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Toronto 2023: Several Attendance Records for the Auto Show

Salon d'automobile Toronto
Photo: Toronto auto show
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Daniel Rufiange
The big question now is whether fans will be back in 2024.
Toronto auto show - Exposition
Toronto auto show - Exposition
Photo: Toronto auto show

•    More than 350,000 people attended the 2023 Toronto Auto Show held in February.

•    This was the third largest attendance total in the event's 50-year history.

•    The event also recorded a record total for most visitors on a single day: 56,122 on Sunday, February 19.

As was evident at the Montreal show in late January, Ontario car fans were pretty glad for the return of their auto show. The mid-February Toronto Auto Show was making a return after being cancelled in 2021 and 2022 due to the pandemic. 

The month prior, the Montreal show, though much thinner than in previous years, had welcomed close to 150,000 visitors. 

Toronto auto show - Hyundai
Toronto auto show - Hyundai
Photo: Toronto auto show

In Toronto, where even fewer builders were participating, visitors were also out in force. In all, according to organizers, 350,214 people showed up at the Toronto Convention Centre to see the new models offered by those automakers who were present. 

Amazingly, this actually represents the third highest total in the show's 50-year history. 

The show also set some daily attendance records, including 56,122 visitors on the big Sunday of the event, January 19. 

Manufacturers will have to learn from this. Fans want to see their new models, and they came out in force this year. But it’s also pretty clear that if the event doesn't get bigger next year, fewer of those fans will be back. Many of the visitors who were asked about coming back next years said they’d be willing, but it would depend on the show getting larger again.

It will be interesting to see what happens this year and next. Will some carmakers return? Will we see the other auto shows that didn’t happen in 2023, notably Vancouver and Calgary, return to the calendar in 2024?

Toronto auto show
Toronto auto show
Photo: Toronto auto show
Daniel Rufiange
Daniel Rufiange
Automotive expert
  • Over 17 years' experience as an automotive journalist
  • More than 75 test drives in the past year
  • Participation in over 250 new vehicle launches in the presence of the brand's technical specialists