Toronto to put $2.1M toward festival safety this year, city says
Announcement follows deadly vehicle attack at Filipino festival in Vancouver last month
Toronto will provide $2.1 million to increase security at festivals this year following a deadly vehicle attack at a community event in Vancouver a month ago, the city says.
Speaking to reporters after a summit hosted by the city on festival and event safety, Mayor Olivia Chow said the Vancouver incident made Toronto officials pause.
"It was heartbreaking," Chow told reporters. "But collectively, we said, we will never let fear dominate and dictate. Our spirit is stronger, the spirit that comes from working together, the spirit that comes from all the thousands of organizers that organized the most successful festivals, from all over the world."
On April 26, a man drove a car into the Lapu-Lapu Day Block Party, a Filipino community festival in Vancouver, killing 11 people and injuring more than two dozen others, according to the Vancouver Police Department. Kai-Ji Adam Lo, 30, a Vancouver man, has been charged in the attack.
The money, which the city will pull together by reallocating resources, will be distributed through its Special Events Stabilization Initiative, a program launched last year to provide financial help to festival organizers hard hit by rising costs, including public safety expenses.
In 2024, the city offered up to $2 million through the initiative to help cover health, safety and security costs at struggling festivals. Eligible costs include private security expenses, fire and paramedic services as well as "hostile vehicle mitigation" or physical barriers to protect against vehicle attacks.
'We can't let that happen here': councillor
Chow said the money is designed to ensure that festivals in Toronto "remain joyous, celebratory and really celebrate the essence of Toronto."
The mayor said the city will also provide a $100,000-seed grant in 2025 to allow festival organizers to create a non-profit association to promote their interests.
Chow said Monday's safety summit allowed the approximately 150 participating festival organizers to exchange information about safety measures.
"We learned a lot about best practices of how we could collectively buy insurance together, what are some of the mitigation effects, how we could work with the emergency services and what kind of things we must do to make sure it's safe," she said.
Coun. Mike Colle, who represents Eglinton-Lawrence, said councillors knew the city had to take preventative measures to ensure what happened in Vancouver does not happen in Toronto.
"We were all kicked in the stomach when we heard what happened in Vancouver," Colle said. "We can't let that happen here."
Colle said whether it's Toronto Waterfront Festival, Pride, the Caribbean Festival or TIFF, special events build community, generate revenue for businesses and bring thousands of people to the city and it's important that they are safe.
Pat Tobin, the city's general manager of economic, development and culture, said the funds in the initiative are available on an application and assessment basis. The city will start accepting applications June 16.
To apply, Tobin said an organization must be an incorporated not-for-profit group with a track record of running an event in Toronto, and eligible expenses must relate to core security costs.
Danilo Baluyot, executive director of Taste of Manila, which runs Aug. 16 to 17, said that festival is already over budget for security enhancements. Security, excluding barriers, costs more than 10 per cent of the total festival budget, he said.
Baluyot said the festival organizers are "very thankful" that the city will provide funds for public safety.
"A top priority is the security and safety of all attendees at the festival," Baluyot said. "We are going to do our best to keep this festival a safe one for everyone."
Funds welcome with budgets limited: organizer
Kristyn Gelfand, managing director of Uma Nota Culture, a third-party contractor for Do West Fest, one of the largest street festivals in Toronto, said "hostile vehicle mitigation" is particularly costly.
If it were to implement the security measure, Do West Fest, which runs June 6 to 8, would need mitigation at five intersections Gelfand said.
"Of course, we want our events to be as safe as possible, but we're working within limited budgets that have already been set for this calendar year," Gelfand said. "That additional support from the city has me feeling very optimistic."
In April, the city announced it would provide $2.65 million to 64 festivals that were struggling financially. That funding was provided through the Cultural Festivals Funding Program.
Last year, Toronto's major festivals had a roughly $1.7-billion economic impact.
With files from The Canadian Press