As of next week, tickets in Ontario can’t be resold for more than face value
Sorry, scalpers!
The Ford government passed its spring budget this week, and while attention is reasonably on changes made to Freedom of Information laws, which now exempt Premier Doug Ford from having to comply with the court ordered release of his cellphone records, there’s also a plot twist for ticket resellers.
Back in March, shortly after the controversial Freedom of Information announcement, Ford said on social media, “We’re putting ticket scalpers on notice. Your days of ripping people off are done.”
Related: Doug Ford is angry about Blue Jays tickets too
Ford’s changes to the Ticket Sales Act, now passed and in effect next week, make it illegal for tickets in Ontario to be resold for more than their original cost. According to the update, scalpers and online resellers can no longer sell tickets to concerts and sporting events for more than they paid to get them.
(The Ticket Sales Act was introduced in 2017 by the former Liberal government.)
“With the legislation coming into force shortly, we have begun contacting all fans with tickets listed on our resale platform to let them know we have delisted their tickets from our marketplace,” a Ticketmaster Canada spokesperson told CP24.
“Next week, fans will be able to relist their tickets in compliance with Ontario’s new legal requirements once updates have been made to our resale marketplace.”
Breaking the new rules could cost resellers up to $10,000 in penalties—almost as much as they were selling Eras tour tickets for.
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Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
