Last month, I had the chance to publish an op-ed in The Hill Times titled: “Ottawa must include small businesses in open banking from day one.” (PDF)
The pitch was accepted in just 15 minutes. Either my take was timely, or they were short on content that day (I’ll go with the first one!). But what stood out to me wasn’t just the speed of the acceptance — it was how different this experience felt compared to my first op-ed in the Ottawa Business Journal.
Writing for a Different Audience
My OBJ piece was written for entrepreneurs. It was about making open banking understandable for busy business owners who are focused on day-to-day operations.
The Hill Times, on the other hand, is a policy publication read by Members of Parliament, Senators, staffers, and lobbyists. It has fewer readers, but they are highly specialized and deeply engaged in policymaking. This meant my piece had to lean into the policy detail, research, and framing that decision-makers care about.
The result? My more “policy-heavy” take, backed by data and comparisons to other G7 countries, was validated in exactly the type of outlet where I hoped it would land.
Learning From the Editors
The editing process also taught me something new. The editor asked me to define “screen scraping” in layman’s terms, and gave feedback on how to cite references in a way that fits The Hill Times’ style.
This reminded me that every publication has its own audience and rules. Tailoring to them is not about watering down your message, it’s about making sure the right people can engage with it.
The Paywall Dynamic
Unlike the OBJ, The Hill Times is paywalled. That makes it harder to show my mom (who was very proud but not ready to buy a subscription!). But paywalled doesn’t mean less valuable, in fact, it means more focused. The people who read it are exactly the policymakers and influencers who will decide how open banking gets implemented in Canada.
The Hill Times also did something thoughtful: they created a professional-looking visual of my piece that I could share publicly while keeping their intellectual property intact. It was a good reminder of how media ownership works. I did the research, writing, and pitching, but once published, the article belongs to them!
Why This Op-Ed Mattered
For me, this op-ed wasn’t just another piece of writing. It was about making sure small businesses are not left out of the first phase of Canada’s open banking rollout. Business owners represent more than half of Canada’s private sector jobs, but they are often underrepresented in financial policy debates.
By publishing in The Hill Times, I was able to get that message in front of the exact people who need to hear it: the policymakers shaping the rules.
What’s Next
Writing in OBJ and now The Hill Times has shown me two sides of advocacy:
- Explaining issues to business owners so they see why it matters to them.
- Pushing policymakers so they design systems that don’t leave SMEs behind.
This Hill Times op-ed was one more step in that journey. And it won’t be the last.
If you’d like to read the full article, you can find it here — subscription required or check out the PDF version here.