Ontario announces new stiff fines for ticket resellers

More than a month after Ticketmaster Canada announced it would cap resale prices in Ontario, the provincial government says it's hitting illegal ticket resellers with steeper fines than ever before.

Ontario announced on Thursday that, starting June 10, repeat offenders who break the province's ticket resale rules could soon face fines of up to $25,000, a significant increase from the current maximum fine of $10,000.

The crackdown isn't limited to concert tickets. The resale price cap also covers tickets for sporting events, movie screenings and other events. 

Under the new rules, Ontario will also be able to publicly identify ticketing businesses facing enforcement action under the Ticket Sales Act, 2017. That means secondary ticket marketplaces, professional ticket brokers and other companies could be publicly called out for breaking the law.

The announcement follows Ontario's move earlier this year to ban the resale of tickets above their original purchase price. 

On April 23, Ticketmaster Canada announced it would comply with the province's new rules, which prohibit reselling tickets for more than the total amount originally paid, including fees and taxes.

While the resale price cap targets one of the biggest complaints from event-goers, the province says stronger enforcement tools are needed to ensure the rules actually have teeth.

According to the government, officials have already been digging into 27 major secondary ticketing platforms to check for compliance, issuing "some" compliance orders and continuing to pursue enforcement where necessary, meaning not everyone passed the check.

Businesses that continue to break the rules could face more than just administrative penalties. The province notes that individual offenders can also be subject to charges of up to $50,000, while corporations can be fined $250,000 if convicted.

For years, fans across Ontario and the rest of the country have been dealing with the same headache: tickets for huge events — whether it's Taylor Swift's Eras Tour or the Toronto Blue Jays playing in the World Series — have been disappearing instantly only to reappear online at wildly inflated prices that feel completely out of reach.

Whether the new fines will be enough to completely curb ticket scalping remains to be seen, but Ontario is clearly signalling that resellers who ignore the province's price cap could face much steeper consequences.