MacNeil began her career anchoring local news programs in New Brunswick and Ontario in the early 1990s, before joining CBC Newsworld in 1998.
[4] In 2000, MacNeil helped launch Canada Now, the supper hour news program on CBC Television.
At the 24th Gemini Awards in 2009, one of MacNeil's reports for CBC News: Sunday Night was nominated for "Best Lifestyle/practical information segment".
[8][9][10] In 2011, the CBC Ombudsman was called to review MacNeil's on-air statements concerning the Six Day War.
Upon review the "CBC acknowledged it was misleading for [MacNeil] to assert that neighbouring countries attacked Israel.