Around Ontario

TORONTO — Canadian actor Jahmil French of "Degrassi: The Next Generation" fame has died. His agent, Gabrielle Kachman, confirmed the news to The Canadian Press through a statement.

TORONTO — Ontarians should be encouraged to see friends and relatives outdoors in the coming months, some health experts said Tuesday in stressing the need for realistic pandemic guidance following a winter of isolation.

A second COVID-19 variant has been confirmed in a northern Ontario region that’s battling a deadly outbreak of cases driven by another infectious variant.

TORONTO — Ontario seniors won't receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine since there's limited data on its effectiveness in older populations, the province said Tuesday, but it remained unclear who those shots would go to.

MONTREAL — Quebec has reached a deal with pharmacies that will allow them to start administering COVID-19 vaccines by mid-March to help the province get ahead of more contagious virus variants, Health Minister Christian Dube said Tuesday.

TORONTO — The Toronto Arrows are under the bubble in nearby Whitby, gearing up for the March 20 start of the Major League Rugby season. They soon will be taking up residence 1,200 kilometres south in Marietta, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta.

TORONTO — Restricting towing zones on some highways and licensing tow truck drivers are some of the measures Ontario will be introducing later this year in its efforts to crack down on an industry rocked by allegations of violent turf wars.

SAINTE-SOPHIE, Que. — A second woman has died of her injuries following an assault Monday in a house in Quebec's Laurentians region.

TORONTO — Public health authorities have ordered the closure of a Toronto school after several cases of a COVID-19 variant were found. Toronto's health unit says a COVID-19 outbreak in Donwood Park Public School has sickened six people in the school.

TORONTO — The show must go on at the Stratford Festival, but this summer it'll be happening outdoors.