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Hello and welcome to Best Of Maclean’s.

Each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we deliver the top stories from Maclean’s directly to your inbox, showcasing the most interesting people, places and stories from across Canada.

Are garden suites part of the housing crisis solution?

Toronto joined the list of Canadian cities allowing for garden suites—freestanding backyard homes—earlier this month after the Ontario Land Tribunal dismissed an appeal filed by a Toronto residents’ association.

But questions remain regarding the affordability of the backyard suites, and whether or not they can help address the housing crisis. We talked to garden suites specialist and project manager Kyle Springer to find out.

Full story here

Sam Effah leads Canada at the Commonwealth Games

Today marks the first day of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and Olympian Sam Effah is one of two chefs de mission leading Canada’s national team at the sporting event. Click through to see what he spent his money on as he prepared for the event. Read More

I’m the Rare Plant Fairy. I sell exotic plants to customers worldwide.

Jocelyn Ho started selling plants out of a spare bedroom during the pandemic. Now, Ho and a team of employees run the business out of two brick-and-mortar locations and an online shop. The Rare Plant Fairy offers over 100 species of the world’s rarest exotic plants. Read More

Cottage Industry: A Seaside Buy

After deciding a cottage in the Kawarthas was out of reach financially, the Perry family set their sights on Nova Scotia’s South Shore: “It never used to be a market for multiple offers and bidding wars, but it is now.” Read More

A CanLit Reckoning

In his latest book, Making Love With the Land, Oji-Cree author Joshua Whitehead moves between genres and languages in a series of essays that open up a whole new window on the meaning of Canadian literature. Read More

On newsstands now:

How B.C. is learning to live with relentless wildfires

Last summer, the forests of British Columbia were engulfed in flames. At some points, there were as many as 80 new fires each day across the province.

Wildfires in British Columbia are hotter, bigger, and deadlier than ever. For residents in B.C., they are also a frightening, elemental fact of everyday life.

One year after the catastrophe, Maclean’s revisits the danger zones to hear from the firefighters, survivors and homeowners living with the constant threat of wildfires in this portrait of a province in flames.

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