The Local is an online magazine covering urban health and social issues in Toronto.
For many q***r, racialized Torontonians, the Church-Wellesley Village doesn’t feel welcoming. As they push for inclusion, they’re also building their own spaces—in dim sum restaurants and at Caribbean block parties, writes 2024 Local Fellow Alice Boyle.
For many q***r, racialized Torontonians, Church and Wellesley doesn’t feel welcoming. As they push for inclusion, they’re also building their own spaces far from the Village.
A little-known provision gives school principals blanket authority to exclude “detrimental” students from class, writes Sakeina Syed. Advocates say it’s being abused and the province isn’t paying enough attention. Our new investigation follows one Mississauga family as they navigate the gruelling labyrinth of administrative bureaucracy and appeals, to try and get their five-year-olds allowed back in the classroom.
A little-known provision gives school principals blanket authority to exclude “detrimental” students from class. Advocates say it’s being abused, and the province isn't paying enough attention.
Talk about a green economy might evoke images of solar panels and carbon capture. But work to conserve and restore nature is already driving economic activity, writes Emma McIntosh. The final story in our Green* Economy collab with The Narwhal.
Talk about a green economy might evoke images of solar panels and carbon capture. But work to conserve and restore ecosystems is already driving economic activity
“I think Enbridge is scared.” As cities try to move away from fossil fuels, Fatima Syed investigates the province-wide campaign by Enbridge to keep municipalities tethered to natural gas infrastructure. More from our Green* Economy collaboration with The Narwhal.
The energy giant is lobbying Ontario municipalities to ensure efforts to reduce emissions don't threaten its bottom line.
Who gets to fix an electric car? As the number of zero-emissions vehicles rises, Inori Roy writes about the fight between local mechanics and EV manufacturers and dealers over the right to repair them. Part of our Green* Economy collaboration with The Narwhal.
Dead fish in North Stormont, conflicting stories in Abbotsford, and an unbearable stench in Hamilton. Here’s what Wency Leung learned about environmental issues at 3 GFL waste management facilities, in a follow-up to her massive investigation from earlier this week. Part of our Green* Economy collaboration with The Narwhal:
Dead fish in North Stormont, conflicting stories in Abbotsford, and a mysterious, unbearable stench in Hamilton.
As Toronto's goal of net-zero emissions by 2040 looms, buildings are still the city's biggest polluters. Developers' indifference to emissions is costing everyone else, writes Dhriti Gupta. New from The Green* Economy, in collaboration with The Narwhal: https://thelocal.to/low-carbon-green-building-housing-retrofits-toronto/
Amid pressure over RBC’s ties to fossil fuel projects, the bank publicly insists it’s taking a “leadership role” addressing climate change. But Carl Meyer sees signs it’s feeling the heat. The latest in The Green* Economy issue.
Accused of being Canada’s biggest financial backer of fossil fuel projects, the bank is feeling the heat—even if it doesn’t say that publicly.
Canadian waste management giant GFL says it’s “green for life.” But, as reporter Wency Leung discovers in this in-depth investigation, a history of fires, water contamination, regulatory violations, and the complaints of neighbours from North Carolina to Hamilton tell another story.
We’re launching a new collaboration on Toronto’s “green economy” with our friends The Narwhal today! Here’s executive editor Nicholas Hune-Brown on why we’re writing about business, and the asterisk in our “Green* Economy” issue.
Ethylene oxide is a known carcinogen. This medical sterilization company used it in Scarborough—then moved to Mississauga. An joint investigation with The Narwhal by Urbi Khan and Leah Borts-Kuperman.
Toronto once had a thriving ecosystem of cultural critics who prodded, inspired and annoyed both readers and artists. What does a city lose when its arts critics disappear? From swashbuckling theatre critic Nathan Cohen to film writer Jay Scott, from the forgotten women arts writers of the early 20th century to the punks from NOW—Carl Wilson on the untold history of how Toronto critics helped write a city into existence.
Toronto once had a thriving ecosystem of cultural critics who prodded, inspired and annoyed both readers and artists. As the media sheds its arts writers, what does a city lose?
“All of the cultural organizations in the city appeared to be crumbling and the story always seemed to be the same.” Soraya Roberts on what’s behind the trouble at Hot Docs, TIFF, the AGO and more.
The trouble at Hot Docs, TIFF, Artscape and the AGO are part of a larger failure in a country that doesn’t take art seriously.
When these four young q***r artists couldn't see a space for themselves in mainstream Toronto art, they decided to build their own in a downtown garage. Dede Akolo profiles Hearth, a local gallery built on a foundation of friendship.
These four young q***r artists couldn’t see a space for themselves in the mainstream Toronto art world. At Hearth, a thriving alternative gallery started in a downtown garage, they created their own.
Kazik Radwanski is part of a cohort of local filmmakers changing this city’s cinematic identity. Corey Atad writes about the state of the Toronto indie movie, and takes us behind the scenes of Radwanski’s latest, “Matt and Mara.”
Kazik Radwanski is part of a cohort of local filmmakers changing Toronto’s cinematic identity. With his latest film, Matt and Mara, he’s trying to reach an international audience.
Painter D. Ahsén:nase Douglas has been told his work isn’t really “Indigenous art.” He writes about how the commercial demand for one specific version of the Indigenous experience pigeonholes today’s artists.
I’ve been told my paintings aren’t really “Indigenous art.” How the commercial demand for one specific version of the Indigenous experience pigeon-holes today’s artists.
Is it viable to be an artist and a parent in Toronto? Graham Isador writes about grappling with the possibility of fatherhood—“whether having a kid means letting go of a career and lifestyle I’ve chased nearly every moment for the past 15 years.”
For many Toronto artists, choosing a career in the arts and choosing to have a family can feel mutually exclusive.
Harkirat Sangha came to Ontario from India to study and ended up driving trucks. Now he’s finding fame singing about his experiences, following the lead of other international students-turned-popstars.
Harkirat Sangha came to Canada to study and ended up driving trucks. He’s now finding fame and fortune singing about it.
Creating art means mobilizing a small army of often-underpaid, always-overtasked arts workers, from gallery installers to box office staffers. It's time for better labour standards for the workers keeping Toronto's art scene running, writes Tamara Jones.
Behind every piece of art is a community of underpaid, idealistic gallery installers, box office staff, and technicians. Why arts work needs to be seen as real work.
Toronto’s cultural institutions are reeling and its artists are struggling. In his editor’s letter, Nicholas Hune-Brown asks what happens to a city that can no longer support art.
Toronto’s cultural institutions are reeling and its artists are struggling. What’s lost when a city no longer supports the arts?
Introducing the Art + Money Issue. Can you make art and still make a living in Toronto? For the next two weeks we’ll be publishing stories about the economic reality of making art in Toronto in 2024.
Can you make art and still make a living in Toronto? Stories about international students-turned-popstars, indie filmmakers, radical visual artists, Indigenous painters, and the rest of the playwrights, gallery workers, cultural critics and workers keeping Toronto arts alive.
Phil Verster’s tenure as CEO of provincial transit agency Metrolinx is defined by delays, overspending, and an $856,000+ salary. Nick Hune-Brown goes behind the curtain, speaking to transit experts and former colleagues of Verster, to understand the “bulldozer” bureaucrat whose fingerprints touch every corner of Toronto.
When Phil Verster was announced as Metrolinx’s CEO in 2017, there was universal praise. But with an $856,000 salary and a tenure defined by cost overruns and years of delays to projects like the Eglinton LRT, critics want him out. How did it go so wrong?
As CEO of Harrington Housing, Jonas Emre says he’s “transforming” the rental sector with a new model of flexible co-living. But tenants say he’s evicting them, subdividing their apartments, and attempting to sidestep the protections of the Residential Tenancies Act, a new investigation from Jay Cockburn finds.
As CEO of Harrington Housing, Jonas Emre says he’s “transforming” the rental sector with a new model of flexible co-living. Tenants say he’s evicting them, subdividing their apartments, and attempting to sidestep the protections of the RTA.
The Local’s aging issue is ending, as most things do, with death. Inori Roy on how a series of boardroom and legal battles in the booming bereavement industry could determine the future of death in Toronto.
As the city runs out of burial space, a series of boardroom and legal battles in the booming bereavement industry could determine the future of death in Toronto.
Applications are open for The Local's annual summer fellowship! This paid 15-week part-time opportunity is a chance for young journalists from backgrounds underrepresented in the media industry to learn the craft of longform writing, guided by our editors and mentored by industry greats. They will end the summer with a polished feature showcasing their storytelling abilities. Tell the aspiring and early-career journalists in your life! Applications close March 1, 2024.
Now in its fifth year, the program provides training and mentorship to aspiring and emerging journalists from communities underrepresented in Canadian media. Applications are now open.
Aging in Toronto is expensive and government supports can be hard to find. Here’s The Local’s guide benefits, tax credits, and programs for older Torontonians, by Rebecca Gao.
Aging in Toronto is expensive. And while there are government supports for older Torontonians, finding them can be hard.
Aging at home is what people want, and what governments have long said is the key to easing pressure on the health care system, writes Wency Leung. So why is home care so broken?
Aging at home is what people want, and what governments have long said is the key to easing pressure on the health care system. So why is home care so broken?
Each year, over 500 seniors are reported missing to the Toronto Police. Jason McBride on a growing problem, and what we can do to ensure older Torontonians get home safe.
Each year, over 500 seniors are reported missing to the Toronto Police. As the city ages and dementia rates rise, what can we do to ensure older Torontonians get home safe?
Marni Jackson has cycled in Toronto for 56 years. But when she had an accident and was forced onto the sidewalk, she suddenly saw the city through new eyes. Here's the latest in our ongoing issue, The Aging City.
I’ve cycled in Toronto all my life. But when I had an accident and was forced off my bike, I suddenly saw the city with new eyes.
The TTC has had 20 years to make its stations accessible. In September, it announced it would miss its 2025 deadline, leaving elderly & disabled people waiting even longer. Brennan Doherty on the accessibility failures of the country's biggest transit agency.
Until this September, the TTC reported being on-track to meet its 2025 deadline for provincially mandated accessibility improvements. The transit authority had two decades on the clock—where did it go wrong?
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