Toronto Life September 2025

Running Man Katrina Onstad’s portrait of Doug Ford raised loads of eyebrows. Readers reacted to her suggestion that he’s setting his sights on Ottawa (he’s taking French lessons, after all) with a mix of applause and horror (mostly horror): “We’re fucked,” “Le sigh,” “Better than Poilievre” and “Oh hell no,” for starters. “Katrina Onstad’s first-rate piece almost got me to like Doug Ford. I didn’t think that was possible. Missing from the story was an important historical note. Years ago, it was common knowledge that the Ontario Tories did not want a Ford of any stripe to be a part of their club. Nevertheless, Doug Ford attained the leadership when he beat Christine Elliott on a technicality back in 2018. I find it ironic that the party that didn’t want…

Other than watching the screener for his film, Good Neighbours, a serviceable noir mystery starring Emily Hampshire and Jay Baruchel, I’d skipped any real prep work. I was under the impression that the best interviews were candid and free-flowing, an alchemical reaction between two people trading spur-of-the-moment ideas and searching for common ground. So I shook his hand, sat down and lobbed a breezy opener, something like: “What was it like making this film?” He answered pleasantly, professionally, succinctly, and nodded as if to cue the next question. The problem: I didn’t have one. Chemistry, by this point, was supposed to have taken hold and thrust us into a conversational flow state. Desperate for help, I glanced at my notepad, which was blank. I blinked rapidly at Speedman. Then I…

“We’re recruiting in fields that will translate to Nobel Prizes.”—MELANIE WOODIN, P. 24 BEAVERS ARE WADDLING ACROSS QUEENS QUAY, raccoons are riding the subway and bald eagles are nesting here for the first time in recorded history. Animal-related incidents rose by 13 per cent last year, prompting city staff to push for a new $1.4-million wildlife response team. Its year-round job would be to handle potentially dangerous encounters (we’re looking at you, coyotes). But the spike is also encouraging. Animals are staking a claim to Toronto because of decades-long environmental reclamation initiatives, including fortified shorelines, restored meadows and wetlands for indigenous species, and one of the most robust urban forests in the world. It’s a jungle out there, in a good way.…

Here’s a question more and more people are asking in 2025: What is the point of going to university? What we offer at the University of Toronto is an academically rigorous degree. If you want to work in advanced technologies or write about the future of democracy, for example, then U of T is where you should be. University is where you learn how to think critically, to consider ethics, to get disciplinary knowledge. It’s where young people figure out who they are. But what about their careers? Thanks to the AI revolution, it’s not clear what jobs will even exist in 10 years. In many ways, U of T is considered the birthplace of AI, so we’re constantly talking about its implications. When you’ve been in education for a…

The Buyer: Emily Hart, 37, a content creator. The Story: In 2018, Emily was living with her two kids, ages eight and 10, and her dog, Teddy, in a two-bedroom condo near Yonge and Eglinton for $2,800 a month, but noise from neighbourhood construction soon became a nuisance. She started thinking about moving downtown to be closer to her friends, and she was willing to downsize to a one-bedroom with a bed in the living room to make it work. In the spring of 2024, she set a budget of $3,000 a month and started searching. 1 Wellington Street West near Spadina and Front Listed at $2,482 Rented for $2,482 EMILY WAS INTRIGUED by the Well, the massive new housing and retail complex in the Entertainment District, so she attended a…

My friend has a hare-brained scheme to play paparazzo at TIFF. He’s a sucker for get-rich-quick schemes and plans to stake out hotels and parties so he can get candid snaps and videos to sell to American gossip outlets. As a huge cinephile, I’m irritated beyond belief. This isn’t what the festival is supposed to be about. Beyond that, I’m worried he’s going to get in trouble. Any ideas for how to talk him out of it? —FLASH MOB, Yonge-Eglinton UD: You’re unlikely to convince him. A diehard dilettante like your friend will always pursue the next shiny object. If he wants to spend one of Toronto’s most culturally important events staking it out with other wide-eyed, iPhone-clutching shutterbugs, that’s his prerogative. All you can do is invite him to…