia.
