28 h. ago Downtown Toronto is still struggling despite some signs of life returning

Downtown Toronto has gradually recovered much of the vitality lost during the pandemic years, but the city centre is still struggling with a dearth of office workers even amid signs of life returning.New data in CBRE's just-released Q1 2025 Canada Office Figures report reveals that vacancy in downtown Toronto's gutted commercial market rebounded slightly during the first months of the year, but there's still a long way to go before things are even close to normal again.CBRE's figures show that Toronto fared better than other Canadian cities during the first quarter of 2025, with downtown office vacancy declining by 50 basis points to 18.5 per cent.While this leap marks the first substantial drop in vacancy recorded since the market took a nosedive in early 2020, there is still much ground to recover should vacancies ever drop to the figures seen in the before-times.Central Toronto's office market hit a record low vacancy rate of just 2.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2019. Howev...

Other

50 h. ago Raptors coach defends Toronto as 'one of the best cities in the world'

During their 30 years of being an NBA franchise, the Toronto Raptors have often been fighting an uphill battle to earn recognition from players around the league.As the only current Canadian team in the league, Toronto has often struggled to attract top free agents, while fighting for media relevancy south of the border.In recent weeks, ex-Raptors Thad Young, Rudy Gay, and Lou Williams had all made remarks about some of the downsides about playing in Canada, with one uniting factor being an added trip to the customs line at the airport each time the team returned to Toronto.But for Serbian-born Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic, he wasn't buying into any of the perceived downsides of having an NBA career in Canada."Toronto is one of the best cities in the world. Toronto Raptors have the best fans in NBA. It's a privilege to play in this city," Rajakovic said Friday in response to our question."It's amazing every time I go out, when I go to the store, and when I talk to regular peop...

Other

3 d. ago ‘Absolute privilege to play in our city’ Darko Rajakovic responds to ex

'Toronto is one of the best cities in the world,' Rajakovic said.

Other

1 week ago Kobe Bryant once got stopped by Canadian border security when facing Toronto Raptors

A seemingly evergreen conversation around the Toronto Raptors opened up again this week.Former Raptors forward Thad Young spoke up on the Out The Mud podcast about how he found it "tough" to live in Toronto, citing reasons such as having to frequently go through airport customs as one of the challenges of playing for the Raptors.And then speaking today on FanDuelTV's Run It Back show, former Raptors player Lou Williams shared his own experiences of travelling with the team, including a story about the late Kobe Bryant having an issue with one of the security rules at Toronto's Pearson Airport."Kobe did have a moment. He did not want to take his shoes off at customs, that is true," Williams said.Williams' co-host Chandler Parsons also shared that a teammate of his once was unable to travel into Canada due to his legal troubles, though he didn't expand further on specifics.Kobe Bryant didn't want to take off his shoes going through customs ...

Events

1 week ago Several Canadian flights cancelled after London fire caused power outage at Heathrow

TORONTO — Several arriving and departing flights between cities across Canada and London’s Heathrow Airport were cancelled after an overnight fire caused a power outage and forced the British airport to close Friday, with further flight disruptions expected to last for days. As of early Friday, Toronto’s Pearson airport listed at least five scheduled arriving […]

Events

1 week ago Several Canadian flights cancelled after London fire causes power outage at Heathrow

TORONTO — Several arriving and departing flights between cities across Canada and London’s Heathrow Airport have been cancelled after an overnight fire caused a power outage and forced the British airport to close for the day. As of early Friday, Toronto’s Pearson airport listed at least five scheduled arriving flights from Heathrow as cancelled, as […]

Events

2 w. ago Toronto's crime rate soars 40% above New York in one department

Toronto is known as a low-crime city compared to locales with similar or greater populations, but it may surprise some to learn that the 416 is way ahead of even New York City, Detroit and Los Angeles in one specific category of criminal activity.A new study published on Tuesday by independent Canadian think tank the Fraser Institute reveals that Ontario cities like Toronto, Hamilton and Windsor outpace several major U.S. cities in property crime. This includes many places known for their high crime rates, like New York City, Detroit, L.A. and Flint, Michigan.The study looked at the property crime (e.g., burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft) rates of large urban areas with populations of 100,000 people or more, using maximum annual crime rates from 2019 through 2022.Toronto's per person property crime rate exceeded New York's by a shocking 40 per cent, though overall crime rates are obviously much higher in what is the United States' largest city.Howeve...

Events

2 w. ago Toronto to provide update on U.S. tariff response as cities tweak procurement rules

Canada’s largest city and economic capital will be providing an update on how it will response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Economics

3 w. ago Airline cuts promo of U.S. destinations as 'Canadians may view this negatively'

Porter Airlines said it's shifting its marketing focus and reducing promotions for its U.S. destinations.The airline, headquartered in Toronto and launched in 2006, currently flies to 16 cities in the U.S. However, with the uncertainty brought on by the U.S.-Canada trade war, Porter Airlines said it's cutting back on promoting its destinations in the U.S.In an email statement, a representative said, "We've scaled back marketing our U.S. destinations, as some Canadians may view this negatively."A quick look at the airline's social media reveals a shift in focus toward promoting domestic destinations in the past few weeks."We are at the point of the winter season when capacity transitions to summer schedules, where 75 per cent of our peak capacity is planned for domestic routes," they stated.In response to tariffs and U.S. President Donald Trump's comments about Canada becoming the 51st state, several Canadians have said they've cancelled their U.S. trips.Travel agency Flight Cen...

Other

3 w. ago Toronto was just named among world's best cities for career growth

Two cities in Canada have been named among the world's top 20 for career growth.Whether you're just beginning or looking to pivot, many factors can help kick-start your career, one being location."We spend around 2,000 hours a year at work, so it makes a huge difference to our overall happiness when we enjoy it. And location plays a big part in that," reads a new report from Big 7. "Some cities are launchpads for career growth, with high earning potential, encouraging work environments, strong job markets, and more."The travel site analyzed over 100 cities worldwide, ranking them based on key factors that impact professional success.It narrowed the list to the 20 best cities for career growth, and two spots in Canada made the cut.The ranking is based on the following criteria: job market strength, cost of living, quality of life, industry concentration, salary vs. cost of living ratio, work culture and environment, transport and connectivity, access to talent, government and busines...

Transport