Recent Posts
The Death of an Asylum Seeker and the Shelter Crisis in Peel
The number of asylum seekers and refugees needing shelter has surged in recent years, leaving officials in suburban municipalities like Peel scrambling to respond.
What do Changes to Immigration Mean In a City of Immigrants?
The last year has seen sharp changes in attitudes and policies around immigration across Canada. Nowhere are those changes felt more than in Toronto.
The Battle Over a 475-Metre Bike Lane on Marlee Avenue
In Toronto, even the most modest bike lane proposal is met with outsized anger and fear.
The Local’s 2024 Year in Review
Gather ‘round the warm glow of The Local Slack channel as we chat through our favourite stories of the year.
A Long-Brewing Crisis in Special Education
Parents and teachers say schools are underfunded and understaffed, kids are being “abandoned” in mainstream classrooms in the name of inclusion, and neither the TDSB nor the province will take responsibility.
The Killing of the Science Centre
The 55-year old museum shuttered without warning one Friday in June. Then devastated staff were given four months to dismantle it. A former employee on the last days of a beloved institution.
In the Annex and Crescent Town, Two Sides to Toronto’s Density Dilemma
The Annex had fewer residents in 2021 than 1971. The towers of Crescent Town had far more. How the uneven, illogical densification pattern of the last 50 years created today’s Toronto.
The Geography of Complaint
From wealthy neighbours griping about shrubbery to low-income tenants requesting winter heat—a map of 311 requests charts a certain kind of civic engagement, and privilege.
Life Expectancy Varies by Almost 12 Years Across Toronto Neighbourhoods
A joint project by The Local and St. Michael’s Hospital, the first-ever neighbourhood-level analysis of life expectancy in Toronto, reveals stark disparities across the city.
Another Year, Another Encampment, Another Eviction
For years, unhoused people like Davit Sesisheili have gone from park to park, moving when the City evicts them. With new data, and reporting and photography that spans years, this is the most comprehensive, intimate portrait of Toronto’s failing encampments strategy.
Toronto’s Encampments, By the Numbers
Recent analysis by The Local shows just how widespread encampments have become, and how the City’s clearing efforts simply pushed unhoused Torontonians from one park to another.
Moss Park’s Lost Years
Grief, and hope, in the downtown eastside neighbourhood with the lowest life-expectancy in the city.
Why a Two-Kilometre Strip of Yonge Street Has the Highest Life Expectancy in Toronto
This North York neighbourhood has plenty of public amenities and walkable streets. But the secret to residents’ good health may have a less expected explanation: immigration.
How Decades of Underfunding Eroded Toronto’s Schools
In the largest city in one of the richest countries, Toronto's public school system should be world class. So why are students heading back to school in crumbling buildings without enough staff to meet their needs?
Fewer Caretakers, Dirtier Schools
Sticky floors, rodent infestations, uncleared ice, overflowing toilets—Toronto schools are showing the effects of years of slashing caretaker jobs.
Trouble in the Principal’s Office
The problems in Toronto schools end up in the office, where principals and vice-principals say they’re overwhelmed and struggling to keep up.