From 1986 to 1989, he was based in Montreal, Quebec, where he produced documentaries for Présent-Dimanche, Radio-Canada's weekly current affairs show.

In 1989, he left Radio-Canada for CBC Radio, where he became Sunday Morning's correspondent in Ottawa, Ontario.

He won an Anik Award for his story on the federal government mismanagement of its fleet of Challenger aircraft.

Cormier was the first Canadian journalist to enter Afghanistan in Fall 2001, a couple of weeks after the September 11 attacks.

In 2006, he publishes a series of essays about his experiences as a foreign correspondent in Russia entitled "La Russie des illusions", which becomes a finalist for the Governor General Award in 2007.