(Photo credit: National Observer | Paul Bica)
Montreal and Vancouver, why not Toronto? The question surfaces when talking about Canadian cities that have hosted the Olympic Games. Toronto, Canada’s largest city and centre of commerce, has yet to share in that experience. The city tried in 2008 but lost out to Beijing.
Last fall mayor John Tory assembled an advisory panel to look into the possibility of hosting a major international event and asked members Gord Nixon, former CEO of RBC; Sevaun Palvetzian, CEO of CivicAction; and Saäd Rafi, former head of the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games, to create a short-list of events the city could bid on in the decade. The report, Bringing The World to Toronto, found several systemic flaws spread throughout Toronto’s bidding process that have prevented the city from enjoying a major event on the scale of the Olympics, World Expo or FIFA World Cup.
The main issue was Toronto’s lacks of formal processes for bidding on major international events. Too often the attempt is ad hoc and reactionary in response to an opportunity that arises—one which other cities have likely been preparing for for years.
“Because these events arise only periodically (and often unpredictably) there has not been much reason to develop a consistent, methodical approach to evaluation or planning that carries forward from one event to the next,” read the report. “As a result, major event planning has often been undertaken with a significant degree of uncertainty, a lack of sufficient early coordination and limited resolve from all partners.” In other words, the city has been caught off guard and unprepared.
“Our report will help the city and its partners to address these challenges and, hopefully, ‘professionalize the process.’
The report reveals the city has had to “start from square one” every time an opportunity to bid on a major event arose because it lacked the formal processes and coordination to jump on an opportunity and “hit the ground running” during the competitive process.
“A significant amount of time (and resources) is expended just to get started on planning and evaluation,” read the report. “In our view, it is important that major event hosting has a natural home at the city and is supported by reliable financial resources.” The panel recommends resources be dedicated for the planning and evaluation of hosting opportunities. This could come in the form of designated staff or a separate department focused on exploring and preparing for hosting opportunities, even when none exist in the immediate future. The point is to be ready when they do.
Another problem the report underscores is a lack of regional partnerships, an important element that adds a measure of security and stability within the bidding process.
In service of that goal, the advisory panel recommends the city work with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport; the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation; Tourism Toronto, and the surrounding regional tourism organizations to form a partnership “that leverages the existing capacity of these organizations.”
“Toronto cannot be alone in this undertaking.
Bringing The World to Toronto reveals that Canada’s largest city missed the opportunity to do so in 2015 with the World Expo, which was eventually awarded to Milan, because it lacked the necessary commitment from a government partner.
Both a well-funded bidding mechanism with pre-existing processes that can quickly be executed, and multi-region, multi-governmental support are identified as key components necessary for generating and sustaining public support—the other key ingredient in a successful bid.
“It’s not surprising then that, as we’ve seen with some unsuccessful or unrealized bids in the past, they failed to capture full public support (as in the case of the 2008 Olympic bid).
The report illustrates the anatomy of success by using Vancouver, awarded the 2010 Winter Olympics, as an example. The initial idea to host the Games came in the late 1990s with the formation of the Vancouver Whistler 2010 Bid Society.
The organization enjoyed initial support from Tourism Vancouver, Tourism Whistler, and Sport BC. In 1999, a new non-profit Bid Corporation was formed with financial backing from the Canadian Olympic Committee, province of British Columbia, the city of Vancouver, and municipality of Whistler.
In early 2000, ten years before the actual Games, the Corporation began signing corporate sponsors. In 2002, the city signed an agreement with the federal government that committed $9.1 million in funding. In 2003, the IOC Evaluation Committee visited Vancouver and in their report “highlighted the ‘high quality’ and active participation of key government officials and organizations that will be involved in staging the Games.” In July 2003, the city won the right to host the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Although Toronto has decided against bidding for the 2024 Summer Olympics, the 2025 World Expo is still on the table. Mayor Tory and city councillors met with representatives from the Bureau International des Expositions in January to discuss the possibility.
Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam has been a strong and consistent supporter of hosting the event in Toronto.
The 30-page document singles out three “mega-events” whose reach and impact remain unrivalled on the international stage in terms of marketing and prestige: the Olympics, World Expo, and FIFA World Cup.
Montreal hosted a World Expo in 1967; Vancouver, an International Expo in 1986. The most recent Expo in Milan drew roughly 22 million visitors over six months. Shanghai holds the attendance record with a whopping 70 million visitors in 2010.
The report authors recommend against bidding for the FIFA World Cup until recent controversies and restructuringrelated to FIFA, the governing body of soccer, settle. In addition to these “mega events,” the report defines what it calls “global community events” that although not nearly as large in scale and profile can command a considerable amount of international exposure and marketing benefits. These events are typically a part of the cultural or trade sectors and Toronto has already hosted many of them, including the 2014 WorldPride festival and International Indian Film Academy Awards (2011).
The panel’s short-list includes the following:
Arts & Culture
- Art Basel Exhibition
- STEAM Carnival
- Operalia Competition
- TEDGlobal Conference
- Parliament of the World’s Religions
Trade & Innovation
- Institute of International Finance (IIF) Events
- Financial Times Events
- The Economist Events
- World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference
- World Bank Group Annual Meetings
- RiskMinds Conference
- Mobile World Congress
- Trustech Annual Conference
- ASIS International
- Retail Banker International Conference
In the end, there is general consensus that events of both types drive economic growth and raise a city’s profile on the international stage. In Vancouver, the Winter Olympics generated between 38,530 and 51,510 jobs according to one estimate. In London, it’s believed the 2012 Summer Olympics will have added 618,000 to 893,000 years of employment to the regional economy by 2020.
“But planning and hosting major events also involves substantial public costs, significant financial and operational risks and potentially difficult trade-offs for host cities and regions,” according to the report. Being prepared, which Toronto currently seems not to be, will be key in ensuring that the benefits outweigh the cost.