The government of Ontario (Canda) has taken steps to regulate resale tickets from Ticketmaster and other sites by making amendments to the Ticket Sales Act 2017. Ahead of hosting major events this summer from the FIFA World Cup to Veld Music Festival, the government is helping fans in Ontario by making it illegal for tickets for live events in Ontario to be resold for more than their original cost.

These amendments to the Ticket Sales Act, 2017, will be introduced in the coming days and would, if passed, make it illegal for tickets for live events in Ontario to be resold for more than their original cost, which is the all-in price originally paid to the primary seller, plus any fees, service charges, or applicable taxes charged on the resale. In coordination with these changes, the government is proposing to strengthen validity guarantee requirements to protect against the sale of fake tickets and to create new powers that could be used to stop unfair service charges and fees during the purchasing process.

Ticketmaster has begun delisting resale tickets for Ontario events to comply with a new provincial law that caps the price of such tickets at face value. The platform’s spokesperson, Shabnum Durrani, said customers will be able to relist their tickets next week when it will have updated its resale marketplace.”We remain committed to creating a fair and secure ticket marketplace for everyone in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations,” Durrani said, adding that Ticketmaster has been notifying customers of the changes.

“The use of resale practices that dramatically drive up the price of resale tickets for families to be able to attend major events isn’t fair, and we want more people to have the opportunity to enjoy the excitement of Ontario’s live entertainment scene,” said Neil Lumsden, Minister of Sport.”

“FIFA will be subject to the cap, no exemptions,” said Giulia Paikin, press secretary for Stephen Crawford.”

Fans however, have to remain vigilant when buying tickets on unregulated sites such as Facebook Marketplace. This summer, Ontario is set to host events from Veld Music Festival, Escapade Music Festival, Electric Island, and more. Toronto often sees many artists use platforms like Ticketmaster to sell their events.