CFOS alumna and long-time host of CBC’s Morning Live show Heather Hiscox is coming to Owen Sound next week as part of her retirement tour.
Hiscox will be setting up in front of Owen Sound City Hall on Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. for a special live show, and will be joining Bayshore Broadcasting’s Paul Hill for a segment that morning on 89.3 CFOS FM.
Owen Sound is one of the stops on Hiscox’s retirement tour after she announced in June she is stepping away from the anchor desk.
Before becoming the face of CBC’s morning show, Hiscox first got her start with CFOS in the 1980s.
“It’s a start you likely wouldn’t hear about too much in 2025. In 1981, I was Miss Teen Georgian Bay and then became Miss Teen Canada and CFOS was my sponsor. During my year, I did many events and travelling all around, a lot of public speaking, a lot of work for CFOS in that capacity. At the end of my year, they (CFOS) asked if I would be interested in learning how be a radio announcer. They had a weekend shift that was open, Saturday and Sunday nights, 6 to 12 midnight. Country classics on Saturday, oldies solid gold on Sunday and they trained me to be a disk jockey, to be a radio announcer. I wasn’t even out of high school yet,” says Hiscox. “It was a fantastic summer job for someone who had no idea that this kind of work existed, certainly wasn’t a career path of mine, I was really planning on law school at the time.”
After the summer came to an end, Hiscox says she went on to University, where she would continue to be invited back to CFOS for more shifts on weekends.
“Gradually it dawned on me somewhere around third year I think that I really love this work, this is what I want to do. Forget law school, this is what I want to do. I went on to study journalism from there and my career developed from there,” says Hiscox.
Hiscox says being able to return to Owen Sound to host a Morning Live Show is an incredible gift.
“It’s really the perfect ending to be able to return to the place where the journalism journey began and to return to a community that has always meant so much to me. I have always been very proud of my Owen Sound roots. I have always tried to make Owen Sound proud and I am forever grateful for the interest in support I have received all my life from people in the community,” says Hiscox.
She says the farewell tour, which began last month, is about shining the spot light on communities which don’t receive a large degree of national exposure.
“Tell other people in Canada what they are all about, so what Owen Sound is all about. There will be some of the history of this incredible community,” says Hiscox.
The show will also feature local voices, community services and leaders, including Meaford Mayor Ross Kentner, who is the former General Manager for Bayshore Broadcasting and worked for CFOS for over 50 years. Hiscox says she would also like to see anyone who attends the live show next week in their Toronto Blue Jays gear as the team plays in the World Series.
Bayshore Broadcasting Managing Director Peter McKeown says, “Heather has and continues to be a great ambassador for the City of Owen Sound and Grey Bruce and for that matter, Bayshore Broadcasting as well. It’s a special day in Owen Sound, special day for Heather and her family, special day for CBC, and we are pleased to be a part of of it.”
Once the tour ends, Hiscox will be training young journalists and imparting her wisdom. She also plans to take some time to rest and travel.
“I do have some plans I can assure you in the works. I am pretty young to just stop outright, I just turned 60. When I turned 60, it has a way of sharpening the focus of what else is out there that you would like to do. I do believe that there are new adventures and exciting opportunities out there for me that I just haven’t developed yet or discovered yet, so I am anxious to be able to look to that future and excited about those possibilities,” says Hiscox.