A man who went on a racist tirade and grabbed a masked female Chinese student on a city bus at the start of the pandemic has been handed four months house arrest.

The failure of a coroner to fully investigate the 2014 death of an Indigenous boy was part of a systemic dereliction of duty that should face legal scrutiny, Ontario's top court heard Thursday. A lawyer argued it was wrong for a judge to dismiss the family's lawsuit against the coroner.

Hate crime complaints and arrests in Torontojumped sharply last year, with Jewish and Black people the most common targets, according to an annual police report released on Thursday.

About 100 million litres of fresh water flows west to the city of Winnipeg every day but the struggling Indigenous people who live on the shores of Shoal Lake say no benefits have ever flowed east to them.

A $30-million class-action award against Ontario for its mistreatment of inmates in solitary confinement will stand, the province's Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday.

Many of Ontario's 150,000 nursing home residents have been confined to their rooms or floors for as long as 15 months.

Women in predominantly female job sectors must have access to a suitable male comparison group in order to ensure their pay is fair, and stays that way, Ontario's top court ruled on Tuesday.