VT Hint fire safety / e-bikes
The latest was a battery that filled a second-floor unit on Macey Ave. in Scarborough with heavy smoke early Tuesday, and Toronto Fire Services hazmat crews had to remove it.
VT Hint grocery closures
The JBS-owned retailer arrived in the GTA in 2023 with same-day delivery and a Whitby store, then added Ancaster, Hyde Park and Newmarket. Three years later it's shutting everything down.
VT Hint 2026 municipal election
Braeden Chow sits at No. 8 right beside Olivia Chow at No. 9 on the alphabetical mayoral ballot, and at least one advance voter says they marked the wrong one. Advance voting runs until Oct. 11.
VT Hint Markham
The family of the fluffy Holland Lop says he was taken by some adults at the fair over the weekend and came back after they posted a cash reward online.
VT Hint concerts & shows
The 2027 tour brings 11 of the show's pros to Scotiabank Arena on Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m., the only Canadian date on a 60-city run. Tickets go on sale Oct. 13 at 10 a.m.
VT Hint business
Wittington Investments, the holding company of the family behind Loblaw and Shoppers Drug Mart, is buying Boots from Sycamore Partners with Toronto's Fairfax Financial as a partner. Galen Weston becomes Boots' chair when the deal closes in early 2027.
VT Hint Thanksgiving weekend
The three-day festival brings pumpkin picking, carnival rides, inflatables and live entertainment to Downsview Park over Thanksgiving weekend.
VT Hint hate crime investigation
Crews put out a fire around 1:30 a.m. near Word of Faith International Christian Centre at Sunrise Ave. and O'Connor Dr. on the Oct. 7 anniversary, and the Hate Crime Unit is investigating.
VT Hint Durham Region
The charity, home to a major collection of Canadian cars, says it's calling police several times a week and doesn't have the means to handle the situation it was fined for.
VT Hint Queen's Park / Skills Development Fund
In a sworn declaration given to the OPP, the former Postmedia CEO alleges Ford's then-chief of staff tied a Keel Digital contract to Postmedia printing the premier's letter to voters. Ford's office calls it categorically untrue.
VT Hint theatre
The Canadian premiere runs through Nov. 1, and NOW says Adrian Pang's Mr. Miyagi and his bond with Daniel carry the show more than the score does.
VT Hint municipal election poll
A Canada Pulse Insights poll for CityNews has 64 per cent saying city hall is out of touch, even as 56 per cent say the mayor is doing a good job.
VT Hint housing affordability
Groups that help people cover rent across the GTA say demand is at an all-time high, pointing to affordability and shaky job security.
VT Hint weekend events
blogTO's roundup of what's on around the city over the Oct. 10 to 12 Thanksgiving long weekend.
VT Hint real estate
105 Roxborough St. E., a historic home once owned by a Titanic survivor, is on the market for $5.5 million.
VT Hint mayoral race poll
A Forum Research poll taken Oct. 6 has Chow at 46 per cent and Bradford at 42 among decided and leaning voters, down from an 11-point gap in late September.
VT Hint mayoral race
With Chris Alexander out, Olivia Chow came out sharper against Brad Bradford at TMU, hitting his voting record while he called her attacks scare tactics.
VT Hint Maple Leafs
The 18-year-old No. 1 pick buried a Matthews pass on Juuse Saros in his fourth pro game, and Matthews won it 5-4 in overtime at Scotiabank Arena.
VT Hint crime
Peel police say shoplifting has shifted from individuals to organized networks running more sophisticated retail theft operations.
VT Hint Happened ~10:30 a.m. PT. Air Canada pilot reported 'a shudder'; Air Canada pulled the plane for inspection. Also on CityNews.
A departing Delta A350's left wingtip hit the tail of Air Canada AC 785, a Boeing 777 that had just arrived from Toronto and was being towed to its gate; no injuries were reported and the FAA is investigating.
VT Hint Ontario Superior Court, Justice John Callaghan; tenancy Aug 2013 to Dec 2022.
A judge found a Toronto Community Housing tenant hid that he owned another home for nine years and sublet his subsidized unit, ordering him to repay $68,595 in subsidies plus $15,000 in punitive damages.
VT Hint 14 of the 29 projects include rentals, 4 include condos. Average unit size shrank to 724 sq ft from 752.
Only 29 new projects were filed with the city in Q3 2026, down from 59 a year earlier, and proposed homes dropped 30 per cent to 13,339, the third straight quarterly decline in UrbanToronto's UTPro data.
VT Hint Toronto Life Laneway Suite of the Week; builder Lanescape. Near East Point Park and Rouge Hill GO.
Behind their parents' West Hill house, Ramon and Patricia Ordona built an 850-square-foot, two-storey suite modelled on old Japanese townhouses, with white oak, a skylight and sliding doors.
VT Hint Minister Nolan Quinn; auditor general also notified. CP reported ~$385M in grants went to students at just seven career colleges in 2024-25.
Preliminary KPMG audit findings flagged common ownership, ties to immigration firms and clusters of OSAP applications from the same locations, so the province called in provincial police and paused OSAP payments to career college students.
VT Hint Wellington, Prince Edward County; from wedding vets Megan Whalen-Craig and Ilon Tyan.
The Neon Chapel on Wellington's Main Street pitches itself as a place to elope or throw a small party of up to 55, with disco balls, a jukebox and Cupids instead of vineyard rustic-chic.
VT Hint Ribbon-cutting 10 a.m. Oct 17, 2026. Via MobileSyrup.
A 1,500-square-foot Nintendo space with Switch 2 demos and merch opens inside EB Games' flagship at 267 Yonge St. on Saturday, Oct. 17.
VT Hint Denise Tisor and David Blake pleaded guilty in July; sentencing hearing before Justice Peter Maund.
Fans who paid a Burlington couple for Eras Tour tickets to the 2024 Toronto shows that never existed read impact statements in a Milton courtroom; 107 people were defrauded.
VT Hint Canadian Press scoop; CPSO board meets next week to decide. Also on CityNews, CP24, TorontoToday.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is proposing an eight-week limit on safer supply prescriptions, pairing them with opioid agonist therapy and requiring doses be taken in front of a health-care worker.
VT Hint 1055 Yonge St., Rosedale/Summerhill. shayristorante.com
Justin Friedlich, Buca's former chef de cuisine, has opened Shay Ristorante at 1055 Yonge St., built around the bread and pasta he fell for at King West's Buca.
VT Hint Sunday, Oct 11, 2026 at Downsview Park.
Northcrest Developments is giving away 300 turkey dinner hampers with potatoes and cranberry sauce at Downsview Park this Sunday, the seventh year of its Thanksgiving giveaway.
VT Hint Also in the Toronto Star.
Alvin Tedjo says a stranger objected to a lawn sign on Monday night and attacked his volunteer with a knife; the volunteer wasn't seriously hurt and Peel police arrested a suspect.
VT Hint blogTO also ran a separate baguette story: https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2026/10/best-baguettes-toronto-bakery/ . Tangssant is at 193 Church St.
At French Morning's annual competition at Ricarda's on Oct. 4, Tangssant Viennoiserie on Church St. won best croissant and Goûter by RA took best baguette after a blind tasting by chefs and critics.
VT Hint Same story in CityNews, CP24 and Toronto Star; CBC picked as the free-to-read version. Star mayoral debate tonight 7 p.m. at TMU is now effectively Chow vs Bradford. Advance polls run Oct 6-11, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
The former Conservative MP and immigration minister quit Tuesday morning, half an hour before advance polls opened, after polling a distant third behind Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford.
VT Hint Café opens Oct 15, 2026; dining room led by chef Takeshi Horinoue (Top Chef Canada).
Casa Donato, an offshoot of Westmount's Ristorante Donato, opens its café at Spadina and Harbord on Oct. 15, with a 150-seat dining room for pasta, Neapolitan pizza and grilled seafood to follow.
VT Hint Originally from The Trillium (Village Media).
A judge handed Keel Digital Solutions to receiver BDO after National Bank said it couldn't repay $4.5 million, as the province sues the company to recoup more than $25 million.
VT Hint CP wire; also on CP24.
TRREB counted 5,040 sales last month, down from 5,540 a year earlier, with the average price at $1,006,409 and the benchmark down 4.7 per cent as buyers stayed on the sidelines.
VT Hint Halloween Haunt runs through Nov 1, 2026.
Regulars say this year's Haunt repeats last year's mazes and scare zones while still charging extra for maze access and $35 for The Conjuring: Beyond Fear.
Caribbean Airlines starts weekly Sunday flights from Pearson to Tobago on Oct. 25, cutting out the connection through Port of Spain.
VT Hint The Star hosts a mayoral debate tonight (Oct 6) at 7 p.m. Advance voting is underway.
A new Liaison poll has Olivia Chow at 40 per cent and Brad Bradford at 33, with Chris Alexander at eight, putting Bradford closer than any challenger this century to unseating a sitting mayor three weeks before the Oct. 26 vote.
VT Hint Police point to RapidSOS Safety Network, which lets 911 see info shared via MedicAlert and similar services.
The voluntary database meant to help officers in crisis calls involving people with autism, dementia and other conditions shuts down Nov. 3, and advocates like Autism Ontario want to know what replaces it.
VT Hint FAO data shows an eight per cent drop in homelessness last year.
The city spends $786 million a year on shelters, and Chow, Bradford and Alexander each say they can tackle homelessness without substantially more funding, even as more than 19,000 people used a shelter bed or slept outside in 2024-25.
VT Hint Co-written with composer Marek Norman; 25-person cast; earlier Toronto Fringe run.
Dancer (A Musical in Ten Furlongs), about the undersized Oshawa thoroughbred who became a national hero, starts a nearly month-long run Tuesday with contemporary dancers playing the racehorses instead of puppets.
VT Hint Arrested May 2024 after the Durham police and OSC Project Swan probe; Crown plans more than a dozen witnesses.
The 27-year-old pleaded not guilty to fraud over $5,000 and money laundering as a 14-person jury was picked in Ontario Superior Court for a trial expected to run about a month.
VT Hint Boeing 787-8, 290 seats in two classes per Aviation Wire. No start date yet. Spotted via r/toronto.
Japan Airlines' low-cost carrier will add a Narita-Toronto route by March 2027 with three to four round trips a week, its second Canadian city after Vancouver; tickets are expected to go on sale before the end of the year.
VT Hint Ward 23 Scarborough North, 2026 municipal election.
The first suburban ward to legalize sixplexes as-of-right has made them the defining issue of its council race between incumbent Jamaal Myers and former Liberal MPs Shaun Chen and Han Dong.
VT Hint Royal York's Grenview entrance closed. Same stretch also ends nightly at 11:59 p.m. Oct 5-9.
Shuttle buses replace subway service on the 4.75-km stretch through Kipling, Islington, Royal York, Old Mill and Jane on Oct. 10 and 11, with trains back Monday at 6 a.m.
VT Hint Netflix expects a 2027 premiere.
Lohan and Henry Golding are shooting Return to You, a 2008-set romance about a lawyer tracking down the man a DVD was meant for, around the GTA until about Nov. 10.
Cases are rising ahead of Thanksgiving and Halloween, mostly the milder H1N1 strain, and Toronto doctors are urging people with fever and body aches to get tested instead of heading into work.
VT Hint North American tour returns fall 2027. Dates, casting and tickets not announced.
Mirvish is bringing the Broadway comedy about Mary Todd Lincoln to the Royal Alexandra Theatre for a limited run in its 2027-28 off-season lineup; dates and casting are still to come.
VT Hint Off duty at the time. CP24 had it first; also CBC, CityNews.
Insp. Michael Hayles, a 30-year veteran assigned to 55 Division, was found asleep in a stopped vehicle near Laird and Eglinton early Sunday and has been suspended with pay.
VT Hint No official opening date; Sephora hasn't commented.
Signage and holiday job postings point to a new Sephora at 171 East Liberty St., the former 8 Temple presentation gallery, months after one was spotted for Stockyards Village.
VT Hint Massey Hall, Apr 15-16 2027. Presale Wed Oct 7 10 a.m., public Fri Oct 9 10 a.m.
The Grammy-winning 'Messy' singer brings her Everything Begins tour to Massey Hall on April 15 and 16, 2027, with presale Wednesday at 10 a.m. and general sale Friday.
VT Hint Hours vary by installation; most 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday evenings.
A handful of projects are extended free through Saturday, including Simile Aria, Maggy Hamel-Metsos's sound piece that turns Old City Hall into a giant pipe organ.
VT Hint Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Road Hockey, Oct 3. Prize insured by an unnamed company.
At Princess Margaret's Road Hockey fundraiser in Vaughan, Wayne Robbins threaded a 66 mm ball into a 71.3 mm hole on his first try, then donated the prize to gynecologic oncology at UHN and Mount Sinai.
VT Hint Linked to a second burned-vehicle homicide in Etobicoke the same night. Also CBC, Star, TorontoToday.
Police charged Rushon Powell with first-degree murder and Shakurwa Jeffrey as an accessory in the death of Marcus Charles, found near Steeles and Reesor on Sept. 21, while Devondre Hall is wanted Canada-wide.
VT Hint State of Tipping in Canada 2026 report. Daily Hive also covered.
In a new Actual and Angus Reid survey, 72 per cent of Ontario hospitality workers say their tips dropped over the past two years, and nearly half rely on tips for groceries and rent.
VT Hint CityNews has the same story (CP wire).
National Defence says two bombardiers with the 7th Toronto Regiment, based at Moss Park Armoury, were arrested in August on charges tied to kidnapping, organized crime and the theft of firearms and weapons.
VT Hint Rogers Centre, February 2027. Public on-sale Fri Oct 9, 10 a.m.
The Into the Millennium Homecoming residency now adds Feb. 14 and Feb. 21 to the Feb. 12, 13, 19 and 20 dates; Rogers presale is on now and the public sale opens Friday at 10 a.m.
VT Hint Originally reported by CTV. Venue dark until Harry Styles next May.
Downsview neighbours made nearly 275 calls to 311 about the stadium from May to September, with the Usher and Chris Brown show alone drawing 60, and a councillor says the sound cladding can't stop heavy bass.
VT Hint Also CityNews, TorontoToday, Narcity.
The city has confirmed 14 mpox cases since September and keeps detecting the virus in wastewater; the public risk is low, but TPH is urging eligible people to get both vaccine doses.
Arthurs, who leaves Soulpepper and the Young Centre on Oct. 30, takes over the Queens Quay arts campus as new waterfront neighbourhoods to the east bring more than 150,000 future residents and workers.
VT Hint Long-form feature.
Toronto Life goes inside MrBeast's Amazon competition show and its $19-million Beast City at Downsview Park, a shoot that promised local film jobs and tax-credit synergy and delivered something far messier.
VT Hint Toronto municipal election Oct 26, 2026. Toronto Star also has an advance-voting explainer.
Advance polls open Tuesday in Toronto and Mississauga ahead of the Oct. 26 vote, while several other GTA towns run on their own timelines, some with online and phone voting.
VT Hint Waterfront Toronto Floating Public Art program; artists Trevor Wheatley, Cosmo Dean and Puncture.
Global Convenience, the corner-store art piece that floated in Harbour Square Park Basin since June for the World Cup, wraps up Oct. 5, and fans sent it off with a mock funeral picnic.
CUPE Local 2484 says Ideal Child Service Group locked out workers 15 minutes before a strike deadline, closing its five centres, including Baycrest and BonAventure, and leaving parents scrambling for care.
VT Hint Also on CP24 and TorontoToday (CP wire).
The Presidents' Impact Scholarship will pay 50 doctoral students $80,000 a year for four years, funded by a $50M family foundation gift that U of T is matching; the first 12 or 13 recipients start in September 2027.
VT Hint Toronto municipal election Oct 26, 2026; would need provincial and federal funding.
Olivia Chow says a re-elected council would phase in universal school lunch by 2030, building on the morning meal program that now feeds 330,000 students, and pegs the savings at about $1,800 a year per family.
VT Hint Ties to the Riverside petition and the Yorkville heritage storefront McDonald's.
With McDonald's eyeing Queen and Broadview, the Junction and Yonge and Cumberland, Toronto Life rounds up nearby independents like Junction Grill and Grillway Souvlaki House to support instead.
VT Hint Thanksgiving is Monday Oct 12, 2026. TorontoToday has a similar frost-tonight item.
Lows of 2 to 5°C could bring frost outside the core Monday night before a warm spell pushes Toronto to 20°C Wednesday and 19°C Thursday, with temperatures settling back near the 16°C norm for a mostly dry long weekend.
VT Hint CP24 has the same story (initially reported Midland closed both ways at Kingston Rd).
Crews have been on Midland Avenue at Kingston Road since 4:20 a.m. Monday after a watermain break flooded the street and opened a sinkhole; the southbound curb lane between Park Street and Kingston Road is closed.
Two beloved squirrel sculptures vanished from Joel Weeks Park over the summer despite industrial epoxy and steel rods, and a city art conservator says nobody knows who took one of them.
VT Hint Same story also in Toronto Star and TorontoToday (CP wire); CityNews picked as the free-to-read version.
Parmpal Sidhu goes on trial in Brampton Monday over the 2023 theft of 6,600 gold bars worth more than $20 million from Pearson, weeks after the Crown dropped charges against two other accused.
VT Hint Baldwin Village; ties to the More Homes Built Faster Act heritage-list deadline.
Hydro One bought 28-30 Cecil Street, an 1881 house near Kensington Market on the heritage list for 50 years, and says it can't keep the building as it expands the transformer station next door; about 20 tenants face eviction.
VT Hint Week of Oct 5, 2026 roundup.
Monsta X makes Toronto its only Canadian stop, Chelsea Handler brings The High and Mighty Tour to Meridian Hall, and Halloween ghost walks start at Evergreen Brick Works.
A 2024 rooftopping attempt at the Aura condo tower on Yonge ended in arrests and a seized handgun, and a new court ruling found police breached one man's Charter rights by searching his phones.
VT Hint Municipal election coverage; Gord Perks not running again.
With speeding on Parkside Drive up more than 500 per cent since the province banned speed cameras, candidates in the open Ward 4 race lay out their plans for the High Park road.
VT Hint Event date Oct 24, 2026, 12–4 p.m., The Bentway; free, $10 donation suggested.
Dogs take over The Bentway on Oct. 24 from noon to 4 p.m. for a free costume contest with prizes up to $500, plus a pack walk, live music, pet vendors and a Yappy Hour.
Photos from the 20th Nuit Blanche show downtown streets and landmarks transformed by 70+ installations Saturday night into Sunday; 11 exhibits stay up through Oct. 10.
VT Hint Practical week-ahead transit item for Monday's newsletter.
Line 1 shuts at 11 p.m. between York Mills and Eglinton Oct. 5–7, and Line 2 ends at 11:59 p.m. between Kipling and Jane Oct. 5–9, with shuttle buses running in both gaps.
VT Hint Distinct from Keele/Steeles pedestrian fatality same morning; CBC also has a thinner North York homicide brief.
Homicide is investigating after a man was found dead in a TCHC unit near Lawrence West and Allen around 8:30 a.m. Sunday; a suspect fled before police arrived.
VT Hint Recovered from ~9:51 AM pass. Same story later updated by Toronto Star / TorontoToday: six hospitalized, driver charged with impaired.
A two-vehicle crash on northbound 427 at the 401 around 3:30 a.m. Sunday left four people with life-altering injuries and one with life-threatening injuries.
VT Hint Recovered from ~9:51 AM pass (Mac mini offline). Distinct from CityNews Etobicoke cyclist crash already ingested ~5:45 AM.
A pedestrian in his 30s was killed near Keele and Steeles early Sunday; the driver stayed on scene and Keele is closed between Chimneystack and York Boulevard.
VT Hint Recovered from ~9:51 AM pass.
Toronto police are probing separate early-Sunday stabbings near Lawrence and Markham in Scarborough and Queen West and Denison; both victims hospitalized, none life-threatening.
With GTA sales down and prices soft, more owners are pouring money into renovations rather than moving — and contractors say projects now cost $15k–$25k more than a year ago.
VT Hint Recovered from ~9:51 AM pass. Fresh analysis; Streets of Toronto Geddy/Cuddy item from Oct 1 is older.
Rush’s Geddy Lee endorsed Brad Bradford while Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy backed Olivia Chow; a York U expert says celebrity nods may matter more in low-information municipal races.
Incumbent Carolyn Parrish faces former mayor Bonnie Crombie in a crowded Mississauga race — the question hanging over the campaign is whether the drama will lift historically low turnout.
VT Hint Strongest overnight lead — beloved fried-chicken couple returns with a completely different College Street concept.
After shuttering PG Clucks in July over soaring costs, Pawel and Steph Grezlikowski soft-opened Loomi Pita Bakery at 610 College — a 200 sq. ft. Mediterranean spot with fresh pita, schnitzel, and braised lamb.
Crawford Lake Conservation Area reopened its 1.6 km elevated boardwalk after a rehab that replaced the 1965 path — a fall foliage loop near the Iroquois village and Bruce Trail.
Celebrity stylist Law Roach stopped into Dundas West's VSP Consignment and left with archival Issey Miyake and Miu Miu pieces.
The singer behind 1988's Tell Somebody — and a 1989 Juno for most promising female vocalist — died Friday surrounded by family, her team said Saturday.
Viral dating talk flips chivalry on its head — some see equality, others entitlement — and a local expert says healthy relationships still need effort from both sides.
Police are investigating after a cyclist was hit near Dixon and Royal York just after 2 p.m. Saturday — paramedics reported serious, potentially life-threatening injuries.
Bob Gruen's unseen rock archive — Lennon on the rooftop, Led Zeppelin by the plane — lands at Liss Gallery; everybody has a camera now, he says, but timing still matters.
VT Hint Strongest new local lead since the 1:45 PM pass — shelter closed for the day after overnight vandalism.
A window at 11 River Street was damaged around 2 a.m. — no staff or animals hurt — and police are investigating whether the rock-strike was targeted.
VT Hint Strongest new local lead since the 9:47 AM pass — Ontario crew/patients missing at sea.
The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a Hamilton-based Latitude Air Ambulance Gulfstream that lost contact on a Bermuda-to-Boston flight with six people aboard.
October's trustee races look thinner as provincial reforms leave the role in flux — fewer names on the ballot when boards need watchdogs most.
A west-end alternative school lost one of five teachers in a staffing reorg — parents say Grades 4–6 are now packed into a single classroom.
Officers will be deployed at key locations across the city this weekend and over the following weeks so people can gather safely.
VT Hint Front-page investigative safety lead — strongest local story of the morning window.
Years of tenant complaints about window safety at a North York apartment raise hard questions about how Toronto's inspection program assesses risk after a child's death.
A naturopathic doctor found workarounds after Meta flagged promotions for a Toronto summit on health education for LGBTQ women and non-binary people.
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