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How to get CBC News on your smart speaker

So, you got a new Google Home or Amazon Alexa smart speaker for Christmas, now what? Well, one of the first things you'll want to do is set it up to play the latest CBC newscasts from across the country. Here's how to do that, step by step.

Got a new Google Home or Amazon Alexa? Here's how to hear CBC News on your device

Want to get the latest local and national news on your smart speaker? Here's a guide to getting newscasts from CBC newsrooms across the country at your command.

First, we'll look at Google Home smart speakers. Scroll down for Amazon Alexa devices.

Google Home

To get the latest national news from CBC News, just say, "Hey, Google, play CBC News."

If you want to hear CBC when you ask Google Home to play the news or catch you up, add CBC News to your list of news sources and customize the order in which they play.

Follow these steps in your Google Home app:

  • Open the app.
  • Choose "Settings."
  • Choose "More settings."
  • Select "News."

From here, you can add news sources by checking the blue boxes. Can't find CBC News? At the bottom of the menu, you can find more news sources. You can also choose to change the order of your news sources.

Amazon Alexa

CBC News is the default newscast for Amazon Alexa devices in Canada. Simply plug in and ask for news, and the CBC News newscast will play. If you have a device with a video screen, you'll receive a video from CBC News Network. If you have an audio device, you'll get the latest edition of our hourly radio update, The World This Hour.

You can also ask for us by name. To get the latest update from CBC News any time, just say, "Alexa, ask CBC to play the news," and the latest newscast will play.

You can also get your local news from CBC by adding us to your flash briefings.

CBC News offers local news updates on Alexa from the following newsrooms:

  • Toronto
  • Halifax
  • Saskatchewan
  • Montreal
  • Calgary
  • Ottawa
  • Vancouver
  • Edmonton
  • Winnipeg
  • Sudbury
  • St. John's
  • Windsor
  • Thunder Bay

It's easy to add one of our local newscasts to your flash briefings. For example, if you wanted local news from Edmonton, say, "Alexaenable CBC News Edmonton."The device will take care of the rest.

You can also find and add CBC newscasts to your Amazon Alexa app:

Search under "Skills & Games,"then type "CBC News" into the search bar. You can add any of our local newscasts by searching "CBC News" plus the city you're looking for. Select the skill, and tap "Enable" to add the skill to your flash briefing.