Victoria Williston Steps in as Executive DirectByWard Market District Authority
January 29, 2026 – Ottawa Citizen
Eight years ago, Victoria Williston arrived in Ottawa for a morning-anchor job with CityNews Radio. She was a Humber Polytechnic grad with a diploma in journalism who discovered she had a voice for radio.
But, when Rogers Media closed the CityNews operation and swept out the staff, she faced a dilemma. Back to Toronto or switch careers? To make the situation more complicated, Williston and her husband had a child.
A job posting at the ByWard Market District Authority caught Williston’s eye. Formed in 2023, the authority merged the ByWard Market BIA and Ottawa Markets, the organization administering farmers’ markets in the city.
“I can communicate. I can collaborate, and I thought to myself I needed something a bit a bit more stable, with more regular hours,” Williston said in a recent interview conducted on the second floor of the ByWard Market Heritage Building, within sight of the Market-inspired sculptural installation by Victor Tolgesy hanging from the ceiling.
She got the position. Two years later, with then-BMDA director Zachary Dayler stepping down, she threw her name into the nation-wide race for a new leader.
Now 35, Williston has that job, too, although she will be handing over the communications position when a new candidate is hired. In the meantime, she’s on a meet-and-greet spree, sitting with business owners, residents and other ByWard Market stakeholders to introduce herself, to hear their concerns and to share her priorities for the area.
