With just weeks to go before one of Canada’s largest festivals, Pride Toronto is still grappling with a wave of sponsor withdrawals that has left the festival short nearly $900,000 — prompting urgent calls for organizations, individuals and government to step in.
Pride Toronto’s executive director Kojo Modeste confirmed the organization lost major backers including Google, Home Depot, Nissan, and Clorox, some of whom had already verbally or even formally committed to participate.
Without signed contracts, Modeste said, the exits have placed the nonprofit in an “unforeseen challenge,” creating a significant shortfall. In addition to inflation, rising insurance costs, and security spending already straining the festival’s $5-million budget, Modeste said the current deficit could have a major impact on planning next year.
Festival will go on — for now
“For 2025 I assure the public there will be no noticeable difference in the parade,” Modeste said at a press conference Wednesday. “Pride Toronto is the largest Pride festival in North America. We bring in annually over half a billion dollars to the GDP and over $200 million in taxable revenue.”
The City of Toronto has stepped in with $350,000 in funding this year—an increase of 35 per cent from last year—but Modeste said the provincial and federal governments have yet to match that kind of commitment.
“We are not asking for a handout; we are asking for our fair share of the pie,” he said. “As we face our current challenge, we’re not asking for much, we’re asking for less than one per cent of the taxable revenue we bring in annually.”
He also acknowledged that the festival’s rising costs aren’t just about lost corporate support. “This is not just a result of sponsors reducing their amount and sponsors pulling out but this also has to do with the cost of running a festival,” he said, noting that insurance costs alone have jumped nearly 200 per cent since 2022.
‘You don’t walk away from us’
Pride Toronto, previously told CTV News Toronto that they spend more than $425,000 on security each year, including both private firms and paid-duty police. The organization already has contracts with artists and vendors locked in for 2025, which means any funding gap won’t affect the core programming this year.
But Modeste didn’t shy away from critiquing those who have already withdrawn; especially U.S.-based firms.
“We believe there is a direct connection between the policies that we’re seeing coming out of the White House and the organizations that are pulling out,” he said. “When you look at some of the policies and statements that some U.S. CEOs have made, they’re directly attacking the 2SLGBTQIA community.”
“You don’t walk away from us when our house is on fire and when we rebuild, you try to come back,” he added. “For the ones that walked away today—they’re going to have to demonstrate they are ready and have done the work in order to come back.”
Labour unions and individual donors step in
Some new partners have already answered the call, Modeste says.
SEIU Healthcare, a union representing over 65,000 frontline health workers in Ontario, recently became a sponsor in March.
“We stepped up not only because others stepped back, but to send a very clear message,” a spokesperson said. “The fight for workers’ rights is inseparable from the fight for 2SLGBTQIA rights. Our members know that solidarity means action, not just words.”
So far, over 175 individual donors have contributed more than $10,000. But Pride Toronto is still appealing for more support to keep this year’s festival at full scale.
“There is still room for organizations and individuals to give,” said Modeste.
“At present we are just under $900,000 in order to put on the level of festival that we normally do.”
