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City News

Q&A: Patrick Dovigi, the NHL-goalie-turned-entrepreneur who won Toronto’s lucrative garbage contract

Q&A: Patrick Dovigi, the NHL-goalie-turned-entrepreneur who won Toronto’s lucrative garbage contract

Your company, Green for Life, has multi-million-dollar contracts in Oshawa, Whitby and Hamilton—and now one for 165,000 homes...

Mike Del Grande jokes about millions of dollars just for a few LOLs

Mike Del Grande jokes about millions of dollars just for a few LOLs

Last week, silver-tongued Mike Del Grande asked the executive committee to redirect $16.4 million in funding from Regent Park to...

Bay Street bigwigs, including Mark Mobius and David Bissett, share the secrets of finance

Bay Street bigwigs, including Mark Mobius and David Bissett, share the secrets of finance

Finance types aren’t known for their reticence (the fast-talking Gordon Gecko stereotype exists for a reason), but still, the...

Why hasn’t Metrolinx conducted a benefit case analysis for the most expensive transit project in the country?

Here’s a bit of underreported news, courtesy of the folks over at Spacing: while Metrolinx usually conducts benefit case...

RIM hopes NHL players (including one Maple Leaf) can make the PlayBook look cool

Hockey players and Research in Motion now have more in common than a tendency towards bouts of unresponsiveness —RIM has managed...

Inside the Latest Issue

The July issue of Toronto Life features the monster cottages of Muskoka versus the resistance. Plus, our obsessive coverage of everything that matters now in the city.

Rob Ford’s belly hits the big time (the New York Times Magazine, that is)

Rob Ford’s belly hits the big time (the New York Times Magazine, that is)

Forget transit turmoil and labour talks—the Toronto battle that’s gaining traction outside city limits is Rob Ford’ s fight...

Rob Ford didn’t have the authority to cancel Transit City (lawyers say so)

Rob Ford didn’t have the authority to cancel Transit City (lawyers say so)

Apparently, it takes more than a mayoral “because I said so” for the city to kill an extensive public transit plan. Rob Ford...

Editor’s Letter (February 2012): why Ontario schools should talk about homosexuality in the classroom

Editor’s Letter (February 2012): why Ontario schools should talk about homosexuality in the classroom

When I was in the sixth grade , a health instructor employed by the board of education was parachuted into my classroom to talk...

Rob Ford tells Facebook why his transit plan is the one Toronto transit users want

Rob Ford tells Facebook why his transit plan is the one Toronto transit users want

Presented with a transit plan from TTC chair Karen Stintz that would save $1.5 billion on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, contribute...

Savvy rich guy Prem Watsa doubles his stake in RIM

As the tech and finance pundits sink their teeth into Research in Motion , Fairfax Financial CEO Prem Watsa is sinking his money...

Linda Lundström and other Toronto entrepreneurs will bring art supplies (and a yurt!) to Attawapiskat

Toronto fashion designer Linda Lundström (famous for her LaParka coats in the late ’80s) has been gathering sewing...

Rob Ford and co. fall back on the same old transit talking points (subways, subways, subways)

In the face of mounting dissent around his transit plan, Rob Ford and his inner circle are dusting off their trusty set of talking...

Rob Ford is building subways because that’s what Rob Ford does

Rob Ford is building subways because that’s what Rob Ford does

While Karen Stintz’ s new TTC proposal is gaining support from council’s left, right and centre, Rob Ford’ s transit plan is...

Doug Holyday balks at EMS demands, going out of his way to look stubborn

Doug Holyday balks at EMS demands, going out of his way to look stubborn

While Doug Holyday has been a key part of the city’s effort to look like the reasonable party in the ongoing labour negotiations...

Jim Balsillie will be off RIM’s board by the summer—at least so says one activist investor

Jim Balsillie will be off RIM’s board by the summer—at least so says one activist investor

As if losing his job—and most of RIM’s value— wasn’t bad enough, former Research In Motion CEO Jim Balsillie is now being...

Russell Crowe thinks members of the Academy are a bunch of jerks, shows fondness for Ryan Gosling

Russell Crowe thinks members of the Academy are a bunch of jerks, shows fondness for Ryan Gosling

Russell Crowe— actor, bad musician and sometimes surly New Zealander—has something in common with the rabid Ryan Gosling fan...

Karen Stintz’s new transit proposal: buses for Finch, a single subway stop for the mayor

Karen Stintz’s new transit proposal: buses for Finch, a single subway stop for the mayor

Having attracted heaps of attention for saying what everyone is already thinking, Karen Stintz has moved onto phase two of her...

Doug Holyday attacks CUPE’s letter to hockey groups, calling it “fear mongering”

CUPE Local 416 recently became pen pals with local hockey organizations, writing a letter warning of threats to their ice time in...

Quoted: Rob Ford on “Joe” Stalin, and the city councillors that are apparently just like him

Quoted: Rob Ford on “Joe” Stalin, and the city councillors that are apparently just like him

Like his right-hand man Giorgio Mammoliti, Rob Ford can smell the communists in his midst. Ford made the remarks (“Joe”...

Rob Ford’s executive committee is no longer all-powerful as city council enters a new era

Rob Ford’s executive committee is no longer all-powerful as city council enters a new era

Either the magical powers of Giorgio Mammoliti ’s thumb are waning or the mayor’s executive committee is quickly realizing it...

Karen Stintz picks a fight with council over $5 million in TTC money (and then promptly loses it)

When she’s not busy undermining Rob Ford’ s grand transit plan, Karen Stintz has been busy feuding with her fellow councillors...

Memoir: in the online gaming world, I was a champion; in real life, I was a mess

Memoir: in the online gaming world, I was a champion; in real life, I was a mess

I’m an IT manager . And an occasional photographer. Sometimes an aspiring writer. I’m also a city planner, a weapons...

Rob Ford is learning to compromise (or at least it looks like he might be)

Rob Ford is learning to compromise (or at least it looks like he might be)

Rob Ford has backed down from a plan to sell off hundreds of Toronto Community Housing properties—for now. The mayor released a...

Point/Counterpoint: was Ryan Gosling snubbed by the Academy?

Point/Counterpoint: was Ryan Gosling snubbed by the Academy?

This morning we asked Torontolife.com intern Frances McInnis and associate online editor Kevin Naulls to watch the announcement of...

Cost of Living

These North York points enthusiasts earn $370,000 a year. How do they spend it?

These North York points enthusiasts earn $370,000 a year. How do they spend it?

“We try to maximize our rewards by using various credit cards plus PC Optimum”

This 22-year-old venture capitalist is on track to make $180,000 this year. How does he spend it?

This 22-year-old venture capitalist is on track to make $180,000 this year. How does he spend it?

“I love a good bargain, so I shop at No Frills”

This globetrotting couple earns a combined $287,000 a year. How do they spend it?

This globetrotting couple earns a combined $287,000 a year. How do they spend it?

“Groceries are our biggest monthly expense after rent”

This Doctors Without Borders marketer earns $100,000 a year. How does she spend it?

This Doctors Without Borders marketer earns $100,000 a year. How does she spend it?

Manpreet Badyal moved from Delhi to Vancouver to Toronto in search of success

How a Gen Z finance enthusiast in Forest Hill spends her money

How a Gen Z finance enthusiast in Forest Hill spends her money

Business analyst and budding TikTok investment guru Chaeeun Lee hopes to visit 50 countries before she turns 30

This policy analyst and stand-up comedian makes $83,000 a year. How does she spend it?

This policy analyst and stand-up comedian makes $83,000 a year. How does she spend it?

“Investing in mental health is important. I have an unlimited membership at Othership in Yorkville”

This entrepreneur is on track to make $23,000 this year. How does she spend it?

This entrepreneur is on track to make $23,000 this year. How does she spend it?

“It was hard to accept financial aid from my parents, but it actually brought us closer together”

Urban Diplomat

Dear Urban Diplomat: My family takes Mother’s Day more seriously than Father’s Day

Dear Urban Diplomat: My family takes Mother’s Day more seriously than Father’s Day

She gets flowers, gifts and breakfast in bed; I get a lousy grill brush. Am I wrong to feel slighted?

Dear Urban Diplomat: What’s the etiquette for EV charging?

Dear Urban Diplomat: What’s the etiquette for EV charging?

Dear Urban Diplomat , What’s the etiquette for EV charging? A few weeks ago, I finally found a spot in my neighbourhood to juice...

Dear Urban Diplomat: My husband thinks I'm a hoarder, but I'm a collector

Dear Urban Diplomat: My husband thinks I’m a hoarder, but I’m a collector

He’s started quoting Marie Kondo and insisting that I get rid of my “emotional support tchotchkes.” How can I get him to back off?

Dear Urban Diplomat: My condo building has zero tolerance for the slightest noise

Dear Urban Diplomat: My condo building has zero tolerance for the slightest noise

They’ve asked us not to shower after 11 p.m. because of “pipe whistling.” Is this normal?

Dear Urban Diplomat: My husband bought us a pass to skip the line at the ski hill. Why do I feel guilty for using it?

Dear Urban Diplomat: My husband bought us a pass to skip the line at the ski hill. Why do I feel guilty for using it?

I can’t help being embarrassed every time I sheepishly walk past the eye rollers in the regular queue

Dear Urban Diplomat: My brother is lying online about Dry January

Dear Urban Diplomat: My brother is lying online about Dry January

He’s preaching the virtues of sobriety on TikTok but still crushing six-packs every weekend, and the hypocrisy is getting on my nerves. Should I call him out?

Dear Urban Diplomat: My co-workers have forgotten how to behave in an office

Dear Urban Diplomat: My co-workers have forgotten how to behave in an office

I actually don’t mind the return-to-office mandate, but it seems like so much working from home has caused my fellow employees’ self-awareness to atrophy