Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2024 i Toronto Life

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Taxes are an inevitable part of life, and they’re getting more complex—especially for Canadians with property or business operations outside of Canada. Along with rapid taxation changes affecting how much tax one pays, government authorities are legislating compliance audit activities that require individuals to complete myriad complex forms with supporting documentation. Failure to do so can lead to stiff penalties. Tax experts with cross-border expertise How’s an individual or company to know all these intricacies? That’s where Baker Tilly comes in. The Baker Tilly Canada Cooperative is an association of chartered public accounting firms, supporting individuals and businesses with connections to Canada, the U.S., and globally, offering a full complement of tax and advisory services across every major industry sector. Baker Tilly Toronto is one of its network partners and…

IT HAPPENED LAST MONTH: A LOOSE CHRONOLOGY…

*EXCEPT FOR THE RISK OF WILDFIRES, EXTREME WEATHER, PANDEMICS, ASTEROIDS, SUPERVOLCANOES, POWER GRID FAILURES, NUCLEAR WAR, KILLER ROBOTS AND ZOMBIE APOCALYPSES WHEN IT COMES TO THE FATE OF THE PLANET, Torontonians tend to respond one of two ways: total denial or debilitating anxiety. It’s understandable. In January, the World Economic Forum ranked the climate emergency as the top concern facing humankind. Superbugs are proliferating. The cost-of-living crisis is raging. And at any moment, a trigger-happy despot could push the big red button that unleashes nuclear annihilation. What’s the good news? Well, some threats are less existential than you might think. And here in Toronto, experts are working day and night in the lab, the field and the boardroom to keep the city and its residents as safe as possible. Worried about…

THE BUYERS: Erica Lemieux, 39, a geomatics engineer, and her partner, Julien Murphy, 37, a customer sales and service agent, with their daughter, Isabel, and their French bulldog, Frankie. THE STORY: Erica and Julien met while bartending in the Distillery District in 2013. In 2014, they moved to Calgary for new career opportunities: she earned her degree in geomatics, and he landed a gig as an agent with Air Canada. In May of 2020, they returned to Toronto to be close to family. They rented a two-bedroom townhouse in Queen West, but Erica longed for a yard. In the summer of 2022, after discovering that Erica was pregnant, they set a budget of $850,000 and fast-tracked their search. OPTION 1 PERTH AVENUE near Dupont and Symington Listed at $899,000 Sold for…

THE HIGHBALL IS SIMPLE on paper: a high-quality spirit, ice and soda. But the drink is greater than the sum of its parts. Serious bartenders like to fuss over the details. The glass should be slender to preserve carbonation. Soda is selected based on salt content and CO2 levels—in other words, the regular canned corner-store variety won’t do. If possible, a long spear of hand-cut ice is best, so it fits snug in the glass and melts at a glacial pace. Good highballs are a refined and much less sweet version of a whiskey soda. They’re everywhere in Japan (even available in cans at 7-Eleven stores), and now they’re having a moment in Toronto. At 915 Dupont, a Japanese listening bar west of Ossington, highballs make up more than two-thirds…

“I own more than 2,000 books on Toronto”—Peter Freed, p. 20 They don’t just poop. Urban pigeons are destructive pests that spread disease, slow transit, and ravage parks, plazas and balconies. Various bylaws exist to prevent pigeon proliferation, but they’re often ignored by residents who love the birds, feed them, raise them and otherwise perpetuate the problem. In response, Toronto has put its pigeons on the pill. The city just wrapped a year-long pilot that installed feeders loaded with spiked pellets in four particularly afflicted wards: Spadina–Fort York, University–Rosedale, Don Valley North and Beaches–East York. Vancouver ran a similar program that stabilized the pigeon population plaguing the SkyTrain. It’s a novel approach to culling the flocks, but will it work here? Results won’t be tallied until this summer, so don’t…

Like humans, dogs and cats can develop allergies to certain ingredients, causing discomfort. In this article, we'll explore the benefits of limited ingredient diets, which offer a tailored approach to meet your pet’s unique needs. Identifying an intolerance, sensitivity, or allergy Food allergies in pets can cause itching, gastrointestinal upset, and even ear infections. While allergy tests have limitations, an elimination diet may be more effective. If your pet is showing signs of a food allergy but you’re not sure of the allergen, it’s best to get them started on a limited ingredient formula. Limited ingredient diets feature a simplified ingredient list, typically consisting of a single protein source, along with essential nutrients. They’re also free from common allergens like wheat, soy, and corn, reducing the risk of triggering allergies…

FOR MINIMALISTS WHO TRAVEL LIGHT Nik MZ Wallace’s quilted duffle has all the pockets anyone could ever ask for, including a detachable pouch that doubles as a clutch in a pinch and a pair of deepzippered exterior pockets for snug phone and passport stashing. It also has a polished look, is trimmed with Italian leather and weighs less than a kilogram. $435, mzwallace.com FOR UNAPOLOGETIC ADVENTURERS Go-Bag Baboon to the Moon’s TikTok-viral bright and bold bags are as eye-catching as they are durable. The waterproof shell is made from a fabric the company trademarked “Stardust Ballistic” and secured with alpine-grade double stitch construction, so it’s practically indestructible. And an abundance of padded handles make it comfortable to carry, even when stuffed to its 40-litre capacity. $274 for the small version,…

No one’s yearning for a reminder of the disquieting days of March 2020, when the world stopped, so I’ll be quick to the point. After the worst of the crisis passed—after we flattened the curve and hunted the vaccines and “virtual school” came and went—we all moved on as fast as we could. And for good reason: why revisit all that trauma and discomfort? Here’s why. Canada was caught flat-footed by the pandemic, and we shouldn’t have been. Nor should we be surprised by the next one. What next one? Well, SARS hit in 2003, killing 44 Canadians, and swine flu arrived six years later. That’s two contagions in the two decades preceding Covid-19. No one likes a wet blanket, but the truth is that the next virus isn’t far…

You’re building a 63-storey, five-star hotel and condo during a time of high interest rates, in a downtown still recovering from the pandemic. Are you clairvoyant or crazy? We’re just going right into the economy question? Look, this location, Adelaide and Duncan, is the best I’ve ever had. Walk east and you’re in the Financial District; walk west and you’re in the Entertainment District. Right now, Toronto is facing a housing shortage. Ottawa has reined in inflation, and it looks like the banks will lower interest rates soon. Usually, when the economy is strong, I think, This is too good to be true. But emerging from an 18-month adjustment period may actually be advantageous. Are you saying your luxury skyscraper addresses the housing shortage? The city needs more affordable housing…

$27 Amount Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic and his wife, Gaga, vowed to donate—to SickKids, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and a to-be-announced institution—for every assist the Raptors make this season. $1,600 Annual savings for commuters using the new One Fare program, which allows riders to transfer between transit agencies like GO and the TTC at no extra charge. $505,504 Amount of grant money Pride Toronto has agreed to pay back to Canadian Heritage after the non-profit failed to demonstrate appropriate use of its federal funding. $15,400,000 Recent selling price of the famous Flatiron Building on Front Street—only $200,000 more than the last time it changed hands, in 2011. $67,900,000 Cost to transform the Scarborough RT into a busway, $12.2 million more than originally estimated. The TTC also announced…

AFTER GETTING LAID OFF from her copywriting job in 2015, Maria Qamar started spending her free time on her favourite hobby: doodling satirical, comic book–style pop art inspired by her life as a South Asian woman. She posted her doodles on Instagram under the name Hatecopy (a not-so-subtle jab at her career) and soon realized that the subversive humour behind her pieces was resonating with a wide audience. Then, in 2016, she caught a couple of big breaks: she appeared on the cover of Elle Canada alongside Lilly Singh, and her work was featured on Mindy Kaling’s series The Mindy Project. These days, Qamar sells her in-demand designs in the form of T-shirts, plates and posters. Last year, she put on an exhibition called Bloody Phool at the Richard Taittinger…

Chef Eddie Yeung WHERE: North York | WHAT: Chinese food EDDIE YEUNG, chef and owner of Wonton Hut, has fond memories of North York. His family immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong in the early ’90s, first settling in Scarborough and then moving to North York when Yeung was in junior high. These days, when he isn’t travelling back and forth between his Unionville and Queen West restaurants, Yeung heads to the stretch of Yonge between Finch and Sheppard to connect with fellow chefs in the area and eat dishes that are trending in Hong Kong and mainland China. “Good Luck Hong Kong Café is a great introduction for anyone unfamiliar with food from Hong Kong. They offer a few classic dishes as well as modern ones with playful twists to make meals…