Gridlock and guffaws Traffic reporter Dev Oza steers into slapstick of our daily commute By: David Sanderson Posted: 2:01 PM CDT Thursday, Mar. 12, 2026

Did you hear the one about the traffic reporter who moonlights as a standup comic?

It’s open-mic night in the beverage room of the Marion Hotel. Dev Oza, an emerging radio talent who is developing a bit of a cult following for the enthusiastic manner in which he discusses traffic stalls and construction zones, is onstage, doing a bit about local street names. Specifically, how certain thoroughfares can be difficult to pronounce for newcomers.

Take Taché Avenue, Oza submits, in the same sing-song voice that can be heard on stations such as 680 CJOB, Power 97 and Energy 106.

Because its street sign doesn’t boast an acute accent above the E, the 26-year-old — who just finished quipping how his tall, lean build combined with a pair of black-rimmed glasses casts him as the Asian version of the Where’s Waldo? character — presumed Taché rhymed with stash when he started his job a little over a year-and-a-half ago.

“Or Des Meurons, which, the way most Winnipeggers say it, doesn’t sound remotely close to how it should sound in French,” he continues to ripples of laughter from a small yet receptive crowd.

Despite being fluent in seven languages, including Hindi, Urdu and his native tongue of Gujarati, he still can’t figure out how Des Meurons became “dez moor-on,” he cracks.

“Luckily, not a lot happens there, traffic-wise, so I don’t have to say it very often.”

Oza, whose given name is Devarsh and whose mother affectionately calls him Vittoo, was born and raised in Rajkot, a city of two million in western India where the most notable landmark is Mahatma Gandhi’s childhood abode.

During his final months of high school, he began applying to colleges in the Toronto region that offered courses in broadcast journalism. “For the freedom,” he responds, when asked why he chose Canada, when similar programs existed far closer to home.

“When I was in India, being gay was illegal,” he says, seated at a rear table, moments after the completion of his eight-minute set. “Although that law is now changed, surrogacy is still banned for gay people there, plus India still needs marriage equality.”

(Oza chuckles, saying while his mother and father — “like all brown parents” — hoped he would become a doctor or a lawyer, they supported his career choice owing to the fact that, as an only child, he was quite spoiled and had grown used to getting his own way.)

“Due to factors like streaming, some say radio is a dying profession but my feeling is more like it’s evolving.”

A 10-month journalism course at Durham College in Oshawa was followed by a two-year television-and-radio broadcasting program at Toronto’s Seneca College Polytechnic. It was at the latter institute where he received his first taste of on-air experience, by hosting a weekly radio show that required him to spin Top 40 hits, in addition to delivering hourly news updates.

“Due to factors like streaming, some say radio is a dying profession but my feeling is more like it’s evolving,” he says between sips of water. “I could have pursued TV except radio screams news to me. I definitely have a passion for the medium.”

Oza graduated from Seneca in June 2019. He sent his resumé to stations from coast to coast, ultimately accepting a position in Prince Albert, Sask.

There, he took to the airwaves as David James, a pseudonym he chose to sound “more Canadian.” Plus, he’d been answering to Dave ever since an employee at a coffee shop he frequented started calling him that instead of Dev, mistaking it for his actual name.

Things were going along smoothly in Prince Albert until COVID-19 came along in March 2020, causing the station to lay off junior personnel.

He moved to Saskatoon that summer. Unable to find work in his chosen field, he decided to try his hand at standup comedy, believing that as a gay person of colour — and as someone who relished public speaking — he had something unique to add to the existing scene.

“I got involved with a group called Lawn Chair Laughs that, because of pandemic restrictions, staged outdoor shows in private backyards,” he says, listing American comic Matteo Lane and Britain’s Joe Lycett as influences on his observational brand of humour.

“It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was a great way to get used to being in front of a live audience.”

Oza returned to radio in July 2021, accepting a slot at 102.9 CHTM in Thompson.

Although he wasn’t fond of the city’s long winters or lack of suitable dining spots — one of his shticks goes to how he ate at Subway every day for two years straight — he enjoyed his job, which saw him — still as David James — evolve into a jack of all trades.

Production work, emceeing community events, reporting remotely from the annual Nickel Days festival…. You name it and he did it, he says.

Oza spent only six months at his next stop — Kenora’s 89.5 The Lake — before catching on with the Canadian Traffic Network, the country’s largest traffic-reporting network with bases in most major cities, including Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Winnipeg.

Since September 2024, he has been responsible for clueing listeners in about delays and detours, with the assistance of street cameras and listener tips. And although his hits rarely go longer than 60 seconds, he makes maximum use of his airtime, particularly when he stretches out his name —“I’m Dev Ooooh-zaaaa!” — while signing off.

(“There were already too many Daves in Winnipeg — Dave Bishop, Dave Wheeler, Dave Turnbull…” he offers as the reason he reverted to his real name, upon his arrival here.)

Richard Cloutier is the longtime host of News on 680 CJOB, which runs Monday to Friday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. During his show, Cloutier throws it over to Oza at least three times an hour and the veteran broadcaster counts himself as one of Oza’s biggest fans.

“It’s not often when you listen to someone on the radio and you can hear them smile. Dev has that impact,” Cloutier says. “I have had many people ask about Dev and how his voice brings them joy. That’s super cool.”

“It’s not often when you listen to someone on the radio and you can hear them smile. Dev has that impact.”

Cloutier recalls the days when legendary traffic guru Brian Barkley patrolled the streets of Winnipeg, reporting on rush-hour snarls from behind the wheel of his vehicle.

“Dev has technology on his side — apps that do a lot of that for him. But as we get calls and texts at the station, we pass the information on to him. He is very good at turning that info around quickly.”

Cloutier says Oza’s side gig as a gagster is appropriate, given “sometimes traffic is a joke in this city.”

“Traffic used to be a 4 (p.m.) to 5:30 (p.m.) thing. Now we find in the afternoon it starts at 3:30 and stretches well past 6. You’re stuck in traffic and the way Dev delivers that news, it makes it way more digestible.”

Oza, who calls a St. Vital apartment home, says while he would never dismiss new opportunities outright, he is extremely satisfied in his current position.

Because he works part-time — he arrives at the office around 2:30 p.m. and is generally out the door by 6:30 p.m.— he is able to pursue other ventures, such as doing public-address work at minor-hockey games and serving as host at gatherings such as the Lantern Festival.

On April 3 and 4, he will emcee and perform at Rainbow Riot, a showcase of LGBTTQ+ comedy being held at the Gas Station Theatre, with a portion of the proceeds going toward the Rainbow Resource Centre.

There will be seven queer comedians on the bill, with Veronica Gingles as the headliner, he says, adding a personal goal would be to one day grace the stage at Rumor’s, the city’s longest-running comedy venue.

Should audiences next month expect more traffic-related witticisms when it’s his turn at the microphone? Probably.

“I do talk about how, for the most part, Winnipeggers are good drivers, which always makes people laugh. There are definitely those who don’t consider that to be the case, whatsoever.”

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