Massa first started reporting on television in 2015 in Kitchener, Ontario

She was praised for anchor stint but was hit with some negative comments

TV reporter said she was the first Canadian anchor to wear a hijab on air

Meet the first television anchor to wear a hijab while reading the news at one of Canada's major broadcasters.

Reporter Ginella Massa, 29, was asked to fill in on the anchor desk at Toronto's CityNews during the 11pm broadcast last week.

She created a buzz after the broadcast ended and she tweeted: 'That's a wrap! Tonight wasn't just important for me. I don't think a woman in hijab has ever anchored a newscast in Canada.'

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Ginella Massa, 29, is believed to be Canada's first anchor to don a hijab after she was asked to fill in on the desk at Toronto's CityNews (pictured) last week

Massa said she became Canada's first hijab-wearing television news reporter in 2015 when she was reporting for CTV News in Kitchener, Ontario.

She moved back to Toronto in February this year to take a reporting job at CityNews.

Massa said she recognized that moving onto the anchor desk was a step up in her career, but it took her editor to point out the larger significance.

'It wasn't until my editor said, "Hey, great job! Was that a first for Canada? A woman in a hijab?" And I said yes. And so I tweeted about it,' she said.

'As much as I knew it was important, I didn't expect the reaction that I received. My phone hasn't stopped buzzing for the last week.'

Massa has been widely applauded on social media for her anchor stint, but the reporter has been hit with some negative comments, particularly on Twitter.

She created a buzz after the broadcast ended and she tweeted: 'That's a wrap! Tonight wasn't just important for me. I don't think a woman in hijab has ever anchored a newscast in Canada'

Massa, (right) pictured interviewing U.S. Olympic bronze medallist Ibtihaj Muhammad (left), became Canada's first hijab-wearing TV reporter in 2015

'I've talked to many women who are journalists in the U.S. who work behind the scenes and they've told me that they face multiple challenges trying to get on air,' Massa said.

'They've been told because of their hijab, that's not going to happen. That makes me really sad because they're being held back by someone else's idea of what the public can or cannot handle.'

In an interview earlier in her career, Massa told Muslims Actually that she had always wanted to be a reporter.

'I always wanted to work in broadcasting or media in some capacity, and my real desire was to be in front of the camera, but in the back of my mind I worried about whether I could make it very far in hijab,' she said.

'I don’t think I really believed it could be a viable career until I was at Seneca, and landed my first internship in a newsroom.

'I realized this was something I could be good at, and that’s what pushed me to work really hard, in the hopes that someone would see past my hijab and give me a chance to show my skills.'

The 29-year-old Toronto reporter was thrilled to meet CNN commentator and former White House advisor Van Jones