Toronto Life July 2024

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 without perfume strips, write to us at the address listed below. MAIL PREFERENCE On occasion, subscriber names and addresses…

Blame Canada Response to our sweeping cover story on the plight of international students was mixed. Most readers were grateful that we shed light on the current crisis. Others were riveted by the kidnapping narrative but failed to see a connection to the larger issue. “It’s pretty obvious that universities and colleges in Canada have hit on international students as a useful source of revenue without offering the students much in the way of support to acclimatize or integrate into Canadian society. “I remember one story about an Indian student accepted to a college in Timmins, Ontario. She landed at Pearson Airport in Toronto and hailed an Uber to take her to the college…and that’s when she realized that Timmins is a seven-hour drive from Toronto. It’s clear that she…

None of Your Business “Ooh, juicy! Can’t wait to read it but will respectfully decline.” We got a lot of that in our outreach for this month’s cover story, “Who Earns What.” It wasn’t surprising. And by “it,” I mean the three-act play of ripe intrigue, cheerful encouragement and door-slamming no. When it comes to salaries in this city, the sentiment is consistent: everyone wants to know and no one wants to say. In that sense, consider our nine-page compendium of eye-popping earnings (page 26) something of a public service. We went about the research in three steps. In some cases, our lead reporter, Anthony Milton, began by taking the courageously direct (if utterly gauche) route of phoning and emailing subjects, saying something to the effect of “Hello, notable person!…

“I can wear a mask and have a stage name and still be authentic”—Orville Peck, p. 18 The old Regent Park was damned from day one. Built in the 1940s, it was intended as a post-war utopia, but the devil was in the design. Its architecture was depressing, and the complex was largely cut off from the city, devoid of essentials like grocery stores and community services. That flawed vision has been almost entirely reduced to rubble. The $1.5-billion revitalization—a combined effort of Toronto Community Housing, the Daniels Corporation and Tridel—has so far yielded thousands of mixed-income homes, a world-class aquatic centre, artist space, an MLSE-funded sports haven and an actual namesake park. And the last phases of demolition are finally underway. After 75 years, Regent Park has become what…

Since releasing your debut single, “Big Sky,” in 2018, you’ve worn a Lone Ranger mask with tassels draped over your mouth. Why remove them now? I like change. With every album, I’ve changed my mask a little bit and shown more of my face. I’m trying to reveal more of myself, lyrically and musically. Losing the tassels forces me to be more vulnerable. Your new project, Stampede: Vol. 1, is full of duets with artists like Elton John and Noah Cyrus. But, until this year, you’d mostly recorded solo. What made you want to collaborate? With Stampede, I didn’t want to just have a bunch of Orville Peck songs with guests. I like to self-produce and play all the instruments, but this time, I wanted to grow. Also, the duet…

“I spent more than $4,000 on my cats last year” REGULAR EXPENSES MORTGAGE: $1,307 a month. “I’m hoping to put another $10,000 down before it renews this December.” MAINTENANCE FEES: $437 a month. “They’ve gone up by about $100 over the past six years. If my annual raises kept up with inflation, this would be an easier pill to swallow.” PROPERTY TAX: $185 a month. HYDRO: $61 a month. “I try to run my dishwasher and do my laundry during off hours to take advantage of lower rates.” CAR: $192 a month. “This is for gas and insurance. I own a 2011 Toyota Matrix and typically fill it up every three weeks.” CELL: $55 a month with Rogers. GROCERIES: $500 a month. “I track expenses and was shocked to see…