Maple Express | October 21, 2026: One dead in Richmond Hill house fire

1. Two homes destroyed, one man dead in Richmond Hill fire: fire chief calls scene 'chaotic'

Source: CP24

A fire on Crosby Avenue, near Bayview Avenue, in Richmond Hill early Wednesday left two homes and three vehicles parked in a driveway between them engulfed in flames, and left one man dead. Police confirmed a 69-year-old man pulled from the flames was without vital signs at the scene and was later pronounced dead in hospital.

Richmond Hill Fire Chief Tom Raeburn told reporters Wednesday that when crews arrived, “people were panicking, running out of the home, people screaming, still trapped.” He said every firefighter who responded described it as the most chaotic scene they had ever been to. Raeburn noted vehicle fires were blocking some entrances to the houses, making it hard for crews to get inside, and that one man was rescued from a basement window.

York Regional Police Staff Sgt. Peter Cheung said the fire originated in a vehicle parked in the driveway of one of the homes and spread to both residences. The cause is not yet known; Raeburn said it is too early to say whether the incident is suspicious. The Office of the Fire Marshal will attend the scene to investigate the cause, origin and circumstances.

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2. Woman and two children struck crossing Oshawa street, toddler in critical condition

Source: CP24

A woman and two children were rushed to hospital Wednesday morning after they were struck by a driver while crossing a street in Oshawa. All three were hit by a vehicle making a turn, police said.

Durham police said the collision happened at the intersection of Ryerson Crescent and Sheridan Street at around 9:25 a.m. A toddler-aged child suffered critical, life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital before being transported by air ambulance to a Toronto-area trauma centre. The second child suffered minor injuries, while the woman's injuries were described as serious but non-life-threatening.

Acting Sgt. Nicholas Gluckstein of Durham Regional Police later told CP24 that the driver remained on scene and is cooperating, and that the investigation is ongoing. The intersection is closed while police investigate and drivers in the area are asked to find an alternate route.

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3. York police set up command post in Markham in search for missing 74-year-old man

Source: CP24

York Regional Police set up a command post in Markham on Wednesday as they stepped up the search for a “vulnerable” 74-year-old man who went missing earlier this week. Wieslaw was last seen near Brimley Road and Denison Street on Tuesday between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.

He is described as a white male, five-foot-eight and 163 pounds, with brown eyes and short grey hair. Police do not have a description of what he was last seen wearing. He left his home on foot and has not been seen or heard from since, and police say he is known to frequent coffee shops and sit on benches.

The command post is located at 75 Amarillo Ave., near Kennedy Road and 14th Avenue. Wieslaw's family and York Regional Police are concerned for his well-being. Anyone with information is asked to contact the #5 District Criminal Investigations Bureau at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 7541, or Crime Stoppers anonymously.

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4. Stabbing in Toronto's Moss Park leaves man seriously injured, three suspects outstanding

Source: CP24

A man in his 20s suffered serious injuries after a stabbing in Toronto's Moss Park neighbourhood early Wednesday morning and was taken to hospital. His injuries are serious but non-life-threatening.

Police said it happened near Sherbourne and Shuter streets at around 1 a.m. Officers responded to reports of an altercation in a park in the area and found the man with a stab wound.

Three male suspects are outstanding, police confirmed. The investigation is ongoing.

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5. 17-year-old charged after driving impaired on rims and nearly hitting pedestrian: police

Source: CP24

A 17-year-old boy is facing charges after Toronto police allege he nearly hit a pedestrian while driving impaired in the city's east end, with the vehicle running on a missing front driver's side tire.

Police said that at around 8:55 p.m. on Oct. 9 they responded to multiple calls reporting an impaired driver in the area of Danforth Road and Eglinton Avenue East. The driver was impaired and driving erratically with no front driver's side tire, and at one point almost struck a pedestrian. The Toronto Police Service Air Support Unit located the vehicle from the air and guided officers to safely locate it and arrest the driver.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, has been charged with impaired operation of a conveyance, failing to comply with a YCJA sentence, novice driver with a blood alcohol level above zero, and a Class G1 licence holder driving without a qualified driver.

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6. Bulk buys by investment groups now account for nearly half of new GTHA condo sales: report

Source: CP24

New condo apartment sales in the GTHA doubled year-over-year to 760 units in the third quarter of 2026, the second consecutive quarter of growth, according to an Urbanation report released this week. The report credits HST relief and bulk sales as the main drivers, saying investment groups acquired 339 units in bulk transactions in Q3, accounting for 45 per cent of total new condo sales. Sales at completed buildings reached a record 648 units, a record 85 per cent share of the total.

John Pasalis, president of Move Smartly Realty Inc., said builders are sitting on thousands of completed and unsold units. Beyond the 10 to 15 per cent of units builders normally hold back until completion, many people who bought preconstruction condos five years ago and were scheduled to close now cannot afford to close — they either can't get a mortgage or no longer qualify as prices declined, so they default, adding to builder inventory. That inventory is hard to sell because the preconstruction prices paid years ago are far above what the units are worth today.

Pasalis said the removal of HST allowed builders to cut prices considerably, and that investment firms negotiating steep discounts are now among the biggest drivers, ranging from family offices buying 10 or 20 units to High Art Capital, which has said it will buy thousands. Montreal-based Jesta Group also announced in May the acquisition of about $500 million worth of unsold downtown Toronto units. Still, the report notes Q3 sales remain 78 per cent below the 10-year average for third quarters, with just 60 preconstruction units sold — the 12th consecutive quarter of annual declines. Urbanation president Shaun Hildebrand warned the supply pipeline is drying up, setting the market up for a significant shortage by the end of the decade.

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7. Fans paid $5,530 for Backstreet Boys tickets, then learned seats were obstructed

Source: CP24

The Backstreet Boys have announced a 12-show Toronto residency in 2027, “Into the Millennium – Homecoming,” expected to be one of the biggest concerts in the city. But some fans who bought tickets to the first date feel they paid a premium for seats that now appear to be listed as having obstructed views.

Lisa Parent, of Thunder Bay, told CTV News she has been a fan since she was 11, in 1996, when the single “Get Down” was released, and knew she wanted to go. She and a group of friends purchased eight seats for the Feb. 20 show; with fees the tickets came to $5,530. When future dates were added, she checked Ticketmaster and found the exact same seats were now considered partially obstructed view seating, with a total cost of $2,906.

Parent said she wants to know why sightlines weren't confirmed before tickets went on sale and why the classification changed midweek, and that she and her friends are seeking a refund of just over $2,600 or unobstructed seats. In a statement to CTV News, Live Nation said that following the initial onsales, additional production details identified potential sightline concerns and, out of an abundance of caution, additional seats were flagged as possibly having obstructed views. Live Nation Canada said it is reviewing affected seating and will proactively relocate impacted fans to comparable full-view locations, reaching out in the coming days.

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8. Carney and Ford to announce support for steel and auto sectors hit by U.S. tariffs

Source: CP24

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford are expected to unveil a new suite of supports for the steel and auto sectors hit by U.S. tariffs. Carney's itinerary says he will meet Ford on Parliament Hill today, with a joint announcement to follow.

A source with knowledge of the announcement but not authorized to speak publicly about the details says support for critical minerals is also on the table. Carney's and Ford's respective finance ministers are also expected to be on hand.

On Tuesday, federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the Carney government will deliver its second budget on Nov. 5. Carney is set to depart for Ankara, Turkey later today.

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9. Woman sues University of Winnipeg, alleging professor drugged and sexually assaulted her

Source: CP24

A statement of claim filed Oct. 9 in the Court of King's Bench of Manitoba names the University of Winnipeg and former professor Derek Spencer as defendants. A woman who says she studied and worked at the university alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted and that the school failed to protect her; CTV News is not naming her. The claim says she moved to Winnipeg from the United Kingdom in 2019 to study and worked as a teaching assistant, that Spencer was her professor and mentor, and that he began showing romantic interest in her, causing her significant discomfort. She says she told him she had a partner who also worked at the university and wanted only friendship.

According to the claim, the department held a Christmas party for teachers and graduate students later that year, and the two agreed to go to a bar afterward, where she realized none of her colleagues had joined them. She says she returned from the bathroom to find Spencer had ordered them each a shot, that she did not know when the drinks arrived, and that after taking it her recollection became fragmented and she felt extremely tipsy, nauseous and hazy. She recalls him kissing her and touching her breasts and buttocks before she fought him off and asked what he was doing. The claim says she went to hospital the next morning and was placed on an IV drip, but tests to determine whether she had been drugged were inconclusive because of the time that had passed.

The claim also alleges that after she told the department head, she was reassured the complaint would be investigated anonymously, but the matter was reported to the university's human rights department and the investigation revealed her identity. It says the investigation found the professor behaved inappropriately and sexually assaulted her, yet the university only suspended him and allowed him to return when the suspension ended. It further alleges she was later told Spencer was a convicted sex offender before he was hired and that a senior staff member had alerted the university. University spokesperson Caleb Zimmerman declined to comment, citing the matter being before the courts. The claim seeks general damages, $500,000 each in punitive and aggravated damages, and $1 million in special damages. None of the claims have been tested in court and no statement of defence has been filed.

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10. Someone in Alberta just won Canada's largest-ever lottery jackpot

Source: CP24

Someone in Canada has won the country's largest-ever lottery jackpot. In a news release Wednesday, OLG announced that a winning Lotto Max ticket was sold somewhere in Alberta, with the top prize reaching $90 million.

The top Lotto Max prize had gone unclaimed for several draws, pushing the pot to a record-breaking $90 million, where it sat until Tuesday night's draw. The winning numbers were 08, 15, 19, 23, 26, 28 and 34, with a bonus number of 38.

Assuming the ticketholder comes forward, the prize will be the largest ever awarded in a Canadian lottery. It comes six months after changes allowed the maximum prize to increase to $90 million from $80 million. Prior to Tuesday's draw, the largest prize claimed in Canada was an $80.4-million jackpot split by two friends in London, Ont.

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