City has almost no power on ticket gouging; Ontario and federal government control the issue
Staff reported back on a July request to address hidden fees and price gouging on event tickets. The finding: Toronto lacks regulatory authority. Ontario and the federal government control ticket sales and competition law; the city can only ban street-level ticket resale under its sidewalk by-law. The item clarifies what the city cannot do rather than proposing new protections.
From the floor
“live performance, um these are good uses and we need to make sure that they can exist in compliance with our licensing and I would say that being in communities that some of us live in is a really great scale to be able to connect to come out and it's a really important way to support working musicians in the city”Speaker not identified
Also in this item
• Toronto has almost no regulatory tool for ticket gouging or hidden booking fees; the issue sits entirely with Ontario and federal government
The journey
What happens next
Residents can petition the Ontario government or federal government on ticket regulation; this committee found no municipal lever. No further deputation window at this meeting.
Decision
Referred back to staff with no new city action; acknowledged Ontario and federal jurisdiction over ticket sales and booking fees
Watch it happen
Jump to this item in the meeting video
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