Closer Look

People can be pretty biased when it comes to their hometowns. Ask someone which city is the best, and chances are they’ll choose their own. But when it comes to livability, which Canadian city actually comes out on top? Is “good place to live” a concept that can be measured? The Globe and Mail set out to try — and the latest results are in . The newspaper’s third annual “Canada’s Most Livable Citi...

Sid Seixeiro is back in the game. The longtime Toronto sports personality — who rose to prominence as one half of the iconic Tim and Sid show — launched his latest venture earlier today: a new live-stream solo podcast that runs every weekday at noon on YouTube , Facebook and X . As loyal fans will remember, Seixeiro walked away from his signature sports show in 2021 to co-host CityTV’s Breakfast T...

Nearly six years ago, the Trudeau government banned more than 2,000 makes and models of assault-style firearms, including the notorious AR-15. The legislative change raised the obvious question: If a person purchased one of those guns back when they were legal, what are they supposed to do with it now? The answer took years to materialize, but the promised federal buyback program is now live. Gun...

Back in 2018, now-Premier Doug Ford campaigned on a promise to end “hallway healthcare.” Eight years later, not much has changed. According to the latest available data , an average of nearly 1,400 Ontario hospital patients per day were treated in “unconventional spaces” — which includes not only hallways, but closets, cafeterias and even bathrooms. But there is one thing that has suddenly changed...

Last month, Rogers asked Canadians everywhere to donate their old hockey jerseys for a unique display of national pride and unity . They wanted a wide variety of colours and logos from coast to coast — from Timbits to beer leagues and everything in between. Cameron Lizotte took over from there. A former OHL hockey player who traded his skates for fashion design, the Sudbury native was handpicked t...

New research might help explain why some Ontario teenagers are feeling so distressed these days. The study, published in the journal Addiction , analyzed data from more than 35,000 students in grades seven through 12 — and found that symptoms of depression and anxiety nearly tripled over the past decade, from 10.7 per cent in 2013 to 27.4 per cent in 2023. At the same time, researchers also found...

Donald Trump’s tariffs have forced Canada to take a hard look in the mirror. Simply put, a national economy based around U.S. dependency is no longer viable. Is it also time to rethink how we deliver postsecondary education in Canada? A new report says yes — and that the necessary changes must be “urgent and coordinated.” Released back in October by the Royal Bank of Canada, the report calls for a...

Four stars? More like five-alarm fire. ‘Heated Rivalry’ is about as hot as a TV show can get, reaching huge audiences and critical acclaim across the globe. Filmed in Guelph , Hamilton, Dundas and Toronto, the made-in-Canada Crave series has also been quite a boon for local tourism, as fans of the show flock to visit some of the sites where the show was shot — including Dundurn Castle and the Slee...

No matter how you crunch the numbers, the answer comes out the same: Ontario hospitals are desperate for more money. Last week, the Ontario Hospital Association told the Ford government that the sector is facing a structural deficit of $1-billion — a situation that requires not only more money this year, but a predictable, multi-year funding plan. A separate report says the problem is actually muc...

Imagine a world where every weekend is a long weekend. For Joe O’Connor, it’s no pipe dream. He’s been pushing the concept of a four-day workweek for a long time — and he’s convinced plenty of organizations to embrace his vision and reap the rewards. To be clear, O’Connor is not advocating that people squeeze 40 hours of work into four days. Instead, he is trumpeting the many benefits of a 32-hour...

Eight years ago, the entire country mourned alongside the tight-knit community of Humboldt, Saskatchewan. A bus carrying the local junior hockey team — the Humboldt Broncos — collided with a transport truck on April 6, 2018, killing 16 people and injuring 13 others. Last week, Netflix released a teaser about a new fictional series that sounds eerily familiar: a team in a working-class town where h...

For residents of northern Ontario, it’s always tempting to poke fun at how people in southern Ontario react to a heavy dumping of snow. But the huge storm that hit the GTA this weekend was no laughing matter. The onslaught broke all kinds of weather records — including in Toronto, where Sunday’s total snowfall (46.2 cm) smashed the previous single-day high of 39.9 cm. How bad was it? In Burlington...

Golden years? Not so much, it seems. A new survey suggests optimism about aging fell sharply over the last year, with financial insecurity and loneliness dampening how many Canadians feel about their retirement years. The National Institute on Aging surveyed just over 6,000 adults aged 50 and older for its fourth annual report: Perspectives on Growing Older in Canada. While the majority of respond...

By this point, you’ve likely seen the speech. Or at least parts of it. Prime Minister Mark Carney told the World Economic Forum on Monday that the rules-based global order is officially dead, and that “middle powers” like Canada must find a different path forward. “We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn't mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy,” Carney said. “But we believe that...

The beautiful game could have some ugly consequences for Canadian hospitals. As Canada prepares to co-host the World Cup — with 13 matches set for Toronto and Vancouver — a new editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal warns about the potential risks to our already-strained healthcare system. A mass casualty event or a disease outbreak would inflict huge pressure on local hospitals, “w...

How widespread is human trafficking in Ontario? Consider some of the headlines that appeared on our local news sites in the past few days alone. In Barrie, pre-trial motions are underway in the case of an alleged human trafficking ring that operated in Simcoe County and York Region. In Toronto, a 27-year-old man was arrested for allegedly trafficking teenage girls in the city, including forcing th...

U.S. President Donald Trump appears determined to take over Greenland — “one way or the other,” as he recently put it. Trump has justified his ambitions by arguing that the strategically located Arctic island, which is part of Denmark, should not be allowed to fall under the control of Russia or China. Prime Minister Mark Carney has spoken out against Trump’s “escalation,” saying Greenland’s futur...

A new report confirms what many of us already see with our own eyes: the homelessness crisis in Ontario is getting even worse. According to updated numbers from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), nearly 85,000 people across the province were known to be homeless in 2025 — a jump of almost 8 per cent from the previous year, and nearly 50 per cent since 2021. The problem is especial...

At some point soon, the Ford government will reveal its plan for school trustees across the province. Education Minister Paul Calandra has made no secret of the fact that he’s considering eliminating school trustees altogether — and he’s promised to reveal his decision early this year. No news yet. In the meantime, the ministry is now in control of six school boards in Ontario, using words like “i...

January is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, which is why you might be noticing a lot of discussion lately about education, reducing stigma and supporting loved ones affected by dementia . According to the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada, there are close to 800,000 people in the country right now living with some form of dementia — a number that’s expected to hit 1 million by 2030. There is, however, ano...

The pandemic is long over, but the negative effects still linger. A new survey reveals that five years after COVID-19 thrust our lives into disarray, people in Ontario are struggling more than ever when it comes to harmful drinking habits and declining mental health. Released this week by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), the Monitor Report is an ongoing survey that’s been conduct...

Even in death, some people still worry about their carbon footprint. Which explains the growing popularity of “green burials” — an environmentally friendlier way to inter the dead that involves no embalming chemicals, headstones or traditional caskets. There’s even a company that offers coffins and urns made of fully biodegradable mushrooms . But what about human composting ? Is that green option...

If you’re going to drink and drive in Ontario, be prepared to face some harsher penalties . New provincial rules that took effect Jan. 1 include lifetime licence suspensions for anyone convicted of impaired driving causing death, and mandatory remedial education for first-time offenders caught behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Time will tell if the stricter regulations make...

As of today, the Ford government has taken control of six school boards across the province — using words like “incompetence,” “mess” and “off the rails” to describe how things were going before the province seized the wheel. The passage of Bill 33, which came into force in November , made it even easier for Ontario to intervene. The Near North District School Board learned that lesson the hard wa...

Even now, months later, Liam Mooney has a hard time believing just how fast everything came together . One day, he and his wife, Emma Cochrane, were watching Premier Doug Ford on television, talking about Donald Trump’s 51st state rhetoric and how Canada would never be for sale. A few days later, the Ottawa-based couple had stitched together a hat bearing Ford’s patriotic message — a hat that Ford...