Live Nation had another banner year in Canada, with a staggering 3,600 events nationwide over the past year. Erik Hoffman, running national touring and music strategy, masterminded a season that broke records for number of shows at the newly rebranded RBC Amphitheatre (which will soon become a year-round venue) and launched the massive 50,000-seat open-air Rogers Stadium with monumental dates from Oasis, Coldplay and BLACKPINK and a more recent record-breaking run in season two with Bruno Mars. Wayne Zronik supercharged the business side, steering the commercial strategy of that stadium project (which injected a reported $388 million into the GDP) while prepping the expansion of the Drake-partnered History venue into Ottawa this summer. Melissa Bubb-Clarke led revenue growth and worked with the premium sales team to expand the company’s VIP experiences while helping orchestrate the milestone partnership with RBC on the rebranding of its iconic amphitheatre.

Montreal truly comes alive thanks to its summer concerts and festivals, and evenko is keeping the heart of the city beating. The company operates under Groupe CH, with France Margaret Bélanger at the helm of Sports and Entertainment, and is keeping a market share stronghold on Quebec’s live music scene. Last year, Nick Farkas, who is also co-founder of Osheaga, organized a blockbuster month between July and August that welcomed two nights of The Weeknd’s stadium-sized tour, and the Osheaga, ÎleSoniq and LASSO festivals, collectively drawing over 350,000 fans to the site in just four weeks. Melissa Giampaolo spearheads the company’s ticketing and premium strategies, the marketing and sale of over 1,600 events, strategic partnerships and revenue/growth. It’s been a successful tandem, with evenko selling over 2.6 million tickets across Quebec and Eastern Canada last year.

Toronto has become an undeniable global market for live music, events and sports, and Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) is playing a big role. Tricia Silliphant continues to drive MLSE’s expansive schedule, which includes over 145 live events and 100 concerts in 2026 across three venues, including the schedules of seven sports teams. Last year, Coca-Cola Coliseum hosted double the number of shows compared to its inaugural year in 2019, while also welcoming two all-new women’s sports teams as non-MLSE-owned tenants: the Toronto Sceptres of the PWHL and the Toronto Tempo of the WNBA. Neil Claydon is the vice president of music and live entertainment, and MLSE’s annual box office revenue passed $145 million with big contributions from his commercial, ticketing and premium strategy, which services several major venues including the Live Nation-owned Rogers Stadium, History and RBC Amphitheatre. This year also saw the completion of the concourse space renovations as part of the $350 million Scotiabank Arena renovations. It’s a new era, with Rogers taking a 75% majority stake in ownership of the company after buying out Bell’s stake. Now, MLSE’s live business drives more than $145 million in annual box office, a live powerhouse in both Toronto and increasingly throughout Ontario as well.

As she works from the U.S. at one of the largest producers and promoters in the world — AEG Presents — Debra Rathwell’s Canadian presence is palpable. Originally from Ottawa, she has spent decades working in North America’s entertainment industry, and, like many, has a connection to the late music industry legend Donald K. Tarlton in Montreal. AEG has promoted international treks for Canadian acts including Justin Bieber, Bryan Adams and Leonard Cohen over the years, as well as some of the biggest artists like Benson Boone, Zach Bryan and Taylor Swift and legends like Stevie Wonder. Last fall, Rathwell promoted Lorde’s sold-out North American tour in support of the singer’s top 5 album, Virgin, along with spearheading Disney’s Worlds Collide Tour, giving young fans their first taste of live music. This fall, AEG will reunite her work with a fellow Canadian, co-promoting Céline Dion’s comeback residency shows in Paris — a proud heritage moment.

While it had a leadership shakeup south of the border, Oak View Group has had reason to celebrate in Canada. After a $300 million renovation, OVG Canada opened TD Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, a total transformation of the former Copps Coliseum and FirstOntario Centre into a music-first arena that opened with Sir Paul McCartney last November. In its first six months, the space, led by senior vice president & general manager Nick DeLuco, has drawn in acts from Nine Inch Nails to Cardi B and this year’s Juno Awards, positioning it as a gathering place for the Canadian music industry in addition to a new home for hockey teams in the AHL and PWHL leagues. Tom Pistore leads OVG Canada, where the company provides sponsorship, brand consulting, premium sales and third-party partnership sales across the country. As president, Pistore handles the high-level corporate strategy – driving brand consulting, premium sponsorships and third-party partnership sales that generated over $150 million across the country this past year. Beyond Hamilton, OVG has an ownership stake in Departure conference, and operates Canada Life Place in London, Ontario, led by general manager Kelly Austin, along with partnerships with venues across the country like Vancouver’s Rogers Field, Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome and many more, plus hospitality services with venues like Toronto’s new Rogers Stadium.

Jacob Smid, managing director of MRG Live, and Matthew Gibbons, founder/CEO of the broader MRG Group, have made moves to ensure MRG’s position as a big player in a concert industry that is dominated by powerful corporate behemoths. As one of Canada’s largest independent live music promoters and venue operators, MRG operates some historic music halls, like Toronto’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre and Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre. The company has expanded through a post-pandemic revamp that started in Canada and has moved into global markets like Australia. Last year, MRG stepped in to elevate fledgling homegrown institutions like the Lakeshore Music & Arts Festival, the new festival that will launch in Burlington, Ontario, following the financial peril of the long-running Sound of Music Festival. With a focus on “experiences over things,” MRG has become a diverse ecosystem of live music, including media outlet BeatRoute and ticketing company AdmitONE – along with travel and hospitality wings. And last year, MRG acquired RAPSEASON, a major platform for live hip hop, from INK Entertainment, while also hiring its leader, Samantha O’Connor, as a senior talent buyer.

Staying competitive as a live promoter and venue operator on an independent level in Canada takes a lot of hard work and ingenuity. Travis Newman, president and CEO of MODO-LIVE, has helped build a company putting on 1,200 shows a year. MODO-LIVE has acquired a roster of venues, including Vancouver’s The Pearl on Granville and Toronto’s Lee's Palace — which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year — along with its upstairs venue The Dance Cave and an equity stake in Xanadu Roller Arts in Brooklyn. Newman reports a 51% increase in net revenue from 2024 to 2025, increasing market share without sacrificing the company’s independent spirit. The increase has catapulted MODO into the next phase of growth, which includes acquiring Montreal promoters Good Shows Montreal to increase its presence in Quebec, booking the Second Summer Festival in Toronto, setting up a marketing and ticketing agreements for Misty City Festival in Niagara Falls and booking a 2026 lineup of shows that includes buzzy Quebec act Angine de Poitrine, singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus and indie rock veterans Wolf Parade. Newman leads an experienced team of talent buyers and industry veterans including Zach Herbert, Mark DiPietro, Timur Inceoglu, Josh Boser, Emily De Feo, Matt Bell, Denholm Whale and Andrea Buchkovich to book across 50+ markets — a small team operating in a big way.

The concert market is at an all-time peak in Canada, and Sarah Elliott is a driving force behind the industry’s biggest giant: Ticketmaster. The ticketing company continues its reign as the leader in an era defined by record-breaking sales and stadium tours. Since stepping into her role in 2025 (she was previously vice president of sales), she and the team have added millions of tickets to the company’s annual ticket volume, and Ticketmaster has already rewritten history in 2026 by breaking its single-day sales record with Bruno Mars’ Romantic Tour moving 2.1 million tickets in a day. Elliott has a crucial role, managing venue and promoter partnerships throughout Canada, improving cross-border operations and playing a role in negotiations and public relations engagement around ticketing legislation — including responding quickly to a new bill banning resale tickets over face value. Though its dominance and connection to Live Nation remains controversial, there’s no doubting Ticketmaster’s market share dominance.

Nicolas Racine continues to make Quebec City an essential destination for international artists and music fans alike. As president and CEO of BLEUFEU, he is at the helm of the country’s biggest music festival, the Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ), which draws over 1 million attendees to the Plains of Abraham yearly. There are major artists coming to this supposed secondary market, with international stars like Benson Boone and Canadian powerhouses like Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne and Simple Plan making the trip in 2025 and Michael Bublé, The Lumineers, Kesha among the artists set for this summer. BLEUFEU now also rounds out the summer season with Festival Fono, which is dedicated to musical discovery and spearheaded by global star headliners such as Charlie Puth and Charlotte Cardin (2025), with Sombr and Alessia Cara among the headliners for 2026. The company launched its charity initiative Effet rassembleur in 2025, which donates $0.50 from each ticket sale to local organizations that promote community. It amassed $197,354 in its first year, reflecting Racine and BLEUFEU’s commitment to give back to the same people it seeks to bring together on a yearly basis. Between affordable ticket prices, stellar programming and charity, Racine leads a company that punches above its weight.

Charles Khabouth and Danny Soberano always have something new. Toronto’s Kings of Clubs are constantly expanding their empire of venues, restaurants and nightlife destinations under the INK Entertainment umbrella. Over the last year, that growth accelerated with the expansion of Portland Square, the launch of the vinyl-inspired restaurant Vinny in Toronto, the launch of quick-service concept Little Baba and major U.S. moves including Amal in Fort Lauderdale and new ventures planned across Miami, Boca Raton and Las Vegas. That’s not to mention major music operations at REBEL, Cabana and electronic mega-fest VELD. While Khabouth has long been recognized as one of Toronto’s most influential hospitality figures, Soberano’s operational and business leadership has also been central to scaling INK beyond nightlife into a broader lifestyle and entertainment brand with growing international reach.

Eva Dunford is the co-founder of Republic Live and owner of Burl’s Creek in Ontario, Canada’s largest privately owned event venue. That’s been the home of influential country festival Boots and Hearts, where many of Canada’s most promising young country stars cut their teeth, and over the years it has also been home to All Your Friends Fest, WayHome and more. Increasingly, it’s growing beyond its home grounds. This year, Boots and Hearts West in Edmonton will be the festival's first expansion outside Ontario, while Republic Live’s footprint has also expanded beyond festivals through RLive, the company’s management division representing artists including Zach McPhee, Tyler Joe Miller and Sarah Vanderzon. Dunford prides herself on supporting the next generation of both music leaders and artists, and this has helped evolve Republic Live into an entertainment and artist development ecosystem.

The Live Nation verdict in the U.S. floats the possibility of a potential divestment from Ticketmaster, which could have trickle down effects in Canada. That creates hope for disruptive competitors in the market, and TIXR is one of the best positioned. Stéphane McGarry is at the helm of operations in Canada, where he and “leader on the ground” Mitch Forster have made inroads with organizations like CIMA and the ECMA while onboarding new clients like Cowboys Music Festival in Calgary, the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto and even arenas — showing the scale at which an independent ticketing company can operate. The company reports an explosive 115% growth in Canada from 2024 to 2025, tripling its client roster, including 30 new Canadian partnerships. With greater scale, size, volume and partnerships, TIXR has already proven itself as a viable alternative — one that reflects McGarry’s philosophy. A veteran of concert promotion himself, working with legends like the late Donald Tarlton, he cut his teeth on the venue floor and sees the potential of technology to build a better fan and partner experience for live music.

The live events industry is booming, and that’s created a bigger playing field for an independent Canadian-owned company like Showpass. Lucas McCarthy’s Calgary-founded ticketing and tech company is one of the biggest in the country by volume of tickets, an achievement backed by an expansion strategy that covers a wide variety of events from theme parks, museums, fairs and more, including live music. In 2026 alone, McCarthy says Showpass has already invested $3 million into the Canadian economy while implementing technology into its ticketing platform that bigger operators have not yet. McCarthy sees the company as bigger than ticketing, also financing shows, festivals and other experiences to remove barriers and create space to launch and take risks.