Rainbows to deck Toronto streets for Pride parade amid fears for 2026 cash crunch

By Canadian Press on June 29, 2025.

TORONTO — The streets of Toronto will be filled with rainbows this afternoon when the annual Pride parade takes place, but there’s a cloud hanging over future festivities.

Today’s event will see more than 25,000 marchers from some 250 groups wind through the downtown core in Canada’s biggest show of solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community.

In the lead up to the parade, Pride Toronto executive director Kojo Modeste warned next year’s Pride will likely be scaled down if organizers can’t drum up more financial support.

Earlier this year, Modeste revealed organizers were facing a $900,000 funding gap.

The loss of cash was blamed on rising costs and the departure of sponsors Google, Nissan, Home Depot and Clorox.

Modeste says the pullback came as backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts materialized in the U.S. and beyond under President Donald Trump.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2025.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

11
-10