Latest news with #Children'sAid

Toronto Star

These cosmetic stores inside Ontario malls promise customers better skin. Instead, a growing number say they've been tricked into high-cost loans

For Subscribers Star investigation The stores' management deny using deceitful sales tactics. But more and more disgruntled customers are demanding justice. July 27, 2025 9 min read Save By Frédérik PlanteInvestigative Reporter Ashell Campbell was returning shoes at the Scarborough Town Centre when, somewhere between Baskin-Robbins and Sephora, a saleswoman from a cosmetics store called the Soap Tree offered her a free skin cream sample. The woman noted Campbell's acne scarring and suggested a product that could help. Campbell, a 29-year-old community mental health worker, tried the cream and liked the result. 'Why not? I'll treat myself,' she thought, and bought it. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Frédérik Plante is a Toronto-based investigative reporter for the Star. You can reach him at fplante@ @fx_plante on X or @ on Bluesky. Related Stories This confidential report reveals Ontario is spending millions to warehouse kids under Children's Aid care in hotels and other unlicensed settings Disturbing errors at Ontario fertility clinics destroy couples' baby dreams years after province abandoned oversight plans Report an error Journalistic Standards About The Star More from The Star & partners