Toronto Life June 2022

DIGITAL EDITION FREE FOR PRINT SUBSCRIBERS Your Toronto Life subscription now includes free access to the Toronto Life and FASHION digital editions. In your digital newsstand store, search “toronto life” and “fashion magazine,” download/open the apps and follow the prompts. SUBSCRIPTION EXPIRY To find out when your current subscription expires, check the mailing label. BILLING AND RENEWAL NOTICE Invoice and renewal notices are printed one week before they are mailed to you. With delivery time, it’s possible that your payment or renewal order will cross in the mail with our invoice or renewal notice. FRAGRANCE-FREE ISSUES Some issues of Toronto Life include perfume strips. If you prefer to receive your copy of the magazine without perfume strips, please write to us at the address listed below. MAIL PREFERENCE On occasion,…

Future Perfect Our feature on the post-pandemic work-place profiled organizations offering shorter work weeks, wellness stipends, company-wide quiet time, tricked-out onboarding kits and other perks—all in an effort to keep their staff happily productive. Readers responded, for the most part, with envy. “Curious to see how companies are spicing up the workplace post-pandemic for employees? Check out this article in Toronto Life!” —@ryleighebron, Twitter “If we want hybrid to work, it’s going to look different for everyone. Research shows flexibility is key for most Canadian employees. Interesting feature from Toronto Life on different ways local companies are changing their workplaces.” —@shanvan10, Twitter “This is incredible! Workers have had to balance so much over the past two years. Quiet time is a fabulous concept that increases productivity. Those caring for toddlers,…

An Ode to the Neighbourhood Restaurant Picture this. You’ve spent years in the restaurant industry. It’s backbreaking labour, emotionally fraught, financially perilous. But you love the work, and after a few years you’ve scraped together some savings. With a deep breath, you decide to launch your own restaurant. It’ll be ambitious: a large space that spares no expense, with room for live entertainment and, if the mood strikes, a little impromptu dancing. You order flooring from Italy, a custom ceiling from Mexico, gorgeous lighting from Germany. The credit card runs hot. But you can almost see the customers, sated and punch-drunk, in your space. You forge ahead, hiring a management team and reviewing resumés for servers. Two months from opening day, the unthinkable happens: a virus sweeps in. Tools down,…

“I know what it’s like to wait for a bus that never comes”—TTC commissioner Fenton Jagdeo, P. 30 Last year, when it came to light that Egerton Ryerson, the school’s namesake, was the architect behind the residential school system, “X University” became a temporary placeholder. It was kind of cool, the name functioning as an edgy symbol, a stamp of disapproval. The school’s rebranding as the Toronto Metropolitan University—after much hand-wringing and anxious deliberation—has its fans and foes. A little too generic? Maybe, but even a lacklustre name is preferable to something associated with one of the greatest atrocities in Canadian history.…

Last year, you became the youngest TTC commissioner in history. How did you end up in the role? The commission is made up of six city councillors and four private citizens. I saw there was an opening in the second category and I applied. I’m also only the third Black commissioner in the TTC’s history. My career so far has been in management consulting. I offer Fortune 500 companies, like Google and Suncor Energy, advice on how to handle their biggest challenges, and now I get to do the same for an agency that is important to the city and to me personally. Meaning you’re a regular Rocket rider? Yes, I grew up riding the Wilson line. I can remember being six years old and my mom taking me on…

“We’d like to buy a house in the next two to three years” MARIO EPAMINONDAS, ALINA SCHWARZ and their three-year-old daughter, AMAIA WHAT THEY DO He’s an e-commerce merchandise manager and stock investor, she’s a full-time mom WHAT THEY MAKE $105,000 a year WHERE THEY LIVE A two-bedroom condo downtown REGULAR EXPENSES MORTGAGE $2,300 a month. CELL PHONE $200 a month, for unlimited talk and text, with Telus. CABLE AND INTERNET $100 a month, with Bell. CAR $200 a month: $100 for gas and $100 for insurance. “Gas was $50 a month, but with prices rising and us taking more trips to North York with Amaia to see my parents, it has doubled,” says Mario. GROCERIES $950 a month. “We shop organic and vegan, mainly from Loblaws. Ever since Amaia…