Fan Expo Canada is the nation’s largest fan convention, running annually over the weekend prior to Labour Day as a highly anticipated four-day event. Beginning on Thursday, Aug. 27, this year’s con was once again held in its routine venue of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC).
The convention has inhabited the MTCC since 1997, when it was still the Canadian National Comic Book Exposition. But Fan Expo 2026 pushed the building’s capacity to its limits and has some attendees questioning the long-term sustainability of the event’s management decisions. In recent years, Fan Expo has repeatedly faced criticisms for disorganization and major overcrowding, primarily attributed to annually increasing ticket sales. Many attendees are claiming that this year’s iteration has been the worst by far.
At 5 p.m. on the opening day, Fan Expo Canada announced via their social media accounts that Saturday’s hours would be extended from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. so that guests had more time to explore, shop, and game. The convention also added late entry tickets for arrivals after both 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, despite day passes having been fully sold out. Both of these decisions were cited by attendees as contributing factors to the excessive crowds, which had widespread impacts on the overall guest experience.
Lee Huynh, who has attended Fan Expo annually since 2021, describes the overcrowding as “really bad. [Fan Expo] should not have sold as many tickets as they did.” To them, the last minute extension and additional entry times came across as “very greedy and capitalistic.”
The dense crowds led to fans being unable to reach highly anticipated events and panels, some of the main drivers for attending Fan Expo. To Ethan, who has attended Fan Expo alongside Lee for the past five years, navigating this year’s convention was challenging.
“There were quite a few instances of entrances being closed and severe delays getting from building to building,” Ethan recalls, “because of the crowding and escalators breaking down from too many people being on them.” As an example, Ethan shares that his father “missed the Death Note panel because he couldn’t get from the North Building to the South Building in time.” Others online also shared their frustrations with the escalators, with reports of one escalator breaking down and injuring individuals riding it. Fan Expo Canada has yet to release a statement on this incident at the time of writing.
One of the most anticipated parts of attending Fan Expo is the opportunity to cosplay with others in the fandom community. In Lee’s eyes, this core component of the convention was hurt by the increased ticket sales. “I think a lot of people didn’t go all out on cosplays and stuff because they realized how busy it would be and how unbearable it would be to walk around,” they explain. “That also kind of sucked.”
Artist Alley, an area in the South Building devoted to independent artist vendors, reportedly had narrower aisles than usual despite the increased ticket sales. This has been an ongoing trend over the past several years with which attendees are becoming exhausted. “[Fan Expo] should at this point understand that Artist Alley is too small,” says Ethan. “The corridors and the pathways they have set up between the booths are physically too narrow and cause a really poor flow of traffic.”
There were also concerns about the type of content being promoted and sold at Fan Expo. Ethan noticed the North Building had “a crap-ton of AI.” From his experience, “there was a very noticeable lack of quality control this year.” Lee was also disappointed by the amount of AI content, which, to them, “was not worth even seeing.” With Artist Alley being an annual Fan Expo highlight, the event’s lack of official policies or statements condemning AI content has been upsetting to many attendees.
Overall, while the convention witnessed huge success in terms of its ticket sales and fan engagement, many attendees left dissatisfied on a holistic level. Though the company promises to bring Canadians “The Ultimate Fan Experience,” many believe that Fan Expo will need to make large structural changes that prioritize attendees over profits to actually meet this goal. Fan Expo Canada’s 2027 dates have already been announced, but whether any amendments are made remains to be seen.
