Mother says son was ‘savagely bitten’ at Toronto-area group home amid staff strike
The mother of a man living in a Toronto-area group home at the centre of a bitter labour dispute says she is seeking accountability after he was “savagely bitten” on the neck by another resident.
Jan Beddoe says she was “absolutely furious” after the Dec. 23 attack on her 47-year-old son Chris at the home run by Central West Specialized Developmental Services. It’s a provincially funded supportive living community for adults with developmental disabilities, with satellite locations in Burlington, Halton Hills, Mississauga and Oakville.
The bite happened more than two months after about 40 residents were moved into the care home’s main facility near downtown Oakville to ensure there would be enough staff to provide round-the-clock care in anticipation of a strike by support staff.
The workers represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union walked off the job in mid-November, about 40 days after CWSDS requested a no-board report from Ontario’s Ministry of Labour. Since then, third-party agency staff have been working in the main Oakville facility to support residents.
Beddoe alleges the attack on Chris occurred in the upstairs part of his unit while all the staff working in that area were in a meeting. Chris had to reach the top of the stairs before anyone could hear him calling for help, she said.
Chris saw a nurse on site and was later taken to a hospital, where he received several stitches, Beddoe said. The Canadian Press reviewed photos of the bite, which revealed a deep wound that extends from his chin to the edge of his jaw.
“As soon as the incident happened, (I felt) terrible fear,” Beddoe said in an interview. “But once I knew he was all right and he was going to be all right, then I was just absolutely furious, beyond furious. I did not hear from the centre. I did not hear from house management.”
Beddoe said she blames the incident “fully on understaffing, some unqualified staffing … They don’t know these clients well enough to know their individualized needs.”
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She said Chris’s wound was partially closed with stitches and the open part needs to be packed with gauze on a daily basis, likely for another month.
CWSDS CEO Patricia Kyle wouldn’t comment on the bite, citing patient confidentiality, but she said that “supervision was in place at the time of the incident.”
The organization is “deeply proud of the high-quality, compassionate care we provide people with complex developmental needs,” Kyle wrote in an email to The Canadian Press.
Union spokesperson Jolene Cushman said OPSEU is aware of the incident.
“This is a dangerous situation that members have been warning could happen long before they went on strike,” she wrote in an email.
After the bite, Chris came home for two weeks. Beddoe said her family managed to have a “lovely Christmas,” but was in a “lot of shock.”
In addition to managing typical care for Chris, who has an insatiable appetite and significant dietary restrictions as a result of Prader-Willi syndrome, Beddoe said she was also tasked with bathing and cleaning his wound every day.
“My one daughter took a week off work to stay with me to help care for Chris because I can’t do it myself,” the 73-year-old said. “We just laid low and cared for him.”
Chris has since returned to the care home in Oakville and is now living in a different unit that doesn’t have any “high needs” or “high volatility” clients, Beddoe said. She had requested that in several letters she sent to the home’s management.
“He is very content not to be frightened,” she said, adding that Chris still hasn’t been interviewed by CWSDS staff for the incident report.
Kyle said in her statement that CWSDS has been “supporting and communicating extensively with the person supported and their family to address their safety and well-being.”
Still, Beddoe said she’s concerned about the level of care as the strike continues and agency staff remain as the residents’ primary caregivers. She said the lack of familiarity with residents’ specific needs is contributing to an unsafe environment. She’s also frustrated by what she describes as a lack of communication and transparency from CWSDS.
Beddoe isn’t the only one with concerns. In October, more than a dozen family members wrote a letter to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, asking him to help return their loved ones to their regular care homes after the move to the main facility in Oakville. The letter said residents were moved without their families’ consent and needed to be among regular staff who knew them.
Family members sounded the alarm again when front-line workers walked off the job in November, with some questioning the quality of care their loved ones would receive.
Before Chris was bitten, Beddoe’s daughter Shannon also wrote a letter to the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services about conditions at the care home.
When the issue was raised in the Ontario legislature in late November, Michael Parsa, the minister of children, community and social services, said the province requires every agency to “have strong contingency plans in place” to ensure the best care for those receiving support services.
In an emailed statement, the ministry said it conducts regular inspections of care agencies and that allegations of abuse or neglect can be sent through ReportON. It did not respond to questions about Chris’s bite or comment on allegations of unsafe conditions at CWSDS.
A resident died at the Oakville care home in December, as the union alleged conditions there had been worsening. Halton regional police have said the death is not considered to be suspicious.
On Jan. 10, OPSEU President JP Hornick sent a letter to CWSDS’s board of directors, urging them to “bear responsibility for the ongoing situation” at the care home. His requests included getting a fair deal for workers and addressing health and safety concerns via an emergency board meeting.
As the labour dispute drags on, what happened to Chris has caused panic among other residents’ families as well, Beddoe said.
“I think the feeling amongst everyone is: if this can happen to Chris, it can happen to anyone,” she said.
LAS VEGAS – Mitch Marner says he hasn’t given much thought to the reunion.
The Vegas Golden Knights winger was focused on putting one foot in front of the other as he navigated a new team, city and country.
The calendar has also finally flipped to a day many others circled back in June.
Vegas hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight in Marner’s first game against the team he cheered for as a kid, starred with for almost a decade, and then bolted for Sin City.
“I don’t think I’ve got to look at it any different,” the 28-year-old told reporters last night following a 3-2 road victory in overtime against the Los Angeles Kings when asked about facing his former club. “Just look at it as another hockey game and just try and go out there and do my thing.”
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Selected with the No. 4 overall pick at the 2015 NHL draft, Marner registered 102 points in 2024-25 with Toronto and hit 90 on three other occasions.
He finished with 741 points (221 goals, 520 assists) in 657 regular-season games, but was a lightning rod of criticism for playoff failures on a roster with offensive talent that also included Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares.
“He was there a long time,” Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters in L.A. “There’s always turnover every year, but I’m sure he has real close friendships with a lot of those guys. That can be hard.”
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Marner’s slow march out the door — he had a full no-movement clause in his previous contract — as unrestricted free agency loomed finally ended when the Maple Leafs shipped him to the Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade deal that netted him an eight-year, US$96-million extension.
Depth forward Nicolas Roy came the other way in a swap that allowed Marner to get an eighth campaign on his new pact instead of the seven-season max as a UFA.
Poised to also suit up for his first game in Toronto against the Maple Leafs on Jan. 23, Marner had 11 goals and 36 assists for 47 points in 45 games entering Thursday.
“We’ll use him like we usually do and hopefully get him a few extra shifts here and there,” Cassidy added of a player set to represent Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics next month. “I’m sure he’s going to be highly motivated. But sometimes it goes the other way … you want to do too much. Hopefully he just goes out and plays his game.”
Vegas (22-11-12) enters on a five-game winning streak following five straight losses. Toronto (23-16-7) saw its 8-0-2 run snapped Tuesday in a 6-1 road loss to the Utah Mammoth.
“Mitchy’s obviously very crafty,” Maple Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe told reporters in Salt Lake City after that defeat. “I’ve switched teams and you play buddies. It’s always a little bit different the first night, but looking forward to it.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
A powerful winter storm continued to paralyze roads across Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area Thursday morning, grounding flights, closing highways and triggering dozens of crashes as heavy snow conditions made roads treacherous.
What started as a yellow warning snowstorm has worked its way up to an orange warning snowstorm with more than 20 to 30 centimetres of snow, and up to 5o cm in some regions.
The storm also forced widespread school and university closures across much of Ontario, as boards and post-secondary institutions cancelled in-person classes due to dangerous travel conditions.
Global News chief meteorologist Anthony Farnell said the system is the most significant winter storm to hit the region since January 2022.
Across the GTA, OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said officers were responding to about a dozen active crashes Thursday morning, most involving single vehicles sliding off the roadway.
“Most are single-vehicle crashes, cars in the ditch, into guardrails, facing the wrong way after losing control,” Schmidt said in a social media post. “We’ve also had a couple of multi-vehicle crashes.”
In Toronto, the Don Valley Parkway has been closed in both directions following several crashes linked to black ice.
Police say major routes across the city are seeing snow-covered and slippery conditions.
Schmidt urged drivers to slow down and give snowplows room to work, warning that travel would remain slow and hazardous.
“Make sure you’re giving yourself all the time in the world. Let the plows do their work,” he said. “Have a full headlighting system on.”
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According to Toronto city officials, some TTC routes are also facing delays or experiencing suspended service till conditions and roads improve.
TTC has announced that they are taking measures to ensure service continuity including running anti-icing trains to keep the power rail and tracks clear of snow and ice.
A TTC bus is seen stuck on McCowan and Sheppard due to slippery and icy road conditions.
Chris Dunseth/ Global News
The storm has also caused significant disruption at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
According to FlightAware, as of Thursday, 165 flights were delayed and 101 were cancelled at Pearson. 49 delays involved flights travelling within, into or out of the United States from Toronto Pearson.
Several major GTA highways and ramps are also feeling the impacts of this powerful weather storm, with many partially or fully closed due to crashes and stranded vehicles.
According to OPP, a jack-knifed tractor-trailer shut down the westbound Highway 401 collector ramp at Kennedy Road in Scarborough early Thursday morning.
Other transport trucks have also been reported to be involved in collisions on Highway 402 and along stretches of Highway 401.
A truck rolls into a 30m ditch and the driver is rescued using a rope at 4 a.m in London.
Via London Fire Department
In London, fire crews responded to a crash on Highway 401 eastbound just before 4 a.m., using ropes to reach a transport truck driver who had gone down a steep, snow-covered ditch.
No injuries were reported, though heavy towing equipment will be required to remove the vehicle.
OPP’s West Region also reported multiple highway closures due to vehicle collisions Thursday morning.
In central Ontario, police warned that snow, ice and poor visibility were affecting roads in Barrie, Orillia, Midland, Bracebridge, Collingwood, Peterborough and Northumberland County.
OPP are urging drivers in those regions to avoid non-essential travel and to prepare emergency supplies if travel is unavoidable.
“Wait for the storm to pass if you can,” Schmidt said. “Plows are out clearing the roads, but it’s going to be a slow, slippery and messy drive.”
Police are also warning motorists to practise safe driving rules after a transport truck was spotted stopped in a live lane to clear windshield wipers.
OPP called this move “extremely dangerous” and are urging drivers to exit the highway or pull into a safe location if they need to stop.
Ottawa also reported early-morning disruptions after being moved from a yellow to an orange warning. City traffic officials confirmed that at least nine collisions had occurred by mid-morning Thursday as conditions deteriorated.
Conditions are expected to improve slightly by noon, when snowfall will stop.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
The Ford government is delaying its own affordable housing measures in several major Ontario cities, calling the rules it wrote “unnecessary red tape and requirements” that make it more expensive to build.
The pause will affect inclusionary zoning rules in Toronto, Kitchener and Mississauga, a policy that requires developers to provide a minimum number of affordable housing units in certain situations.
Legislation introduced by the government in May 2025 said municipalities could mandate new projects near transit stations to include five per cent affordable units for a maximum of 25 years after their construction.
It was a provincial compromise that Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said came nowhere near what she had hoped she could ask for from developers, but which she grudgingly accepted in a meeting with Premier Doug Ford.
“I went in and said, ‘Give us 20 per cent.’ In fact, I appealed for 30 per cent. I said to the premier, ‘We need to build housing — not all of it, but 20, 30 per cent people can afford. It’s a perfect opportunity,’” Chow said at a news conference on Tuesday.
“He said no and now it’s five per cent. I had no choice, I said, ‘OK, five per cent, all right. At least it’s five per cent.’”
Now, the government is pausing its own plan, saying requiring developers to build even five per cent of their units at affordable rates will hurt the construction of new homes.
“We need to get more shovels in the ground to build homes for families across the province — now is not the time to be adding unnecessary red tape and requirements that only increase the cost of building a home,” a spokesperson for Housing Minister Rob Flack, who introduced the legislation less than a year ago, said.
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“These temporary measures will help to ensure project viability so more people can call the city of Toronto home.”
The regulation posted by the provincial government proposes pausing the five per cent inclusionary zoning until July 1, 2027. It said Kitchener had already opted to pause its program.
“MMAH has heard from stakeholders expressing concerns that implementing IZ at this juncture, particularly in Toronto, could have a negative impact on overall housing supply and could result in the cancellation or pause of projects,” the regulation said.
Chow, however, said she didn’t believe the requirement was slowing development in her city. She said most builders had stopped working in current conditions, and the few that were still in construction were doing so because of financial incentives from city hall.
“People need homes they can afford,” she said. “Right here, in Toronto, seven out of 10 homes that are being built, if you see a crane, most likely it’s made possible, the building is made possible, because the city has put in financial incentives.”
The Building Industry and Land Development Association said in a statement that the delay was a “prudent” move.
“This will safeguard the already very fragile pipeline of new housing in the province as the market grapples with the lowest sales seen in decades, declining starts and mounting layoffs in the GTA,” the statement said.
“Present cost-to-build challenges, new home sales, and market conditions are extremely dire in the province and adding even more costs through IZ requirements would simply further erode project viabilities and result in even fewer housing units coming to the market.”
The Ford government ran its 2022 election campaign partly under the promise that it would build 1.5 million new homes by 2031 to lower the cost of housing in the province. It’s a strategy that has stalled to the point that the finance minister recently called the 1.5 million goal a “soft target,” after years of failing to hit key milestones, even after watering down the criteria.
Flack told Global News last year that recent provincial housing measures were designed to revive the spring market for 2026, after consecutive years where the number of housing starts in Ontario fell — often at sharper rates than the rest of the country.
The fall-off in development has perhaps been most acute in Toronto.
Between 2020 and 2025, 25 projects have stopped sales on more than 3,200 new units in and around Toronto, numbers compiled by BILD show.
A total of six projects stopped selling in 2020, with five more giving up the following year. In 2022, 10 projects abandoned sales attempts, while four more folded in 2023.
BILD said no projects had stopped selling in 2024 or 2025 because fewer than 10 highrises have even tried to launch over the last two years, as builders struggle to make the costs work and buyers stay away.
The low sales matter to builders because most condominium projects require the majority of their units to be sold in order to finalize financing to get construction off the ground.
Richard Lyall, president of RESCON, said recent data shows “we are staring into the abyss” when it comes to residential construction.
— with a file from The Canadian Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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