What to know
- A longtime Fan Expo Canada attendee, Samuel-Charles Archer, launched a petition calling on the convention to stop overselling tickets after he said this year’s event became dangerously overcrowded.
- Archer described shoulder-to-shoulder conditions, bottlenecks and escalator incidents, claiming people were injured and that the congestion created serious safety concerns.
- He also raised accessibility concerns, saying packed elevators and crowded walkways made it difficult or impossible for some disabled attendees, including wheelchair users, to navigate the convention.
- Archer said Fan Expo has not responded to his petition, which had 2,461 signatures, and he is now considering escalating the issue to politicians and the fire marshal. He says he won’t return until the crowding is addressed.
One longtime Fan Expo Canada attendee is calling on the convention to stop overselling tickets, adding that this year’s event became so crowded that fans were struggling to move through the convention centre.
“I started attending Fan Expo Canada when I was 12 years old, in 2017. I have been going basically every single year since,” Samuel-Charles Archer told Now Toronto.
Archer launched a petition after this year’s convention concluded, claiming the event and its attendees experienced significant overcrowding that created safety and accessibility concerns throughout the weekend.
“On the Thursday, which is typically the least busy day at Fan Expo, it was already shoulder to shoulder in the Artist Alley,” he said about the vendors area.
Archer added that the situation only became worse as the weekend continued.
Cosplay and conventions gave Archer a place to connect with people who shared his interests, helping him through difficult times.
“Being able to be a part of those communities really made my life so much better, and Fan Expo was the place for that for all the years, so I wanted to keep going to keep up that tradition.”
Now, Archer said he doesn’t know if he’ll be going to future events.
‘No one there is safe’
He said the convention’s escalators also became another major concern.
“A backpack got caught in an escalator, causing it to get jammed for a day,” he said. “There was [another] instance; The weight that an escalator could handle got pushed. Capacity caused it to speed up, then suddenly stop to a halt.”
On the Sunday, Archer himself got caught in the crowd. He said two escalators travelling down and one moving up caused excessive traffic, but there was nothing anyone could do.
“We were… barely moving while we were waiting for the next wave of people to get sent up,” he said. “It was a lose-lose situation for everyone because no matter what you do, there’s going to be a crowd somewhere… No one there is safe.”
Archer added he had heard about multiple experiences from attendees through his petition.
“Several from disabled people, several from able-bodied people that got injured from the escalators or due to the overcrowding,” he said. “…It was horrific.”
‘Out of options’: Accessibility concerns
At an event where many attendees are neurodivergent or have a disability, the overcrowding made the event inaccessible
He said elevators were packed, making them more difficult to access for people who could not use the stairs.
“Disabled people… needed to use the elevator, but it was jam-packed with people [who], although they could use the stairs if they were able to, could not, and it caused a disabled person to have to wait longer or be out of options,” he explained.
Archer added that there were no pathways for those with larger mobility aids.
“Someone on my petition [in a wheelchair] said that they wanted to go, but they could not even get close to even go into Artist Alley, and that is half of the southern building,” he said.
No response from Fan Expo Canada
A week and 2,461 signatures after starting his petition, Archer said he hadn’t received a reply to any comments or emails to the convention.
“Fan Expo has said absolutely nothing.”
Now Toronto reached out to Fan Expo Canada but did not receive a reply by publication.
Archer also noted the convention followed up on the event by encouraging an even larger turnout next year.
“An email was sent out to everyone who bought tickets that said, ‘Thank you, everyone, so much for joining this year, let’s make next year even bigger,’” Archer shared.
Fans have continued to raise concerns across social media and the petition itself. Some wrote about their own experiences with the large turnout.
“[I] had panic attacks trying to get around on Sunday, [it] was so unsafe,” James from Toronto wrote on Change.org. “…This was ridiculous, and I had a medical sticker that did nothing when I [couldn’t] even get to the exit.”
“Conventions like this should be inclusive and accessible,” Crystal from Scarborough wrote. “…A person in a wheelchair almost tipped over due to the narrow sidewalk and crowd. If it wasn’t for three Good Samaritans, the person would have sustained injuries.”
“I loved and looked forward to Fan Expo every year, but the recent years have just been nothing but disappointment,” Kara shared. “You can do better. If you truly exist to celebrate fandoms, do so with your actions.”
Archer believes the convention may be deliberately ignoring its guests, also adding that comments he left on a Fan Expo YouTube video and other social media posts were allegedly removed.
“I have a record of five comments I’ve left all deleted,” he said. “Only one was able to stand up, and it was just simply, ‘Why haven’t you addressed the fans?’”
Archer said any comments he left mentioning overcrowding or his petition immediately disappeared when he refreshed the page, leading him to believe Fan Expo Canada was allegedly filtering out certain words.
Additional Saturday tickets
Archer also claimed in his petition that Fan Expo continued selling tickets for Saturday evening even after all-day passes had sold out.
These additional tickets meant more waves of people on top of an already congested convention space.
Archer said Fan Expo also did not disclose how many “after-3 p.m.” and “after-4 p.m.” tickets were made available.
The additional tickets meant people who purchased all-day tickets could remain inside while additional ticket holders entered later in the day.
How can this be fixed?
“First and foremost, I want [Fan Expo] to acknowledge the fans,” he said. “I want them to recognize that people at their convention got injured.”
He said the convention could also find a larger venue.
“…Imposing a ticket cap, or even looking to see if there’s new space available for them, it would be better than what they’re doing right now,” Archer said.
Because of these issues and his experience, Archer’s plans for future conventions have changed.
“I’m completely not going,” he said about attending Fan Expo Canada 2027.
He added he had already stopped attending Toronto Comic Con because of crowding, but returned to Fan Expo this year hoping to reconnect with his community.
“Those were the conventions that I loved,” Archer said. “But then the problems that happened this year, and seeing and hearing all the stories and going through those experiences, I’m not going to Fan Expo again until they manage this problem.”
Archer added that the event that was initially about fostering community and creating a safe space for large and niche fandoms has turned into something that wasn’t for the fans.
“This isn’t a community anymore,” he said. “…It’s a space just for the company to make money off of us.”
Archer said he and others are now looking at escalating the issue beyond the petition.
“We are reaching out to politicians in the area, including members of parliament that the Metro Toronto Convention Center is involved with. We’re trying to see if we can reach out to the fire marshal,” he said. “We’re trying to do whatever we can to get Fan Expo to properly address this.”
