Ensuring Toronto’s Local Summer Festivals Benefit from the World Cup

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The decision

2025-04-23 · Toronto City Council · amended

As filed

City Council on April 23 and 24, 2025, adopted the following: 1. City Council affirm the expectation that existing special events and festivals across Toronto continue to be permitted during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Toronto. 2. City Council direct the City Manager, Emergency Services, and additional City staff as appropriate to coordinate to ensure the smooth operations of summer events taking place during the FIFA World Cup 2026, including special consideration of traffic operations, transit accessibility, and safety.

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3. City Council direct the City Manager to seek the partnership of the federal and provincial governments in supporting Toronto festivals in summer 2026, in view of both Toronto's World Cup hosting obligations and other market conditions, such as costs escalations, labour scarcity and demands upon City of Toronto essential services, to ensure the sustainability of Toronto festivals and special events. 4. City Council direct the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture, in consultation with the FWC26 Toronto Secretariat, to bring forward to the Executive Committee, through the FIFA World Cup 2026 Subcommittee, by the third quarter of 2025 a plan for support to Toronto festivals and special events impacted by World Cup hosting in 2026 to include a funding program, within existing divisional resources, to enable community celebrations.

On the agenda

As the city filed it

Every summer, Toronto's streets come alive with festivals. In all corners of our City, people celebrate their cultures, communities and our common bonds as Torontonians. As Mayor, I spend a great deal of time each summer participating in these festivals and witnessing first-hand the cultural and economic value they bring. Our wonderful Business Improvement Areas and local community organizations deserve a great deal of credit for delivering these festivals we all enjoy, each year.

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Since the pandemic, many of these local events have struggled to raise funds to cover their costs. That's why I was proud to announce the Special Event Stabilization Initiative to support 81 festivals in 2024, and will soon share details of funding support for 2025. Our annual festival season is a critical part of the $8.4 billion in tourism spending our City sees each year. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup coming to Toronto next summer, many festival organizers see an opportunity to bring in more people and partake in the spirit of the World Cup festivities. Given the expected scale of the World Cup festivities and our annual festival season, I am asking that staff work with festival organizers and relevant city divisions to coordinate and ensure the festivals we love to attend each year can continue to run while the World Cup is on.

Staff recommended

The Mayor recommends that: 1. City Council affirm the expectation that existing special events across Toronto continue to be permitted during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Toronto. 2. City Council direct the City Manager, Emergency Services, and additional City staff as appropriate to coordinate to ensure the smooth operations of all summer events taking place during the FIFA World Cup 2026, including special consideration of traffic operations, transit accessibility, and safety.

On the record

The item as the City filed it

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