MONTREAL -- CTV Montreal announced Monday that Maya Johnson will be the new anchor of CTV News at 5 p.m. and CTV News at 11:30 p.m. Johnson is currently the station’s Quebec City Bureau Chief.

Johnson has been with the station for 15 years. She first joined the newsroom as an intern while studying journalism at Concordia University, and continued on as a reporter after earning her degree. In 2016, she moved to Quebec City as Bureau Chief at the National Assembly.

"Working and living in Quebec City has been an incredibly fulfilling experience,” says Johnson, “but this feels like the right time to come back home to Montreal. "It's an honour to be entrusted with this position, and I'm proud to be working with such a respected and talented news team.”

"2020 has been a turbulent year for everyone,” says Johnson. ”I think our viewers have always considered our anchors a steadying, trusted presence in their homes — especially when there's some kind of crisis. And there are so many big issues facing us today, and so many voices that need to be heard, and I’m looking forward to contributing to those discussions.”

Johnson is currently on maternity leave until the end of the year, and will remain in Quebec City to cover the winter session of the National Assembly. She will take up her new position in Montreal at end of March.

“Maya has anchored our newscasts on many occasions and the response from Montrealers has always been very positive,” said News Director Jed Kahane. “We’re delighted to have her returning to her hometown to take up this new role at a time when the community is relying on our work more than ever for coverage of the pandemic and so many other important issues.”

In a decade and a half at CTV News, Maya has covered some of the biggest stories in the province, including the mosque shootings in Quebec City and subsequent trial, the Lac-Megantic train derailment and the 2018 provincial election.

The weekday anchor position became vacant in September, when long-time CTV Montreal anchor Paul Karwatsky announced he was leaving journalism to focus on autism awareness.

Caroline Van Vlaardingen will continue anchoring these newscasts in the interim until Johnson takes up her new position.