He began to attain an interest in politics in 1960 whilst watching coverage of the nominating conventions during the 1960 United States presidential election campaign.
At the University of Western Ontario, Hurst pursued a degree in liberal arts and graduate studies in journalism.
[1] One of Hurst's first forays into broadcasting was a segment for a local radio station, focusing on campus news.
Hurst began working for CTV in January 1973, initially as a writer for its recently introduced morning show Canada AM.
He explained that he had held the role for much longer than his predecessors, wanted to leave while CTV was still "at the top", and was "waiting for the right moment" in the news cycle to do so.