Every university student who decides to try off-campus living has to face the same difficult question: “Should I rent or buy?” Toronto is one of the cities where this decision can be particularly challenging, due to low vacancy rates on the real estate market (almost permanently under 2 per cent) and the very short time students have to make their choice. The important thing to remember is not to give in too fast. Make your choice very carefully, and don’t be afraid to shop around a bit. You don’t have to settle for the first low-quality room you find. Remember, the house, apartment, or room you choose will be your place to study, eat, sleep, and relax for at least the next ten months. This article will help you decide if it’s wiser to invest in a property or just rent something temporarily.

Buying Off-Campus Housing

To buy a property, you need to be sure about two things: firstly, that you and your family have enough money to cover the mortgage (of course, if you have enough funds to buy a property without one, even better), and secondly that you’re going to stay at the university at least for a while.

Of course, your plans with the property you buy will depend on the size of the living arrangement you decide to go for. You have more options with a house than you have with a one-bedroom apartment. In the case of a house, you might get inspired by the Capone family, who invested in a house for their daughter in Waterloo. Of course, Waterloo is a very different story compared to Toronto, but some principles stay the same.

Buying a townhouse offers one major advantage. You're able to rent out the rest of the rooms to other students you probably know already, so you won’t even risk having strangers who might destroy the house as tenants. (Unless you’re one of the daredevils of the university community, in which case your parents will probably experience a series of heart attacks throughout your studies.) This way, you can save a lot on house maintenance costs, pay off your mortgage, and save on your own housing costs.

After graduation, you can sell the property. With the current situation and development on the Toronto real estate market, it will probably even bring you some profit. If you fall in love with Toronto and decide to have a family here during your university studies, you might even keep hold of the house. You might decide to stay long-term even if you want to stay a landlord and rent out the house to other students even after you’ve finished your studies. This often happens with houses that become traditional rentals over the years, and students automatically pass on their rooms from generation to generation. However, to achieve this status, you’d need to buy a house in a prime location, close to campus, which is not going to be financially easy at all.

Photography by Peter A. Sellar - www.photoklik.com

Student accommodation takes up a major part of postsecondary costs. According to a 2011 report by TD Economics, part of TD Canada Trust, the total cost of pursuing a degree today in an out-of-town university is about $84,000 — $29,000 more than students who live at home. If parents were to have a child today, TD economics projects a child going to university in 18 years will face a total outlay for a four-year degree of $102,286 for students living at home and $139,380 for students living away from home. Adjusting for inflation, the projected future cost is $68,950 for students living at home and $93,963 for students living away from home. Out of the sum the student pays for university studies, accommodation takes up from $20,000 to $28,000 for four years.

Brian Burlacoff, a Toronto-based financial advisor with Sun Life Financial Inc., says that parents thinking of buying a house for their children going for the university out of town should apply the same criteria as if they were undertaking a regular real estate investment.

Would you purchase this home or building if you were renting it solely to third-party individuals other than your child? It’s important to ask these questions because individuals applying this strategy typically hope to use it as a short-term strategy, where they sell in five to seven years hoping to make a profit,

Burlacoff says.

When buying a property, you also have to think about the taxes — especially those that apply in case you decide to sell the property after you finish your university studies. This little detail might turn out to be your worst nightmare, but it could also be your greatest advantage. Gary Booth, a Toronto chartered accountant, analyzes for The Globe and Mail.

Buying a property also has great implications taxes-wise. Canadians who sell their principal residence don’t need to pay taxes on any profit, or capital gain, from the sale. But this exemption does not apply to rental properties,

Booth explains.

If you profit from the sale, the taxes amount to 50 per cent of the capital gain. If you end up in a loss, you can use that to your advantage and reduce your tax liability, and you can carry losses forward into future tax years. If you decide to become a landlord and rent out rooms, you can apply for the depreciation write-off, called capital cost allowance. If you, however, profit when selling the property, your allowance claim will be recaptured. In Canada, and in Toronto in particular, investments in properties in order to rent them out during your studies are mostly quite safe, since the market is one of the more stable. However, the real estate market can be very tricky at times. You should definitely consult with both real estate and tax experts before you dive in.

Study at Art Gallery of Ontario 

Photography by Peter A. Sellar - www.photoklik.com

In the second part of our article, we’ll go through the renting experience you can face as a student and some advantages it offers over purchasing a property.

Why Should You Rent?

All the arguments for buying a house sound very convincing, but you really need to factor in all the operating costs of being the owner of the house compared to almost zero costs when you rent. (Of course, you also need to have a good contract that binds the landlord to carry out all the duties of repairing and restoring and that rids you of the responsibility to see to those tasks.) As a homeowner, you aren’t on the hook for paying rent, but operating costs generally far outpace the rent that would apply to the same residence. You need to take care of leaking roofs, loose stairs, frozen pipes, and damaged floors. And on the top of handling those kinds of repairs, you need to pay property taxes and mortgage interests.

You’re far better off with a rented apartment or room. Firstly, you need to find a place that will satisfy all your needs. Naturally, you have to account for higher prices as you move into your dream apartment or room close to the city centre. However, at some point, the price stops depending on the distance from downtown Toronto and starts to depend more on the neighbourhood character. The golden balance is very hard to find. If planning on taking the TTC, you might want to find housing close to a subway or RT station, or near a bus or street car stop. If you're planning on driving to school, you want to look for housing that includes parking.

Room prices vary greatly. However, these figures should give you a general idea of the average prices for different types of housing. (These numbers are based on the housing advertised at the University of Toronto.)

• Shared apartment: Downtown Toronto — $375–$1,200; Scarborough — $350–$735
• Bachelor apartment: Downtown Toronto — $455–$1,650; Scarborough — $600–$800
• 1 bedroom apartment: Downtown Toronto — $695–$1,850; Scarborough — $650–$900
• 2 bedroom apartment: Downtown Toronto — $950–$2,300; Scarborough — $900–$1,300
• 3 bedroom apartment: Downtown Toronto — $1,300–$2,500; Scarborough — $1,300–$1,800

One of the best ways to start your search is using the University of Toronto Housing and Roommate Finder. You can use the service even if you’re not a U of T student. The circulation of free places is really high at the beginning of the year, which is also a great advantage compared to the low number of new listings on the Toronto real estate market when it comes to properties for sale.

Photography by Peter A. Sellar - www.photoklik.com

Some of the biggest causes of potential problems when you're renting are difficult landlords and roommates. Every time you move into a home with students you don’t know, you run the risk of living with somebody who will drive you crazy. That’s why it’s always better to try to find someone you know to live with beforehand.

Problems with lazy and irresponsible landlords can be solved in different ways, but it’s never going to be fast, pleasant, or easy. If a landlord refuses to help when a tenant notifies them of a problem, tenants may obtain assistance or advice from a legal clinic, the Landlord and Tenant Board, or Toronto Public Health if there’s a health-related problem. (If it becomes necessary, Toronto Public Health can issue a Health Protection Order [Section 13] to a landlord or tenant or both under the Health Protection and Promotion Act to ensure clean-up and treatment is completed.) In both cases of renting or buying a house, you should check for bed bug infestation problems in the area. Bed bugs can cause one of the greatest physical and psychological strains if you stumble upon an infested property. Be sure to double-check with your landlord and the Toronto Bedbug Registry.

Conclusion

Both buying and renting a property for the time of your studies offer their perks, but everyone has to admit that renting entails far less of a burden and makes your life a little less hectic for the duration of your studies — perhaps for the last time before you start working full-time. Moreover, McMaster University professor Frank Tristani cautions against buying property as a student.

Over six years, no one has been able to substantiate buying as creating more wealth over the long term,

Tristani says.

Photo Credits

Photography by Peter A. Sellar - www.photoklik.com

The colour of interior walls is much more than a matter of aesthetics. As colour psychology experts suggest, the colours we use to decorate our homes can have a significant effect on our mood as well as on our own and our family's emotional well-being.

The human brain associates colours with their occurrence in the environment. Leslie Harrington, executive director of The Color Association of The United States, explains,

We react on multiple levels of association with colours — there are social or culture levels as well as personal relationships with particular colours. You also have an innate reaction to colour. For example, when you look at red, it does increase your heart rate. It is a stimulating colour. This goes back to caveman days of fire and danger and alarm.

When determining the colours of individual rooms, we should keep in mind that some colours can calm us down while others have an energizing effect. The colour of a room should reflect the room's purpose and at the same time create an appealing look, so choose wisely. Here's a short guide that will help you choose the right colour for your interior walls.

Warm Colours

Warm colours such as red, pink, yellow, and orange are radiant and cozy, and they make small rooms appear smaller and large rooms more intimate.

Red Kitchen by Favaro JR

Red

Red is a passionate colour that represents power and strength and adds drama and warmth to a room. This colour has a stimulating effect, increasing activity in the adrenal glands. Even though red makes us more active and eliminates negative feelings, it can make us more moody and easily annoyed. Red is an active colour that can be too overwhelming for smaller spaces and is therefore often combined with more neutral colours such as white, orange, yellow, or grey. Red walls might increase the chances of impulsive purchases, but it's not recommended for staging to sell, as it is very taste-specific and requires a lot of paint to cover.

Pink

Pink represents sensitivity and love and makes us feel calm and safe. However, it usually isn't the first colour people think of when choosing a paint for their interiors. Surprisingly, the colour of love is more versatile than it seems. There are many varieties and shades of pink that can add a sense of intimacy as well as a lively contrast. However, be very careful when considering painting your room pink, since the line between a stylish, gentle living room pink and a pre-teen Barbie bedroom pink can be very thin.

Yellow

Yellow reflects happiness, joy, and energy. It promotes active memory and brightens rooms. Yellow is lively and fresh, and it makes people inside the room feel both positive and warm. Furthermore, it boosts alertness and concentration. Softer shades of yellow are more soothing, while bright yellow radiates energy and fun and is therefore great for toddlers. However, too bright a yellow can have the opposite effect, making people feel more fatigued and tired, as the colour irritates the eyes. Being surrounded by bright yellow walls can have a similar effect, like staring at the sun, and therefore it's better to choose less shiny tones or to combine yellow with more neutral hues.

Orange

Orange is a very popular colour for interior walls. It's very positive, active, and said to boost self-esteem. Orange imparts a feeling of youthfulness as well, as it stimulates digestion and hunger. Orange walls positively affect the social behaviour of people inside and makes them less irritable and hostile. Furthermore, orange is warm and happy, with great anti-depressive effects. Different tints of orange such as peach or apricot are great for experimenting and combining, as they go well with almost every colour. No matter how you combine them, orange walls make a room feel lively and welcoming.

Neutral Colours

Neutral colours such as white, cream, brown, or grey are traditionally a good choice for interior walls. These timeless tones always look classy and provide a perfect base for all kinds of furniture and decoration.

Neutral Bedroom by Favaro JR

White

You can never go wrong with white. The most commonly used colour in interior design, white creates the impression of cleanliness and makes the room appear larger and brighter. White can combine with any other colour and adapt with furniture and decorations of all styles and colours. We shouldn't forget that white also includes many shades that reflect different amounts of light and can create a warmer or cooler feel. However, be careful when choosing the colour of your furniture, as too much white can have a very impersonal and sterile effect.

Brown

Brown is a comfortable colour that brings warmth to rooms. The colour of earth and nature represents ease, security, happiness, and tranquility. It makes people think of home and increases their confidence as well as their willingness to talk. It can be used with any other colour to increase their visual interest. On the other hand, brown may not be the best choice for smaller rooms, as they may appear too dim. All tones of brown create a deep and rich background that's great in both modern as well as traditional rooms.

Living Room by Favaro JR 

Grey

Grey is the colour of serenity, which encompasses calmness and sophistication. It's a serious colour that symbolizes strength and glamour. Grey walls provide great backgrounds for wood. Each slightly different shade of grey can completely change a room. However, most shades of grey require a lot of light to warm them up. Grey walls look great combined with heavily textured decor. If you're planning to paint your room dark grey, you should consider also enhancing it with brighter colours such as orange or yellow.

Cool Colours

Rooms painted in cool colours are calming, focusing, and soothing to our brains. They create a feeling of peace and trust. Colours such as blue, purple, or green make a room appear larger. However, sometimes they can be a bit cold.

Blue Kitchen by Favaro JR

Blue

Blue is a calming colour that can improve our focus and productivity. It creates a relaxing and peaceful atmosphere but can appear a little chilly. Blue can decrease our appetite, which can be useful for losing weight. It's a clean colour that has healing effects on our minds as well as our bodies and is therefore very suitable for bedrooms or living rooms. Furthermore, its association with water makes blue great for bathrooms and laundry areas.

Purple

Purple is a very subjective colour that is historically attributed to royalty. It's a mysterious hue that lessens nervousness and fear. Purple supports our creativity and is a good choice if you suffer from migraines or headaches. People mostly use light purple, which creates a relaxing environment as well as a special decorative effect. Purple is a very elegant colour, but we recommend you be very careful when choosing the tone — especially with stronger shades.

Green

Green is a natural hue that provides a feeling of harmony and relaxation. It creates a sense of light and space as well as a fresh and inviting look. Experts believe that looking at the colour green calms people and slows their breathing. Green is a healthy colour that has plenty of different tones suitable for all rooms. Olive and sage greens are very popular for their natural look. However, green in the bathroom can be a bit tricky, since the wrong shades can make your skin look yellow in the mirror.

Room-by-Room

Warm colours such as reds, yellows, and oranges as well as neutral browns are great for living room areas. These tones stimulate conversation, provide us with comfort and warmth, and create feelings of security. The colour scheme of the kitchen can vary according to your preferences. If you're on a diet, you should go for blue or green. Red and yellow in your kitchen will evoke comfortable feelings, and if you prefer a clean and tidy look, you will definitely prefer a white kitchen. White is also a great choice for the bathroom, where you can combine it with blue or green. Orange and red are very stimulating colours and are therefore suitable for dining rooms. Great choices for the bedroom are blue, green, or lavender due to their calming effect. Rooms where you work should be painted in colours such as grey, green, or blue, which improve concentration.

Toronto by Michael Gil

The number of transactions reported through the TorontoMLS system reached 10,182 in May 2013, which is 3.4 per cent lower than in May 2012. However, sales of single-detached homes in the GTA experienced an increase of almost 1 per cent year over year, including a 3 per cent increase in the City of Toronto. According to Ann Hannah, Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) president, there has been a considerable improvement in the sales picture in the GTA over the past two months. Even though sales in April and May were lower than they were in 2012, the rate of decline has considerably slowed. She adds,

A growing number of households who put their decision to purchase on hold as a result of stricter lending guidelines are starting to become active again in the ownership market.   

Moreover, there were increases in the average selling price recorded in numerous segments of the Toronto real estate market, including condos. The average selling price of condominium apartments in the City of Toronto increased by 1.2 per cent, to $372,768. In the 905 region, prices of condos went up by just under 1 per cent, settling at $293,398. The number of condos that switched owners in the GTA in May 2013 was 9.3 per cent lower than in it was in May 2012. However, this figure has been in double digits since August 2012.

According to Sal Guatieri, senior economist with the Bank of Montreal, the demand for condominiums in Toronto is still strong even though there has been a downturn in the market for new projects. According to Urbanation, a condo market research firm, the Toronto condo market is rebalanced and there should be no fears of a bubble burst. Urbanation particularly cited builders pulling back on new projects and the growing interest of first-time buyers in condominium apartments. A survey conducted by Pollara, a public opinion firm, for Bank of Montreal revealed that approximately 31 per cent of prospective buyers say they hope to buy a condo by 2018, which is 11 per cent more compared to the respondents of the 2012 survey. One of the reasons for this increase is that condos remain relatively affordable across the GTA, with an overall average price of $350,598 — considerably lower than the $676,797 for detached houses or the $496,120 for semi-detached houses in the GTA.  

Jason Mercer, TREB's senior manager of market analysis, suggested,

The annual rate of price growth in May was not surprising given the competition that still exists between buyers, particularly for low-rise home types such as single-detached and semi-detached houses. We remain on track for a 3.5 per cent increase in the average selling price for 2013 as a whole.

One of the major reasons for the price growth in Toronto is a shortage of supply, which is exceeded vastly by growing demand. Demand for houses remains healthy, but the number of new listings is stuck at lower levels. There is a significant number of sellers who wait with their listing, hoping that prices will increase again. The average days on the market for a listing was 23 in May 2013, which is two days more than in 2012.  

Furthermore, TREB reported that the average price of detached homes was $676,797, with an average of $864,536 in the 416 region and $602,576 in the 905 region. The average price of semi-detached homes went up by 4.1 per cent, reaching $496,120 across the GTA. Semi-detached homes in the 416 region recorded the greatest increase, where prices rose by 7.8 per cent to $633,625 year over year. In the 905 region, the average price of semi-detached homes averaged $409,632.

Townhouses experienced a 7.3 decline in sales, settling at 1,579. The average selling price of townhouses across the GTA was $397,303, with the average townhouse sold for $463,772 in the 416 region and for $375,576 in the 905 region.  

Toronto Townhouse by Michael Gil

Is the Canadian Housing Market Slowing Down?

Even though statistics from many Canadian housing markets (including Toronto) indicate that a downturn of the Canadian real estate market will not happen, there are voices warning that a slowdown is highly probable. David Madani, an economist at Toronto-based Capital Economics, said that the Canadian housing market exhibits similar signs as the U.S. housing market in the early stages of the slump. Madani pointed out,

There seems to be this view that we have achieved a soft landing because everything is declining slowly, but the pace of decline is more or less in line with the early stages of the U.S. slump.

The Canadian housing market shows signs of overvaluation and overbuilding. Housing starts have plunged substantially, interest rates remain low, and there will be less hiring and fewer increases in pay as a result of government belt-tightening. Even though developers are holding back on new constructions, the inventory of units for sale is still increasing. Oversupply, falling prices, and uncertainty in the slowing housing market could result in a decreasing number of jobs in construction and housing-related industries. Will Dunning, chief economist of the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals, warned that housing starts could decrease to about 150,000 by the second half of 2014 from last year's 205,000. This could erase around 80,000 jobs in construction and related industries alone. Dunning predicted that job loses could reach 150,000 over the next two years, with 35,000 in the GTA. He pointed out that the Toronto condo market won't be able to satisfy the demand,

Projects that start construction this year and next year might not be ready for occupancy until 2018 or even later, resulting in some extremely annoyed clients and damage to the reputations of the builders.

There are warnings of job losses caused by decreasing resale activity and spending on additional housing items that, combined with construction job losses, could increase the rate of unemployment by about three-quarters of a point.

Toronto Real Estate Market Report Infographic by Jamie Sarner

When was the last time you watched a good baseball game? The Toronto Blue Jays are Toronto's official baseball team that plays at the Sky Dome stadium.

I was at the Ontario Science Centre, home to several inspiring and educational exhibits that provide visitors with a hands-on science experience. With over 200,000 Ontario students visiting each year, classes and families alike enjoy the spectacles and new technology demonstrations. Some of their featured exhibits include The Living Earth, Electricity, Mindworks, Space, and Papermaking in addition to the many IMAX® Dome films available. On March 9, the Game On 2.0 exhibit — the largest video game collection of its time in the world — made its first Canadian appearance at the centre.

Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Pong… I watched as dozens of children ran from one console to the next, playing games released long before they were born. I spotted the Tron arcade game and ran over to try it out.

Game On 2.0 consists of over 150 playable games from as early as the 1960s to the newest releases, including pinball machines, old arcade games, and handhelds. You can expect to see everything from coin-operated games to the latest in virtual reality gaming. As you walk through the exhibit, the interactive display follows a chronological order, starting with Pong, one of the earliest arcade games, next to several pinball machines. As you proceed, you will find rare consoles from companies like Sega, Atari, and Nintendo, and even a classic Microsoft computer.

If your child is able to stay still long enough, he or she will be able to appreciate the brief history of the games, described on a small plaque under each one. The exhibit allows you to walk through gaming's history and get a glimpse of where its future is headed. If you’ve got any little inventors among your group, this educational centre is the best place to encourage creativity, enlightenment, and an appreciation for video game development. As an adult, I enjoyed the exhibit in a completely different way. By letting you play games you enjoyed many years ago, or comparing them to game consoles that were only available overseas, Game On gets you thinking past the entertainment factor and really about how these games reflect our rapidly growing technological world.

Or, if you’re just in it to have dozens of games at your disposal, that’s a good reason to visit the exhibit too. Due to the massive amounts of children that get their hands on the consoles every day, some of the games were slated for repair and weren’t functional, but for the most part, they were all very enjoyable. Game On offers a wide range of genres, including role-playing games, massive multiplayers, 2D, and 3D. For the kid in you, or the kid with you, there's something for everyone.

Ontario Science Centre | 770 Don Mills Road | 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. daily | 416-696-1000

The Ontario Legislative Building is located at the heart of Queen's park, surrounded by the historic grounds of the University of Toronto's St. George campus. Don't miss our upcoming photo essay that allows you to look inside this beautiful building!

The Wine Butler at Highway 401 and Dufferin Street is an award-winning winery where thousands of people opt out of the typical wine buying experience in Ontario and choose to bottle their own brew. Offering a choice between “exceptional” varieties like Yakima Valley Cab Shiraz or international and California varieties, the Wine Butler provides you with over 40 wine options — and you're sure to love one.

Why bottle your own wine? Well, in addition to saving over 70 per cent what you’d pay at the LCBO per bottle, choosing to bottle your own at a venue like The Wine Butler is fun and rewarding because it rewards your work with wine! Most importantly, the Wine Butler boasts wines with one-seventh the preservatives found in commercially available wines. So if you drink red wine for your health, making your own is the best way to go. The Wine Butler ensures premium quality at an affordable rate, and helping the planet is a great bonus by reusing your bottles with every batch. As Mark Whalen, owner of the Wine Butler, commented,

Our customers tell us they come back as an inexpensive way to get good wine. They like that our wine is low in preservatives, that you can reuse your bottles; and part of the profits are donated.

The Atmosphere at Wine Butler Is Great!

The process at the Wine Butler is simple, fast, and rewarding. It comes down to three easy steps.

1. Pick your wine and make your appointment. On their website, you can choose the type of wine you'd like to make, as all options are listed. Then you're asked to book your first appointment, which only takes a few minutes but which is crucial to getting the wine started. The Wine Butler will have the grape juice prepared, and you must drop a little packet of yeast into it. If you’re wondering why you have to go to drop it in yourself, it’s because by taking on this role you don't have to pay taxes on wine you usually see at the LCBO. It’s a short but sweet appointment where you get to check out the relaxed atmosphere and see where your wine will be brewing for the next little while.
2. For the next six to eight weeks, the Wine Butler does the work for you. Once your vintage is ready for bottling, they’ll notify you and you can book your bottling appointment. This is the fun part! If you have bottles already, you can bring them in to be sterilized by the Wine Butler (or read steps online on how to clean your bottles at home), or you can purchase them for $1 each and reuse them if you make another batch. Then you're ready to bottle.
3. The bottling atmosphere is so laid-back; it really makes for an enjoyable experience. You can even test your wine while you bottle! They set you up at a bottling station, where they teach you how to fill your bottles with the wine, use an air-powered corker to cork them, and master the shrink-wrap station to cover the tops in the colour of your choice plus add your own labels.

It was such a fun and affordable experience that this is definitely my go-to for wine from now on.

We recognize that our customers are our most valuable asset and do our best to treat them accordingly,

Mark Whalen boasted.

Based on my experience with the Wine Butler team, I completely agree. They really do the work for you, but you get to do the fun stuff (decorating!) and really enjoy how it gets put together. From one batch, I was able to make 30 bottles, which should last quite some time and which is perfect for gifts. I made my custom labels, but The Wine Butler supplies simple labels onsite.

The Bottling Process 

And how did it taste? Since this was my first time, I wasn’t sure if it’d be any good, but my Pinot Noir was delicious. Actually one of the best wines I’ve tasted in a very long time, with notes of vanilla, violets, and red berry fruits, it goes down smoothly and pairs well with pastas or meat dishes. Next time, I’m trying an “exceptional” variety, because the savings are still there, but I’d like to taste an even higher quality. Overall, the Wine Butler is a great date-night idea and an enjoyable experience, with delicious wine and top-notch service.

The Wine Butler Toronto | Unit G, 100 Bridgeland Ave | winebutler.ca

The Wine Butler Mississauga | 860 Lakeshore Rd. East

NXNE: North by Northeast

June 10 to 16, 2013 | Various venues | NXNE.com

Looks Great, Don't You think?

North by Northeast has become the Canadian festival destination for emerging artists and bands as well as major-label headliners, music filmmakers, and digital interactive innovators bridging the gap between technology and the arts. The NXNE festival will last for seven days and nights in various venues within a few kilometres of each other. There will be more than 1,000 international, national, and local artists performing at 50 official festival stages in downtown Toronto. Moreover, there will be over 80 interactive sessions, comedians, and art installations to keep you busy and excited.

Movie lovers and rockers at heart can visit NXNE film screenings of more than 30 of the best music-themed features, documentaries, shorts, and experimental films from around the world. Chances are you'll meet actors, producers, and musicians at the screenings, as many of them are world or Canadian premiers.

NXNE Interactive is a digital interactive media conference — the only one of its kind in Canada. Four days of workshops, presentations, and panel discussions await every artist, tech entrepreneur, digital marketing guru, web business expert, and social media aficionado who wants to explore the newest ideas bridging the gap between creativity and the interactive world.

MWF: Mississauga Waterfront Festival

June 14 to 16, 2013 | Port Credit Memorial Park | Mississauga | TheMWF.com

Mississauga Waterfront Festival 

The Mississauga Waterfront Festival has been voted one of the top 100 festivals in Ontario nine years in a row! Over that time, it has set new standards for excellence and gained many loyal peers from the industry, business partners, media partners, and — most importantly — attendees.

MWF open its gates to everyone. In the past, kids could see popular TV stars like The Backyardigans, Max & Ruby and Dora the Explorer. Family Fun Village is a place where the joy continues once your favourite performance has ended. You can see everything from stilt walkers and fire-eaters to exciting water shows, a family carnival, interactive sports activities, delicious food, and unique crafters and vendors.

Adults and teenagers will surely love to see performances of the best Canadian and international talent. In past years, Sam Roberts, Jann Arden, Tom Cochrane, Chantel Kreviazuk, Colin James, Kathleen Edwards, Suzie McNeill, and Bruce Cockburn performed at MWF. To check out this year’s lineup, visit the MWF website.

Luminato

June 14 to 23, 2013 | Various venues | Luminato.com

Guess Who Is Attending Luminato Festival? Joni Mitchell!

Luminato embraces the same diversity that is the beating heart of Toronto. It started with just one wish: to join cultures together and celebrate creativity. In a digital age, a festival like Luminato is one dimension of cultural activity that must still be experienced in person. This year will be the festival's fifth season, and Luminato has already managed to establish itself as the world’s newest international multidisciplinary arts festival, merging music, dance, theatre, film, literature, visual art, and lectures. You don’t need to take a day off just to attend the ten-day long festival; there will be free events all around Toronto during the whole day, so whenever you're passing by a venue, make sure you pop in and see what’s going on. Some of the bigger and more prominent shows and events, however, will require a ticket.

TD Toronto Jazz Festival

June 20 to 29, 2013 | Nathan Phillips Square and various venues | TorontoJazz.com

350 performances this year at Toronto Jazz Festival!

The Jazz Festival in Toronto began in 1987 as a week-long showcase of the best jazz music, but over the time it grew from a small gathering into a really big festival with more than 500.000 loyal visitors every year. During the course of the festival, Toronto changes into a jazz-powered city. This year there will be more than 40 different venues around Toronto that will host an incredible 350 performances with over 1.500 musicians performing. Shows range from traditional bebop and blues to fusion and free jazz. This year’s lineup features world-renowned acts such as Willie Nelson, Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Steve Martin, Mavis Staples, Nikki Yanofsky, and more. Take a look at all the artists slated to perform here.

The heart of the festival is located in the core of downtown Toronto at Nathan Phillips Square, where you can also find an impressive, 1,200-seat, fully-licensed Mainstage Marquee and outdoor stage, and where many extraordinary events are offered free to the public.

Pride Toronto Festival

June 21 to 30, 2013 | Various Locations | PrideToronto.com

Such cool superqueer-os! 

There is more to the Pride Toronto Festival than just the famous and fabulous Pride Parade. Pride Week features 10 days of world-class arts and cultural programming as well as community activities, and it's easily one of the world’s largest street festivals. Toronto’s Pride celebration is one of the biggest LGBTQ festivities in the world, with an estimated attendance of over 1 million people this year. The Pride Festival celebrates diverse sexual and gender identities, culture, creativity, friends, and lives. Eight stages and different street fairs will keep you entertained during the three-day street festival that's an essential part of Toronto Pride Week.

A little reminder how it's going to look during the summer season in Toronto. Hitting the Sugar Beach during the lunch break isn't too bad, right?

Opening a bottle of a wine and sharing it with someone special is enchanting. There is no other drink like wine. Drinking a martini will never have quite the same charm, although James Bond has been hyping it all these years. Wine has been the drink for centuries. It is associated with glamour, intelligence, and high society.

If you go back to the Greeks and Romans, they talk about all three — wine, food, and art — as a way of enhancing life.
(Robert Mondavi)

Wine is surrounded by a cloud of secret that makes us feel allured and fascinated. The secret gives us freedom to relish the moment, sense all different tastes and scents, and be carried away. The drink itself is not magical; it lets you feel the magic inside you.

The reaction of your senses and mind to wine is unique and it changes from person to person. A sip of wine can suddenly remind you of summers spent at the cottage in the mountains or of your first night in your new house. You might taste cherries, chocolate, or spices or you might taste pure grapes. It takes many glasses and many nights for you to be able to name what you sense. This is the beauty of wine: it makes you slow down, remember pleasant moments, and create new ones; you will learn how to use your senses too and not to be afraid of them. You will feel all the palette when you’re ready to feel it. Wine is patience.

Do you know what makes wine taste like chocolate or tobacco? How can you keep sparkling wine nice and bubbly until the next night? Let’s collaborate and merge our wine tasting experiences. We would be happy if you could leave us a comment below with your wine tips and tricks.

Here’s to alcohol, the rose-coloured glasses of life.
(F.S. Fitzgerald)

Wine Cellar by theodorescott

Tasting wine: step by step

Wine tasting is a series of logical steps that will help you to fully feel and understand wine. Tasting a glass of wine comes as the last step that will sum up all your sensual perceptions.

At first, look at the wine you’re tasting. The colour is never just red. You can see hints of brown, burgundy, or chili red. Rosé wines, for instance, cover all pink hues, from deep pink to light, rose-petal tones. Hue can tell you a lot about the wine you’re about to drink. Usually, the deeper the colour of wine, the more overwhelming taste you can expect. To determine the density of wine, simply swirl your glass and watch wine course down the glass. Dense and thick wines will be mouth-filling and consuming, whereas lighter wines would feel crispy and refreshing. There is a lot you can tell about wine by simply observing it.

When you have gathered all visual information, it’s the right time to engage another of your senses. Swirl the glass once more and bring it to your nose. By swirling it, you make the wine release its aromas; you’re “volatilizing the esters.” Inhale deeply and slowly and try to determine the bouquet. Is it sweet, spicy, or fruity? Can you go further and determine specifically what aroma you feel? The more glasses you taste, the better you get at classifying the smell. Remember, there is no right answer; it’s fine to smell cherries even if no one else can smell them.

Try lowering your glass and taking a sip. How does it feel? Do you feel all the information coming together and clicking? Like a short movie played against your closed eyelids, you see the bottle opening, hear wine sloshing into a glass, sense infatuating aromas. Your senses trigger your memories and longings and everything starts blending as you take a sip. “Truth comes out in wine,” Pliny the Elder says.

What temperature are best for red, rosé, and white wines?

The storing temperature is the same for all types, and it is often referred to as “chilly” so something around 9-13°C would be fine. Wines love dark spaces. Showing off your bottles in a reception room or dining room might be impressive to guests, but it wouldn’t have a good effect on the wine itself. A wine cellar is a cellar for a reason (low temperature and no light).

Rosé by imcountingufoz

Make sure you leave a bottle of wine at room temperature for a couple of minutes before you drink it. Low temperatures are good for preserving the wine but less so in opening it up. To fully feel the flavours, you should let it warm it up a bit. White wine can be served at lower temperatures. Some believe white wine should be served at 10°C. It can be too cold for some and besides, the majority of people whom I’ve seen drinking white wine left it to warm up a bit before they took a sip. This experience makes me suggest you serve it at roughly 13°C. It is still chilly enough to be refreshing but warm enough for its flavours to unlock. Red wine has more complex flavours and so it needs higher temperatures to fully open up. Generally, people tend to serve it at room temperature. It’s important to realize that “room temperature” centuries ago was significantly lower than today. It was around 17-18°C, which is much cooler than today’s 22-24°C. Red wine needs to be sweet but crisp, and serving it at 22°C would take away its crispness. Rosé is a mixture of white and red wine. You may find light pink rosé wines as well as deep-coloured ones. The same rule would apply here. The lighter the colour, the lower the temperature at serving. Again, it’s all about how you like it, so experiment; try different temperatures with different wines at different occasions and see how you enjoy it most.

Can I cork a bottle and finish drinking in a day or two?

Men are like wine – some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age.
(Pope John XXII)

Once you open a bottle and keep it refrigerated, you can drink it for as long as you like. The wine will, however, react with the air and start changing slightly. At some point it will turn into vinegar and you won’t find it tasty anymore. Some people can drink one bottle for a week and love it until the last drop, and some would never leave the bottle for tomorrow night. Generally speaking, a bottle should last four to seven days when properly corked or closed. Sparkling wine is a different story. Bubbles tend to escape and therefore you should always finish the bottle. However, if you put a stainless steel teaspoon inside the bottle and cork it, the bubbles won’t escape and you can enjoy it tomorrow night again. This is a helpful little trick directly from winemakers.

Sparkling Wine by kthread

How does a corked wine taste?

A wine that is corked results from a reaction between three things: the chlorine in the water that has been used to clean the cork, lignin (the wood in cork), and the wine itself. This reaction makes all the fruitiness and delicious flavours disappear. As a result, you open a bottle of wine that lacks the familiar sweet and spicy scents and rather smells like wet cardboard. However, not everyone can spot a corked wine. If you’re a less experienced wine taster/drinker, you might think the wine is just not the one you really enjoy. You can still drink it — it’s not harmful, but it’s not optimal either.

Why are wine flavours and aromas not associated with grapes?

One would expect to find flavours associated with grapes when drinking wine. On the contrary, chocolate, berries, tobacco, and spices are mentioned. Even though wine is made from grapes only, it develops, ages, and grows, and those aromas change with it.

Vineyard by caliterra

Different wineries use different casks for their wines. Usually wines are kept in oak barrels and it’s the reaction of a young wine and oak that triggers the creation of all other flavours and aromas. Oak barrels can be used as many as three times before they are deposited and replaced by new ones. You can expect a strong reaction between the barrel and wine the first year you use it. The wine will adopt many characteristics from the wood and can smell of chocolate, tobacco, or vanilla. The second year, a milder reaction is expected, and in the third year, only a faint presence of oak can be found in the wine. When it comes to white wine, there are a couple of wineries that prefer to keep their wines in stainless steel tanks so that you can fully appreciate the taste of wine and see what flavours it can create on its own. This, however, doesn’t make the wine taste like grapes only. When you smell a white wine that comes from a stainless steel tank, it will probably smell of berries, cherries, and exotic fruit. It will be fresh and crisply clean — elegant and simple. Such wines are perfect for summer nights and spontaneous events. Their crisp makes them very easy to taste and understand. On the other hand, red wines aged in oak barrels are deeper and more complicated. They can warm you up and are wonderful to be shared during long, chilly nights.

Wine Maturing in Vats by futureshape

It’s important to realize that each barrel is different and you will never produce the same wine. Wine is a living thing. It’s a result of sun, grapes, soil, and the care of a winemaker. When left in barrel, time plays an important role. The older the wine, the more complicated and complex it tends to get. Aromas and flavours come together, evolve, and come apart, and the texture also changes. This is one of the reasons why we love wine. It makes us slow down and notice all the details, different flavours, and scents and we can discuss them, talk about them, and definitely enjoy them.

How do I know what year is good?

It’s very hard to say what exactly makes a good vintage of wine. There are a zillion things that can go wrong and it could be the one year a winemaker doesn’t make a perfect wine. It all starts with winter. Ontario winemakers don’t like cold winters; basically anything below -23°C is not ideal for wine. Spring and summer with enough sunlight and rainfall can set off a nice vintage in combination with the right temperature during both day and night. All will be decided in the last weeks between Labour Day and Halloween. Grape varieties ripen at different times, so you can make a great white but just an ordinary red the same season. As a consumer, you need to wait for references from winemakers and sommeliers.

Choose the Perfect Wine by isante

How can I find a sommelier to help me to choose the perfect wine?

Sommeliers are there for you to advise you, teach you, and help you to choose a wine you’ll love. Robert Modavi always says to consumers:

Instead of relying totally on critics, drink what you like and like what you drink.

There is no good or bad wine, only wine that you love and the wine you don’t. When a sommelier approaches you, tell him what meal you’re having and what type of wine you like. If you prefer light, clean, and fruity wine or heavier, full-bodied, smokey varieties, let him know. It’s also handy to know your price limit. You can have an amazing wine without robbing a bank. He will then describe a couple of wines that he thinks you would like and would complement your meal well. The only mistake you can make is not stating your preferences.

There is a communion of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine is drunk.