Children’s Village Forever
Ontario Place designer Eric McMillan invented the ball pit, built the epicentre of kid-life for a generation of Torontonians and, for a brief moment, promised to revolutionize the way we play.
The Games We Play
Active leisure is more important than ever, so why are we making it so hard to just go out and play?
The Swimmer
Our intrepid beach correspondent swims his way across the city over one week to answer the question: what is Toronto beach culture?
Battle at Rowntree Mills
When the parking lot gates were shut ten years ago, Rowntree Mills Park became an urban wilderness. The fight to reopen it has divided a community and raises the question: how public is a public park?
A Park for All, or a Park for Some?
How a small group of parks and rec staff called "parks ambassadors" became unlikely mediators in the growing battles over the city’s public space.
Mapping Our Divisions
A bird’s-eye view of Toronto in 2019 reveals a city where geography is destiny and a person’s postal code can be as telling as their medical chart.
Why Aren’t the Doctors Where the Sick People Are?
It’s time to talk about Toronto’s health care deserts.
My Home, Moss Park
Life in a neighbourhood where death comes too often and too early.
How We Eat Now
A quiet dinner while watching Netflix. A sit-down meal with a chosen family. Portraits of dinnertime across the city.
Providing Care, Barely Getting By
Personal support workers are the backbone of the health care system. Why are they quitting to work in factories and at Tim Horton’s?
Bubble Tea, Dollar Stores, and Dialysis?
When Target closed in Canada, it left a crater in many suburban malls. In Thorncliffe Park, a group of health care providers stepped in.
Collision Course
In inner suburbs like Mount Dennis, the convenience of commuters zooming through often takes precedence over the wellbeing of locals.
Shedding Light on the Shadow
How a drop-in program for youth is changing the nature of mental health recovery on Toronto’s west side.
Hunger in a City of Plenty
In virtually every culture, people connect over food. To be deprived of food is to be alienated from social life.
Unsung Heroes: Ghirmai the Interpreter
In a city of immigrants, interpreters play an often overlooked role — trekking across the GTA to ensure new Torontonians are understood.
Unsanctioned
The stories behind Parkdale’s overdose prevention site.
The Roma of Flemingdon Park
Jen Quinlan was just trying to get Roma kids to the dentist. She ended up picking a fight with one of Canada’s richest real estate companies.
Young, Pregnant, No Fixed Address
Lack of affordable housing can have devastating and long-lasting health effects for teenage parents and their children.
Living Without Drug Coverage
Like so many part-time workers in Canada, Olivia is faced with difficult budget decisions every time she gets sick.
Cooking in the Shelter
I have cooked in restaurant kitchens, and for newspaper readers. Working at a shelter taught me a new way to look at food.