Prior to joining Al Jazeera, Chris Arsenault was a reporter with Inter Press Service news agency. He has also reported for CBC radio, the Halifax Chronicle Herald and dozens of magazines. His work focuses on North and South America, geopolitics, energy markets and social movements. Educated in Canada, he holds a BA in history and economics from Dalhousie University and an MA in history from the University of British Columbia, where he was awarded the 2008/09 Phil Lind Fellowship. In 2012, he held the Wolfson Press Fellowship at Cambridge University.

Arsenault has been a guest lecturer the University of Toronto, Queen’s University, York University, Laurentian, Saint Mary's University and the Universidad Anáhuac in Mexico City. His first book is titled Blowback: A Canadian History of Agent Orange and the War at Home.