Ontario requires masks but not vaccines for return to class
Ontario’s long-awaited back-to-school plan requires students and staff to wear masks indoors but does not mandate being vaccinated against COVID-19.
U of T extends vaccine mandate to some extracurriculars
The University of Toronto says its students must be vaccinated if they want to take part in activities such as sports and academic placements, and wants all who come to campus to declare their vaccine status.
Ontario will get a school plan next week, Ford says
The chief medical officer says unvaccinated students will face stiff restrictions if they test positive for COVID-19, making elementary students especially vulnerable to missing more chunks of class.
Toronto launches more youth hubs after expansion plan delayed by COVID-19
The City of Toronto is almost doubling the number of youth hubs and spaces where young people can build life skills and find study and work opportunities after a delay in expansion plans due to COVID-19.
Ontario elementary teachers union urges cautious return to classrooms
The main elementary teachers union in Ontario is calling on the government to take a more cautious approach to reopening schools than the one advocated by the province’s pediatric hospitals.
Ford government launches youth environment council
The Ontario government is inviting high school students to share their thoughts on climate change and the environment via a new youth council.
Scarborough teen takes on Islamophobia, among other things
In the wake of the latest violent attack against Muslims in Canada, high school student Alisha Aslam created a resource to help the Toronto District School Board address hate and empower other youth to speak out.
Medical experts tell Ontario to keep schools open except in 'catastrophic circumstances'
The medical experts advising the Ontario government say the province’s schools and classrooms should stay open unless “catastrophic circumstances" force them closed again after more than a year of disrupted learning and socialization.
Harassment rife in Canada's higher education, study finds
The rates at which teaching staff and researchers experience harassment on Canada’s university and college campuses are significantly higher than in most other workplaces, a major study released on Friday shows.
What needs to happen before Ontario students return to class?
For Ontario’s schools to reopen in September without producing a spike in COVID-19 cases may require sustained mask-wearing, especially among younger students, medical experts say, while high schools should know how many of their students are vaccinated.
Lecce removes anti-racist language from Ontario’s new math curriculum
Ontario’s education minister has removed language addressing anti-racist and anti-colonialist principles in the preamble to the province’s new Grade 9 math curriculum just a month after unveiling it.
From selling Blue Jays merch to getting small businesses online
The pandemic upended Emira Refai-Gray’s efforts to upgrade her educational credentials, but the 21-year-old has since moved on from retail work to helping small businesses get online, and will soon be starting a science degree to keep workplaces safe.
Young Vietnamese Canadians open conversation floodgates with elders
The Vietnamese Canadian youth starting a conversation with their elders later this month want to face taboo topics, including patriarchy and queer sexuality, that often get lost in translation.
Jobs in June: Youth boost is biggest since last summer
The number of net new jobs young people filled in June was the highest it has been since last summer, before second and third waves of COVID-19 infections nixed much of the service work they did.
With restaurants on long-term hiatus, some workers move on
The mostly young workers of Toronto’s hospitality industry have been forced to shift into other lines of employment as COVID-19 restrictions drag on. For Marco Chumacero, that has meant retraining to sell and manage point-of-sale products for a software company.