View Photos
View Attendance

Have you ever wanted to know what an Expo is or how a city is chosen to host one?

Well, last week, Secretary-General Dr. Vicente Loscertales of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and his entourage of exceptional people — including Deputy Secretary-General Dimitri Kerkentzes and Canadian Ambassador to Colombia and former President of the BIE Executive Commission Carmen Sylvain — along with Toronto’s incomparable Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, joined a small group of ULI members for an intimate luncheon at the Goodmans LLP office in downtown Toronto.

Mayor John Tory had invited the Secretary-General to Toronto to see our great city and help us understand, as a city, why and how Toronto should bid for the World’s Fair in 2025.T

The visit was a whirlwind tour of Toronto, filled with formal meetings with senators, MPs, the mayor, city councillors, Premier Kathleen Wynne, cabinet ministers and assistant deputy ministers. The local and national media certainly took notice of ULI Toronto’s efforts to ask a simple question: “Why Expo, Why Now?”

The response from the BIE was captivating. Hosting an Expo will be a sound decision for the City of Toronto, not only in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to solidify Toronto’s position on the world stage.

To understand “Why Expo, Why Now?,” I’ve summarized what was a dynamic and energizing discussion in a few statements below:

● What is an Expo? The World Exposition is held every five years in a different city, with 169 member countries designing pavilions based on a theme of international importance. An Expo lasts six months and attracts millions of people from around the world. It’s also a catalyst for development and has a lasting impact on its host city.

● Why Toronto? Dr. Loscertales described Toronto as a city in an incredible stage of transformation. Its residents are poised for change, excited for the future and actively involved in the success of Toronto. He stated that to support the massive projected influx of new residents to the city over the next decade, Torontonians will need a plan to develop their city and an Expo will be the perfect catalyst. With the Port Lands, Toronto has almost 800 square acres of underutilized land only minutes from the downtown core. An Expo offers an opportunity to develop strong private-public relationships and gain economic and social support to develop these lands from all three levels of government within a fixed timeline.

In other words, the Expo will leave a legacy for our city.

● How will an Expo catalyze growth? The Deputy Secretary-General made it clear: Expos put host cities on the world stage. Expos ignite an entire country to support culture, humanity, sustainability and development. But an Expo is contingent on a city’s defined and long-term vision for the Expo lands after the World’s Fair has completed its tenure.

● What does Toronto need to bid? The BIE group provided clear and concise guidelines at the luncheon that we, as Torontonians, must consider before our pitch to Council.

1. There is a timeline:
a. Canada needs to re-join the BIE organization
b. An Expo bid would have to be entered by November 1st, 2016
c. A completed bid book must be submitted by mid-2017
d. A decision will be made by January 2018
e. Expo financing, budgetary investment and major work will be undertaken from 2018 to 2025

2. The theme means everything. Ambassador Sylvain poignantly stated that a theme must act as an umbrella for Canada. It must speak to the area that it will take place in and address issues relevant to the host city. But, more importantly, it must also encompass world issues, both in terms of what Canada is supporting on the world stage as well as what the world as a unified body experiences. That theme must be fleshed out before any bid is made and that theme will be the driving force for support from other countries.

3. All three levels of government must show support. An Expo can be a massive economic undertaking, but if supported, the benefits will be unimaginable. The luncheon ended with a resonating statement by the ambassador, the theme is critical to the bid…. So we ask you, if you were to pick a theme, what would it be and why?