The Local

Parents and teachers say special education is underfunded and understaffed, with kids “abandoned” in mainstream classrooms in the name of inclusion. Wency Leung on the crisis in special education.

A Long-Brewing Crisis in Special Education | The Local Parents and teachers say schools are underfunded and understaffed, kids are being “abandoned” in mainstream classrooms in the name of inclusion, and neither the TDSB nor the province will take responsibility.

The closure of the Ontario Science Centre was a murder. Then devastated staff were given four months to dispose of the body. Alison Motluk, a former Science Centre employee, takes readers inside the final days of a beloved institution.

The Killing of the Science Centre | The Local The 55-year old museum shuttered without warning one Friday in June. Then devastated staff were given four months to dismantle it. A former employee on the last days of a beloved institution.

Voting in Don Valley West is usually a sleepy affair, writes Wency Leung. But with accusations of bigotry, legal threats, and behind-the-scenes manoeuvring, the by-election has become a contentious, partisan battle.

How a By-Election in Don Valley West Became a Contentious, Partisan Fight | The Local Voting in Ward 15 is usually a sleepy affair. But with accusations of bigotry, legal threats, and behind-the-scenes manoeuvring, the by-election has narrowed into a heated race between right-wing commentator Anthony Furey and TDSB chair Rachel Chernos Lin.

The Annex had fewer residents in 2021 than in 1971. The towers of Crescent Town have far more. Simon Lewsen on how the uneven, illogical densification pattern of the last 50 years created today’s Toronto.

In the Annex and Crescent Town, Two Sides to a Density Dilemma | The Local The Annex had fewer residents in 2021 than 1971. The towers of Crescent Town had far more. How the uneven, illogical densification pattern of the last 50 years created today’s Toronto.

Would you call the City to complain about your neighbour's lawn? As The Local's analysis reveals wealthier wards are disproportionately more likely to use 311 services, Inori Roy writes on the relationship between complaint, civic engagement and privilege.

What 311 Complaints Say About Your Neighbourhood | The Local From wealthy neighbours griping about shrubbery to low-income tenants requesting winter heat—a map of 311 requests charts a certain kind of civic engagement, and privilege.

Photojournalist Nick Kozak has spent 4 years photographing unhoused Torontonians. Now, with unprecedented in-depth reporting, years of photos, and exclusive data, Kozak & Brennan Doherty chronicle Toronto’s futile encampment policies through the life of one man.

Another Year, Another Encampment, Another Eviction | The Local For years, unhoused people like Davit Sesisheili have gone from park to park, moving when the City evicts them. With new data, and reporting and photography that spans years, this is the most comprehensive, intimate portrait of Toronto’s failing encampments strategy.

This North York neighbourhood has plenty of public amenities and walkable streets. But the secret to residents’ good health, writes Rebecca Gao, may have a less expected explanation: immigration.

Why a Two-Kilometre Strip of Yonge Street Has the Highest Life Expectancy in Toronto | The Local This North York neighbourhood has plenty of public amenities and walkable streets. But the secret to residents’ good health may have a less expected explanation: immigration.

Moss Park has the lowest life expectancy in the city by far. Executive editor Nicholas Hune-Brown on what’s behind the neighbourhood’s struggles, and how those lost years reverberate throughout the community.

Moss Park’s Lost Years | The Local Grief, and hope, in the downtown eastside neighbourhood with the lowest life-expectancy in the city.

In collaboration with researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital, The Local has produced the first-ever neighbourhood-level analysis of life expectancy at birth in Toronto. The results are striking.

Life Expectancy Varies by Almost 12 Years Across Toronto Neighbourhoods | The Local A joint project by The Local and St. Michael’s Hospital, the first-ever neighbourhood-level analysis of life expectancy in Toronto, reveals stark disparities across the city.

As growing right-wing anti-trans sentiment erodes trans rights in other parts of Canada, Local fellow Matthew Molinaro speaks to advocates and legislators in Toronto about how this creeping transphobia is affecting the communities they serve.

The Creeping Threat to Trans Rights in Toronto | The Local Toronto is seen by many as a progressive bastion, but as anti-trans sentiment grips ring-wing politics abroad and in Canada—including here in Ontario’s biggest city—local advocates are bracing themselves.

New from The Local: The problems in Toronto schools end up in the office, where principals and vice-principals are overwhelmed and struggling to keep up. on the school administrators who say the job is becoming unmanageable.

Trouble in the Principal’s Office | The Local The problems in Toronto schools end up in the office, where principals and vice-principals say they’re overwhelmed and struggling to keep up.

Years of underfunding have hit schools at their most basic level: their cleanliness. In part two of our “A Thousand Cuts” education series, Wency Leung writes about how a shrinking number of caretakers are struggling to keep Toronto’s schools clean.

Fewer Caretakers, Dirtier Schools | The Local Sticky floors, rodent infestations, uncleared ice, overflowing toilets—Toronto schools are showing the effects of years of slashing caretaker jobs.