A Year in Toronto
In a year of “unprecedented times,” the world didn’t split apart in ways that were terrifying and new. It cracked along familiar seams, over and over again.
A Neighbourhood in the Dark
What good is public health information if nobody hears it?
Pandemic’s Labyrinth
How Canada’s secretive, byzantine, Cold War-era stockpile system left us unprepared for COVID-19.
Are Noisy Hospitals Making Us Sick?
The constant beeping, talking, and overhead paging aren’t just an annoyance—they can lead to delirium, longer recovery times, and even sleeping pill addiction.
The 35 Jane
What a bus route reveals about race, class, and social vulnerability during a pandemic.
Last Week, In Review
As the first tentative positive signs emerged, it was tempting to look beyond the week—to try to trace the curve past where it flattens to the point it sinks beneath the horizon. It's too early for that.
Wednesday on the Front of the Frontlines
One is sick with COVID-19. Another has lost a quarter of her income. The personal support workers who care for our most vulnerable remain underpaid and underappreciated.
On the Food Bank Frontlines
With demand skyrocketing, distribution sites closed, and volunteers staying home, food banks are scrambling to keep Toronto fed.
Not Criminally Responsible
Were last summer’s high-profile disappearances from CAMH signs of a broken program—or a complex system working as it should?
Letters from the Inside
For a time, I was the only openly gay man in my prison. Then I met a trans woman and we started our own LGBTQ2 support group.
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.
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.
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.
Living Without Drug Coverage
Like so many part-time workers in Canada, Olivia is faced with difficult budget decisions every time she gets sick.
Aging in the Vertical City
In many Toronto highrises, nearly half the residents are seniors. The way we age in this city is changing — can services keep up?
Health On Wheels
For immigrant women in communities like St James Town, help arrives in a 31-foot Winnebago.
The Emergency Room in the #MeToo Era
In Toronto hospitals, nurses are being asked to do far more than treat physical injuries. Providing that care can take a toll.
Caring for a Spouse with Alzheimer’s
The health care system depends on the work of family caregivers, even when they're elderly and may need care themselves.