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Courtney Shea

Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”

Latest from Courtney Shea

“We’re the Danny DeVito to America’s Arnold Schwarzenegger”: A Canada–US historian on Donald Trump’s 51st-state threats

“We’re the Danny DeVito to America’s Arnold Schwarzenegger”: A Canada–US historian on Donald Trump’s 51st-state threats

Most Canadians have brushed off Trump’s trash talk about annexing Canada—but could it really happen? Here, one expert’s take

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“We’re talking about fire and knives here, so it’s going to be intense”: Top Chef ’s Gail Simmons on her delicious homecoming

“We’re talking about fire and knives here, so it’s going to be intense”: Top Chef ’s Gail Simmons on her delicious homecoming

The Forest Hill native dishes on season 22, why she’s proud of “creating monsters,” how to save classic restaurants, and her favourite Toronto spots to wine and dine while filming

“If this dissuades anyone from dining at Lake Inez, then good riddance”: This couple is bringing together Toronto foodies in support of trans rights

“If this dissuades anyone from dining at Lake Inez, then good riddance”: This couple is bringing together Toronto foodies in support of trans rights

Zac Schwartz and Quinn Rockliff are hosting a fundraiser and raffle at their east-end restaurant

"I lost my home and my collection of 30 original Andy Warhol artworks in the LA fires"

“I lost my home and my collection of 30 original Andy Warhol artworks in the LA fires”

Ron Rivlin thought he could ride out the Pacific Palisades wildfire at his LA home—until the winds shifted, putting his life and his $15-million art collection at risk

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Pants on Fire: Fact-checking the most scorching claims from the Ontario leaders' debate

Pants on Fire: Fact-checking the most scorching claims from the Ontario leaders’ debate

Did Galen Weston Jr. really get a $200 cheque from Doug Ford? Would building a tunnel under the 401 bankrupt the province? Is Bonnie Crombie Queen of the Carbon Tax?

"Trump is not clearing his schedule to have lunch with Dougie": Bonnie Crombie isn't done coming after Doug Ford

“Trump is not clearing his schedule to have lunch with Dougie”: Bonnie Crombie isn’t done coming after Doug Ford

Ahead of next week’s provincial election, the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party talks Donald Trump’s tariff threats, the future of Ontario Place and the carbon tax, and whether the premier knows the price of eggs

"Lorne Michaels wanted to stay in Canada": This biographer is pulling back the curtain on the king of comedy

“Lorne Michaels wanted to stay in Canada”: This biographer is pulling back the curtain on the king of comedy

In Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, Susan Morrison chronicles the life of a visionary Torontonian who redefined what it means to be funny in America

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“I wonder if I’m asking for enough”: Toronto Police Association president Clayton Campbell on the service's $46-million budget hike

“I wonder if I’m asking for enough”: Toronto Police Association president Clayton Campbell on the service’s $46-million budget hike

Police Association boss is one of the most contentious jobs in the city, and new president Campbell is ready for a fight. Step one: arguing for more money

"He's not coming at Kendrick": Everything to know about Drake’s “Not Like Us” lawsuit

“He’s not coming at Kendrick”: Everything to know about Drake’s “Not Like Us” lawsuit

You can’t call Champagne Papi a pedophile without things getting messy

"We're going to see prices go up": How Trump's whopping 25 per cent tariffs would hit Canadians' wallets

“We’re going to see prices go up”: How Trump’s whopping 25 per cent tariffs would hit Canadians’ wallets

What a trade war could mean for your grocery bills, gas tank, investment accounts and more

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"I've been called a dictator and a tyrant": Pickering mayor Kevin Ashe on city council's descent into chaos

“I’ve been called a dictator and a tyrant”: Pickering mayor Kevin Ashe on city council’s descent into chaos

After more than a year of hostile interactions with councillor Lisa Robinson and threats from alt-right protesters, Pickering city council has moved its meetings online. Now, the stand-off has escalated again—with criminal charges on the table

"Our relationship frustrations get a healthy workout onstage": Paul Gross and Martha Burns on their new production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

“Our relationship frustrations get a healthy workout onstage”: Paul Gross and Martha Burns on their new production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Real-life husband and wife Paul Gross and Martha Burns play a volatile married couple in Canadian Stage’s new production of the 1962 classic

“I grabbed one guitar and one pair of underwear—I thought we’d be back”: This Canadian couple lost their home to the LA fires

“I grabbed one guitar and one pair of underwear—I thought we’d be back”: This Canadian couple lost their home to the LA fires

Brian and Pamela Hughes’s place in Eaton Canyon was their refuge for more than 20 years. After the Eaton fire ripped through their neighbourhood, nothing remains

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"People are fed up": How congestion pricing could save Toronto from its hellish traffic

“People are fed up”: How congestion pricing could save Toronto from its hellish traffic

New York has started charging divers who are getting behind the wheel at peak hours, and its streets already generate less road rage. Could the same be true in our traffic jam of a city?

Power Ranking: Who’s up, who’s down and who’s scrambling after Justin Trudeau’s resignation

Power Ranking: Who’s up, who’s down and who’s scrambling after Justin Trudeau’s resignation

The political manoeuvring has only just begun

“I want to address the stigma around renting”: Meet mega-developer Adrian Rocca

“I want to address the stigma around renting”: Meet mega-developer Adrian Rocca

Rocca has a plan to inject thousands of new two- and three-bedroom rentals into the housing market. Sounds great. What’s the catch?

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"She has a history of taking on powerful men": Chrystia Freeland's biographer on the finance minister's bombshell resignation

“She has a history of taking on powerful men”: Chrystia Freeland’s biographer on the finance minister’s bombshell resignation

Catherine Tsalikis, the author of Chrystia: From Peace Valley to Parliament Hill, weighs in on the legacy and next moves of the most influential woman in Canadian politics

A holiday-themed guide to the auditor general’s annual naughty list

A holiday-themed guide to the auditor general’s annual naughty list

Lumps of coal included

Wait: Did Taylor Swift really visit a Toronto dive bar?

Wait: Did Taylor Swift really visit a Toronto dive bar?

An investigative report

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"It ran during the Great Depression and both world wars": The CEO of the Toronto Santa Claus Parade on the event's uncertain future

“It ran during the Great Depression and both world wars”: The CEO of the Toronto Santa Claus Parade on the event’s uncertain future

Everybody’s favourite 120-year-old festive float extravaganza is in jeopardy. Here’s what it will take to keep Santa coming to town

"We can throw a wrench into the war machine": Why pro-Palestine Canadian authors are boycotting the Giller Prize

“We can throw a wrench into the war machine”: Why pro-Palestine Canadian authors are boycotting the Giller Prize

Comics artist and illustrator Michael DeForge, an organizer with CanLit Responds and No Arms in the Arts, on protesting the award's lead sponsor's stake in Israeli arms manufacturing

"I do a song-for-song rendition of the Eras Tour in drag": Meet Tay BoBo, Toronto's Taylor Swift impersonator

“I do a song-for-song rendition of the Eras Tour in drag”: Meet Tay BoBo, Toronto’s Taylor Swift impersonator

It’s Taylor Swift, drag queen version

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"People aren’t listening to that little voice that tells them to walk away”: A TPS fraud cop on the rise of Taylor Swift ticket scams

“People aren’t listening to that little voice that tells them to walk away”: A TPS fraud cop on the rise of Taylor Swift ticket scams

Thousands of people are clamouring for last-minute tickets to the Eras Tour, and many are getting scammed. Here, the head of the Toronto Police Service's new fraud unit breaks down how Swifties are being swindled

"I left everything on the field": Kamala Harris's rally producer on the shocking US election results

“I left everything on the field”: Kamala Harris’s rally producer on the shocking US election results

On the campaign trail, Jean-Michel Picher coordinated major events featuring heavy hitters like Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen. After a devastating night for the Democrats, the political insider weighs in on the ups and downs of Harris’s election bid

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Private School Guide

The Private and Independent School Directory Spring 2025

The Private and Independent School Directory Spring 2025

Big Stories

Edward the Conqueror: The unlikely ascent of Canada’s telecom king

Edward the Conqueror: The unlikely ascent of Canada’s telecom king

Edward Rogers was dismissed as a meddling nepo baby—until he muscled out his siblings, acquired his competitors, cornered the telecom market and became the dominant force in Canadian sports

Lady Parts: Inside Meredith MacNeill and Jennifer Whalen’s new show, Small Achievable Goals

Lady Parts: Inside Meredith MacNeill and Jennifer Whalen’s new show, Small Achievable Goals

The Baroness von Sketch Show alumnae have elevated joking about women’s issues to an art. Their new show takes aim at menopause. How funny is that?

Murder in the Blue Mountains: The story behind the killing of Ashley Schwalm

Murder in the Blue Mountains: The story behind the killing of Ashley Schwalm

Ashley and James Schwalm had what seemed like a fairy tale life—two wonderful children, fulfilling careers and a gorgeous home close to the private ski club where they’d fallen in love. Then Ashley’s remains turned up in a burned-out car at the bottom of a ditch, and all signs pointed to her husband

Dark Horse: Inside the fall of Eric Lamaze, Canada’s most famous equestrian

Dark Horse: Inside the fall of Eric Lamaze, Canada’s most famous equestrian

For years, Lamaze was the world’s top-ranked show jumper, living an enviable life filled with fancy cars, international travel and adoring fans—the kind of life a person might do anything to protect

Dividing Line: How the Bloor Street bike lane turned the city into a battlefield

Dividing Line: How the Bloor Street bike lane turned the city into a battlefield

A few kilometres along Bloor has become Toronto’s most contested strip of concrete, igniting fights over congestion, safety and the future of downtown

The Chosen One: At just 23, Scottie Barnes is the new face of the Raptors—and the team’s best chance of salvation

The Chosen One: At just 23, Scottie Barnes is the new face of the Raptors—and the team’s best chance of salvation

Barnes is shouldering the weight of an impatient, basketball-mad city, a hit-and-miss team, and his own colossal ambitions. Does he look worried?

Almost Famous: Inside the Beaches’ rise to rock stardom

Almost Famous: Inside the Beaches’ rise to rock stardom

A viral earworm about a breakup turned the Beaches into Toronto’s hottest export. Now, the panty-throwing, stage-diving, all-girl rock band is seducing fans around the world

"I was nearly beaten to death by my partner. The case was dismissed because it took too long to get to trial"

“I was nearly beaten to death by my partner. The case was dismissed because it took too long to get to trial”

How an overburdened justice system is failing survivors of intimate partner violence

Brave New Year: The ultimate try-anything-once bucket list for 2025

Brave New Year: The ultimate try-anything-once bucket list for 2025

For inspiration on wonderful, wild and even some slightly reckless experiences to enjoy in the year ahead

The stars of the PWHL’s Toronto Sceptres on finally having a league of their own

The stars of the PWHL’s Toronto Sceptres on finally having a league of their own

After kicking off a new chapter for hockey with the PWHL, Natalie Spooner, Sarah Nurse and Blayre Turnbull are blazing a trail for women in sports

The 50 Most Influential Torontonians of 2024

The 50 Most Influential Torontonians of 2024

Our annual ranking of the people whose courage, smarts and clout are changing the world as we know it

Toronto's 25 Rising Stars of 2024

Toronto’s 25 Rising Stars of 2024

Our annual list of the up-and-comers shaping our city and the world

Quality Trash: Meet director Ron Oliver, Hallmark’s king of schmaltz

Quality Trash: Meet director Ron Oliver, Hallmark’s king of schmaltz

Over two decades and dozens of made-for-TV Christmas films, Oliver has become the Hallmark Channel’s most prolific, flamboyant and unapologetically sappy director

Small Space, Big Ambition: Twenty Torontonians embracing tiny living with small-footprint homes and space-saving hacks

Small Space, Big Ambition: Twenty Torontonians embracing tiny living with small-footprint homes and space-saving hacks

From laneway homes to garden suites to houseboats, these creative living spaces offer style, affordability and comfort in a city where land is in short supply

"I spent eight months locked up in an Ontario reform school. The abuse I endured almost destroyed me"

“I spent eight months locked up in an Ontario reform school. The abuse I endured almost destroyed me”

For 50 years, the Ontario government incarcerated kids accused of infractions as minor as truancy, drinking or shoplifting in so-called training schools

The Mensch: Inside the culinary empire of Chinese-food king David Schwartz

The Mensch: Inside the culinary empire of Chinese-food king David Schwartz

The chef behind Mimi and Sunnys Chinese spent years mastering the cuisine of a culture not his own. Now, he’s risking it all to return to his roots

Meeting Mr. Right: What a Pierre Poilievre election win could mean for Toronto

Meeting Mr. Right: What a Pierre Poilievre election win could mean for Toronto

Anti-Trudeau sentiment has officially breached the GTA. But what does the alternative look like? Here, 12 prognosticators weigh in on the impact of a Poilievre government for Canada’s largest city

Ontario's health care system is in chaos, and these doctors and patients are fed up

Ontario’s health care system is in chaos, and these doctors and patients are fed up

Half a million Torontonians are without a primary care physician. The search is maddening, exhausting and often futile. Dispatches from the front lines

Turf War: Old money versus new money at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club

Turf War: Old money versus new money at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club

For 148 years, the country’s oldest tennis club was an ivy-covered bastion of civility with a roster of like-minded, blue-blooded members. Then chaos erupted

The Cult of Wellness: Othership, Nutbar and the expensive, obsessive quest for a perfect life

The Cult of Wellness: Othership, Nutbar and the expensive, obsessive quest for a perfect life

A growing cohort of Torontonians are swapping the coke-fuelled, booze-soaked club scene for cold plunges, sobriety and superfood smoothies. Here’s what it takes (and costs) to foster the ideal body and mind

Inside Toronto’s explosion of bad dogs and worse owners

Inside Toronto’s explosion of bad dogs and worse owners

Boisterous, barky, humpy, mean: they’re everywhere and no one’s happy. Dispatches from the canine wars

The Battle for Leslieville: Gentrification, opioids and murder in the city’s most divided neighbourhood

The Battle for Leslieville: Gentrification, opioids and murder in the city’s most divided neighbourhood

Last summer, when a stray bullet killed a young mother near the South Riverdale supervised consumption site, it sparked a vicious fight between area residents. One year later, tensions are high, neither side will back down and the overdose crisis rages on

Scatterbrain: Inside the explosion of adult ADHD

Scatterbrain: Inside the explosion of adult ADHD

Five years ago, hardly anyone was talking about adult ADHD. Now it’s all over social media, and self-diagnosis is rampant. How a complex neurological condition became the new superpower

Cost of Living

This content creator makes $130,000 a year. How does she spend it?

This content creator makes $130,000 a year. How does she spend it?

“Last year, I didn’t use the subway once. I prefer Uber”

This business analyst makes $103,000 a year. How does she spend it?

This business analyst makes $103,000 a year. How does she spend it?

“I spent $300 on plants last year”

This filmmaker makes $150,000 a year. How does he spend it?

This filmmaker makes $150,000 a year. How does he spend it?

“Since moving downtown, I pay more for rent but less for gas, so it evens out”

"My world tour doesn't feel complete without a Toronto show": This Swiftie has spent over $5,200 on the Eras Tour

“My world tour doesn’t feel complete without a Toronto show”: This Swiftie has spent over $5,200 on the Eras Tour

Expenses include: a pre-concert blowout, a DIY replica of Taylor Swift’s beaded bodysuit and two round trips to Europe

House of the Week

House of the Week: $2.9 million for an East York white-brick with a front-row seat to Taylor Creek Park

House of the Week: $2.9 million for an East York white-brick with a front-row seat to Taylor Creek Park

The 3,000-square-foot property also comes with intelligent toilets, a makeup station, a front lawn designed to attract pollinators and a forest in the backyard

House of the Week: $20 million for a ravine home in Rosedale with a roof that's actually alive

House of the Week: $20 million for a ravine home in Rosedale with a roof that’s actually alive

The 7,000-square-foot forest gem comes with an absurdly long kitchen island, a glass elevator, MoMA-like walls and sci-fi cabinets

House of the Week: $2 million for a Scarborough detached with a gold-plated LED wall

House of the Week: $2 million for a Scarborough detached with a gold-plated LED wall

The 3,700-square-foot property also comes with an iron-lined mezzanine, fluted everything, skylights and a basement that’s its own unit

House of the Week: $2.5 million for a Victorian with two wet bars right across from Alexandra Park

House of the Week: $2.5 million for a Victorian with two wet bars right across from Alexandra Park

The 1,800-square-foot property also comes with a crystalline main floor, a jewel box closet, an EV charger and a basement with rental potential

House of the Week: $6 million for a Georgian looker in Forest Hill built by an HGTV staple

House of the Week: $6 million for a Georgian looker in Forest Hill built by an HGTV staple

The 4,300-square-foot property sandwiched between Bathurst and the Beltline also comes with a five-car driveway, a nanny suite, a fancy sound system and garden suite potential