Featured Stories

Sears Canada has contributed one of the latest additions to the technology startup community in Toronto. The innovation lab, titled Initium meaning "start" in Latin harbors an ambition to re-engineer the existing Sears operations and business model. 

Any given day in Toronto will provide literary fans with an energetic offshoot of poetry gaining impressive momentum: spoken word, and its cousin poetry slams. Spoken word is poetry intended to be performed, and in such a connected world we live in where Facebook posts and retweets glaze over our eyes, there is something so raw and simple about watching a poet share her story on a stage, just a voice and a microphone.

To demolish, or not to demolish? Exploring Heritage Character in Toronto's Downtown. Ever wonder what 'heritage character' means, or what it means to label a building as a 'heritage building'? How do you determine a neighbourhood, or building, has heritage character? Does it just need to be old? Or designed by a famous architect?

Beyond 150 finalist Neetu Sharma shine spotlight on the importance of mentorship. What happens when graduate students from coast to coast get asked to contribute their big ideas on how to bring about Aboriginal advancement,economic transformation, or optimism for the future of Canada? In partnership with Deloitte as part of the larger Beyond 150 initiative, YongeStreet produced Beyond 150: Collaborating for change report, and decided to profile each of the four finalists.

A packed room of over 200 people turned up to hear from newly appointed CEO Chantal Pontbriand, who shared her team’s reimagining of what it means to be a contemporary art museum. The new museum will open in May 2017 in its new premises, taking up 50,000 sq. ft over 5 floors of the refurbished historic Automotive Tower building on Sterling Road.

In this special series called The Humans of Jane's Walk, produced in celebration of the 10th annual Jane's Walk festival we will feature profiles of some of the amazing people who lead the walks in the neighbourhoods they know and love. 

It’s the little grant that could. Kaitlin Wainwright, director of programming at Heritage Toronto has been chosen as a recipient of the prestigious Vital People grant administered by Toronto Foundation. Wainwright’s support came through a donor-advised fund established by Susan Latremoille, one of Toronto’s many philanthropists who take their work and the impact their contributions can have very seriously, but also with much joy.

In Search of Health and Home: one of the Ontario Arts Council Deaf and Disability Arts grant recipients, Mary-Lou Zeitoun speaks about momentum gained and lost, writing, and freedom.

You're invited! On April 17, Shape My City hosts an unconference for city builders, community organizers, and change makers, Advancing Citizen Action in the 6ix. The event is an 'unconference' meaning that there will be no set agenda and no talking heads, and that’s the event’s purpose: to connect people with ideas in Toronto about what to do to for the city.

This weekend’s CodeAcross Toronto, a hackathon in celebration of International Open Data Day hosted by Civic Tech Toronto and Urban+Digital Toronto at the Ryerson’s DMZ, brought civic engagement, design and technology into the spotlight.

In preparation for Canada's sesquicentennial in 2017, YongeStreet partnered with Deloitte and asked graduate students around Canada to weigh in on the societal challenges facing Canadians today and in the future. Beyond 150 Finalist Sarah Bleiwas focused on access to housing and addressing intergenerational divide.

At the Royal cinema, The Hand Eye Society, a video game arts and culture organization, joined forces with The Laser Blast Film Society, champions of eccentric cinema, to showcase the best and the bizarre.