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Andrea Yu

Andrea Yu is a freelance journalist based in Toronto. She reports on a wide variety of topics including business, real estate, culture, design, health, food, drink and travel. Aside from Toronto Life, her writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Chatelaine and Cottage Life.

Latest from Andrea Yu

This Etobicoke home with European design just hit the market for $4.7 million. Inside, there's a home theatre and a wine cellar

Real Estate News

This Etobicoke home with European design just hit the market for $4.7 million. Inside, there’s a home theatre and a wine cellar

All of the interior features were designed and created in Europe

This woodsy retreat in the Beaches just hit the market for $5 million

Real Estate News

This woodsy retreat in the Beaches just hit the market for $5 million

Out back, there's a whimsical playhouse for the kids

She wanted her brother to live nearby. So she put a $130,000 unit in the backyard

Real Estate News

She wanted her brother to live nearby. So she put a $130,000 unit in the backyard

It's a 220-square-foot laneway container

This Summerhill home was built back in 1906. It just hit the market for $3.4 million

Real Estate News

This Summerhill home was built back in 1906. It just hit the market for $3.4 million

The home still has a bunch of its original Arts and Crafts-style features, including stained glass windows and a wood-burning fireplace

In 2020, this Roncy semi was purchased for $1.2 million. It just hit the market for $2.5 million

Real Estate News

In 2020, this Roncy semi was purchased for $1.2 million. It just hit the market for $2.5 million

The sellers did more than $1 million worth of renovations

House of the Week: $6.5 million for a church-converted townhouse in Rosedale with an elevator

Real Estate News

House of the Week: $6.5 million for a church-converted townhouse in Rosedale with an elevator

The arched windows and exposed trusses—all remnants from the original church—will have you praising the heavens

This couple wanted to upsize. But first, they needed to get creative and sell their condo

Real Estate News

This couple wanted to upsize. But first, they needed to get creative and sell their condo

Who: The history: Here's a look inside: The hunt: The outcome: Do you have an interesting real estate story? We'd love to hear...

With the Toronto market scorching hot, this couple cashed out and moved to a $1.2-million chalet in Mont-Tremblant

Real Estate News

With the Toronto market scorching hot, this couple cashed out and moved to a $1.2-million chalet in Mont-Tremblant

They sold their Oakville townhouse for $2 million

This family had an initial home-buying budget of $150,000. Where did they end up finding a place?

Real Estate News

This family had an initial home-buying budget of $150,000. Where did they end up finding a place?

Hint: It's way outside of the city

A Toronto family knew buying in the city would leave them house poor, so they bought this $208,000 church in Paisley. Now they just need to renovate

Real Estate News

A Toronto family knew buying in the city would leave them house poor, so they bought this $208,000 church in Paisley. Now they just need to renovate

They plan to spend $200,000 on upgrades

This Toronto family wanted a home with character, so they bought a $390,000 church near Hamilton. Now they just have to convert it

Real Estate News

This Toronto family wanted a home with character, so they bought a $390,000 church near Hamilton. Now they just have to convert it

As part of the purchase, the family agreed to maintain a cemetery on the property

"Early on in this wave, we had 1,000 staff members off work every day": UHN's head of critical care on how ICUs are coping with the hospital crisis

“Early on in this wave, we had 1,000 staff members off work every day”: UHN’s head of critical care on how ICUs are coping with the hospital crisis

"Everybody’s exhausted. We’ve had people break down in tears in the middle of their shifts"

She wanted to downsize and live near her daughter. So she spent $579,000 for two condo units in a converted church in Brantford

Real Estate News

She wanted to downsize and live near her daughter. So she spent $579,000 for two condo units in a converted church in Brantford

Now Joanne, 52, gets to live in the same building as her 23-year-old daughter

How a blended family revamped their Garden District condo

How a blended family revamped their Garden District condo

With flea market finds and DIY hacks

This family moved to Toronto during the pandemic. They found a $3,900-a-month rental in East York

Real Estate News

This family moved to Toronto during the pandemic. They found a $3,900-a-month rental in East York

This winter, Paul and Duncan will try ice skating for the first time

A Toronto family wanted to start a farm. When the pandemic hit, they bought an $815,000 lavender farm in Wiarton

Real Estate News

A Toronto family wanted to start a farm. When the pandemic hit, they bought an $815,000 lavender farm in Wiarton

The place came with a coop full of chickens

This couple moved to Toronto during the pandemic. They found a $2,500 rental in Liberty Village

Real Estate News

This couple moved to Toronto during the pandemic. They found a $2,500 rental in Liberty Village

Sam and Liv went to the Leafs season opener

A student and a senior moved in together. Here's what happened

Real Estate News

A student and a senior moved in together. Here’s what happened

The student pays $600 a month in rent, and helps around the house in exchange for the reduced rate

These friends started a yacht rental service during the pandemic, and business is booming

These friends started a yacht rental service during the pandemic, and business is booming

"Everyone who steps off our boats is so happy. They can’t wait to do it again"

This laneway suite makes a great home office, or guest house, or motorcycle shed

This laneway suite makes a great home office, or guest house, or motorcycle shed

Part 5 in our series on the laneway housing revolution

This couple bought a 1970s hunting lodge in Calabogie and converted it into a boutique hotel

This couple bought a 1970s hunting lodge in Calabogie and converted it into a boutique hotel

The cabin-like rooms feature modern Canadian-made furnishings, retro soaker tubs and twin bunk beds

The local film and TV industry is booming. These are the movie studios producing some of your favourite content

The local film and TV industry is booming. These are the movie studios producing some of your favourite content

Studios are popping up across the GTHA to meet the demand for filming

The e-health revolution: This doctor helps patients monitor their stats from home

The e-health revolution: This doctor helps patients monitor their stats from home

Respirologist Victoria Chan figured out a way for Covid patients to keep track of their vitals on their phones

A look inside The Apartment, a millennial-pink vintage shop in Moss Park

A look inside The Apartment, a millennial-pink vintage shop in Moss Park

With furnishings and curios from the '60s, '70s and '80s

Summer Camp Guide

Summer Camp Directory 2026

Summer Camp Directory 2026

Discover our top-rated summer camps for kids of all ages

Best New Restaurants

Toronto Life ’s Best Restaurants returns for its 10th-anniversary edition on June 8

Toronto Life’s Best Restaurants returns for its 10th-anniversary edition on June 8

General admission tickets are now on sale for Toronto’s biggest culinary night, featuring top chefs, restaurants and drinks

Big Stories

These are Toronto’s best new restaurants of 2026

These are Toronto’s best new restaurants of 2026

This year’s list includes a 150-square-foot omakase counter, a Parisian brasserie in the Annex, Korean comfort food, Filipino karaoke and a Summerhill seafood spot that’s reinventing the raw bar

Hoop Dreams: Inside the making of the Toronto Tempo, the city’s newly assembled WNBA team

Hoop Dreams: Inside the making of the Toronto Tempo, the city’s newly assembled WNBA team

After years of false starts, months of nail-biting negotiations between the league and the players’ union, and an 11th-hour scramble to build a roster, Toronto finally has its own major-league women’s basketball team. Now it just has to live up to the hype

Live From New York: Inside the slay-or-be-slayed world of Studio 8H with SNL rookie Veronika Slowikowska

Live From New York: Inside the slay-or-be-slayed world of Studio 8H with SNL rookie Veronika Slowikowska

Slowikowska is the first Canadian to join the cast of Saturday Night Live in more than 25 years. She’s also this season’s breakout star. Now all she has to do is keep crushing it

Better Call Deepak: Meet drug lord Ryan Wedding’s self-styled cocaine lawyer

Better Call Deepak: Meet drug lord Ryan Wedding’s self-styled cocaine lawyer

The man who represented the infamous drug lord is unapologetically flashy—he has a Lamborghini and two Maseratis and wears $1,200 Louboutins. But did he become an accomplice to his client’s crimes? Deepak Paradkar says he was just doing his job. The FBI says he crossed a line

The Redemption Tour: The Blue Jays are back. Can they finish what they started?

The Redemption Tour: The Blue Jays are back. Can they finish what they started?

We’re not over it, but they are. Six months after that devastating defeat, the Jays take the field once more, bent more than ever on winning the World Series. Dispatches from the dugout

My Life as a True Crime Spectacle: My father’s crimes fractured our family. Then came the press

My Life as a True Crime Spectacle: My father’s crimes fractured our family. Then came the press

My dad was the infamous Rolex Killer. The news of his crimes nearly broke me. And ever since, my family has been hounded by reporters, podcasters and true crime fanatics—a whole new circle of hell

Robby on the Line: Out and about with Robby Hoffman, comedy’s equal opportunity assassin

Robby on the Line: Out and about with Robby Hoffman, comedy’s equal opportunity assassin

Larry David is the indisputable king of brutal honesty. But if anyone comes close, it’s Robby Hoffman, the suddenly everywhere comic from whom no group is safe

Notes on an Academic Scandal: Why did TMU demote a leading advocate of DEI?

Notes on an Academic Scandal: Why did TMU demote a leading advocate of DEI?

Pamela Sugiman, a former arts dean at Toronto Metropolitan University, was a key player in the school’s push for diversity, equity and inclusion. When the backlash against DEI arrived, she was demoted. The school says it was a coincidence. She disagrees

City of Renters: The dream of home ownership isn’t dead. Maybe it should be?

City of Renters: The dream of home ownership isn’t dead. Maybe it should be?

Scenes from the rent-for-life revolution

This generation was pummelled by Covid high school. Now the job market wants to replace them with AI

This generation was pummelled by Covid high school. Now the job market wants to replace them with AI

It’s hard out here for a 20-something

The High Price of Hope: Inside Toronto’s white-hot fertility market

The High Price of Hope: Inside Toronto’s white-hot fertility market

Desperate wannabe parents are betting their life savings on unproven treatments and false promises

Man vs. Machine: ChatGPT caused him to spiral into delusion. Now he’s suing OpenAI

Man vs. Machine: ChatGPT caused him to spiral into delusion. Now he’s suing OpenAI

Last spring, a chatbot convinced Allan Brooks that he had discovered a revolutionary mathematical theory. He says it nearly destroyed him

Smart City: 20 mind-blowing Toronto inventions that are changing the world

Smart City: 20 mind-blowing Toronto inventions that are changing the world

Homegrown innovations that will transform lives for the better

293 Days Without My Son: I gave up everything to rescue my kidnapped child from my abusive husband

293 Days Without My Son: I gave up everything to rescue my kidnapped child from my abusive husband

When Valentino was abducted, I knew three things: he’d been taken by his father, he was somewhere in India and I would not rest until I found him

The Violent Life of a Tow Truck Driver: How an unremarkable profession turned Toronto into a war zone

The Violent Life of a Tow Truck Driver: How an unremarkable profession turned Toronto into a war zone

The towing industry has been hijacked by criminals and kingpins who fleece customers, beat up dissenters and shoot their enemies. Inside the brutal turf war for the city’s wrecks

Street Fight: Inside the battle raging over Toronto multiplexes

Street Fight: Inside the battle raging over Toronto multiplexes

If this city stands any chance of solving the housing crisis, it will need buildings with multiple units in residential neighbourhoods—a move that has many residents saying, “Anywhere but here!”

Young and Retired: Meet the super-savers quitting work decades before the average Canadian

Young and Retired: Meet the super-savers quitting work decades before the average Canadian

In the age of doomspending, these ultra-driven Torontonians give up their weekends, work multiple jobs and never, ever eat out. The upside: they’ll retire long before the rest of us

Just Listed

For Sale: 171 Durant Ave

For Sale: 171 Durant Ave

This rare property features 2 houses on 1 lot

For Sale: 50 First Avenue

For Sale: 50 First Avenue

A testament to time presiding over one of Uxbridge's most storied streetscapes, this magnificently preserved circa 1880 residence commands its prominent corner lot with the quiet confidence of a true architectural landmark

For Sale: 7 Bentley Drive

For Sale: 7 Bentley Drive

A commanding architectural statement in prestigious Stonegate–Queensway, this newly completed custom residence by Bali Homes Group presents a refined interpretation of contemporary luxury living

For Sale: 75 Queen Street

For Sale: 75 Queen Street

Guelph is having a moment

For Sale: 112 Mildenhall Rd

For Sale: 112 Mildenhall Rd

A rare opportunity to own a custom-built masterpiece in the heart of Lawrence Park beautifully designed by Gray Smith and Arca Design for the most discerning buyer