The Crisis After the Crisis
During lockdowns, politicians, journalists, and policy makers suddenly started paying attention to communities along the Finch West corridor. Then they stopped. A panoramic look at Toronto’s northwest after the COVID emergency.
For TTC Bus Riders, the Wait is Endless
Buses are the unglamorous workhorses of the TTC. By neglecting them to build flashy rail projects a decade from now, is the TTC failing the people that need transit most today?
What is the PATH?
Below ground, the hair stylists, dry cleaners, baristas and sushi chefs are ready. But are the office workers coming back?
The Greatest Mall in the World
Malvern mall has seen me through every stage of my life, from renting videos as a preschooler to wandering the empty halls during COVID. As we emerge from the pandemic, how do we keep these suburban hubs of culture and community alive?
How I Went Broke Succeeding in Theatre
As curtains rise on Toronto theatres after years of disruption, a generation of creators are wondering if there’s still a place for them on the stage.
The First Wave of a New Era
Everyone got COVID while making this issue. Welcome to the “living with it” era of the pandemic.
The Long History (and Scary Future) of Our Broken Health Care System
Hospitals were overwhelmed and overcrowded well before the pandemic. What happens after COVID?
Love, COVID, and Other Risks
When the pandemic hit, my partner’s status as an organ transplant recipient became the organizing principle of our lives. As the city opens up, our risk calculations have become more impossible than ever.
Tracking COVID-19 in Toronto Schools
A data blog about the pandemic's effects on the city’s 800 public schools.
Fires, Plagues and Also High School
Their school burned down, they survived a pandemic, and endured the ordinary teenage heartbreaks and triumphs under extraordinary conditions. Within the chaos, these York Memorial students found each other and their purpose.
The Kids Left Behind
Shuttered autism services, kids caring for younger siblings, undiagnosed developmental conditions—for many students, the losses of the last two years go well beyond school closures.
A Week After Launching RAT Tracker, We’re Still in the Dark
What we learned from our participatory data project asking Torontonians to share rapid antigen test results.
RAT Tracker
A citizen-powered tool for anonymous reporting of rapid antigen test results in Toronto public schools.
How to Keep Schools Open
None of it’s easy. All of it’s urgent.
Kids Vaccines Aren’t Reaching the Toronto Neighbourhoods That Need Them Most
Data from the first weeks of the rollout reveals low vaccine uptake in areas with the largest school outbreaks.
Fighting Vaccine Hesitancy at Alternative Schools
High vaccine exemption rates have long been a feature at Toronto alternative schools, but as COVID vaccines roll out to kids, there’s a new urgency to reach these hesitant parents.
Inside the Push to Bring Vaccines to the Schools That Need Them Most
As shots for kids roll out, a small group of exhausted vaccine veterans build what they hope will be their final pop-up clinics.
Rebuilding the Restaurant Business, One Argument at a Time
The pandemic created a window of opportunity to change a broken industry. The challenge now is getting restaurant workers to agree on what that change should be.
Is EI Broken?
Our employment insurance system was built before the rise of temp work, gig work, and foreign labour. It’s time for an overhaul.
“Somebody Is Going to Get Hurt”
Inspections at industrial workplaces in Ontario fell nearly 30 percent in the last decade, according to analysis by The Local. In the same period, critical injuries more than doubled.