The City of Toronto is set to dedicate $2.1 million this year to support the security of festivals, following a tragic incident at Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu Day festival last month that resulted in 11 fatalities from a vehicle ramming.
Mayor Olivia Chow of Toronto revealed the continuation of a specialized events funding initiative during a gathering on Monday, attended by approximately 150 festival coordinators and security professionals to address safety concerns.
Chow expressed her sorrow over the events at the Vancouver festival organized by Filipino BC, emphasizing the importance of unity and collaboration among festival organizers worldwide.
She urged the residents of Toronto not to allow fear to control their lives, promising the city’s cooperation with festivals to ensure their prosperity, safety, and continued joyous atmosphere.
Chow disclosed that the city would also provide a $100,000 startup grant and technical guidance to assist festival planners in establishing a nonprofit organization to advocate for their interests.
In addition, The City of Toronto pledged to offer updated resources to aid in event preparation and execution.
The tragic incident at the Vancouver street festival prompted event planners across Canada to reevaluate their security measures to safeguard attendees and reassure them of their safety.
Although some had already begun this process, the declaration by British Columbia Premier David Eby of an independent commission to assess festival security practices in other regions further emphasized the importance of security measures.
While some organizers were already alert to this issue due to international attacks in recent years and heightened insurance requirements, the rising cost of security was a concern.
The attack at the Lapu Lapu Day festival in Vancouver led to the loss of eleven lives and numerous injuries, sparking a review of the risk assessment procedure by the Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai.
Mayor Chow described the festival summit in Toronto as productive, enabling participants to exchange insights on best practices, collective insurance procurement, mitigation strategies, emergency service collaboration, and safety protocols.
The funds announced by Chow on Monday will be channeled towards Toronto’s Special Events Stabilization Initiative.
Introduced last year, the initiative provided $2 million to support festival expenses in 2024 related to health, safety, and security, including provisions for emergency services and measures for hostile vehicle mitigation to reduce the risk of criminal or terrorist attacks.
