Ont. ticket price cap hard to enforce, could send fans to informal markets: experts

By Canadian Press on March 20, 2026.

TORONTO — Experts say the Ontario government’s push to cap the prices of resale tickets for events across the province might not be much help to fans.

They worry capping resale ticket prices at face value will drive up the original price of tickets and lure people into riskier transactions outside more regulated sales channels.

While the province didn’t outline how the legislation it promises to introduce will work, Brian Berry of the Ticket Policy Forum thinks it would be unenforceable by design.

Because the government hasn’t promised a mechanism to compel Ticketmaster or other box offices to share the original purchase price of a ticket with resellers, Berry says marketplaces have no reliable way to determine how much a buyer paid, making it impossible to impose caps.

Catherine Moore, an adjunct University of Toronto professor specializing in the music business, says the cap could also move many sales to underground markets, which are hard to track and more likely to involve scams.

She also warns companies could increase the face value of tickets to make up for not being able to resell seats later for several times the price.