Emilea Semancik

Rate shopping is easy. Building a mortgage strategy that still makes sense five years from now takes something else, and that’s the gap Rakhee Dhingra set out to close when she founded Mortgage Savvy, an independent brokerage based in North York. As Founder, CEO and Broker of Record, Dhingra guides clients across Toronto, the GTA and Ontario through purchases, renewals, refinances and investment properties, but her real focus sits one level up: cash flow, debt, equity and where a client wants their finances to be years down the road.

Andrew Barr has spent over a decade earning a reputation as one of Canada’s sharpest joke writers, but it’s his newfound sobriety that’s given his stand-up a raw, deeply personal edge — one that’s resonated with audiences from CBC Radio’s LOL to the Edinburgh Fringe to JFL Toronto. With a following of more than 140,000 online, Andrew’s comedy is honest in a way that doesn’t flinch, turning the hardest chapter of his life — addiction and recovery — into material that’s as cathartic as it is funny.

Hey! I’m Laura Fortini. I love music and writing [and I also adore nature], and from that, I write songs. Songwriting has been an integral part of my formation, as combining musical composition and lyrical prose is just fascinating, and has constantly been the most cathartic and helpful outlet that I’ve had to process my emotions from. As someone that always feels increasingly misunderstood, it’s the only way I’ve noticed that I can communicate best & get across to people in the most unobstructed, vulnerable and honest way— being properly transparent. Whenever I’m writing songs, it’s essentially always to tell you what’s going on at any given time. It always comes from my innermost thoughts and feelings. I tend to write in a rather abstract and introspective way, so it continuously feels like I’m able to get to the deepest parts of myself and make sense of them. This being the case, it’s genuinely the most therapeutic thing I can do. It feels natural, yet ordered/structured… which seems to be hard, even when you want to explain things clearly in a conversation with another person. It’s my main outlet: it’s how I make sense of myself, situations, as well as other people. It’s the way that I feel I get to show empathy and be the fully sensitive individual I’ve always felt I am. I love it so much, and I’m so glad I get to do this.

Kyle Nunes Medeiros, known as Kyle24, is a creator focused on mindset, confidence, entrepreneurship, and personal growth through content and podcasting.

Gabriel Tait is an insightful writer who is passionate about books, movies and music. He was born and raised in Toronto and has an observational eye for what brings the city to life, and he writes about that through his unique lens. Gabriel has been sober for more than two decades and brings a very intimate, personal and hard-earned understanding of addiction to his writing, bringing a vividness and authenticity to his work. Gabriel and his partner have four kids and live in North Toronto.

Jeff Paul is a Toronto comic whose grandmother once described his act as “absolute filth,” which is probably the most accurate review he’s ever gotten. He’s been doing this long enough to remember Puff Mama’s Underground Comedy Club, a legendary Toronto room that ran on no liquor licence, a leaky ceiling, and a permanent hotbox before weed was legal, and he’ll tell you some of the greatest shows this city has ever seen happened there.

Hailing from Eastern Ontario, Sue Prosser is a dynamic performer whose eclectic repertoire spans the music spectrum, blending classic roots-rock influences with powerful vocals, driving guitar work, humour, and an authentic connection with her audience. Whether delivering high-energy rock and roll or heartfelt, intimate performances, Sue brings passion, soul and unmistakable stage presence to every show.

When her daughter Tessa was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma at age six and began treatment at SickKids, Diane Monaco watched her struggle with something most people never think twice about: getting dressed with a PICC line in the way. That experience led Monaco to found PICC + COZY, a Toronto-area adaptive apparel company making clothing built around the realities of IV access. The pieces are designed to look and feel like regular clothes while giving healthcare teams easy access to a patient’s line, sparing patients the discomfort of constantly removing or adjusting what they’re wearing.

Stephen Ingram is a Hamilton-born singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who fuses his love of great Canadian artists, his decade-long career in live theatre, and his training as a classical pianist and music theorist to create story-driven, intricate folk-rock music that is unmistakably and fondly set in Ontario. His debut album “Fridge Magnet Symphony,” released in 2023, ran the gamut from high-energy pop-rock to orchestral folk to R&B to country rock, and was lauded by the Hamilton Spectator and played on CBC Radio. His second album “Silly Things,” set for release in September 2026, strips back the production and leans heavily into lyrical folk and hard-hitting, confessional folk rock. This upcoming album has been generously supported by the Ontario Arts Council and the London Arts Council, and centres around the coming of age from 20s-30s through the lens of his recent ADHD diagnosis, set to the distinct backdrop of Ontario, Canada. His recently released single “Sour Candy” was written shortly before he turned 30 and reflects on everything he learned in his 20s, the most important lesson being that people-pleasing only gets you so far before you lose yourself.

Keight Maclean is a Toronto painter who reimagines Old Masters portraits through feminist themes, vibrant colours and experimental mixed media.