Air quality statement on wildfire smoke ends for Toronto, moderate risk forecast
CBC
A special air quality statement that forecast smokey conditions to return to Toronto was ended by Environment Canada Thursday morning.
The federal weather agency had earlier said air pollution was set to ramp up later Thursday and into Friday as smoke plumes from forest fires in northeastern and Quebec made their way to the Greater Toronto Area.
It was expected that the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) — the reporting system Canada uses to reflect potential health effects associated with air pollution — would reach 6 out of 10 by Friday, representing a "moderate risk." That has been scaled back slightly in the latest forecast to 5, still in the moderate risk range but less severe than initially projected.
The AQHI for Toronto currently sits at 3, up from 2 in the early morning hours. It's expected to reach 4 in the afternoon and evening.
On Thursday, the city woke up to significant relief from Wednesday's harsh smokey conditions.
At one point Wednesday, Toronto's AQHI maxed out at 10 and, according to the international air quality tracker IQAir, the city had the worst air pollution of any location in the world.
By Thursday morning, Toronto had fallen to 84 on the IQAir list, eventually rising to 63 approaching the noon hour.
The city previously experienced smokey conditions caused by wildfires earlier this month.
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.