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.
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.
A Mississauga Factory Is Using a Known Carcinogen. Residents Had No Idea
High levels of ethylene oxide were detected near a now-closed Scarborough plant owned by Sterigenics, which has agreed to pay over US$400 million to claimants alleging cancer in the U.S. The company has since moved to Mississauga.
The Trouble with Home Care
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?
When Seniors Wander
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?
The Private Deals Remaking Long-Term Care
In a province with the highest percentage of for-profit LTC homes in the country, new deals are further consolidating the industry into the hands of a few companies with some of the worst COVID death rates in the country.
A Voice on the End of the Line
For the last sixty years, crisis hotlines have been the emergency rooms of the mental health world. But remote work has transformed the already challenging overnight shift into a deeply lonely one.
Death in the Small Hours
In the middle of the night, palliative care doctor Joshua Wales drives across the city, making house calls to people during the most emotionally complex, vulnerable moments of their lives.
The Weight of Childbirth During a Climate Crisis
I enrolled in midwifery school in search of hope and purpose. But what does it mean to bring new life into a world that's becoming less liveable?
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.
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.