Cirque du Soleil will not be returning next spring to Place de l’Ontario, a Toronto space similar to Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal, due to the work taking place there. The Canadian group had planted its marquee there this year as part of the tour of the show Kyrios and hoped to reach an agreement to occupy the site on a long-term basis.
The province, which owns this space located on the shores of Lake Ontario, has undertaken to revitalize it in recent years. The amusement park that stood there was closed and dismantled in 2012, forty years after it opened, by the then Liberal government. When it came to power in 2018, the Conservative government of Doug Ford wanted to give the site a new face. Three companies were ultimately chosen to occupy the park permanently; one of them — the Quebec company Écorécréo — finally withdrew.
However, the site will not be able to host the Cirque du Soleil in 2023. The repairs to be carried out on the Cinesphere — a structure almost identical to the Biosphere —, the pavilions and the bridges of the place “are such that there is no is not possible to maintain operations of [cette] size on the site,” said spokesperson for Ontario Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma, Andrea B. Chiappetta.
The company founded by Quebecer Guy Laliberté heard the news at the beginning of October and is therefore now looking for a new Toronto home. She called on the firm TACT to help her in her efforts. On October 14, the Montreal public relations firm registered a lobbying activity in the City of Toronto registry in order to “explore different sites for shows in the future”. “We hope to be able to make an official announcement soon, as soon as everything is settled,” said Cirque du Soleil spokesperson Caroline Couillard.
Unclear on long-term plans
In interview at To have to in November 2021, former Cirque du Soleil president Daniel Lamarre confirmed his willingness to sign a long-term agreement with the province on the use of Ontario Place. At the time, the company had also hired a lobbyist from the firm TACT in order to assert its intentions with the Ford government. Such an agreement, however, said Mr. Lamarre, was not possible “as long as the development plan for the site is not confirmed”.
Public consultations are underway to determine the future of the 63-hectare (155-acre) site, and the most recent took place on October 27. Cirque du Soleil has also not confirmed that it is still thinking of settling there in the long term.
“We cannot comment on the future uses of Ontario Place due to the revitalization,” said the spokesperson for the Minister of Infrastructure.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.