Ban of Ticket Resale is on The Rise in Ontario

Ontario’s Premier, Doug Ford, is moving forward with plans to ban ticket resale above the original purchase price. This comes after years of debate over how best it is to eliminate scalping and soaring ticket prices. The Ticket Sales Act of 2017 will be amended to prohibit ticket reselling and will apply to all concerts, sports, cultural events, and other live events in the province. The move is framed to protect consumers and measures to stop resale gouging, while strengthening ticket validity guarantee requirements to protect consumers from fake tickets and unfair service charges.

Back in 2019, Ontario was trying to enforce a law that would limit ticket resale prices to 50% above face value. But after reviewing it, saw the framework as unenforceable and likely to drive consumers to the black market. But now returning with a stricter and more forceful proposal on ticket resale. The legislature has yet to decide when the cap would take effect, but it will look to get it started in the coming days before the March 26 budget release.

People are arguing that the push for price caps is not just about consumer mistreatment or outrage over expensive resale prices; it will help serve the interests of a dominant company that controls the primary marketplace. It will drive all the tickets back into Ticketmaster’s own ecosystem. If they decide to cap resale prices, it will not make demand disappear. It will push consumers toward not being protected and prices being overly priced.

For now, Ontario’s plan stands as both a major policy reversal and a fresh flashpoint in the wider fight over who controls the ticketing marketplaces, and whether new rules aimed at curbing scalping will ultimately widen consumer choice or simply extend monopolization of the existing ticket market into resale.