Frances Bula is one of Canada's most respected urban affairs journalists, with 43 years in the profession and more than three decades dedicated to covering city politics and the built environment. She has written for the Vancouver Sun (21 years), The Globe and Mail (18 years), Vancouver Magazine, BCBusiness, Literary Review of Books, Sightline, and University Affairs, building a body of work that has shaped how Canadians understand their cities.

In 1998–99, Frances was awarded an Atkinson Fellowship, which she used to spend a year researching and writing about housing and homelessness — a subject she has continued to champion throughout her career. Her reporting earned her the Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award two years ago, among many other industry honours.

Frances holds a Bachelor's degree in French from UBC and a Master's in Communications from SFU. Before journalism, she spent six years working in the commercial fishing industry. More recently, she put her housing knowledge to personal use — building a laneway house for family, an experience she chronicled in a four-part series for The Globe and Mail.