Gambling Nation
In only two years, online betting has changed the face of Canadian sports. (Cover Story, Nov 2024)
Features
My latest features, investigations, and deep dives
Why governments must do everything in their power to crash the housing market
Housing is now the unofficial third leg of our national retirement scheme — and we’re all paying the price
Inside the rise of the Tragically Hip, Canada's most beloved rock band
Four decades ago, a group of kids riffing in Kingston bars became rock stars who redefined a nation.
Please demolish my childhood home
OPINION: Let’s make it easier to knock down houses and replace them with fourplexes. I can even offer you a good place to start
Train Wreck: The bone-rattling reality of Ontario Line construction
Toronto residents in the path of Ontario Line construction are living in a bone-rattling, foundation-cracking, rat-infested hellscape. True tales from the epicentre
Who Earns What: The stories behind Toronto’s top salaries
The stories behind Toronto’s top salaries
Rideshare drivers are fighting to unionize. One of Canada's biggest unions is standing in their way
Did UFCW sell out gig workers?
Antitrust Action Against Google May Transform the Internet
A global court and regulatory battle could have ramifications far beyond the news
Everything's Fine*
The ultimate guide to surviving every terrestrial threat imaginable (Cover story, April 2024)
Culture Writing
Highlights from my writing in Toronto Life's monthly culture section
Omar El Akkad on his new book about Palestine, Israel and Western hypocrisy
In One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, the author and journalist presents a scathing account of news media and governments cheering on the genocide in Gaza
Pop star Amanda Marshall on returning to the stage after two decades
Beginning in 2002, a protracted legal battle with her manager and label led to Marshall’s exile from the music business. Here, she talks about why that was ultimately a good thing
Charlotte Day Wilson on her new album, Cyan Blue
The R&B singer discusses the city’s signature sound, her skating skills and collaborating with artists like Badbadnotgood and Daniel Caesar
"Christianity was a radical, socialist, queer idea from the get-go": A Q&A with Anthony Oliveira on his biblical new novel, Dayspring
The comic book writer and author talks growing up queer under Catholicism, finding humour in the Bible and learning self-acceptance from X-Men
"You have to become Alice—the audience knows if you're faking it"
A Q&A with Tirion Law, lead ballerina in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
"I don't think novels have messages": A Q&A with Sheila Heti
Heti’s new novel, The Alphabetical Diaries, is an experiment in imposing spreadsheet rigour on the messiness of a daily journal.
“At home, our theatre doubles as our bomb shelter”
Award-winning dancer Nikita Sukhorukov talks about performing in wartime, representing Ukraine abroad and raising money for refugees
As-Told-To's
Stories written in the first person, putting you in their shoes
“I’ve been a family doctor for more than 20 years. Now, I have no choice but to close my practice”
Rising costs, new administrative duties and subsequent burnout have made it impossible for physician Fan-Wah Mang to keep her Mississauga clinic open.
Kiss and Tell: “My date realized I’d forgotten his name”
Mackenzie, a 21-year-old student, couldn’t tell who was more embarrassed: her, her date or their server
"I was a successful marketing exec in Toronto. I gave it all up to farm hops and open a brewery"
Graydon Lau had a decades-long career in the marketing industry, working for big-name alcohol brands. When his best friend approached him with a wild idea, he left his job and dove in. Then, just as everything was coming together, tragedy struck
“My online tax account was hacked, turning my life upside down. Now, I’m suing the CRA”
Stephen Real is one of thousands of Canadians affected by a massive security breach in 2020. Three years later, he can’t pay his taxes, fraudsters are attempting to buy cars in his name and he fields more than 20 spam calls a day
Interviews
Straight question-and-answer style stories
"It's like hiring an army of sloths": Councillor Josh Matlow on the city's excruciatingly slow snow removal
The councillor for Toronto–St. Paul’s discusses his ire over Toronto’s $1.5-billion privatized snow plows, what we could learn from Montreal and his personal shovelling saga
New chief planner Jason Thorne on his grand designs
After a decade in Hamilton, Thorne has been selected as our planner in chief. With traffic in gridlock, transit ever-delayed and housing far from affordable, he’s got his work cut out for him
This LGBTQ immigration lawyer has been inundated with inquiries from the US since Donald Trump's election - Toronto Life
President Trump has launched an attack on the rights of trans people in the United States. Could Canada become a safe haven for American refugees?
"The rest of the country is waking up to what First Nations people have always known"
Tanya Talaga on her new book, The Knowing
“The voices of refugee claimants will be critical”: Meet Toronto’s new deputy ombudsman for housing
Reema Patel is taking up the brand-new mantle of housing watchdog. Her first task: investigating the city’s decision to turn asylum seekers away from shelters
"Some of my skate friends are 10 and some are 50": Meet 13-year-old skateboarding phenom Fay DeFazio Ebert
Fresh off her gold medal win at the Pan Am Games, Ebert talks good luck charms, the best bowls in Toronto and setting her sights on Paris 2024
"It can be a struggle to get health care": Filmmaker M. H. Murray on bringing the realities of HIV treatment to TIFF
Murray’s debut feature film, I Don’t Know Who You Are, follows a Toronto artist scraping together money for preventative treatment after being sexually assaulted
"Being budget chief is an honour—but there's also a sense of dread": A Q&A with Councillor Shelley Carroll
Toronto’s newly appointed fiscal czar dishes on why the city needs new taxes, playing hardball with Queen’s Park and Ottawa, and how her grandkids keep her grounded in a chaotic time
Everything
"It's like hiring an army of sloths": Councillor Josh Matlow on the city's excruciatingly slow snow removal
The councillor for Toronto–St. Paul’s discusses his ire over Toronto’s $1.5-billion privatized snow plows, what we could learn from Montreal and his personal shovelling saga
Omar El Akkad on his new book about Palestine, Israel and Western hypocrisy
In One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, the author and journalist presents a scathing account of news media and governments cheering on the genocide in Gaza
New chief planner Jason Thorne on his grand designs
After a decade in Hamilton, Thorne has been selected as our planner in chief. With traffic in gridlock, transit ever-delayed and housing far from affordable, he’s got his work cut out for him
This LGBTQ immigration lawyer has been inundated with inquiries from the US since Donald Trump's election - Toronto Life
President Trump has launched an attack on the rights of trans people in the United States. Could Canada become a safe haven for American refugees?
Soprano Kirsten LeBlanc on stepping into the lead role of La Reine-garçon
The singer talks elaborate costumes, warm-up rituals and falling in love with the history of Sweden’s gender-bending Queen Christine
Kim’s Convenience creator Ins Choi on the show’s new theatrical production
Choi talks about stepping into the role of Appa, the importance of Asian representation and how corner stores foster a sense of community
“I walked 200 kilometres in eight days in search of inner peace”
For Cherie Bauman, a 52-year-old cook from Guelph, the journey was more important than the destination
“I communed with the dead via a seance at Exhibition Place”
Yashy Murphy recounts her eerie encounter with spirits from the beyond—or a well-produced spooky spectacle
“I fell in love with gliding over the water like Jesus”
After the death of his father, Eric Fallon decided to seize each day and stop putting off new experiences. Enter his latest hobby: wing foiling
“My favourite pastime is sneaking into abandoned buildings”
Dave Conlon says the fact that his hobby isn’t exactly legal makes it all the more exciting
“I ran the world’s six biggest marathons”
Robyn Michaud is seeking her next challenge after completing the World Marathon Majors
“Being a supernumerary is like being handed an all-access pass to the opera”
For diehard opera fan Mark Garlin, watching his favourite productions from the stage itself was a dream come true
“There’s untapped beauty in our beleaguered democratic institutions”
Chris Abraham of Crow’s Theatre on turning the Sidewalk Labs fiasco into a hit play
“It’s cool to be ending the band on our own terms”
Tokyo Police Club on their farewell tour
How B.C. Pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko Stormed the World Stage
Meet one of Canada’s most exciting classical music talents—a 25-year-old Juilliard grad from Salmon Arm
Why governments must do everything in their power to crash the housing market
Housing is now the unofficial third leg of our national retirement scheme — and we’re all paying the price
Gambling Nation
In only two years, online betting has changed the face of Canadian sports. (Cover Story, Nov 2024)
"All my years of reporting indicate we still haven’t reached gender equality"
Author Elizabeth Renzetti on her new book, What She Said
Inside the rise of the Tragically Hip, Canada's most beloved rock band
Four decades ago, a group of kids riffing in Kingston bars became rock stars who redefined a nation.
"Access to a family doctor is a fundamental right"
Physician Dr. Tara Kiran on how Ontario health care fails underserved communities
"Pierre Poilievre needs to be careful with his rhetoric"
Carol Off on her new book, At a Loss for Words
Please demolish my childhood home
OPINION: Let’s make it easier to knock down houses and replace them with fourplexes. I can even offer you a good place to start
Train Wreck: The bone-rattling reality of Ontario Line construction
Toronto residents in the path of Ontario Line construction are living in a bone-rattling, foundation-cracking, rat-infested hellscape. True tales from the epicentre
"The rest of the country is waking up to what First Nations people have always known"
Tanya Talaga on her new book, The Knowing
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