Maple Express | November 3, 2026 - Toronto child hunger nearly doubles as food bank visits top 4.1 million

1. Toronto child hunger nearly doubles, food bank visits top 4.1 million for second straight year

Source: CP24

Daily Bread Food Bank released its latest Who's Hungry report on Tuesday. Food bank visits in the city held steady at more than 4.1 million for a second consecutive year, and more than one in eight children in Toronto now relies on food banks — nearly double the 2022 rate of one in 15.

The report says 67 per cent of parents have given up a meal so their children could eat, and 17 per cent had a child in their household go hungry at least once a week in 2026. Daily Bread CEO Neil Hetherington called the rise "alarming," noting children are now the most overrepresented group among food bank clients and that the roughly 220 food banks his organization serves are feeling the strain.

Volodymyr Kravchuk, who moved to Toronto from Ukraine in September 2023, said that despite holding degrees in psychology and marketing he has struggled to find stable work and often visits the food bank for milk, eggs and vegetables. One in four clients now spends all of their income on housing, up from one in five in 2025. The report recommends a provincial Shelter Allowance Reserve Fund and a $100-million municipal investment to preserve affordable housing.

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2. Suspect in intimate-partner violence case found dead in U of T Mississauga dorm

Source: CP24

Peel police said Tuesday that a 19-year-old man sought in an intimate-partner violence investigation died of what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound after barricading himself inside a dorm at the University of Toronto's Mississauga campus. Const. Tyler Bell said officers were called about an incident in Brampton around 3 p.m. Monday, where a victim was injured and the suspect was reportedly carrying a handgun.

Around 9 p.m., police received a call about a possible armed person at a university residence at 3330 Residence Rd. Bell said officers quickly "connected the dots" between the two incidents. A shelter-in-place order was issued around 9:30 p.m. and dorm occupants were evacuated without incident. The suspect fired multiple shots during the response; police did not fire any rounds.

Officers entered the room around 1:30 a.m. and found the suspect deceased. Ontario's Special Investigations Unit has invoked its mandate, assigning four investigators and two forensic investigators. The university said the campus is open Tuesday but classes are cancelled, with mental health supports available. Bell also warned the public against posting images showing officers' positions during active operations, calling it "a blatant safety concern."

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3. Road worker, 31, struck and killed by dump truck in Pickering

Source: CP24

A 31-year-old road worker struck by a dump truck in Pickering on Monday afternoon has died in hospital. Durham Regional Police said in a release Tuesday that officers were called to the area of Peter Matthews and Alexander Knox drives at about 2:40 p.m.

Police said the incident happened during asphalt repair on Peter Matthews Drive, when a reversing dump truck hit the worker. The worker was taken to a local hospital and succumbed to his injuries. The driver remained on scene and co-operated with police.

Members of Ontario's Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Labour attended the scene. The roads were closed for several hours but have since reopened. The deceased worker has not been identified.

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4. Man seriously injured in stabbing inside west-end Toronto home

Source: CP24

A man was seriously injured after a stabbing at a home in Toronto's west end on Tuesday morning.

It happened shortly after 8 a.m. in the area of Jane Street and St. Clair Avenue West, where police received reports of an altercation inside a residence. The victim was rushed to hospital and a suspect was arrested at the scene.

Police said there are no outstanding suspects and asked anyone with information to contact them. No details about the suspect, or the relationship between the suspect and the victim, have been released.

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5. Ontario woman told to pay more than $10,000 to repair EV battery five months after warranty expires

Source: CP24

Yeing-Moi Jenny Didier of Etobicoke says the high-voltage battery in her 2018 Volkswagen e-Golf shut down in September. The car came with an eight-year, 160,000-kilometre warranty; the odometer reads only 133,000 kilometres, but the eight-year term expired five months ago. "I had been an advocate of electric vehicles, but this was shocking," she said.

A full battery replacement could cost between $20,000 and $40,000. In a statement to CTV News, a Volkswagen Canada spokesperson said the battery in this customer's vehicle can be repaired rather than replaced entirely, and that the company offered to transport it at no cost to a dealership specializing in high-voltage battery repairs, which she accepted. Because the vehicle is beyond the eight-year battery warranty period, the repair cost is borne by the customer. Didier said the repair quote is $10,800.

Shang Xue, service manager at Bimmex Markham, said about 90 per cent of EVs that arrive with battery problems are repairable, and that swapping cells or connectors can save customers 30 to 50 per cent depending on the issue. Didier said her car is worth only $10,000 to $12,000 on the used market, and she plans to weigh other options before committing to repairs.

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6. Mississauga moves to expropriate two Port Credit homes after 18 months of 'lawlessness'

Source: CP24

The City of Mississauga is attempting to expropriate two houses in the Port Credit neighbourhood after the properties drew hundreds of visits from police, firefighters and bylaw officers over the past year and a half. Coun. Stephen Dasko said the city has exhausted all other options.

Peel Regional Police said officers responded to "hundreds of calls for service relating to the two properties" between January 2025 and August 2026, involving disturbances, assaults, weapons, thefts and drug-related activity. The incidents resulted in more than 50 arrests and numerous charges. Dasko said at one point as many as two dozen people appeared to be living at the homes, including people sleeping in the backyard. If the expropriation succeeds, the plan is to demolish the houses at 34 and 36 Peter Street and turn the properties into a parking lot to address a local parking deficit.

The homes sit across the street from Riverside Public School, which was placed under hold-and-secure orders on Dec. 17 and June 22. Parent Stephanie Howell said nobody was allowed in or out during those periods, disrupting outside assessments for children with special needs. Domenic Tudino, the city's director of strategic legal projects, said Mississauga considered a closing order under section 447.1 of the Municipal Act but concluded a court date could take up to 12 months, and the city unanimously decided to proceed with expropriation. Lawyer Ava Kanner, representing the owners, said her clients have "made every effort to resolve the situation" and are working with the city on a solution.

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7. Leonard Cohen lives on as son and grandson mark 10 years since his death

Source: CP24

Nov. 7 marks 10 years since the death of Leonard Cohen. His son Adam Cohen, 54, created and directed "Everybody Knows Leonard Cohen: The Official 10th Anniversary Concert Celebration," which plays Canadian stages this month before heading to Europe in early 2027.

The Toronto date is set for Nov. 7 at Meridian Hall — exactly a decade after Cohen's death — with Feist, Rufus Wainwright and Serena Ryder among the announced guests. The production combines live performances with archival footage. Adam said he does not know that there has been a single day he hasn't thought of his father, and that the world hasn't provoked him to do it.

Adam and his 19-year-old son Cassius have been working through Leonard's songs in the family home in Montreal, studying them word for word and chord for chord. After Cassius dropped out of college last summer and said he wanted to be a musician, Adam hired him as his bass player for shows in Germany and Greece. Adam, who produced Leonard's final album "You Want It Darker," recalled that his father often joked he wanted him to become prime minister of Canada and called the music business "a racket."

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8. Ontario flu activity ticking up, but this season's shot a 'really good match'

Source: CP24

Ontario's flu season started earlier this year and cases are gradually rising week by week. Public Health Ontario reported 360 positive influenza cases of all types between Oct. 18 and Oct. 24, up from 305 the previous week and 225 the week before that.

Data on the vaccine is encouraging. Infectious diseases specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch pointed to testing by the National Microbiology Lab of Canada, which examined 116 samples of circulating strains. "The early data ... demonstrated that the current flu vaccine ... is a pretty good match, like a really good match for the circulating flu. So, great news," he told CTV News Toronto on Tuesday. Ontario began offering free flu shots to some groups in late September and opened availability province-wide on Oct. 26.

In a release Tuesday, Toronto Public Health encouraged residents to get both flu and COVID-19 vaccines, available free to everyone aged six months and older through participating pharmacies and health-care providers. The agency is also holding a clinic on Thursday, Nov. 5, at North York Civic Centre offering flu, COVID-19 and RSV vaccines. There were 258 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ontario in the week ending Oct. 24.

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9. Carney government's next immigration levels plan coming in Thursday's federal budget

Source: CP24

Multiple government sources tell CTV News that Prime Minister Mark Carney's updated immigration levels plan will be unveiled in Thursday's federal budget. The update comes as Canada's population growth has slowed over the past two years, and after Carney sent mixed signals on the direction of immigration. In September he told the New York Times that Canada will eventually resume a "controlled increase" once the system is fully under control; weeks later he insisted his government will "not budge" from keeping levels sustainable.

Last year the Carney government lowered and stabilized permanent resident admissions at 380,000 per year from 2026 to 2028, and reduced targets for new temporary residents to 385,000 in 2026 and 370,000 in 2027 and 2028. The moves responded to sharp immigration increases in the early 2020s under Justin Trudeau that pressured housing and social services. Statistics Canada data shows temporary residents peaked at 7.6 per cent of the population in October 2024.

Statistics Canada estimates the population at 41,798,407 on July 1, 2026 — up 189,425, or 0.5 per cent, from a year earlier, the lowest July-to-July growth since 1944-45. In October the Bank of Canada concluded that an aging population and declining immigration are "reshaping" the economy. Immigration Minister Lena Diab has said Canada "does need people," and announced Express Entry changes effective Nov. 3 that award extra points for high-wage earners. Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner said her party will "vigorously oppose" any effort to increase immigration.

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10. Hawaii jury awards three Canadians $56 million in defamation case against alleged cult leader

Source: CP24

A Hawaii jury has ordered Liane Wilson, who goes by Liana Shanti online, to pay three Saskatchewan residents US$40.1 million — just over C$56 million — in one of the largest civil awards in the state's history.

The plaintiffs are Paula Haygarth and Byron and Stefanie Horvath. Shanti originally sued the Canadians in Hawaii, accusing them of defaming her by calling her a fraudster and a cult leader who broke up families. The Canadians counter-sued, alleging an online hate campaign that accused them of supporting pedophiles, practising black magic and abusing children. The eight-person jury rejected Shanti's allegations and sided with the Canadians.

Amanda Brady of Regina, a follower of Shanti's for eight years, said Shanti systematically turned her and her daughters against their stepmother, Haygarth, and urged her to book sessions after claiming her "energy" had come into her awareness. Kacey Baker, a UK-based cult expert who interviewed 30 affected people, said much of the personal content students shared appears to have been screenshotted and used as smear or intimidation material if someone left or spoke out. Haygarth said she felt "an immense amount of relief" after years of being accused of things she never did, though her legal bills exceed US$600,000 and she and her husband sold their Saskatchewan house and moved into a trailer. Shanti says she plans to appeal. W5's five-part investigation examines the case.

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