Nearly $9.3 million spent by visitors at Ontario Lacrosse Festival

The largest annual youth sports event in Canada generated nearly $9.3 million in spending by visitors, with the 10-day Ontario Lacrosse Festival positioning Whitby and Durham Region as premier destinations for sport tourism.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the festival, which used Iroquois Park Sports Centre as its home base but took over arenas across Whitby and Durham from August 1-10.

Ontario Lacrosse Program Director Ron MacSpayden was in the council chambers in Whitby this week to give councillors a rundown on the impact of the annual event and make a plea for additional government grant money.

“There are (financial) challenges,” he said. “We could use the support.”

The event could also be used as an anchor for a sports strategy for the town, he added. “We have a lot to offer.”

Different age groups and skill levels cycle in and out every three of four days during the event, which attracts about 55,000 visitors, including more than 38,000 from out of town, with nearly three-quarters of those visitors staying multiple nights at local hotels.

According to a Sport Tourism study, visitors spent $3.1 million on accommodations, $2.2 million on restaurants, $1.46 million on retail/shopping and $2.53 million on other expenses such as groceries, entertainment, transportation and fuel.

As well, the festival generates $75,000 in arena rental fees alone.

With 450 teams and 9,500 athletes competing for 49 provincial championships for kids aged six all the way to 21 – all at Iroquois Park – it is a busy time for organizers, with the numbers more than tripling since the first event in 2004.

“There’s been 900 or so provincial and national champions awarded at Iroquois Park in that time,” MacSpayden said, “There probably isn’t an arena that has hosted that many championships.”

“I don’t think there’s a lot of floor time left but if there is some we will use it.”

The Ontario Lacrosse Association (OLA), established in 1897, is the oldest sport organization in Ontario and the largest provincial governing body for lacrosse in Canada.

In 2024, the town and OLA collaborated on the purchase and installation of artificial turf at Iroquois Park, with the turf installed on the concrete pad of arena one for multi-sport use in the summer months. The OLA partnered in the acquisition by contributing $25,000 toward line modifications and logo removal

According to a report by town staff, the new turf floor increased demand for arena one by approximately 130 hours in 2025 and generated an incremental increase in revenue of just under $20,000.