The Walrus took home 5 gold and 4 silver awards at the National Magazine Awards. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees, and to the writers, illustrators, photographers, editors, fact checkers, and everyone on the team for making these wins possible. https://thewalrus.ca/awards-2026

Five years after the attack that killed four members of the Afzaal family in London, Ontario, the threat of far-right violence remains a defining challenge for Canada. Writers Amarnath Amarasingam and Stephanie Carvin examine its roots and evolution: https://ow.ly/IeU650Z8juy

Despite caring for her three children since birth, author Zena Sharman holds no legal parental status. Here, she reflects on the daily anxieties of multi-parenting and the enduring power of queer kinship over paperwork. https://thewalrus.ca/four-parents-raising-three-children/

📖 The 49th National Magazine Awards — Fiction: Gold: "The Miraculous Return of Khalid from the Dead," @thewalrus.ca Silver: "Forest Hill Gothic," @thewalrus.ca #NMA26

Nearly a decade after the Quebec City mosque shooting, Canada is still grappling with the warning signs of hate-fuelled violence. What did communities and institutions miss—and how can intervention happen before tragedy unfolds? https://ow.ly/FupI50Z7Rsa

Maria Reva wins the 2026 Amazon Canada First Novel Award for Endling (Knopf Canada/Penguin Random House Canada), about three Ukrainian women caught in a marriage industry built on survival and illusion as war and a scientific mission collide. Learn more: thewalrus.ca/afna #AmazonFNA50

Today’s extremist movements are not only more mobilized, they're harder to recognize. Here, writers Amarnath Amarasingam and Stephanie Carvin trace how biases against immigration, Islam, and political change helped reshape Canada’s far right. https://ow.ly/2g0750Z7ruK

What does Canadian citizenship guarantee a child? When refugee claimants lose their cases, their Canadian-born children can face an impossible choice: leave Canada with their parents or lose them. Writer Jonathan R. Rose explores: https://thewalrus.ca/canadian-children-refugees-deportation/

The Walrus has the best journalism in Canada without a paywall. Decode the stories that matter most in politics, business, health and more when you sign up for our free newsletter. https://thewalrus.ac-page.com/socialmedia

Jasper, Alberta, lost a third of its buildings in the 2024 wildfire. But according to experts, the real surprise is that two-thirds survived. As climate change fuels more extreme fires, Jasper may represent a new and unsettling benchmark for success. https://ow.ly/FrjJ50Z6oMw

Jasper, Alberta, was widely believed to be wiped out after the 2024 wildfire, but 755 of 1,113 buildings survived. Early confusion, limited press access, and viral images distorted the scale. When disaster narratives form this fast, who controls the truth? https://ow.ly/6aPn50Z60nY

Writer and photojournalist Jesse Winter argues that Jasper’s 2024 wildfire wasn’t a failure but a warning. A century of fire suppression and a warming climate are creating fires so extreme that even well-prepared communities can be pushed to the brink. https://ow.ly/qLue50Z5Omn

Canada’s first H5N1 case—a 13-year-old BC girl—spent 61 days in hospital, including 14 days on life support. A worst-case bird flu pandemic could reach 164 million deaths globally. Writer Renée Pellerin questions whether our health systems are ready: https://ow.ly/W3Q150Z3I8x

After Ontario legalized same-sex marriage, former judge Harvey Brownstone officiated weddings five times a day as thousands of couples flocked to Toronto, turning the courthouse into a symbol of possibility. https://thewalrus.ca/canadas-first-openly-gay-judge-same-sex-weddings/

A Toronto “library audit” helped convince literature professor Ira Wells that modern book banning doesn’t always arrive on the back of outrage—bureaucratic language, equity checklists, and the idea that books must serve a moral purpose all police reading. https://ow.ly/YmSY50Z3rfv

In our latest weekend read, Harvey Brownstone—Canada’s first openly gay judge—reflects on how the country’s legalization of same-sex marriage not only reshaped the law but opened the door to dignity, visibility, and belonging. https://thewalrus.ca/canadas-first-openly-gay-judge-same-sex-weddings/

Courts depend on journalists to make justice visible, but that relationship is eroding fast. Between publication bans, Zoombombings, and the collapse of local court reporting, obscurity is quickly replacing transparency. Writer Linda Besner explores: https://ow.ly/X7m150Z2XJz

Book banning is no longer a fringe political issue. PEN Canada president Ira Wells says the push to remove books from schools and libraries is being driven by a broader sense of cultural panic—one now reshaping education policy in Alberta and beyond. https://ow.ly/mrvz50Z2XGo

Academic freedom and free speech aren’t the same, and conflating them is eroding universities from within. Philosopher Shannon Dea examines how this confusion has produced a deeper crisis: institutions that don’t know what they stand for—or won’t say. https://ow.ly/mje950Z1Jqf

Writer Omer Aziz argues fascism is no longer a fringe threat but a global political project reshaping democracies from India to the US. As far-right movements coordinate across borders, can democratic institutions still hold? https://ow.ly/nX3O50Z0sOx

Ethical investing is booming, but author and water activist Maude Barlow argues many “green” markets let corporations keep polluting while privatizing conservation. Critics warn the climate crisis is being turned into another source of profit. https://ow.ly/KG0E50YXur1

During his April appearance on The Tonight Show, Punjabi music star Diljit Dosanjh mentioned the Komagata Maru, the ship carrying mostly Punjabi passengers that was denied entry to Canada in 1914. More than a century later, the story remains overlooked. https://ow.ly/Okgv50YXux4

Canada’s major airlines halted flights to Cuba after a U.S. executive order cut off fuel access, tightening pressure on Havana’s economy. As blackouts, water shortages, and banking failures spread, daily life is destabilizing. Writer Roger Lemoyne explores: https://ow.ly/P7Px50YUPBU

Canadian taxpayers have poured $980 million into Ubisoft since 2020, helping build a global gaming giant. As governments double down on subsidies and AI, the company’s Halifax shutdown exposes a policy gap. Journalist Isaac Peltz explores: https://thewalrus.ca/ubisoft-canada-tax-breaks-layoffs/

Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh sells out stadiums on land that once turned his ancestors away. In mentioning the Komagata Maru on The Tonight Show, he exposed just how far Canada still has to go in owning its history. Journalist Shilpashree Jagannathan explores: https://ow.ly/Mu7t50YWlqN

Canada’s “Montreal Model” turned Ubisoft from a mid-sized studio into a global powerhouse. The subsidies at the core of the system built the gaming industry—but didn’t include protections for workers during downturns. https://thewalrus.ca/ubisoft-canada-tax-breaks-layoffs/

Carbon offsets promised climate action. In Peru’s Cordillera Azul National Park, Indigenous communities say they lost land and hunting rights while oil companies profited from carbon credits. Maude Barlow asks: Who does green finance really serve? https://ow.ly/Q5j850YWMZc

After over 70 years in business, Toronto’s Patrician Grill is closing today. The family-run joint is being sold to George Brown College, reflecting a broader trend of legacy diners buckling under commercial pressure. What will take their place? https://ow.ly/G6HX50YWN5H

When Wing Noodles shuttered in 2025, it took 128 years of Chinatown history with it. Determined to preserve some piece of what was being lost, writer and photographer Ezra Soiferman documented the production of their last batch of fortune cookies. https://ow.ly/GSNq50YWN3R

“Learning to set physical boundaries teaches us to set emotional ones too.” From preschool playrooms to office floors, space shapes behaviour. Behavioural scientist and engineering professor Leidy Klotz examines how our environments inform our relationships: https://ow.ly/F4ax50YTFRN

According to Lebanese officials, Amal Khalil was the ninth journalist killed in Lebanon this year. The Walrus’s Samia Madwar and journalism professor Sonya Fatah discuss what it means to report on a war that is also a war on those doing the reporting. https://ow.ly/7HeH50YTFN4

Quebec built an immigration system designed to attract French-speaking workers, promising a clear path to permanent residency. Then they abruptly dismantled it. Caitlin Walsh Miller, The Walrus’s regional correspondent for Quebec, reports on the fallout: https://ow.ly/BpcC50YSfjO

Canada holds 20 percent of Earth’s fresh water, yet 60 percent flows north, away from most Canadians. Water activist Maude Barlow calls it “the myth of abundance.” As Ottawa chases energy superpower status, who’s asking what we’re trading away? https://ow.ly/FpL650YQSLG

Government-run nutrition experiments didn’t just turn Indigenous residential school students into involuntary human subjects, writes Elaine Dewar. “Entire First Nations and Inuit communities [...] had been turned into objects of scientific curiosity.” https://ow.ly/qrVo50YQSMQ

Where should the law draw the line on MAID? Writer Kevin Andrew Heslop speaks to Mohamad Elfakhani, chief of psychiatry at the London Health Sciences Centre, Victoria Hospital, about issues surrounding MAID and mental illness: https://thewalrus.ca/maid-mental-illness/

The Walrus is delighted to share that we’ve received three nominations at this year’s Digital Publishing Awards. Congratulations to the nominees! Read the stories that have been nominated:

Canada appears water rich, yet much of its supply flows north, away from population centres, while groundwater is overdrawn and polluted—and policy gaps and climate stress are compounding risk. Writer Christopher Pollon explores: https://ow.ly/u5pA50YPwNR

A journalist’s investigation leads to a chilling discovery: in residential schools, malnourished children were deliberately kept hungry for research. The story broke, then faded. Years later, its full scope has resurfaced. https://ow.ly/PSwV50YPwH3

An excerpt from Elaine Dewar’s OBLIVIOUS appeared in The Walrus this weekend! thewalrusca.substack.com/p/how-reside... A reminder, for those in Toronto, that we’ll be honouring Dewar’s work at Massey College this Wednesday, April 29, at 6pm.

Canada ran a segregated Indigenous hospital system for thirty-five years—and most Canadians have never even heard of it. Author Elaine Dewar uncovers a parallel health network that was chronically understaffed, medically inferior, and rife with abuse. https://ow.ly/t4Ln50YPwA7

You can read our recent piece on the dystopian ethics of Polymarket here thewalrus.ca/prediction-m...

Canada is profiting from oil volatility but falling behind in the energy transition. As countries like the UK and China scale renewables, the real risk isn’t just inflation—it’s losing economic ground. Is today’s boom masking tomorrow’s setback? https://ow.ly/irKI50YLrzg

In 1978, the nuclear-powered Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 crashed in the Northwest Territories. A massive search only recovered 1 percent of it, resulting in a decades-long mystery over what it left behind. Journalist Whit Fraser explores: https://ow.ly/rNwr50YLrGA

The gender pension gap isn’t just about retirement. It’s about a lifetime of unequal pay and missed opportunities compounding over decades. If today’s trends hold, what will retirement look like for the next generation of women? https://thewalrus.ca/canada-pension-gap/

Canada’s pensions were built by men, for men—and the consequences are still playing out. Women earn less, take career hits from caregiving, and retire poorer. Author Moira Welsh asks the hard question: Can a system built without women ever serve them? https://thewalrus.ca/canada-pension-gap/

Yes, a house is a home—but it can also be an asset. In Canada, this dual role has reshaped the economy, with the housing market worth about $300 billion a year and accounting for roughly 13.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. https://ow.ly/jxn050YIv3j

“Was 3I/ATLAS thinking about us?” On December 19, 2025, a comet from another solar system quietly passed Earth—and with its arrival, speculation blurred science and imagination. Here, writer Andrew Seale reflects on what we’re really searching for in the sky: https://thewalrus.ca/3iatlas-comet/

For The Walrus contributing writer David Moscrop buying a house felt like an accomplishment—but it also felt like guilt. “I was scoring some stability, while others, priced out of the market, were left to military-crawl into the latter half of their life.” https://ow.ly/BjHW50YHjS5

In the shadow of Apple and Amazon, Canadian platforms quietly rewired music access, connecting artists directly to fans years ahead of the curve. Writer Cam Gordon explores the key players history forgot: https://thewalrus.ca/before-apple-music-there-was-maplemusic/

Canadians tend to think of Jeffrey Epstein’s network as a web that exists in a distant place, but the Epstein files suggest otherwise—and the pattern they reveal is familiar to those who pay attention to how power operates in this country. https://ow.ly/a6y350YHk5w