Toronto once felt like a place of possibility.
Decades ago, before I moved to Toronto, my sisters and cousins and I would jump on the Greyhound bus to Toronto. Of course, we would visit the intersection of Queen and John for a peek at the dancers on the Electric Circus, filmed in what was then the MuchMusic studios. We’d stop at Club Focus, an all-ages dance club that was completely unheard of where we lived, in London.
I carried that feeling with me into my early career, spent working in Canadian music and sports. It was an exciting time. Toronto’s reputation was considered world-class; one of the best places to live and work. In 2014, Forbesnamed it one of the top 10 most influential cities, and theEconomist declared Toronto as the world’s fourth-best place to live.
It was also the year that Vogue called Toronto, “Canada’s cultural capital” and named Queen Street West, the second coolest street in the world. That’s when those who grew up in the city knew that Toronto had indeed made it.
A number of the businesses on Queen Street West that made it so special have since shut down, including the 200-year-old Black Bull Tavern and several independent businesses. Canada’s oldest independent record retailer, KOPS Records, relocated further down Queen Street West because of rising rents. And the windows to 299 Queen Street West are no longer open to music fans.
In the aftermath of the pandemic and sky-high housing costs, many artists and musicians who had made Toronto cool left the city. Small music venues shut down.
According to StrategyCorp, more than 400,000 residents left the province between 2020 and 2024. Of those who haven’t left yet, according to one survey, four out of 10 are considering it.
Suddenly, Toronto was making international headlines not for what it could be, but for what it had become.
Without a doubt, Toronto is still a cultural centre that attracts and produces musicians, both independent and international. In 2023, it ranked as one of the most livable cities in the world. It’s set to host the beautiful game, the FIFA World Cup in 2026, and it is Canada’s most diverse food city.
But it feels different. Or at least it did.
Last week the city hosted Departure Festival, a reimagining of Canadian Music Week (which first launched in 1982). I hosted a panel there and, for the first time in a long time, the city felt like how it used to — energetic and full of possibilities.
There were celebrities from comedy, music, entertainment, and culture: Dave Chappelle, Matty Matheson, Jessie Reyez, Bryan Adams, Mustafa, Kardinal Offishall, Dallas Green, Shaggy and more.
But more than that, there was excitement of keeping the history of Canadian Music Week alive and, instead of destroying it, rebuilding it into something bigger and better. The festival ignited industries in the city like tourism and food, but it also brought people together from the U.S. and Canada in celebration of the city of Toronto.
It might sound mushy, like an after-school special. But let me explain.
The panel I moderated featured two music executives: Ms. Johnnie Walker and Katina Bynum. You might not know these names, but they are two of the biggest players in the music industry. Between them, they’ve helped to sell tens of millions of albums from the most popular musicians in the world, including the likes of Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Drake, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and so many more.
That they had come to be a part of this festival was no accident. Ms. Walker launched the NABFEME conference in Toronto in the early 2000s (a conference for women executives working in music and entertainment). She recognized then that Toronto was an important fixture in the music world.
Why does this matter? History, culture, and arts and music are the heartbeat of a place.
Today, many of the cultural touchstones from my youth are gone. Those places I used to visit off the Greyhound no longer exist. They often haven’t been replaced. Young Torontonians have fewer and fewer real places to connect, outside of the library or the mall.
When I lived in London, what I saw happening in Toronto ignited my dreams.
Festivals like Departure need to create that moment for others. If we don’t build those spaces, what happens in 20 years when it comes time to celebrate the past? We need to think about how we can reclaim the possibility that Toronto once exemplified.