Ticketmaster Canada is officially putting an end to outrageous ticket markups on its secondary marketplace. Effective April 23, the ticketing giant has implemented a strict price cap, ensuring that resale tickets can no longer be sold for more than their original face value.
If you recently had tickets listed for resale on the platform, you might have already noticed the shift. Ticketmaster sent out emails to Ontarians this week, notifying them that their current listings had been removed to comply with new provincial legal requirements.
“Effective April 23, 2026, tickets in Ontario cannot be resold above the total original cost, including service fees and taxes,” the email stated. Fans looking to offload their tickets won’t be left hanging, though. Ticketmaster noted that users will be able to relist their tickets in compliance with the new rules next week, once the platform finishes updating its resale marketplace.
Ticketmaster’s swift action comes on the heels of the Doug Ford provincial government’s recent push to curb exploitative ticket scalping.
The new regulations are tied to the newly passed budget bill, Bill 97. Once it receives royal assent, the legislation will require secondary sellers to provide proof of the original ticket price and mandate the disclosure of both original and resale prices to buyers.
Interestingly, this is a bit of a reversal for Premier Doug Ford. Back in 2019, his government scrapped a previous rule from the 2017 Ticket Sales Act that capped resale prices at 50% above the original cost, claiming it was unenforceable.
However, after witnessing ticket prices soar to as high as $10,000 during the MLB World Series games in Toronto last year, Ford changed his tune. Last month, he boldly declared that ticket scalpers’ “days of ripping people off are done.”
The move has already garnered support from major industry players. Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s parent company, took to social media to back the decision, stating, “We are in favour of measures that promote fair, transparent ticketing and curb exploitative resale practices.”
While the decision is largely being hailed as a massive win for everyday fans who are tired of being priced out of their favorite shows, it hasn’t been without some pushback.
Consumer advocacy groups, like the Sports Fan Coalition, have urged the provincial government to reconsider, arguing that the legislation was pushed through without enough public conversation and questioning if face-value caps could inadvertently harm consumers.
Only time will tell how the new legislation will fully play out once it is integrated across all secondary platforms.
