The Fair

The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) is Canada’s largest annual community event. Taking place over the 18 days leading up to and including Labour Day, the CNE offers a wide variety of entertainment and events including Bandshell concerts, celebrity chef demonstrations, an aerial acrobatics and ice skating show, a dog show, a working farm, parades and a three-day Air Show, all of which are FREE with admission to the CNE. Midway rides and games, wacky fair food as well as international food and shopping are also popular highlights of this major Toronto event. Over the course of its 18 day run, the CNE attracts more than 1.3 million people each year (1.31 million in 2011).

Founded in 1879, the CNE has enjoyed a distinguished history as a showcase of the nation; it was “the place” where people came to experience the “best and the brightest” from the latest innovations in technology and commercial products, to the greatest artists of the time. Although the CNE has changed over the years, it continues to be one of Ontario’s great annual traditions. The CNE is currently the seventh largest fair in North America and its audience truly reflects the diversity of Toronto and the region.

The fair takes place throughout 192 acres of beautiful lakefront property at Exhibition Place, just west of Toronto’s downtown core. The CNE is an integral part of the fabric of Toronto and has entertained and educated millions of people while creating economic benefits for Toronto, Ontario and Canada. An Economy Impact Study, conducted by Enigma Research Corporation in 2009, reported that the CNE had a gross economic impact of $58.6 million on the Greater Toronto Area, and $80 million on the province of Ontario in that year alone.

In 2010 and 2011, the CNE was awarded EcoLogo Certification confirming it as the “greenest” fair in North America and the most “environmentally friendly” large-scale event on the continent.

The CNE is a provincially incorporated Agricultural Society and is currently a program of Exhibition Place, a local board of management of the City of Toronto. Throughout its history, the CNE has demonstrated financial responsibility. In the last decade, it has contributed more than $20 million in site fees to the annual operating budget of the Board of Governors (BOG) of Exhibition Place, in addition to $7.3 million in operating surpluses. These contributions have been included in consolidated annual financial results from the CNEA and BOG for the benefit of the City of Toronto.

In 2013, the CNE will separate from Exhibition Place and the City of Toronto, and become its own independent organization. Independence will enable the CNE to retain its revenues and to re-invest in the fair.

Don’t miss the 134th Canadian National Exhibition from Friday, August 17th to Monday, September 3, 2012. Let’s go to the EX!