Toronto – Mayor Olivia Chow announced the City of Toronto’s new Special Events Stabilization Initiative (SESI), a one-time pilot grant program providing a total of up to $2 million in financial relief to local special event organizers affected by rising operating costs, especially those related to health, safety and security of the general public and event attendees.
Toronto’s festivals are critical to the vitality, prosperity and liveability of the city and provide economic benefits to local businesses. Earlier Mayor Olivia Chow announced the creation of the new program at the Festival of South Asia alongside Councillor Paula Fletcher (Toronto Danforth) and Councillor Shelley Carroll (Don Valley North).
SESI will be launched in August and run as a one-year pilot program. It is expected to support approximately 40 special event organizers by helping to defray the significant financial pressures facing not-for-profit special event organizers from the increased costs in recent years related to public safety measures, such as security, crowd management, insurance and health and safety. Applications will open on August 19 at 9 a.m. and are due on September 30 at 5pm. Organizations applying to SESI must meet all eligibility criteria to be awarded funding.
The City will continue to work with festival organizers to support their planning and success while also advocating to other orders of government for long-term support for local festivals. This summer, the City encourages residents and visitors to enjoy the many festivals that animate Toronto from Scarborough to Etobicoke and everywhere in between.
“I’ve enjoyed attending several festivals this summer and I encourage Torontonians to join me in supporting our local festivals. Cultural festivals are part of what makes Toronto an incredible place to live and a destination of choice for tourists around the world. With this funding announcement, we’re continuing to support special event organizers facing financial hardships to ensure they can continue to provide the experiences and events that Torontonians know and love.” – Mayor Olivia Chow