Editor
Editor & main author
David Brown is the editor of GTA Guide. He writes about the practical side of living in the Greater Toronto Area: what things cost, who to call, and what is worth your weekend.
Based in Toronto
Toronto is Canadian hardiness zone 7a, not 5b or 6a, and the GTA's frost-free season varies by 47 days end to end. Here is the calendar that follows from those two facts.
What "low light" is in foot-candles, what a Toronto December actually leaves you, and ten plants that cope, each checked against the ASPCA's toxic-plant database for cats and dogs.
Mid-August to mid-September is Ontario's real seeding window. Here are the soil temperatures each species needs, the Pearson climate normals behind the dates, and the four ways a seeding burns your money.
The 10 °C rule for the walk to the car, the foil-sleeve mistake that rots the roots, what poison control actually says, and whether reblooming is worth it here.
Which GTA nurseries grow their own stock, what their written plant guarantees actually cover, where to find Ontario natives, and how to get a tree for free.
Published hourly rates from three GTA moving companies, what a 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom job really totals, and the Ontario rules on estimates, deposits and liability.
Every dog and cat in Toronto needs an annual licence. The nine rates and the class each one belongs to, the 365-day renewal clock, and what a lapse costs.
The 2026 rate and its three parts, the arithmetic on a real assessed value, every line on the bill, the instalment dates, what paying late costs, and the deadlines that cost money.
How Toronto's two-week collection cycle works, what each bin size costs in 2026, which holidays actually shift the week, and the one-business-day deadline for reporting a missed pickup.
The checks you can actually verify, what a renovation contract must contain before it binds you, how the 10-day cooling-off period really starts, and the holdback that makes you liable twice.
Published hourly rates from seven GTA firms and by sub-market, the minimum call-out that absorbs your first hour, and the line between a handyman and licensed work.
Installed furnace prices five GTA companies publish themselves, the City's $244 permit fee, rent-versus-buy arithmetic, and which rebates are still open.
