Toronto Life August 2025

Everyone’s a Critic Our annual roundup of the city’s best new restaurants always gets chins wagging, particularly with regard to the top ranked spot. “I’ve enjoyed many of Jen Agg’s establishments over the years, but your number one ranking of General Public is a bit of premature enthusiasm. I visited the week your ranking came out, busy Saturday night, only bar seats available. No worries—we’ve always enjoyed that real estate at her restaurants. But we had a very disappointing food experience: black cod, heritage chicken, potato roulade all came out cool or cold. The couple beside us sent their tongue and tail pie back twice. The manager kept apologizing, and they comped our dessert, but the experience was far below expectations. I guess even number ones can have an off…

At the time, cottage country was experiencing an unprecedented surge in popularity, fuelled by cabin-feverish city dwellers willing to pay anything for some wide open space. Tiny, given its natural beauty and proximity to Toronto, was especially popular. One beachfront property, which had sold in 2002 for $160,000, went for $1.85 million to a medical professional from Toronto in 2021. Many of these new buyers needed rental income to help cover their mortgages, and Tiny, at the time, had no rules against short-term rentals. With demand so high, buyers saw a viable financial path and signed on the dotted line. Before long, the tranquil vibe of Tiny had changed. Revved-up weekend warriors lugging cases of beer and Red Bull and complicated speaker systems showed up in droves, ready to blow…

“I was such a nerd. I learned guitar just so I wouldn’t get beat up”—EVAN SOLOMON, P. 20 PERHAPS YOU’VE SEEN THEM: two new self-driving delivery bots from Magna International are rolling around the city’s west end as part of a pilot program. They’re not the first to brave Toronto streets. Geoffrey, the tiny pink courier, tried as much in 2021—until the city banned him from sidewalks. And Markham has been host to four cooler-size food delivery bots since May. But Magna’s automata are of a higher, faster, bulkier order. They’ll be tailed by human chaperones armed with kill switches for the trial run, but if all goes well, they’ll be on their own—and the goal is mass market proliferation. Can these robot drivers, however cute, navigate the city’s insane…

ChatGPT tells me your new role as the minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation is focused on government digitization and encouraging the private sector to adopt AI. Can I get a fact check? That’s partly right. Prime Minister Carney decided to create the Ministry of AI based on the idea that this tech is as transformative as the printing press. Having a dedicated ministry means we can support the tech’s growth. My job is to develop a sovereign AI strategy while asking, “How can we make sure it causes more good than harm?” Has this sovereign policy been in the works for a while? For too long, Canada has been a farm team for the US: our best minds can’t get funding, so they leave. Our new strategy…

Teagan Cutajar is a 27-year-old barista, makeup artist, content creator and dog walker. After moving to Toronto from Australia in January of 2024, she worked as a disability case manager, making roughly $74,000 a year. But she hated the job and would finish work on Friday dreading having to go back on Monday morning. She decided that becoming a barista with various side hustles would be better for her mental health. Now, she makes roughly $60,000 a year and lives in a one-bedroom apartment in West Queen West, which she rents for $2,200 a month. “My new landlord offered a month of free rent, and that sold it for me” REGULAR EXPENSES Rent: $2,200 a month. “I’m living on my own for the first time in my life. This new place offered…

The Buyer: Akshay Kapoor, 29, a data scientist at a financial company. The Story: In May of 2023, Akshay was living in a three-bedroom Corktown townhouse with two roommates. Hoping for a place to call his own, he started looking for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo, but prices were too high. A year later, the market had cooled, and Akshay resumed his search, now also hoping for a balcony, a big kitchen for cooking Indian food, and a proper bedroom with full-length walls and a door. He set a budget of $530,000 and hit the listings. 1 Front Street East near Jarvis Listed at $499,900 Sold for $505,000 IN MAY OF 2024, Akshay saw this home across from the St. Lawrence Market. It was a one-bedroom-plus-den with a decent-size kitchen. But it…