Should Toronto host Expo 2025? BIE Secretary General excited by Toronto’s opportunity
Toronto has everything needed to host a World Expo, says the Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE). Dr. Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales concluded his three-day tour of Toronto with a moderated, public discussion about a potential Toronto bid with City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam.
Dr. Loscertales learned a great deal about Toronto, what it has to offer and reflected on the city’s potential to be a host city for the 2025 World Expo. The City of Toronto’s independent study outlined the tremendous economic potential of hosting a World Expo.
At a keynote speech to the Toronto Board of Trade, Dr. Loscertales shared the experience of other host cities and the positive impact decades after these events. Because it runs for six months, a World Expo generates significant GDP growth in the year it is held. More than this, Dr. Loscertales spoke about the long-term legacy of expo neighbourhoods as centres of culture, community, business and innovation.
“The usefulness of the Expo is really after the event,” Dr. Loscertales told Mayor John Tory and his Advisory Committee on International Hosting Opportunities. “You have to think ten years after the Expo, and about its integration into the city.
“Participating countries arrive a year and a half before the event to start building their pavilions and they work with government and local companies,” he continued, “This is what modern Expos are: an exchange of ideas.
“It’s been a pleasure hosting the BIE Secretary General, Dr. Vincente Loscertales, in Toronto the last few days and sharing with him the dynamism and vibrancy of Toronto, Ontario and how this could be harnessed for an epic World Expo in 2025,” said MPP Peter Milczyn.
City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam also shared her excitement for the project. “The City of Toronto for decades has been contemplating waterfront revitalization in the Port Lands,” she shared. “An Expo 2025 initiative can be the catalytic force that accelerates this under-utilized yet strategically located area for future parkland, public spaces, mixed-use communities, high order transit, employment zones and of significant importance new revenues. The BIE visit has amplified that more clearly for
me than ever.”
“I’d say the momentum is really building up right now,” said Claire Hopkinson, CEO of the Toronto Arts Council. “There has not been an expo in North America since 1986. The appetite is there and many people really think it’s ours to lose.
For further comments, please contact:
Claire Hopkinson, Toronto Arts Council: [email protected] 416-392-6802 ext. 226 (c/o Natalie Kaiser)